Unlocking affiliate growth by using influencers
Author:
Categorised In:
Share:
It can seem confusing differentiating between Affiliate Marketing and Influencer Marketing. Nowadays, we see these strategies going hand in hand, not only maximising your brand reach to new, engaged audiences, but delivering measurable and continuous results from Influencers through a commission based structure.
When done well, brands can expect to see a creative, performance-driven UGC campaign that, on average, generates a $5.20 ROI for every dollar spent.
Affiliate influencer marketing is more prevalent in the US, so the majority of the stats below are based on this market. However, Awin noted a 75% increase in affiliate influencers based in the UK from November 2023 – April 2024, further solidifying the rapid growth globally of this channel.
If you’re interested in learning more about how affiliate influencer marketing can boost your brand, get in touch with our Embryo experts.
What is affiliate influencer marketing?
Affiliate influencer marketing allows the perfect combination of using a creator’s authenticity and trust they’ve established with their audience, and driving cost-effective, high-value traffic and conversions for a brand. This is all tracked through unique tracking links and/or discount codes supplied to the influencer who earns a commission for each sale, encouraging these creators to focus on quality and performance, as it will directly impact their potential earnings.
Understanding affiliate influencers
There’s a vast range of affiliate influencers types, typically these are broken down into audience reach.
Types of Influencers:
- Nano-influencers: 1K–10K followers
- Micro-influencers: 10K–50K follower
- Macro-influencers: 50K–500K followers
- Mega-influencers: 500K+ followers
While it may seem like partnering with a large creator is the best strategy for driving engagement and conversions, Nano-influencers achieved an average engagement rate of 1.73% in 2024, compared to 0.61% for Macro-influences and 0.68% for Mega-influences. Reflecting that smaller, more personal creators form a stronger community of trust with their audiences.
Focusing on creators that have established their presence in a niche market has proven crucial to conversion rates, with specific content-led Mirco influencers driving a 22% increase vs, their generalised courter-parts. This solidifies the importance of strategically partnering with influencers that echo your brand’s goals and genuinely value your product or service, over mass, low-value traffic.
The rise of affiliate influencer marketing
Since 2019, the influencer affiliate marketing industry has seen a robust growth of 35% YoY, while budget allocations to traditional Influencer marketing fell 10.2% YoY. Now, this isn’t to say influencer marketing isn’t still highly effective, with 80% of marketers who featured in the Influencer Marketing Hub’s 2025 Benchmark Report stating the ongoing success of the strategy. The shift in budget is mainly due to marketers focusing on smaller, more targeted campaigns, which aligns with the growth of affiliate influencer marketing as a whole, and Nano-influencers driving greater performance on average.
Influencers are also feeling the benefits of inserting affiliate links into their content. Posts with influencer affiliate links have a 12% higher engagement rate than regular influencer posts. According to Adobe Analytics, products promoted through affiliate links were six times more likely to result in a purchase compared to those without such links, highlighting the significant impact of affiliate influencer marketing on customer purchasing decisions.
Benefits of working with affiliate influencers
So, what are some of the benefits of working with Affiliate Influencers?
Cost-effective
Affiliate influencer marketing is gaining ground, and for good reason. Instead of paying creators upfront with no guaranteed performance, brands can now work with influencers who earn commission based on what they actually sell. It’s a setup that works well for both sides: influencers have more control over how they earn, and brands get real-time, trackable results.
This long-term type of partnership is becoming the norm for creators, with 60% of influencers preferring an ongoing relationship with brands, rather than a one-off deal. This commission-led strategy isn’t to say that traditional gifting for creators is null and void, as this can complement the creators content and lead to even better conversions. A 2025 affiliate influencer marketing insight claimed 54% of consumers will purchase a product if an influencer has positively reviewed it. This means gifting to your top creators (so you can be confident in strong performance based on previous data) could mean the difference between converting a customer or endlessly sitting in the check out basket.
Authentic promotion
The sharp rise in customers relying on creators for their product insights, rather than traditional ads, is because inherently, people trust people. A 2025 IZEA report states that 77% of social media users prefer influencer content over traditional ads, and that’s why the creative and often interactive nature of affiliate influencers really shine. Since, typically, they’ll only earn commission when their customers actually buy, they’re more likely to promote things they value and are interested in, and this shows in their content. According to Edelman, 63% of consumers trust what influencers say about brands more than what the brand says about itself. And when that recommendation feels real, as it often is, it leads to better engagement and more conversions.
Targeted reach
Working with affiliate influencers and utilising the (sometimes scarily accurate) algorithms of modern day social media, means you target the people who are already interested in your, or your competitors’ products. Whether it’s fitness, fashion, tech, or home and garden, which has soared YoY with a growth rate of 209.72%! Creators usually have specific audiences that brands can tap into. Micro-influencers, in particular, tend to see 60% higher engagement rates than bigger accounts. This makes them perfect for getting your product in front of the right crowd and maximising ROI.
For an even more focussed approach, aim to target influencers close to home. It’s been discovered that local influencers (influencing a specific region or city) have a 30% higher conversion rate for local brands than global influencers. This reinforces that trust factor, with customers usually more likely to interact with people who sound like them and tend to value their opinion more, rather than somebody they can’t feel a connection with.
