Welcome to part two of our alternative 2025 affiliate marketing trends.
We’re doing something different, asking the Affiliate and Partner Marketing Association (APMA) members a few leftfield questions instead.
We hope to spark fresh ideas rather than just asking the classic question of ‘What’s going to be hot in 2025?’.
Here’s part two of our alternative affiliate marketing trends. We hope you enjoy the answers as much as we did, and they trigger some alternative perspectives you haven’t considered.
We ask James Miller (JM) from Valuedynamx, Rosalyn Berrisford (RB) from Awin, Acceleration Partner’s Stephanie Lester (SL) and Dave Ayre (DA) from Intent.ly for their views.
What will affiliate marketing’s biggest headline in December 2025 be?
JM: Creators Dominate Affiliate Marketing this Festive Season as Platforms Pivot to Creator-Led Commerce.
RB: Labour’s new bill fixes Consent issues in the Affiliate Channel for good.
DA: AI-Driven Affiliate Campaigns Dominate the Industry. Throughout 2024, there was significant discussion about AI, highlighted by a key speaker at CJU this year. While historically, trends in the affiliate industry—such as the “year of mobile”—have taken years to implement fully, innovation has improved significantly over time. I am optimistic that AI adoption will be much faster. It would be fantastic if the affiliate industry could lead in this space, enabling brands to use it as a platform for testing and learning.
SL: Seamless Conversion Tracking for Social Networks. In 2025, platforms like TikTok and Meta will enhance creator tools by integrating affiliate network/SaaS tracking, enabling effortless conversion measurement and boosting performance-based collaborations
What affiliate marketing trends or tech will change the way you do your job the most next year?
JM: Dynamic Offer Optimisation. AI will enable affiliate links to adjust offers dynamically based on individual user behaviour, preferences, and browsing history, creating a hyper-personalised and rewarding shopping experience.
RB: Using server-to-server integrations and APIs to work closer with clients & technical teams to automate many of the current manual processes we have in place (such as amends & exchanges).
DA: AI and Big Data Capabilities AI will be transformative for both me personally and our business. In a data-rich environment where billions of data points are at play, the ability to analyse this data quickly and in real-time will drive impactful decisions for clients. This shift has the potential to revolutionise not only my role but the operations of our company as a whole.
What’s a challenge in affiliate marketing no one’s talking about—but should be?
JM: Affiliate dependency on platform algorithms creates vulnerability to sudden revenue drops. As affiliates rely heavily on platforms like Google, Instagram, TikTok, or Amazon, third-party algorithm changes can drastically affect visibility, traffic, and earnings. Many overlook the need to diversify traffic sources and build resilient, direct audience connections.
RB: We aren’t trusted or valued enough at C-suite level when it comes to some sectors. The challenge is how we educate and excite companies at a senior level and make them feel like they want to spend more in our channel
Are we at the end of free information funded by advertising? More and more media is being put behind pay walls, which could mean that all media is consumed through services that are designed to be highly controlled and maybe without open advertising solutions like affiliate marketing. The rise of super apps like TikTok that provide content, advertising, and e-commerce in one place will likely grow this. App time growth will reduce web browser usage and will change affiliate marketing mixes. Answer-based search through AI will change how people rely on content to find stuff online.
DA: Increasing Revenue Pressures on Publishers. A declining metric that deserves more attention is ePC (earnings per click). Over time, publishers in the affiliate space are facing multiple revenue challenges:
– Downward Adjustments in Commission Structures: These changes are tied to advertisers’ budget constraints.
– Declining Average Order Values (AOVs): Economic factors have driven product prices down.
– Economic Pressures: Issues such as credit crunches have reduced consumer demand.
At the same time, the rising costs of doing business continue to tighten margins, leaving publishers with less capacity to innovate beyond their core activities.
In 10 words or fewer, predict the most surprising development in 2025?
JM: AI influencers become top-performing affiliates, bypassing human creators entirely.
RB: ‘Top 20 UK brands all launch ‘publisher’ propositions…..’ (as part of the unstoppable rise of performance-tracked Brand Partnerships)
DA: ‘Affiliate Marketing Adapts to Cookieless World with First-Party Data Innovation’. This prediction may be controversial, as the industry has been slow to respond to the longstanding warnings about third-party cookie deprecation. While efforts like Awin’s fair tracking initiatives are steps in the right direction, achieving industry-wide adaptation within 12 months would be a major surprise. I hope to be proven wrong!
What’s your wildest prediction for affiliate marketing next year (go rogue!)?
JM: Affiliate marketing will start its journey to full autonomy — AI-powered bots will create content, manage campaigns, optimise ads in real-time, and even negotiate deals directly with brands, sidelining human affiliates entirely.
RB: Kendrick Lamar writes a diss track about sub-networks rogue bidding. (Note from editor: I had to look up who Kendrick Lamar is).
SL: Voice Search Optimization (VSO): In 2025, VSO will emerge as a pivotal focus for brands. This marketing tactic will gain traction and brands will be able to unlock new affiliate opportunities by optimising for voice-driven search behaviours and engaging consumers through innovative, hands-free interactions
DA: Explosive Growth of the Virtual Reality Affiliate Sector. The rapid advancements in VR and XR have positioned these technologies as game-changers for affiliate marketing. Affiliates are uniquely equipped to trial emerging technologies, offering solutions such as VR storefronts or experiential malls. In these environments, affiliates could earn based on engagement metrics like time spent, actions taken, or direct purchases. This sector could set new standards for innovation within the affiliate ecosystem.
Want more? Don’t forget to read part one of our affiliate marketing trends for 2025.
Read more about 2024 affiliate marketing trends and how publishers and brands feel about the channel in 2025. Download our FREE 75-page report:
