Partnerize Reveals Industry Benchmark Data With New Partnership Growth Index

Collective data from the Americas, EMEA, and APAC (including Australia) regions reported a year-over-year (YOY) average revenue increase of 66% for the week ending February 13th with the six-week trailing average increasing 80% (YOY).

The Partnership Growth Index™ represents the continued and global evolution of the Affiliate Marketing Sales Index previously introduced as the first index for the category under the acquired Pepperjam brand.

The regional indexes stand in strong support of the partnership channel and its growing position as a driving force for marketers to achieve omnipresence across their target audiences.

In recent years, marketers have desperately needed an alternative to primary marketing channels like Facebook, Instagram and Google, and it seems the partnership channel is stepping up to the plate. However, as marketers attempt to adapt to ensure front-of-mind awareness and omnipresence across the consumer journey by utilising these channels, they are hamstrung by ever-increasing Facebook CPMs and invalid PPC spend, further undermining the unit economics of their already struggling businesses.

It is therefore clear why savvy marketers have turned to the partnership channel to benefit from its dynamic nature and the promise of growing revenue faster than expenses through the operating leverage it permits.

How can the Partnership Growth Index™ aid understanding of affiliate marketing?

In the past, affiliate marketing has had a reputation (well deserved in some cases) that has prevented it from being considered as strategic as paid search, paid social, and programmatic display. Adding to that challenge, the legacy incumbents built a wall around their practices in an attempt to protect its old model.

However, as results of the new Partnership Growth Indices signal, the channel is transforming and brands are becoming more adept in their understanding of the partner ecosystem and the operating leverage it can provide and thus are investing more significantly because of the pay-for-outcome, not pay-for-access, results it produces. 

Matt Gilbert, CEO of Partnerize said: “The performance of the partnership channel through mid-February provides us with a positive outlook into 2021. Consumer buying habits are continually changing as we progress through the effects of the global pandemic.

“With more and more people utilizing the internet for their buying journey, the Partnership Growth Index ™ is an invaluable tool for marketers to lean on so they can take advantage of opportunities and trends as they arise. Not only do these reports offer great visibility in short-term performance, but also long-tail trends that can show a repeatable pattern of behavior and activity in the partnership channel that can be harnessed and used to create operating leverage within the marketer’s mix.”

The Partnership Growth Index™ measures same-store sales activity across all major industries, excluding travel, directly attributable to partnerships in 2021 in comparison to the same period in 2020. An analysis of brand performance on the Partnerize platform helps understand key trends including revenue, commission, conversion attributes and customer behavior. 

Access the Partnership Growth Indices here.