The Amazon Affiliate Gold Rush: How Smart Brands Are Winning in 2025

Amazon affiliate marketing has evolved from a niche experiment into one of the most powerful growth channels available to brands today. As the Amazon marketplace continues to mature, affiliate marketing has become a strategic pillar for driving reach, credibility, and revenue—especially when executed with precision.

Understanding Amazon Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing operates on a Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) model, where brands reward publishers, influencers, and creators with commissions for driving verified sales. Once viewed skeptically, the affiliate ecosystem has transformed over the last decade into a trusted and scalable performance channel.

Nearly every major media outlet and retailer now integrates affiliate marketing into their business model. At the same time, influencers and creators see it as a core income stream. Even high-profile personalities, from lifestyle bloggers to celebrities like Meghan Markle, have entered the affiliate space—proof of how mainstream the model has become.

A Brief History of Amazon Associates

Launched in 1996, Amazon Associates is one of the oldest and most enduring affiliate programs on the internet. It allows publishers and creators to earn commissions—typically around 3–5%—on almost any product sold on Amazon.

While the commission rates and 24-hour attribution window are shorter than many retail programs, Amazon’s massive product selection and industry-leading conversion rates make it incredibly attractive to affiliates.

High-performing creators can also receive custom rate cards, unlocking higher commission tiers and additional perks.

The Rise of Direct Affiliate Partnerships

Over the past few years, a powerful trend has emerged: direct affiliate partnerships between brands and creators. Originally pioneered by Amazon aggregators like Thrasio and Perch, this strategy has now been widely adopted by brands and newer affiliate platforms such as Levanta and PartnerBoost.

The concept is simple but effective: brands offer creators extra commissions to promote their Amazon listings—on top of what they’d already earn via the Amazon Associates program.

For example, if every affiliate earns ~3% through Amazon Associates, you can make your product far more appealing by offering an additional 12%—bringing the total to 15%. That incentive helps your product stand out among hundreds of similar listings.

Amazon has officially embraced this strategy through its Creator Connections program. Adoption has exploded—from roughly 30,000 campaigns in January 2025 to over 125,000 by April 2025.

Who Are Amazon Affiliates?

Amazon affiliates come in many forms, each bringing a unique value proposition. Here are the most common cohorts:

1. Content Publishers

Media outlets covering news, entertainment, or lifestyle topics often have affiliate-driven shopping sections. Examples include People Magazine, Cosmopolitan, Food & Wine, NBC News, and Travel & Leisure.

2. Product Reviewers

Trusted review sites such as NYT Wirecutter, Consumer Reports, and Best Products test products and provide unbiased recommendations—often driving significant affiliate traffic.

3. Enthusiast Media

Niche sites focused on hobbies or interests, like GearJunkie, The Points Guy, or Apartment Therapy, can generate strong conversions within passionate communities.

4. Media Buyers

These affiliates specialize in performance-based traffic, often running paid campaigns to drive conversions. While lesser-known, they deliver consistent results and respond quickly to commission boosts. Examples include LoveToKnow and Buyer’s Guide.

5. Deal Sites

Platforms like Slickdeals, Hip2Save, and DealNews drive huge sales spikes during promotional events such as Prime Day or Black Friday by spotlighting limited-time offers.

6. Amazon Influencers

Participants in Amazon’s Influencer Program run storefronts and create shoppable videos both on and off Amazon. While many exist, only a subset drive substantial sales. Still, their content can enhance your product pages—Amazon reports that listings with video see 22% more sales globally than those without.

7. Deal Groups

Large Facebook communities such as Loved By Jen or Save and Share Deals collectively share Amazon discounts and limited offers—some reaching hundreds of thousands of members.

Why Invest in Amazon Affiliate Marketing?

✅ Social Proof

Consumers trust recommendations from influencers and media outlets more than anonymous reviews.

💸 Cost-Effective & Low-Risk

You pay only for confirmed sales, allowing brands to maintain profitability on every affiliate-driven order.

🚀 Incremental Growth

Affiliate traffic comes primarily from off-Amazon sources, meaning it complements rather than cannibalizes your Amazon Ads or SEO.

🌍 Diversified Traffic

Affiliates tap into unique audiences—email subscribers, social followers, or loyal readers—that you couldn’t access otherwise.

📈 SEO & AI Boost

High-quality affiliate backlinks improve your organic Amazon ranking and visibility across AI-driven product discovery tools like ChatGPT or Perplexity.

Which Brands Benefit Most?

Affiliate marketing is performance-based, so nearly every Amazon brand can benefit. Still, some categories excel more than others:

1. High-Intent, Research-Driven Products

These include skincare, electronics, or home appliances—items customers research before buying. Affiliates help influence those early discovery moments.

2. Low-Intent, Impulse-Driven Products

Think “#TikTokMadeMeBuyIt” products—clever, low-cost items that need exposure through creators or viral media. Affiliates help these brands reach audiences who wouldn’t find them via Amazon search alone.

Evolution of Third-Party Affiliate Platforms

In recent years, several third-party platforms built on the Amazon Attribution API allowed brands to launch affiliate programs outside of Amazon Associates. These offered:

• Better analytics: Add-to-cart and new-to-brand data

• Brand Referral Bonus: FBA brands earned ~10% back on tracked sales

• Dual tracking: Publishers could earn commissions from both Attribution and Associates links

However, a major policy update in December 2024 ended “double-dipping.” Publishers must now choose either Attribution or Associates tags, leading most large affiliates to stick with Amazon Associates due to existing relationships and better rates.

Amazon Creator Connections: The New Standard

Amazon’s Creator Connections has quickly become the go-to marketplace for direct brand-creator partnerships.

Advantages:

• Access to top publishers and influencers already familiar with the Associates ecosystem

• Fully CPA-based (brands pay only for confirmed sales)

• Detailed campaign briefs help communicate brand messages

• Trusted payment and reporting infrastructure

Challenges:

• Limited control over which affiliates join a campaign

• Uniform commission rates—no ability to offer tiered or custom deals

• Minimal tools for in-platform communication or media tracking

• Highly competitive: over 100,000+ active campaigns with no native discovery boost

The Bottom Line

Affiliate marketing on Amazon has entered a new era of sophistication. The lines between influencer, publisher, and affiliate continue to blur, and smart brands are capitalizing on this convergence to drive massive reach and credibility.

Whether you’re a legacy brand or an emerging private label seller, building a strong affiliate foundation today can help future-proof your Amazon growth strategy for years to come.