The recently released Affiliate Marketing Survey Report 2008 indicates that companies are shrinking their affiliate marketing budgets this year. The survey found that affiliate marketing made up only 14% of total marketing budgets in 2008, down from 17% in 2007. Despite this drop, companies in the survey indicated that affiliate marketing has been a very cost effective form of advertising for them. Additionally, More than one-third of companies surveyed reported that five or fewer affiliates are responsible for 80% or more of their affiliate sales. This statistic further shows how successful the larger affiliates have been.

While this trend is somewhat concerning for affiliate marketers, the news is certainly not all bad. Many of the companies surveyed still consider affiliate marketing as an important and very cost effective form of advertising. This will be an interesting trend to watch in the coming year.

Tags: affiliate marketing, budgets