9 Affiliate Marketing Trends for 2026
- January 12, 2025
The affiliate marketing trends for 2026 are artificial intelligence, automation, micro-influencers, live shopping, the power of data, mobile-friendly experiences, social media, and more. Of course, three years ago, being a successful affiliate was relatively simple: pick a niche, rank a blog, write reviews, add links. The game was slow, but predictable.
Today? The market is moving so fast that what worked six months ago is no longer relevant. And it’s not that affiliate marketing is dying. It’s the exact opposite. It’s evolving so radically that many people are still playing by the old rules
Affiliate marketing trends for 2026
At Commizzion, we know the affiliate marketing world evolves and brings both challenges and growth opportunities. That’s why we’re bringing you 9 affiliate marketing trends for 2026. Let’s dive in.
1. Micro-influencers or “small creators”
Picture this: someone with 45,000 Instagram followers posting fitness product reviews. Their posts generate more verifiable sales than a celebrity with 2 million followers. That’s not an anecdote. That’s what’s happening right now.
Creators with audiences between 10,000 and 100,000 are earning engagement rates macro-influencers simply can’t match. Why? These creators still have real conversations with their community. They’re not so distant that the audience feels like a number.
For brands, this means that instead of paying huge amounts to one celebrity, they can work with five or six micro-influencers and get better results. For affiliates, this matters. You don’t need to reach an untouchable celebrity. You need to find the right 50 local creators in your niche.
2. Niches where you actually make money
This is where most people get it wrong. Spending energy on niches that pay 2–3% commission is inefficient. The real money is in specific sectors.
SaaS is the undisputed king. Commissions range from 20% to 70%. If you’re promoting software—especially B2B tools—each new customer can mean hundreds of dollars in monthly commission. The sector is growing because the subscription model supports it.
Health and wellness is projected to reach 6.73 billion by 2027, with annual growth of 9.61%. Commissions vary between 3% and 20%, but search volume is massive. Thousands of people are looking for supplements, equipment, and services.
In general retail, e-commerce represents 16% of all online sales in the U.S. and Canada driven by affiliates. Pure retail dominates with 48% of total sales. But within these niches, there are layers where you earn more.
Telecommunications accounts for 19% of the market. Finance and banking 8%, but with huge transaction values. Travel and hospitality 13%, often with commissions higher than retail.
Also, the iGaming market is gaining strength with the use of cryptocurrencies and operator campaigns, making it one of the most profitable affiliate marketing niches. Looking for an iGaming affiliate marketing platform? With Commizzion you can have affiliates and earn commissions easily. Sign up today!
3. Priority on mobile-friendly and social media
Here’s the kind of number that would make you rethink everything if you saw it on a dashboard: 62% of all affiliate-generated traffic comes from mobile.
It’s not that it “should be mobile-friendly.” It’s that almost two-thirds of your potential income depends on how your content looks on an iPhone.
But it goes deeper. 50% of Gen Z and Millennials now use social media as their primary product search engine. Not search engines—social networks. For example, TikTok has 1.5 billion active users, with 40% between 16 and 24 years old. Instagram Shopping is growing 30% in annual transactions.
The question isn’t “should I be on TikTok?” It’s “why am I not optimizing specifically for TikTok yet?”
4. Artificial intelligence and automation
When you hear “AI in affiliate marketing,” you probably think of bots generating content. That’s just the surface.
What’s really happening is much more sophisticated. AI tools can now predict exactly which user is most likely to buy a specific product. That’s not guessing—it’s behavior pattern analysis at massive scale.
That means when an affiliate publishes an article, the platform can show that article specifically to the people most likely to convert. It’s like having a salesperson who knows who will buy before they even enter your site.
The other side is automation. Budgets adjust themselves. Campaigns optimize automatically. Bids change in real time. An affiliate who does this manually is competing with both hands tied behind their back.
5. The power of live shopping
Live shopping isn’t a fad. It’s a quiet revolution most affiliates still haven’t understood.
Imagine a creator streaming on TikTok Live showing a product. While they talk and answer questions, affiliate links are integrated. People buy while watching. It’s not “watch later and maybe buy.” It’s real-time purchase impulse.
Then there are more sophisticated experiences: virtual try-ons using AR. Friendly quizzes that recommend exactly what to buy based on your answers. Videos where you can tap a product and buy it without leaving TikTok or Instagram.
Social commerce (the mix of social networks + e-commerce) is projected to surpass one trillion dollars in 2028. That’s not a random number. It’s money migrating from traditional e-commerce to integrated social experiences.
6. Where the market is growing (spoiler: not where you think)
North America is still the largest market with more than 40% of global revenue. But it’s saturated: hundreds of thousands of affiliates competing, high CPCs, and harder conversions.
Latin America is different. E-commerce is growing at 20% per year. That means the market roughly doubles each year. There’s less affiliate competition, less saturation, and increasingly larger audiences.
Asia-Pacific will hold 40% of global retail growth by 2028 (it was 37% in 2023). Growth is fast. And affiliate strategies there are completely different: more focus on local influencers, culturally specific content, and different buying dynamics.
The point: if you have access to emerging markets, you have an advantage—less competition, more growth, less saturation.
7. The budget paradox
Here’s something ironic: affiliate marketing generates a $6.50 return for every dollar invested. That ROI beats almost any other channel.
More than 81% of marketers use it. 50% of brands in the UK increased budgets. But only 7% of marketing managers have made affiliate marketing their top priority.
What does this mean? There’s a gap between what works (affiliate marketing) and where the money is going (other channels). As this gets corrected, affiliate budgets will grow significantly.
In other words, we’re in a moment where the industry recognizes affiliate marketing works, but it still hasn’t allocated the budget it should. That’s a temporary advantage for those who enter now.
8. Data became your real currency
Here’s what nobody wants to hear but everyone needs to know: Google is eliminating third-party cookies. Cross-site tracking is disappearing. Privacy is real now.
Affiliates who depended entirely on third-party data are in trouble. The ones winning now built their own email lists, their own audiences, their own PR and relationships.
That means: content so good people want to subscribe. Newsletters with real engagement. Communities where you have direct contact with your audience. It’s not glamorous, but when third-party data disappears completely, direct relationships will be the only thing that matters.
9. Industry math in 2026
The global affiliate marketing industry reached 18.5 billion in 2024. It’s expected to grow 8% annually until it surpasses 31 billion in 2031. That’s consistent growth.
Data points to note:
- U.S. spend will reach 16 billion in 2028.
- In the UK, affiliate marketing spend grew 17% between 2022 and 2023.
- Europe will grow 6.5% annually. Asia-Pacific 10% annually.
When you see these numbers together, you’re looking at an industry that isn’t cyclical. It doesn’t depend on a trend. It’s a fundamental marketing channel rooted in how people buy today.
What do the 2026 trends mean for affiliate marketing?
If all this makes sense but you don’t know where to start, here are tips to get the most out of affiliate marketing trends:
- Identify which market gives you an advantage (U.S., emerging, etc.) and where it’s less saturated.
- Choose a niche where conversion value justifies the effort. Don’t chase volume—chase money per conversion.
- Build content for where traffic is: mobile, social networks, TikTok, Instagram. Not blogs. That was 2015.
- Experiment with high-engagement formats: live shopping, quizzes, shoppable content. Not only static articles.
- Start building your own audience now. Don’t rely only on platforms. Email, communities, direct relationships.
Affiliate marketing isn’t disappearing. It’s changing. And in 2026, the people who understand the shift will win. Don’t get left behind.
