Is Affiliate Marketing Oversaturated? Nope, Not Even Close

I’m sure you’ve heard the buzz surrounding affiliate marketing and the opportunity it offers. But with so many people knowing about affiliate marketing. You might be wondering, Is it too late to get involved? “Is affiliate marketing oversaturated?”

NOPE. Affiliate marketing is not oversaturated.
Not Even Close!!
In fact, there is more opportunity than ever before.

Hey, it’s Leo, and thanks for dropping by.

Today I want to talk about affiliate marketing and the opportunity it can provide you if you’re willing to do what it takes to make it work.

Alright, let’s get into it.

The Rise Of Affiliate Marketing

I went to Google Trends and as you can see affiliate marketing has been steadily trending upwards over the past 5 years.

Google Trends Affiliate Marketing 2023

And I’m not surprised that affiliate marketing has been treading upward over the years. It offers a win-win-win situation for everyone involved.

It’s a win for the companies because they get increased exposure, and a free sales force, which results in increased company sales.

It’s a win for the customers because they find the products and services they want/need.

And it’s a win for the affiliate marketer (you) because they earn commissions for their marketing efforts.

And with all the different marketing strategies and resources available online affiliate marketing has become more accessible to everyone than ever before.

What Is Affiliate Marketing?

Ok, before we go any further, let’s step back and understand the context of affiliate marketing.

Affiliate marketing is essentially a digital referral program. As an affiliate, you’re the middle man/woman between a customer and a product.

Someone searches for a product or service; they end up at your website, where you are promoting that product or service.

They buy that product or service through your affiliate link and boom! You earn a commission.

Here’s The Four Simple Steps To Build A Thriving Affiliate Marketing Business

A Saturated Market Or An Expanding Universe?

Now, there are people that say affiliate marketing is getting too crowded. And that it’s too late to get involved and be successful.

Yeah, I wouldn’t put too much stock in what these people are saying.

And I say that because you have to consider the source.

There are a lot of people who are peddling this BS that affiliate marketing is too crowded and over-saturated.

These are the same people who likely tried affiliate marketing but didn’t gain the success they were promised, so they quit. So they need an excuse.

And of course, these people certainly aren’t going to blame themselves, so they blame the industry.

The affiliate marketing universe isn’t a finite resource. Affiliate marketing is more like the actual universe. It’s constantly expanding, with new niches popping up like stars in a galaxy.

The rise of the internet has brought forth a consumer market so diverse and vast that it’s virtually impossible for affiliate marketing to truly become oversaturated.

From wedding handkerchiefs to virtual reality equipment, the possibilities for niche markets are endless!

Here’s The Real Challenge

The heart of the matter isn’t about saturation; it’s about trust.

With more and more affiliate marketers, unfortunately, there are more and more scammers, which can leave consumers a bit skeptical. And can you blame them?

Hell way back in 2000 when I started online, I got scammed more than once. And today it’s even worse when it comes to online scams.

The trick (for lack of a better word) is not to worry about the crowd or the scammers but to focus on building trust with your audience.

And that audience is the people that resonate with you. Now, not everyone is going to resonate with you, and that’s ok. To put it harshly, the people that don’t resonate with you don’t matter.

Focus on the people that do, and focus on building trust with those people. Do that, and you’ll have a distinct advantage over the competition.

And you can build that trust by providing honest reviews, reliable information, and genuine interaction.

Also, by establishing yourself as an authority figure and creating a unique voice, you can cultivate a loyal following.

Your Differentiator

Yes, there’s a lot of competition, and each person brings their own unique style and voice to the affiliate marketing table.

And that’s what’s cool about affiliate marketing. It’s a platform for individual voices.

There is only one of you.

So, don’t be afraid to inject your personality into your marketing efforts and let your true colors shine!

Do that, and you will stand out from the crowd.

The Key To Success As An Affiliate Marketer

One of the secrets to thriving in the world of affiliate marketing lies in niche selection.

Choosing the right niche will make all the difference.

Now a lot of affiliate marketers make the mistake of targeting broad markets, thinking if they are in a huge market they are bound to make money because there are so many people.

Well, there is also a ton of competition too. So the chances of succeeding in such a huge market are nil to nothing.

What you want to do is find a specific niche within a big market that allows you to become an expert in that area. Doing that makes it easier to connect with your audience and stand out from the crowd.

So what you want to do is “niche down” within a broad market.

Here’s an example of niching down within a broad market.

Ok, let’s say you love fishing, and you’ve decided you want to build your business around this passion.

By the way building your business around any interest, hobby or passion is your first best step.

So fishing it is. You’re going to have your website all about fishing equipment. But fishing equipment is way too broad of a market.

So you’ll want to go deeper, instead of fishing equipment, you could niche down to fishing rods.

This is good, but you can go even deeper and niche down to fishing rods just for fly fishing.

Now that’s a niche you can 100% focus on and become the authority.

And while your competition is trying to market everything fishing related to everyone and spreading themselves too thin.

You’re laser-focused on just one segment of the fishing market.

And because of that, this is a niche you could build a very successful affiliate marketing business around.

Remember, there’s always an audience looking for specialized information or unique products.

Provide Value

Everywhere you look both online and offline we are constantly bombarded with advertisements.

So how do you get noticed in a sea of advertising? By providing value. That’s the ultimate differentiator.

Do not focus solely on making sales, focus on solving problems, and genuinely help people.

When you position yourself as a trusted advisor, people will naturally gravitate toward you and your recommendations. That’s the resonating with people part again.

Remember, the goal is not just to make money but to build long-term relationships with your audience.

Zig Ziglar said it best:

You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want

The Key To Thriving

The online landscape is ever-changing, and so is affiliate marketing. To succeed in this ever-changing environment, you need to be adaptable.

What worked a few years ago, could easily be obsolete today.

So, keeping an eye on emerging trends, exploring new platforms, or even content styles can catapult you ahead in the affiliate marketing game.

And with technology evolving at breakneck speed, new opportunities for affiliate marketing keep emerging.

Heard of AI (artificial intelligence)? That crazy new tech. Which by the way I LOVE!!

I’m a huge ChatGPT user. It’s such a great assistant. You see I said assistant. I use it to help me with SEO, content research, writing, and more.

But I’m not relying on it to do the work for me. I use it to speed my the processes in my marketing.

So when it comes to tech like ChatGPT. Are you embracing it or ignoring it? If you’re ignoring it, the reality is you’re going to be left behind.

By staying ahead of the curve, and having the ability to adapt and evolve you can ride the waves of change rather than being swallowed by them.

Remember, Darwin said it best:

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.”

Click here to stay ahead of the curve and thrive as an affiliate marketer!

Transform The Threat Into An Opportunity

Okay, you’re ready, you have your unique voice ready, “but how do you transform this perceived saturation from a threat into an opportunity?”

It’s all in your perspective. Instead of viewing the crowd as your competition, consider that crowd as it is, a valuable resource.

Look at what others are doing. See what works? See what doesn’t?

Learn from other people’s mistakes, failures, and successes. And use that to fine-tune your own marketing.

Like Tony Robbins said:

If you want to be successful, find someone who has achieved the results you want and copy what they do and you’ll achieve the same results.

Collaborate To Dominate

Here’s a thought:

Why not turn what you perceive as competition into collaboration?

Affiliate marketers often think they must go at it alone, but that’s not the case.

Forming partnerships and alliances with other online marketers can help you reach a larger audience and diversify your income.

And there are all kinds of opportunities:

• Cross-promotion
• Joint venture
• Email swaps
• Guest blogging
• And more

Even something as simple as becoming part of a like-minded community can put you light years ahead of other affiliate marketers who think being an affiliate marketer is a one-man or woman show.

The concept is very simple: two heads (or more!) are better than one.

The Power Of SEO

Let’s not forget our trusty steed in the race of affiliate marketing – SEO, – Search Engine Marketing.

