Prime Day is in June this year. Shorter runway, same budget pressure.
Across 390 brands during Prime Day 2025, two channels moved in opposite directions:
Amazon paid media ROAS: Fell 12.5%
Affiliate ROAS: Climbed 5.3%
That's an 18-point spread.
What Happened
The brands that pulled ahead had affiliate programs running across the full event window: before, during, and the week after Prime Day.
Meanwhile, paid media got compressed. CPMs spiked, competition intensified, and ROAS dropped as everyone piled into the same auction.
Affiliate held because it doesn't rely on auction dynamics. Your commission stays the same whether it's Prime Day or a random Tuesday.
The Data
Levanta's Prime Day Affiliate Benchmarks Report breaks down where the gap opened:
Brands running affiliate programs 2+ weeks before Prime Day saw 23% higher ROAS than those starting day-of
Post-event affiliate traffic remained elevated for 7 days, while paid dropped immediately
Affiliate drove incremental traffic that didn't cannibalize paid search or direct
How We Activate Earlier
At Performance Partners, we activate affiliates 4 to 6 weeks before major events, not the week of.
For one of our clients, we briefed fitness content creators and comparison sites early. They added $30K in GMV in three months with $10K per month in recurring affiliate revenue.
The key was timing. Affiliates had time to build content and drive momentum before the event started.
The Playbook
4 to 6 weeks before: Recruit affiliates, brief them on offers
3 weeks before: Provide fresh creative and promo codes
Week of: Affiliates drive traffic while your paid CPMs spike
Week after: Keep affiliates active (traffic stays elevated 7 days post-event)
If you're making channel recommendations before June and you're not working from this data, you're guessing.
Talk soon,
Fred
P.S. Need help activating affiliates before Prime Day? Book a free 20-min strategy call.