Is the affiliate market saturated? Is affiliate marketing still profitable? It’s a fact that affiliate marketing has increased steadily in the last years and according to statista, the U.S. affiliate marketing spend is due to reach 8.2 billion dollars by 2022, up from 5.4 billion recorded in 2017. 
Therefore, we believe that affiliate marketing is still very profitable and worth exploring. The key to success in CPA affiliate marketing is choosing the right vertical and the right strategy. Additionally, digital marketing is continuously evolving, so it is a good approach to have the advantage of knowing affiliate marketing trend predictions for 2022, from other professional marketers giving you powerful insights to take into consideration. 

Affiliate marketing trend predictions for 2022

Trend predictions: Influencer marketing

Influencers specialized in a particular niche have the best performance to attract, engage and convince their audiences. Therefore, micro-influencers who produce specialized and customized content will attract more attention in the digital landscape in 2022. Social media platforms are focused on expanding their features in order to allow brands to provide a better live shopping experience.

With live shopping, customers can see products being tested and even interact with the person who is demonstrating them in real time. Many brands are already embracing live shopping and video technology to showcase and sell their products online, which has become the main option to generate sales for many.

Verticals such as health, beauty, fashion, fintech, lifestyle & e-commerce, where customers make investments both financially and emotionally, will earn more from affiliate marketing in the forthcoming year.

Trend predictions: Video content

Video content is becoming ever more popular as a content strategy for digital marketers to drive audience engagement and monetize their efforts. Brands and publishers are already embracing video content websites and tools in order to create the most appealing content, so they can attract a larger audience.

Actually, YouTube is the second most popular social network worldwide, ranked by the number of active users. Likewise, TikTok is a leading mobile app for short-form videos that has more than 1 billion active global users in 154 countries and 75 different languages. Advertising with YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram in your affiliate marketing strategy will empower your awareness, consideration, and conversion campaign goals. Creativity and segmentation capabilities are their strengths and most important values. 

Trend predictions: E-commerce niche

The pandemic and its consequences forced many consumers to buy online, which has encouraged the growth of e-commerce. The trend of shopping online is indeed a fact, and that’s the reason why we believe this trend will continue to grow throughout the next year. Statista includes that e-retail revenues are projected to grow to 5.4 trillion dollars in 2022.

E-commerce affiliate marketing popularity has been increasing rapidly in the last few years. With affiliate marketing, you can increase your conversion goals by reaching the right audience at the right moment. Affiliate marketing is based on performance, which allows you to boost revenues faster with higher profit margins. So, if you are a publisher, it is a good angle to use e-commerce as a vertical to work with. 

Trend predictions: Crypto more mainstream

During the pandemic, many powerful businesses emerged with much to offer due to the new people’s needs as they endured lockdowns. On the other hand, other existing business sectors grew very fast such as the crypto industry. The activity of buying and trading with cryptocurrencies has considerably increased during the last few years.

Today, we can find lots of crypto affiliate programs with great payouts as it is a consistent trend that has an even larger future to come. Actually, according to MarketsandMarkets, the Blockchain market will be worth $67.4 by 2025.

Blockchain technology allows people to move money and hold the value of a specified currency around the world easily. Nowadays, many companies are working to bring crypto options to their employees and clients, making blockchain technology more accessible for everyone. Yet, providing accessibility requires regulations and rules in order to ensure privacy compliance. Coinbase and other decentralized exchanges help to accomplish the need to bring crypto to our culture, ensuring safety and compliance.

Trend predictions: Consumers expect better

For better or worse, the pandemic changed customer mindsets as an approach to life and time. “Time is priceless” many of us would say. However, what does Gen Z think? Gen Zeders go one step further and take the time to make the most of life and then, they share it on social media!

People share their experiences with enthusiasm, creativity, and feeling, so they expect that brands should talk to them in the same way. The priorities of people are changing as long as social platforms are implementing new features based on their shopping habits. Therefore, it is essential that brands make the most of providing enthusiasm, trend, adventure, and the ability to offer a great learning experience. Since money is not an important factor for Gen Z, they take advantage of everything they have for buying products that make them happier, so they will choose the brand that fulfils them the most.