Rakuten LinkShare: Strong Growth Opportunities in $4.5B Affiliate Marketing Industry

Rakuten LinkShare announced the results of a study it commissioned by Forrester Consulting on the direct and indirect value of affiliate marketing yesterday at the Rakuten LinkShare Symposium New York event.
The report, “Affiliate Marketing – The Direct and Indirect Value that Affiliates Deliver to Advertisers” explores how affiliate marketing sites are meeting the needs of today’s online shoppers while driving sales for online retailers.
Based on a forecast of the affiliate marketing industry and a survey of 526 U.S.-based online buyers, as well as in-depth interviews with advertisers and affiliates, the report uncovered the following key findings:

Affiliate marketing spend is on the rise and will keep pace with other areas of digital spend through 2016.
The affiliate channel produces new-to-file customers and generates incremental customer acquisition.
The affiliate channel attracts consumers who spend more than the average online shopper and are profitable for advertisers.
Affiliate marketing helps trigger brand reconsideration and often closes […]

See original post by Shawn Collins