Scalability
Affiliate marketing makes it much easier to test and grow, as the risk of loss is largely reduced. Because it’s performance-based and you’re not locked into big fees, you can start small with a few creators and scale up based on what works. This is clear for many brands, as they are working with 33% more micro-influencers each year, keeping costs low with smaller creators and being able to trial what truly works to engage and convert audiences, then building upon that. This works across multiple different social media outlets, such as TikTok, Instagram and Youtube. These channels have become the modern day ‘window shopping’ for consumers, with 86% of respondents in IZEA’s report stating they search for product information on social media, and 77% have made purchases directly through these platforms.
Challenges and considerations to affiliate influencer marketing
At this point you’re probably thinking, this is too good to be true, what aren’t you telling us about this seemingly foolproof marketing strategy? There are some considerations needed when launching, or sustaining your affiliate influencer marketing strategies, such as:
Influencer alignment
As I’ve screamed from the roof tops, working with an influencer with a huge reach doesn’t automatically mean they’re the right fit, it’s about ensuring their values and audience align with your brand. For example, partnering with a global beauty influencer to promote golf clubs would probably be a swing and a miss, whereas targeting a niche golf creator would create an impact 10 fold. TechTarget’s article on influencer challenges state, one of the biggest difficulties in influencer marketing is “finding the right influencers,” emphasising the importance of alignment in successful campaigns.
Commission rates
Affiliate partnerships often operate on a commission basis, typically ranging from 5% to 30% of the sale value, depending on the industry. While this performance-based model benefits brands, it may not always provide sufficient incentives for influencers, especially if the commission rates are on the lower end. Without any guarantee of payment for their work, creators may focus their time and resources on other projects that come with a confirmed paycheck. In a collaborative study by Ipsos and CreatorIQ, 47% of creators were dissatisfied with their affiliate income, meaning they may search for other opportunities to bridge the gap.
Tracking and attribution
Tracking performance in affiliate influencer campaigns isn’t always straightforward. When influencers post across different platforms, it can be more difficult to pinpoint exactly where a sale actually came from. Even with affiliate links in place, there are more and more restrictions coming into play. Things like ad blockers, which 42% of customers claim to use, expired cookies, or people switching devices before they buy can all result in problems accurately tracking. That means brands don’t always get the full picture of what’s working, and influencers don’t always get the credit they deserve.
It’s becoming a common problem, with 28% of marketers saying measuring ROI from influencers is still one of their biggest challenges Tools like multi-touch attribution and platform-level integrations are helping, but it’s still very much a work in progress.
Market saturation
Affiliate influencer marketing is more popular than ever, which is great, but it also means the space is getting crowded. In 2024, over 50 million people worldwide identified as creators across platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, with this is expected to grow 10% to 20% annually. This huge burst of content means audiences are constantly being marketed to, and as a result, it’s harder for brands to break through the noise.
Best practices for successful affiliate influencer campaigns
The effectiveness of an affiliate influencer marketing campaign is driven by a few factors, so to wrap up, let’s run through the best way to ensure you’re set up for success.
Start with clear communication
Discuss the basics of your partnership, how commission works, what tracking is in place, timelines, and content expectations. Being upfront builds trust and sets the tone for a smooth, ongoing relationship.
Give creators what they need
The best performing content feels natural, but giving your partners some guidance is always appreciated, and ensures your content goals are aligned. Provide product info, creative guidelines, and brand assets, but don’t be overbearing! The content will appear inauthentic, and audiences will spot that from a mile off.
Track what’s working and what’s not
Use affiliate dashboards and campaign analytics to keep an eye on performance. Reach is important, but focus on other metrics like clicks, transactions and engagement. This data is your best friend in understanding how to optimise a brilliant campaign, or when it’s time to try something new if results aren’t as expected.
Long-term partnerships are key
Long-term relationships drive better results than single use campaigns because the promotion becomes part of the creator’s regular content. It also gives influencers time to potentially become linked to your brand, so when their audiences watch their content they think of your brand naturally, even in unaffiliated posts.
Match the right content to the right platform
Platform choice is vital and can make or break a campaign. Instagram is still the most used channel for influencer marketing with 72% of influencers using it, thanks to its clear format and huge loyal user base.
But TikTok is quickly becoming a standout, especially for affiliate links. Engagement on TikTok affiliate content averages 5.2%, which is 160% higher than Instagram. Even crazier, smaller creators with under 50K followers have engagement rates 30.1%—1,570% higher than similar creators on Instagram! So testing which platform is right for you is key in your campaigns.
Conclusion
Feeling influenced and want to launch your own Affiliate Influencer campaign?
The Embryo affiliates team have valuable insights and experiences working with influencer affiliates through many channels in various sectors. This, supported by our wider, award-winning paid social team, ensures your campaigns and strategies are in good hands. So, if you’re eager to jumpstart your affiliate influencer journey or want to optimise your current strategy, get in touch by phone at 0161 327 2635 or email info@embryo.com