What’s the most popular four-letter word online? That word is “FREE”.

And in this case, that’s Free Website Traffic through SEO.

If you want to succeed online, and not just as an affiliate marketer you need to understand how SEO works.

Because with so many people (voices) vying for attention, it’s critical to have a robust SEO strategy to boost your visibility in the SERPs (search engine search results).

Your goal is to get as much of your content on the first page of Google.

But you also need an SEO strategy that works in today’s ever-changing marketing environment.

E.E.A.T – know what that is? That first “E” is one of many Google updates. It used to be just E.A.T.

Now E.E.A.T stands for:

• Experience
• Expertise
• Authoritativeness
• Trustworthiness.

And it’s not what a lot of people think it is. It’s not a ranking factor in Google’s ranking algorithm, it’s Google’s Search Quality Rater Guidelines.

And it’s how Google evaluates its search ranking systems to be sure they are providing helpful, relevant information.

And knowing this as a content creator you can now self-assess your own content making sure you are taking into consideration E.E.A.T in your content creation giving you the opportunity to be more successful in the SERPs (search engine results page).

Bottom line, Google loves valuable content, and so do readers. So give the people what they want.

RELATED: Learn How To Create Google Friendly Content And Create A Fulltime Online Income

Consistency Is Key

Affiliate marketing is a marathon, not a sprint.

It’s about consistently delivering value to your audience, building your brand, and refining your strategy.

Building a successful online affiliate marketing business requires time, effort, and patience.

I’m an active affiliate for several companies (niches). Last year in 2022 this is what I earned from one of those affiliate programs within the financial niche.

So is the effort worth it? You betcha!! But this did not happen overnight. I’ve been in this niche since 2013.

And if I didn’t put in the time and effort I would have missed out on this income.

Is Affiliate Marketing Easy?

Despite what you’ve been told, usually by some con artist that’s just after your money.

No Affiliate Marketing Is Not Inherently Easy!

The process of how affiliate marketing works is straightforward. If someone buys a product or service through your affiliate link you make money. A simple process.

But actually being an affiliate marketer, and doing what needs to be done as an affiliate marketer, is not easy.

And what makes it hard is as with anything new there is a learning curve. Plus, you have to wear a lot of different hats when you start as an affiliate marketer.

As for the learning curve, that curve can be a lot bigger for some people than it is for other people who have some experience online.

And for those where the curve is bigger, it’s because the concepts of affiliate marketing are totally new to them and they have limited if no online experience.

However, with access to online resources, tutorials, and courses, even being completely new to affiliate marketing you can gain the knowledge you need to succeed.

Despite what you may have heard succeeding as an affiliate marketer is NOT going to happen overnight.

It takes time, effort, and patience to build a successful affiliate marketing business.

In fact, it can take years to build an affiliate marketing business to the level where it is providing you with a full-time income. If that’s your end goal.

And this is where scammers are taking advantage of people’s nativity. They tell people that you can make life-changing money in the blink of an eye.

Well, if you know nothing about affiliate marketing, it’s no wonder so many people are getting scammed every day. So on the one hand you can’t blame these people.

But if these same people keep chasing this illusion of getting rich quick online, after a while they have no one to blame but themselves for getting repeatedly scammed.

Affiliate marketing is NOT a get-rich-quick scheme.

The Final Verdict

So, let’s revisit our original question: Is affiliate marketing oversaturated?

No, I feel it’s just maturing.

And with maturity comes competition, but also opportunity.

It’s no longer the wild west of the internet where anyone could strike gold. It’s now a dynamic, evolving field that requires strategy, creativity, and perseverance.

It’s not about finding a spot in the crowd anymore; it’s about standing out. And with the right approach, you can do just that, no matter how crowded the field might seem.

The question is, are you ready to seize the opportunities it offers?

Here’s The 4 Simple Steps To Build A Thriving Affiliate Marketing Business

I believe in you!
Leo

Of course, if you want to comment or have a question you can do that below. And if you found this article helpful feel free to share it with your audience.