AI & Affiliate Marketing in 2025: What’s Working (and What’s Dead)

By Dan Meadors & Dylan Frost, The Wholesale Formula

For more than a decade, we’ve been teaching people how to build successful businesses online. Most of you know us for Amazon wholesale — a model that helped us generate over $40 million in sales and has changed thousands of lives.

But here’s something we don’t talk about enough: Amazon FBA isn’t the only way to create financial freedom. We’re always on the lookout for new opportunities, and one that continues to prove itself year after year is affiliate marketing.

In fact, we’d argue affiliate marketing and Amazon FBA are perfect complements. Both allow you to build businesses without having to invent a product from scratch, deal with patents, or carry huge startup risks. Both reward consistency and smart systems. And in 2025, affiliate marketing is thriving — but only for those who adapt to the new rules of the game.

The old “throw up a bunch of review posts and drop Amazon affiliate links everywhere” approach doesn’t cut it anymore. AI has completely rewritten the playbook. But don’t let that scare you. The marketers who understand how to use AI strategically — not as a crutch — are seeing bigger opportunities than ever before.

Today we’re going to show you:

What’s working in affiliate marketing in 2025
What strategies you should avoid at all costs
How to future-proof your business in the AI age
And the exact next steps you can take this week

The AI Shakeup in Affiliate Marketing

AI has impacted affiliate marketing in the same way it’s impacted almost every other corner of the online world: it’s raised the bar.

On one side, AI made it easier than ever for everyday entrepreneurs to create content, run ads, and automate campaigns. A solo marketer with a laptop and the right tools can now achieve what used to require an entire team.

On the other side, AI also caused a flood of junk. Low-value, cookie-cutter affiliate content now fills the internet. Search engines and social platforms responded the only way they could: by tightening the rules.

Google’s 2024–2025 updates, for example, were brutal on “thin” content. Facebook, TikTok, and other platforms now deploy AI systems that flag and suppress obvious affiliate spam in real time.

The result?

Lazy marketers who churn out mass-produced AI reviews are disappearing.
Marketers who mix AI efficiency with human insight and authenticity are thriving.

The game didn’t end. It just changed.

What’s Working in 2025

Here’s where the winners are focusing their energy:

1. High-Quality AI-Assisted Content

The days of asking AI to spit out a “Top 10 Products” post and hitting publish are gone. What works now is AI-assisted content with real human perspective.

How the pros are doing it:

Use AI for research, outlines, and first drafts.
Layer in your personal experience — test products, share results, and give honest opinions.
Present information in formats that build authority: tutorials, case studies, or side-by-side comparisons.

Think of AI as your assistant, not your replacement.

2. Smarter Email Marketing With AI Segmentation

Affiliate marketing has always relied on email. But today, it’s all about personalization.

AI makes it simple to:

Track subscriber behavior automatically.
Segment lists based on what links people click.
Trigger follow-up sequences that feel personal and relevant.

For example:

A subscriber clicks a link about Facebook ads.
AI tags them and moves them into a sequence about ad tools and trainings.
If they buy, they shift into a “buyers” list for higher-ticket offers.
If they don’t engage, AI automatically moves them into a re-engagement track.

That kind of dynamic targeting used to take a tech team. Now, anyone can do it.

3. AI-Powered Ad Creatives

Running ads for affiliate offers used to be expensive and slow. With tools like AdCreative.ai, you can generate dozens of ad images, headlines, and copy variations in minutes.

The secret? Testing at scale.

Create multiple versions of images, headlines, and calls to action.
Let the platform’s AI automatically combine and test them.
Quickly double down on what works.

This turns paid traffic into a faster, smarter growth channel.

4. Repurposing Content With AI

Affiliate marketers no longer have to start from scratch for each platform.

A single blog post can be:

Turned into a YouTube video script.
Summarized into an email newsletter.
Split into a Twitter thread.
Redesigned into a Pinterest pin or Instagram carousel.

AI makes this process almost instant. One piece of content now fuels your entire funnel.

5. Partnering With AI-Savvy Creators

Here’s an overlooked opportunity: teaming up with creators who know how to use AI but don’t know how to monetize.

They can generate quality content and attract an audience. You can bring affiliate partnerships, offers, and monetization strategies. Together, you share in the profits.

It’s a collaboration model that’s exploding in 2025.

What’s Dead (And Should Be Left Behind)

Just as important as knowing what works is knowing what to avoid. These approaches no longer get results:

Thin AI-Spun Blogs
Google is wiping out content that lacks genuine insights or personal stories. AI alone isn’t enough.
Spray-and-Pray Email Blasts
Sending one generic affiliate email to your entire list now lands you in spam folders — fast.
Spammy Social Media Link Drops
Platforms suppress repetitive, copy-paste affiliate posts. Value comes first, monetization comes second.
Relying on One Program (Like Amazon Associates)
With shrinking commissions and shorter cookie windows, putting all your eggs in one basket is dangerous. Diversify into recurring commissions, high-ticket programs, and bonuses that set you apart.

How to Future-Proof Your Affiliate Business

If you want staying power in 2025 and beyond, here’s the roadmap:

Use AI as a tool, not a replacement. Let it handle grunt work like research and formatting, but keep the strategy, storytelling, and relationships human.
Build authority and trust. Share your own experiences and results. Your authenticity is what separates you from AI noise.
Automate low-value tasks. Use AI for scheduling, repurposing, and ad testing. Free yourself to focus on strategy and growth.
Choose the right offers. Prioritize recurring commissions, programs with strong margins, and opportunities where you can add your own bonuses or insights.

This balance between AI and human expertise is what separates winners from everyone else.

Your Next Steps

Affiliate marketing in 2025 isn’t dead — it’s evolved. And the opportunities are wide open for anyone willing to adapt.

Here’s what to do this week:

Pick one “working” strategy above and test it.
Drop one “dead” tactic you’re still using.
Remember that behind every click and every purchase is a real person — and AI can’t replace genuine connection.

Quick Recap

AI changed the rules, but affiliate marketing is thriving.
Success comes from combining AI’s efficiency with your personal experience.
The worst strategies (thin blogs, generic emails, spammy posts, overreliance on Amazon Associates) are dead.
The best strategies (quality AI-assisted content, smart segmentation, ad testing, repurposing, and partnerships) are winning big.
Future-proofing means diversifying offers, building trust, and using AI responsibly.

If you’re serious about building an online business in 2025 — whether through Amazon wholesale, affiliate marketing, or both — you need the right systems and support.

Click here to join the waitlist for our next free workshop

We’ll walk you through how to take proven opportunities like these and turn them into businesses that can change your life.