What is the affiliate marketing average income? According to Glassdoor.com the average affiliate income in the Uk is £38,040 (around $45,625).
Glassdoor’s research shows that the average base pay is $56,916 a year, with lower and upper ranges of $42-$83k per year. Affiliate marketing manager salary in the US ranges from $16,778 to $442,605. The median salary is approximately $80,530 or so.
However, these statistics are for salaried affiliates who work as managers in the sector for big businesses who employ affiliates for their marketing.
For affiliates who manage their own affiliate marketing businesses it’s different. Here’s the stats for self employed affiliates according to emoneypeeps.com:
- 90% Of Affiliates Earn Between $0-$10,000 per year
- 7% Of Affiliates Earn Between $10,001-$100,000 per year
- 2% Of Affiliates Earn Between $100,001-$1,000,000 per year
- 1% Of Affiliates Earn Over $1,000,000 per year
This falls in line with another article I did on affiliate earnings which uses previous data from 2016. The 2016 Afstat report showed a similar breakdown of affiliate earnings:
As you can see, the top earners in affiliate marketing are in a minority. More affiliates earn between the $0-$10,000 a year. So the “average” affiliate will fall into this demographic.
Affiliate Marketing Average Income
That shouldn’t be a surprise though given the number of affiliates there are in the world. Although there’s no way to determine a precise number of affiliates that are signing up to the many affiliate programs available, the industry is generating over $12 billion annually and still growing.
The affiliate marketing success rate is pretty low, with around 5% of affiliates going on to make a living from it. That means a massive 95% of affiliates give it a go and drop out, or struggle! So why is the affiliate marketing average income so low?
Most physical businesses too have a poor success rate with around 90% of businesses failing in their first few years. So why should affiliate marketing be any different? The low barrier to entry and low cost make affiliate marketing a business which many flock to. So is it any wonder why the success rate is so low?
How Not To Be Average
So if you’re going to succeed with affiliate marketing you need to not be average! You need to excel! Top affiliates make millions of dollars from affiliate marketing. Can you be in the 3% of those who “make it”? As someone who struggled for years with affiliate marketing I can attest to the difficulties which many will encounter.
When I finally found a group of mentors in 2014, things began to improve. But before then I was selling low value items from content marketing – something which is incredibly time consuming and slow. It wasn’t until I changed a few things that things started improving. Here’s a few of the main things which allowed me to make affiliate marketing work for me:
- Don’t quit! Keep going and learn from problems, rather than blame them!
- Use subscription products – subscription products pay you over and over again. To make a consistent income from “one off” sales, you need to sell in bulk and continuously. Recurring payments mean even sporadic sales add up to a consistent income
- High ticket products – high ticket items pay more than average affiliate products. A single sale (of a high ticket item) can earn you the same as hundreds or even thousands of low valued products.
- Build a list – I didn’t even know about the power of list building. I was trying to sell directly from a website (for years). With a list you compound your efforts and you can build rapport and trust with potential customers. On a website, someone only has a few minutes to buy from you, then they are gone forever. But once you have a list that timeframe is dramatically extended to weeks, months and even years.
- Get help – even the most hardened entrepreneur has a down day. When you’re on your own as an affiliate it’s tough. By joining others on the same mission you can ease the load, gain support and get valuable insights into your own psychology and motivation levels.
