In the five months that have passed into 2018, a lot of things are happening in the digital marketing world. For affiliate marketing especially, things have been shaking up as it continues to grow and evolve.

If you want to keep up with what’s hot, top and trending in the field of affiliate marketing, read on.

1. Go for the niche

In contrast to previous affiliate marketing strategies where everything is done on a catch-all approach, an upcoming strategy nowadays is to go for niches.

We recommend: 18 Experts on the Top Affiliate Marketing Trends in 2018

Affiliate marketers are more likely to go after smaller groups and better-targeted influencers, also due to increasing competition. With this strategy, affiliate marketers, especially new ones, can explore small group offerings and limited marketplace to establish their presence. Another advantage for niche markets is the higher possibility of becoming their primary provider.

2. Go for native ads

Ever saw an advertisement on your Instagram feed that doesn’t quite look like a display ad? Well, that’s native ad for you.

Whenever advertisements go with the look, style, tone or voice of the platform or channel they appear on, they are considered as native ads. Ads that pop in your Instagram feed, in your Instagram stories, in your Facebook feed, etc. are all native ads.

You might not have given much thought on these ads, but you should now. In fact, Business insider projects that native ads will provide an estimated 75 percent of all ad revenue in 2020.

The advantage of native ads is that people who see it will not perceive it as an ad. This is supported by research data that shows 53 percent of consumers look at native ads more frequently than display ads. Since it mimics the platform’s surrounding content, you can create more native ads that consumers will see and experience as they browse through their social media content.

If you want to check out how native ads are growing, read here.

3. Go for videos

Another form of content that stands out recently are videos, with it comprising the 90 percent of user shared content in 2017. Further, it is said that video content will make up 82 percent of the global internet traffic in 2020.

Now that’s a statistic you just cannot ignore if you want to pursue success in affiliate marketing.

From video tutorials, Facebook and Instagram Live, to mini-documentaries, product demos, and social media videos, these are all potential channels to reach your target audience. Imagine, any consumer who is engaged in a video he or she is watching might not be too aware that marketing is already integrated into the video.

Fresh news on video ads in our AdTech News Digest: Gumgum Video Ads Report

You might also want to consider tapping into augmented reality if it makes its way for a comeback. Whatever video format you will dabble on, always look at ways on pushing for engagement to enable you to reach your target users.

4. Go for SEO revolution

If you have been in the digital marketing field for long, you should know by now how Search Engine Optimization (SEO) does wonders for a website’s success.

But with all the changes happening in digital marketing, SEO tactics are also evolving to keep up with trends. Instead of just focusing on higher web rankings, the role of SEO now should be three-pronged: better content quality, links, and voice search.

• Content

Content has always been the boon of digital marketing. But quality content is the best of all. It will provide valuable information to your consumers and rank higher in web searches as well. Consequently, this will attract and entice more consumers. The idea is to produce relevant, good content that will allow you to convert traffic into sales.

• Voice Search

A fast-rising trend in searches, one-fifth of all web searches are now coming from this channel. If you want to catch on the trend, make sure that your content contains language-derived keywords that will connect with your target audience.

• Links
  Lastly, don’t forget to put in relevant links in your content! High-quality links include those that refer websites and other platforms that can enrich your audience’s knowledge about a product or service they are interested in.

5. Go for blockchain technology

Bitcoin and cryptocurrency have been such hypes recently. And there’s good reason to it! Before I expound on cryptocurrency’s impact on affiliate marketing, let’s do a short review on some cryptomania basics.

• Blockchain – this is very much similar to a database that has a record of all transactions with a value in the digital word. One might say that it’s a digital ledger of sorts. Its three selling points are: high-level protection, open access system, and fast speed data processing. Read more: What is Blockchain?
• Bitcoin – a currency that utilizes blockchain technology.

Now, how do cryptocurrency and the blockchain technology solve problems related to affiliate marketing? With transparency and decentralization as positive points for the blockchain tech, these can also be applied in affiliate marketing.

Affiliate marketing depends on a network that involves a lot of middlemen – from the brand, merchant, affiliate, and publisher. What can be lost in the system is a guarantee of a transaction fulfilled, whether that be the traffic you promised to deliver or the payment for the task.

With blockchain technology very much anchored on transparency, all transactions done are recorded. Are your sources true to you when declaring traffic produced? There’s the Basic Attention Token that can help resolve that. It measures the attention brands get from users, so you’re sure that traffic is measured by engagement. It’s not just about the number of people who watched a few seconds of your video ad, but rather how much engaged they were in watching your material. It’s quality traffic that is being measured here, and you will know that what you paid for really has value for your brand.

In the same manner, real leads and conversions are tracked accordingly with blockchain technology. When a user, who found his or her way to your brand via affiliate marketing, completes a purchase, the transaction is recorded in the digital ledger. Validation of the transaction is easier and accessible to the public.

While it may take some time for people to be onboard on cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, the fact that people are talking about it paves a hopeful road for affiliate marketing. Better be ahead of the curve, and leverage on this new technology.

The Takeaway: Integrate new market trends with your strategy

It is interesting to see how recent development is technology has changed the landscape of affiliate marketing. While the fundamental strategies still work, we can see that we are gradually shifting to a more sophisticated trend in affiliate marketing. It is critical to keep up with the trends and integrate these into your overall strategic plan in order to optimize your conversion rates.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of PropellerAds.