Affiliate Marketing Trends to Know in 2025

The affiliate marketing landscape is more competitive than ever in 2025, thanks to organic reach declining (in part to Google’s AI Overviews), as well as cookie-based tracking becoming less reliable. Still, there is plenty of opportunity to succeed if you can adapt to the changing environment. With that in mind, here are five affiliate marketing trends to be aware of right now.

Trend 1: The Continued Emphasis on Transparency and Trust in Affiliate Marketing

Trust and transparency have always been foundational to effective marketing. Consumers are far more likely to buy from brands they believe are honest and credible, and it doesn’t appear that trend will change any time soon. In fact, the need for trust is on the rise:

• According to the 2023 Edelman Trust Barometer, 71% of consumers believe that it’s more important to trust brands today than it was in the past.

• 79% of Gen Zers believe it’s more important than ever to trust the brands they buy from and use, per the same study, and 59% of consumers are more likely to purchase products from a brand they trust.
• According to Trustpilot, 66% of consumers are often or very often influenced by customer reviews when making a purchase.

Unfortunately, consumers are becoming more skeptical of overly positive product reviews, misleading content, and fake testimonials. Consider these statistics:

• A 2023 Bazaarvoice study revealed that 75% of consumers worry about fake reviews.
• As far back as 2020, 49% of global consumers already believed that many brands were guilty of manipulating customer reviews to boost their reputation.
• 63% of consumers believe it’s the brand’s responsibility to ensure that information presented in online reviews is accurate and complete

The erosion of trust goes beyond shady marketing practices, with consumers being more exposed to fraud than ever before. In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reported that consumers lost more than $12.5 billion to fraud in 2024, a 25% increase over the previous year.

So, how can advertisers and affiliates build long-term trust with their audiences in 2025 and beyond? For starters, only promote products you genuinely believe in, and look to add value rather than making a quick sale. Affiliates should share personal experiences and aim to provide unbiased comparisons.

All parties must ensure they are following FTC guidelines by clearly disclosing affiliate links and partnerships. Many platforms offer tools to make this easier: For example, Instagram and YouTube offer built-in “Paid Partnership” tags to clearly label sponsored content (more on this in trend 3, below).

The bottom line is that transparency and trust are no longer a nice-to-have in affiliate marketing, they are non-negotiables. And remember, authenticity matters more than perfection.

Trend 2: The Growing Importance of Content Quality and Niche Authority for Affiliates

As audiences place an increased importance on trust, it’s more crucial than ever for affiliate marketers to prioritize high-quality, valuable content. While this can require a significant amount of time and effort, affiliates who provide genuinely helpful, well-researched content will stand out, especially as distrust around the quality (and amount!) of AI-created content continues.

Top marketers are aware of this. In 2024, WordPress VIP conducted an extensive survey of marketing executives and found the following insights:

• 54% of organizations believe that the pressure to drive revenue with content has increased over the last 12 months.
• Organizations saw creating high-quality content (33%) as their biggest challenge in 2024 (only 17% cited data privacy concerns).

Source: WordPress VIP

WordPress VIP found that the results were similar for both B2C and B2B businesses, indicating that content is key, regardless of whether you’re marketing to businesses or consumers.

Building trust and authority through content goes beyond creating in-depth tutorials, reviews, or expert roundups that highlight your knowledge and experience, though. While those are highly effective content formats, you also have to engage with your community through social media, email newsletters, or online forums. It’s a long-term strategy, but over time, affiliates can establish themselves as trusted experts in their niche.

Finally, don’t forget about the importance of SEO optimization in promoting your content. While AI tools are changing the way people search online, strong SEO practices continue to build trust and authority, not only with search engines but also with users.

Trend 3: The Evolution of Influencer Marketing within Affiliate Programs

Influencer marketing is no longer about the number of likes or overall reach: In 2024, brands partnered with more micro-influencers to increase engagement and conversions, since these smaller creators have established high levels of trust and authenticity with their audiences.

• According to Hubspot’s 2025 State of Marketing & Trends Report, 44% of B2C marketers found the most success with micro-influencers (audiences of 10,000 to 99,999) in 2024.
• Only 25% of marketers had the most success with macro-influencers (audiences of 100,000 – 999,999), per the same report, and only 7% had the most success with mega influencers (audiences of $1MM+). (Hubspot, 2025)

Not only is there a greater focus on smaller influencers, but how influencers are compensated is also changing. Traditional sponsorships are still a thing, but more brands are providing influencers with unique affiliate links. This way, brands can track conversions directly from the influencer’s content, ensuring that payouts are tied more closely to performance.

TikTok, YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, and even Threads have emerged as top platforms for influencer affiliate marketing because they provide high engagement and work well with product-focused content.

Speaking of AI, many marketers believe that influencers will eventually be replaced by AI-generated influencers or social media avatars. In fact, Hubspot reported that 86% felt this shift would begin to happen by the end of 2025. But, that remains to be seen — as mentioned above, quality and authenticity are vital to success in affiliate marketing, and neither are currently terms strongly associated with AI-generated content. And, again, it’s clear that smaller influencers who have that built-in trust with their audience are finding increased success in affiliate marketing.

Trend 4: The Strategic Use of Data and Analytics for Affiliate Optimization

Data remains one of the most potent tools for affiliate marketers. The information you gain from measuring click-through rates (CTRs), conversions, and more can help you uncover what’s working and identify areas where you can improve. Marketers recognize the importance of data in 2025: When asked by Hubspot about the biggest marketing industry changes in the past year, data usage took two of the top five spots on the list (see chart below):

Source: Hubspot

So, what key metrics should affiliate marketers track? While it depends on your campaign goals, here are some key metrics to consider measuring:

• Click-through rate (CTR): Measures the percentage of users who click on an affiliate link compared to the number who saw it.
• Conversion rate: Measures the percentage of users who take the desired action, like an email sign-up, purchase, or download.
• Earnings per click (EPC): Tracks the average earnings for every click on an affiliate link.
• Traffic source performance: Breaks down where affiliate traffic is coming from and compares the conversion rates of each traffic source, such as social media, email, and search traffic.

Explore 8 ways Taboola Can Maximize Your Affiliate Marketing Campaigns.

Beyond standard performance metrics, many brands, especially retail brands, are placing an increased focus on incrementality. In other words, they want to know if the affiliate truly influenced a sale, or would the customer have purchased anyway?

Brands are facing tighter profit margins, so naturally they want to know which affiliates are really driving incremental value, as they want to avoid paying commissions on sales that would have happened even without the affiliate’s involvement. Marketers can use key metrics, such as customer lifetime value (LTV), new vs. returning customers, and assisted conversions to measure incrementality.

These and other metrics also help marketers identify high-performing affiliates to whom they can offer higher commission rates or exclusive deals.

There are several tools available to track affiliate link performance and conversions, but the most suitable ones will depend on your specific use case. For example, Amazon Associates offers its own built-in dashboard, but it’s only compatible with Amazon links. For affiliates using Realize to track their performance, a wide range of metrics are available, including conversion rate, CTR, CPA, and more. If you’re promoting products across multiple networks (ShareASale, Impact), a tool like Affluent.io or WeCanTrack can consolidate all of your data in one place. If you’re managing paid traffic campaigns or require more in-depth attribution data, apps like Voluum or ClickMeter provide robust tracking, A/B testing, and conversion reporting.

Speaking of A/B testing, marketers and affiliates should always A/B test their campaigns. Try different variations of everything from headlines to copy, CTAs, link placements, and landing pages to see which ones perform better.

Trend 5: The Rise of New Platforms and Technologies in Affiliate Marketing

While many tried-and-true affiliate strategies remain effective in 2025, affiliate marketing is evolving rapidly, thanks to the emergence of new social platforms and the growing popularity of short-form video formats, such as TikTok, Threads, Instagram, and YouTube Shorts. AI tools also make it easier than ever to build a website, although driving traffic to sites is still a challenge, one best met through a combination of digital advertising, social media, and SEO.

According to Hubspot, marketers today are reporting the highest ROI from short-form video:

Source: Hubspot, 2025 State of Marketing Report

AI tools are also transforming how affiliates create content and optimize their campaigns. AI content generation is already widespread, thanks to platforms like Jasper, Claude, ChatGPT, and many more, and according to a 2024 study, nearly 80% of affiliate marketers reported embracing AI-driven content creation.

When it comes to creating ad campaigns, ad networks like Realize, Google Ads, and Facebook Ads now offer AI-powered ad targeting and bidding, making it easier for advertisers to reach their target audience.

Web3 applications, built on blockchain technology, are being used to automate payouts, improve tracking accuracy, and create more trust between advertisers and affiliates. While the technology is still early and somewhat experimental, use cases like tokenized incentives and smart contract-based affiliate programs show promise.

Privacy-related changes have created challenges in affiliate marketing, too, including the loss of third-party cookies. This has made traditional affiliate tracking much less reliable. To counter this, affiliates should try to use first-party tracking whenever possible and leverage affiliate platforms that support cookieless tracking, like Impact or Partnerize. Other options include focusing on email marketing, which is not affected by browser-based tracking limitations.

Cross-device tracking has become increasingly valuable in 2025 as users are constantly moving between phones, tablets, and desktop computers. To keep up, affiliate platforms are using first-party data, user logins, and device fingerprinting to track a user’s actions across devices. Even major affiliate networks, such as Impact and Partnerize, are supporting cross-device attribution to help affiliates get proper credit and improve commission accuracy.

Key Takeaways

To succeed as an affiliate marketer in 2025 and beyond, you need to be able to adapt to a rapidly changing environment that’s being impacted by AI-powered search (and content creation), ever-changing privacy laws, and evolving consumer expectations. The most successful affiliates will understand how to create high-quality content that builds trust and transparency with their audiences. They will also realize that performance marketing that leverages data is no longer optional. If you can embrace these trends and leverage the right tools and strategies, you can stay ahead of the curve and continue to grow in a highly competitive industry.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What are the most profitable affiliate marketing niches in 2025?

In 2024, Authority Hacker surveyed over 2,000 professional affiliate marketers and found that the most profitable affiliate niches were Education & E-Learning, Travel, Beauty & Skincare, Finance, and Technology. Health & Fitness, E-Commerce, and Home & Garden were also very profitable.

How can beginners get started with affiliate marketing?

While the path to becoming an affiliate marketer can vary, here are five key steps to follow:

1. Choose a profitable niche you understand.
2. Build a platform to sell on, e.g., YouTube channel, TikTok account, website, email newsletter, etc.
3. Sign up with one or more affiliate networks, like Amazon Associates, ShareASale, Impact, Skimlinks, etc.
4. Create valuable content, such as detailed product reviews or comparisons, using written copy and/or video.
5. Measure your performance. Use analytics software and AI tools to monitor clicks, conversions, and earnings. Remember to A/B test and double down on what works.

What are some common mistakes to avoid in affiliate marketing?

Inexperienced affiliate marketers often struggle with the same mistakes. This can include creating low-value posts that are stuffed with affiliate links and, as a result, potentially penalised by search engines; failing to include proper legal disclosures; and not measuring performance by tracking click-through and conversion rates.

How can advertisers find and recruit high-quality affiliates?

To ensure you work with high-quality affiliates, leverage analytics to identify top performers and target niche creators who have established a high level of trust and transparency with their audience. Always remember to keep the lines of communication open between you and your affiliates.

What are the key legal and regulatory considerations for affiliate marketing?

One of the challenges affiliate marketers face in 2025 is complying with the ever-changing regulatory landscape. You must comply with global privacy laws, such as the GDPR, inform users when cookies are used, avoid any deceptive sales practices, and satisfy FTC disclosure requirements (U.S.). Additionally, many social media platforms, search engines, and affiliate networks have their own rules regarding affiliate links. If you don’t comply, your account may be suspended.