AffiliateBenchmarks' Second Annual Survey Reveals Challenges Associated with Significant Growth in Industry

AffiliateBenchmarks' Second Annual Survey Reveals Challenges Associated with Significant Growth in Industry

Largest Affiliate Survey To-Date Highlights Disparity between Available Tactics and Community Usage; Points to Opportunities for Immediate and Long-term Improvement

(PRWEB) November 13, 2009 -- Today, AffiliateBenchmarks (http://affiliatebenchmarks.com/), the research division of NETexponent, announced the general availability of its second annual report based on a survey of the affiliate industry. The goal of the survey was to determine the current landscape of the industry and the opinions of its key contributors. Among the survey's 3500 responses, AffiliateBenchmarks uncovered several key opportunities for affiliates to improve their practices and generate more revenue from advertising programs, many of which are tactics that can be implemented immediately. The report also contains valuable information for the entire online marking ecosystem, including advertisers, publishers, affiliate networks, managers and consultants.

By evaluating the survey responses individually as well as comparisons between five unique skill and income based profile segments, AffiliateBenchmarks uncovers the needs, challenges and opportunities in today's rapidly growing affiliate landscape. The results found that nearly half (49 percent) of survey respondents joined the industry in the past two years, and over half consider affiliate advertising to be a part-time job or hobby. While many newcomers are getting into the game on the side hoping to make supplemental income, nearly half of the survey respondents reported that less than five percent or none of their links generated a sale in the month before completing the survey.

With commission amount being the number one reported reason affiliates join a new program (69 percent), it's apparent that the potential to earn money is a major driver for new affiliates in the space. However, many are overlooking or are unaware of today's technologies and strategies that are driving success and revenue for more experienced affiliates in the industry.

For example:

• Although there is a clear correlation between the reported number of keywords purchased and the reported monthly revenue of the affiliate, only 36 percent of survey respondents utilize PPC search.

• The use of flash ads and video widgets performed excellent or well for those who claimed to employ these tactics, however, the large majority of survey respondents did not leverage these formats.

• Nearly 40 percent (38.5 percent) of survey respondents do not read any blogs for up-to-date information and helpful tips.

• Nearly half (46.9 percent) of survey respondents do not collect data on their websites' audiences; 14.4 percent of those did not even know where this information comes from.

"The affiliate industry is growing and evolving rapidly, and it is essential for new affiliates joining the game to quickly come up to speed on the latest trends and strategies if they want to compete in this lively marketplace," said Peter Figueredo, CEO of NETexponent. "The AffiliateBenchmarks report can be a great getting-started guide for these newcomers as well as a tool to help seasoned marketers improve results."

To purchase the full report, visit: http://affiliatebenchmarks.com/.

About AffiliateBenchmarks

AffiliateBenchmarks is the affiliate research division of NETexponent. AffiliateBenchmarks designs and executes affiliate marketing research with the purpose of increasing industry education and providing useful data and statistics to the affiliate community. We focus on the benefit of the affiliate marketing industry as a whole and strive to provide reliable information that is interesting and useful to a wide range of people involved with affiliate marketing. To achieve survey participation for the second annual report, AffiliateBenchmarks partnered with supporters such as Commission Junction, Google Affiliate Network, Linkshare, Mediatrust, Pepperjam Network, Performance Marketing Alliance, Shareasale and Zanox.

Reproduction or redistribution is prohibited without written permission. Copyright ©2009 AffiliateBenchmarks™, a division of NETexponent LLC. 115 West 30th Street Suite 900, New York, NY 10001 | 212.981.2700, option 2 GetResults (at) NETexponent (dot) com

About NETexponent

NETexponent is a full-service online performance marketing agency based in New York City. Since 2001, NETexponent has developed efficiency-driven online marketing programs for premier clients. In addition to operating AffiliateBenchmarks, we offer innovative strategies in affiliate and search engine marketing as well as other areas, including social media marketing and lead generation. Our ground-breaking strategies and holistic approach to performance marketing help our clients achieve aggressive goals while maintaining brand integrity and customer quality. NETexponent is committed to being the industry's most efficient and ethical performance marketing agency, continually evolving to address changing market conditions and client needs.

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Contact Information Carla Vicens

(919) 833-9975