The world of online affiliate marketing has been dominated by men since the dawn of the industry, but according to new research, that is all about to change. Research from Optimus Performance Marketing found that nearly half of all female website owners will be looking to implement some sort of affiliate or performance marketing into their websites in the near future.
The survey was given to 632 female and 589 male website owners. 86% of those surveyed reported that they had at least a basic understanding of how affiliate marketing worked (even if they had never used it). Of the men, 14% reported that they had used this type of marketing, and only 6% of women have even experimented with it.
Optimus Performance Marketing’s managing director, Mark Russell, said “At present, the affiliate sector being largely male dominated; it is hard to see why affiliate marketing hasn’t yet managed to strike a chord with more female bloggers and professionals. Yet our study highlights that, in the future, more women are gearing up to take the plunge into the affiliate world.”
This comes from the fact that 24% of females in the survey reported that they would be implementing some sort of affiliate marketing into their overall strategies in the next five years. If these ladies follow through, that would mean that the percentage of women in the affiliate marketing world could rocket up by up to 400% over the next five years, with much of that growth likely taking place sooner rather than later.
When asked why website owners were considering adding affiliate marketing to their sites, 41% sa id it was because they are looking to earn extra money. 34% reported that they wanted to add affiliate products because they felt they would fit in well with their site, and 18% thought it would provide them with better content for their site visitors.
