The stats, trends, and future of Affiliate Marketing look bright! Affiliate Marketing is a $12 Billion industry and is expected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 10% per year.
But how does this “bright future” help India? What is India going to achieve through Affiliate Marketing?
To help you understand the future of Affiliate Marketing in India, I have created this post after hours of research. Read on to find out if Affiliate Marketing is the ideal business in India!
Where Does Affiliate Marketing Stand Right Now In India?
Spends on Affiliate Marketing in India are 10% of digital marketing spend as compared to 15% in the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and other matured markets.
In 2020, there were approximately 730 million Internet users; more than 700 million of them are actively using mobile phones. It means that organizations should be proactive to take advantage of the increasing number of online customers by harnessing the power of Affiliate Marketing.
The number of monthly searches for the keyword “affiliate marketing” is 2,01,000 in India alone. That is, one-third of the monthly global searches for the keyword “affiliate marketing” are from India.
According to Digital Uncovered, Affiliate marketing in India contributes nearly 15% of total sales across online retail sites. This is a clear indication that Affiliate Marketing is catching up to become one of the most profitable marketing channels.
What Do Business Tycoons Say About Affiliate Marketing In India?
Indian Affiliate Marketing market will boom in the upcoming years as per stats and trends. This is understood by the business tycoons of the country and here’s what a few renowned figures have to say about Affiliate Marketing in India:
Parul Bhargava, CEO, Commission
(During the seventh edition of the India Affiliate Summit)
BFSI, education, D2C, gaming, web services, and health are the important industries that contribute to affiliate marketing in India. Today, it’s important for each brand to possess their affiliate programs to accelerate growth.”
Ashok Reddy, Founder, GrabOn
“We have just blemished the surface of Affiliate Marketing in India with exceptional growth ahead. With the new content creators on the block and AI that sees no restrictions, the affiliate is shifting and will still shift into the hands of the users. Mobile-first strategy, influencers, and video-based content marketing will see an uptrend for the next few years.”
Laxmi Datt Sharma, Co-Founder & Managing Director, Optimise
“The planet has the potential to become a billion-dollar industry within the subsequent number of years. However, the rising fraudulent activities within the affiliate industry seem to be a major concern. Fraudulent clicks, cookie stuffing, bad bots, geo-masking, click spamming are a spread of the challenges for the industry.”
Rohan Bhargava, Co-Founder, CashKaro
“Indian e-commerce has seen extensive growth and a shift in consumer behavior over the last two years. With D2C brands gaining popularity, cashback, rewards, and affiliate programs have gained plenty of grip over the years.”
Challenges Faced By Affiliate Marketers In India
When I started Affiliate Marketing in 2018, I faced a huge set of challenges that kept my affiliate earnings on the dread 0 for a long time!
All the beginners at Affiliate Marketing face challenges and below are the most common of them all:
(1) Niche Clarity
After working for 4 years as an Affiliate Marketer and training over 135 people, I can say that the biggest challenge for beginners is niche clarity.
Beginners go to YouTube and watch videos of gurus suggesting to them that a particular niche is the most profitable and they will make money overnight. Since beginners are looking for quick ways to make money, they promote products of the “profitable” niche and make no money.
If you want to work as a full-time Affiliate Marketer, you need to identify WHAT YOU LOVE!
In simple terms, a niche is the small segment of the big market. For example, if fashion is the big market, then something as specific as “women’s jackets” is a niche.
So, if you are a beginner, I would recommend you do your research, find a niche that you love, and DO NOT promote products that “gurus” claim to be profitable.
Research and introspect, okay?
(2) Content Creation
Affiliate Marketing is a real business and many people quit when they realize they have to put in the effort. When I started Affiliate Marketing, I joined many groups on Facebook and observed that almost everyone posts their affiliate links blindly.
While training my students, I hear them say “Sir, I cannot create content. Tell me an easy way like that ‘guru’.”
People want to make money through Affiliate Marketing, but they do not want to create content. This becomes a big problem because content creation takes effort, time, creativity, and skill.
The only solution to this problem is to PRACTICE. If you cannot create content, start writing something on a daily basis. If you are weak at a skill, devote time and effort to get better.
I know many of us are not naturally skilled writers. So, you can take help from freelance writers. There are many freelancers who will write content for you. Finding qualified and skilled freelance writers is another problem, altogether. Since you do not want to write yourself, taking the time to find the right freelancer is your only option.
(3) Generating Quality Traffic
The problem of traffic generation haunts not only Affiliate Marketers, but every industry alike.
Suppose you have a product that will surely help people. You grab your affiliate link, understand the product, and write everything there is to know about the product:
- What is the product?
- What does it do?
- How does it help people?
- What are its drawbacks?
- How much does it cost?
You post it on your website and days pass by. You open analytics and see only 1 pageview! You will be devastated, isn’t it?
Then you open Facebook and post your link blindly in every group.
The result: Random visitors!
What many beginners don’t understand is that generating hundreds of pageviews is not enough. To create a highly profitable Affiliate Marketing blog post, you need quality traffic – the right traffic.
The principle for generating quality traffic is to optimize your posts, research, and market to people who are more likely to buy, alright?
(4) No Sales
The problem of traffic brings me to the fourth challenge, no sales!
What’s the point of doing Affiliate Marketing if you do not see those dollars rise in your bank account?
Generating no sales is the second most common challenge faced by beginners (even experienced Affiliate Marketers).
We can see this problem from 2 angles – no traffic and no sales despite generating traffic.
If you cannot generate sales due to the lack of traffic, you should put in the effort to generate targeted traffic. You can utilize the power of SEO, paid advertising, and so on.
If you are generating traffic, but no one buys, you need to analyze if you are generating the right traffic for your affiliate product(s). If you are promoting an email marketing tool, but people are interested in fashion (tap into Google Analytics to figure this out), they are not going to buy.
So, do proper research, and if you use paid ads to promote your content, use the right keywords, demographics data, etc.
Scope Of Affiliate Marketing In India
Affiliate Marketing was started in India by online companies like Amazon. As per the Tata Strategic Management Group (TSMG) estimates, the Affiliate Marketing industry would grow from $96 Million in 2016 to $835 Million by 2025. That’s a 27.2% CAGR!
One of the favorable situations for the growth of Affiliate Marketing in India is the lower customer acquisition costs and marketing expenses.
Affiliate Marketers can start their businesses through their websites, blogs, and even YouTube channels.
To attract Affiliate Marketers, Indian and multinational companies have launched affiliate programs in India offering exciting commissions.
Soon, Affiliate Marketing will catch up with other marketing channels and become a major part of marketing campaigns.
Affiliate Marketers can use less formal techniques like publishing reviews of the products and services offered by companies.
All the above facts and stats indicate that the future of Affiliate Marketing in India is extremely bright! Many Affiliate Marketers in India are making good money every month (I am one of them 😀 ).
Before buying anything, all of us perform a Google search and find information about the product, hence, companies find Affiliate Marketing a profitable option.
How Can I Learn Affiliate Marketing?
As I shared at the beginning of this post, Affiliate Marketing is a $12 Billion industry and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 10% per year.
However, 7 out of 10 Affiliate Marketers make NOTHING! Hence, educating yourself, developing the crucial skills, and learning the strategies become crucial.
I am an Affiliate Marketer myself and I am nurturing a community of more than 135 people. I host a live training every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday where I share the principles and 6 steps to master Affiliate Marketing.
If you are curious to learn Affiliate Marketing and make money, even if you have never made a single penny online, you should register for my training.
