Affiliate and partnership marketing activity is increasing in Australia, with 89 per cent of advertisers and agencies who use the channel flagging their intention to maintain or increase their investment over the coming year.
The data, which comes from the IAB Australia Affiliate and Partnership Marketing Report, also found that as the industry grows, marketers are looking for greater guidance on measurement, tracking, effectiveness, payment models and best practices.
More than 60 per cent of respondents reported that affiliate and partnership marketing will be even more important for their business in the current tough economic climate. They reported their main challenges are related to changes to Google’s search algorithm updates and general economic impacts on their marketing budgets.
The report, in its seventh year, is based on a survey of agencies, brands, publishers and affiliates. It will be released today at the annual IAB Australia Affiliate and Partnership Marketing Summit in Sydney.
Gai Le Roy, CEO of IAB Australia, commented: “As the affiliate and partnership marketing industry evolves and expands, we will continue to see greater measurement and scrutiny on the effectiveness of the increased investment. It is vital that as an industry we continue to develop best practice guidance and recommended practices to drive trust and transparency.”
Other key findings of the report include:
- While advertisers are using a wide range of different affiliate options, reward models and content promotion are considered the most valuable offerings. Content is the method used by the highest number of brands.
- Although there are moves by some platforms and brands towards a mixed payment model, commission paid on last click remains the primary attribution model, with 88 per cent of respondents always or often using this method. Just 23 per cent of respondents pay on custom attribution methods and 11 per cent on first click.
- Retail and fashion are the top two industries using affiliate and partnership marketing for both advertisers and publishers.
The IAB Affiliate Marketing Working Group has developed a range of resources to provide guidance to marketers and agencies including Affiliate Marketing Knowledge Series, Guide to Tracking Affiliate Partnerships, Commission Validation: Recommended Practices, and Navigating Affiliate Marketing Attribution in Google Analytics 4.
Additional compliance and transparency guidelines will be released by the group this year.
The report was designed and conducted in March 2025 by the IAB Australia Affiliate Marketing Working Group to explore experiences and plans from both sides of the industry – the agencies and advertisers, as well as affiliate publishers and partners. Responses were gathered from 74 industry participants who operate affiliate marketing programs in Australia, and 66 publisher or partner industry participants.
The Affiliate and Partnership Marketing Group includes representatives from Afterpay, Are Media, Cashrewards, Commission Factory, impact.com, News Corp Australia, Partnerize, Rakuten, Skimlinks, Silverbean, Future and neguin.digital.
