PMA Releases 2022 Performance Marketing Industry Study
FollowUS Affiliate Marketing Spending Reached $9.1 Billion in 2021 According to New Performance Marketing Association Report
New industry study produced by PwC shows affiliate marketing spending grew 47% versus calendar year 2018.
August 2, 2022 : The Performance Marketing Association (PMA), the trade association for the affiliate and partnership marketing industries, today released the results of a new study that showed affiliate marketing investment reached $9.1 Billion in 2021. The figure represents a 47% increase over the previous industry report for 2018.
Conducted by the PMA with underlying data provided by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the Performance Marketing Industry Study found that affiliate marketing investment in 2021 drove $71B in e-commerce sales. The study solicited information from seven leading affiliate networks/platforms: Awin, CJ, LinkConnector, Partnerize, Ascend by Partnerize, Rakuten Advertising, and ShareASale. The average Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) was 12:1, meaning that every dollar invested in the channel drove $12 in e-commerce revenue.
According to the PMA, a variety of forces have helped drive outstanding growth in the category:
● Increased recognition of affiliate traffic quality among senior marketing executives
● Expanding acceptance of pay-for-performance buying models among publishers
● Digital channel growth due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on buyer behaviors
● Strong ROAS for affiliate marketing versus other digital marketing channels
● Increased channel adoption among new industries, including Auto, CPG, and B2B
● Growth in mobile marketing spending and improved mobile sales tracking in the channel
Cashback/Rewards/Loyalty and Coupon/Voucher/Rebate publishers accounted for just over half of category spending, up from previous years. This reflects the continued appeal of “traditional affiliates” among performance marketers. Content and Subnetwork publisher investment accounted for 27% of total channel investment. The expansion in revenue for these publisher types reflects growing recognition of the channel’s power at all stages of the buying funnel.
“Affiliate is at the forefront of improving effectiveness and outcomes for brand marketing,” said Christen Evans, PMA Board President. “This important study demonstrates the rapid growth of our industry and the many ways it is expanding to include more industries, publisher types, investors, and marketing objectives.”
Sixteen affiliate publishers of multiple sizes and types also contributed insights to help determine the total size of the market. The data reflect estimates for the entire industry, including both participating and non-participating networks/platforms and “house” programs managed by companies using homegrown toolsets.
The study includes insights on:
● Total Spending by Advertising Sector (Industry)
● Total Spending by Retail Sector (Category)
● Total Revenue Contribution by Advertising Sector
● Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) by Advertising Sector
● Return on Ad Spending (ROAS) by Retail Sector
● Channel Investment by Affiliate Type
● Key Industry Trends
Interested professionals can download the study at no charge on the PMA website.
About the PMA
Founded in 2008, the Performance Marketing Association (PMA) is a nonprofit trade
association that strives to raise the profile of performance marketing by
demonstrating the value and growth opportunity of this multi-billion dollar
marketing channel. The PMA offers members a trusted community environment for
learning, sharing, and communicating values and standards on a global scale. The
community actively shares its collective knowledge and highlights best practices,
providing performance marketers with valuable tools, information, and support they
need to equip themselves and grow their businesses. In addition, the PMA gives
performance marketers a unified voice to address industry issues and challenges. For
more information, please visit https://thepma.org.
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