Affiliate marketing emerges as answer to Amazon's rising ad costs

With competition intensifying, sponsored ad costs climbing, and organic ranking options narrowing, Amazon sellers are increasingly turning to affiliate marketing for external traffic.

Platform Levanta connects sellers with more than 8,000 vetted publishers, affiliates, and influencers, letting them set cost-per-sale or cost-per-click rates by product or creator. External traffic also earns an average 10 percent kickback through Amazon's brand referral program and tends to lift organic search rankings.

One case cited: lock brand LockStar tripled revenue in a competitive category, with 73 percent of sales attributed to Levanta affiliates and a 96 percent improvement in organic search rank.

The company is offering new customers 20 percent off its Gold plan for the first year as sellers look for returns beyond pricey sponsored campaigns.