We all know about the days in 1995 when Amazon used to be just a modest bookseller online. But today, that same bookstore of Jeff Bezos has become the biggest e-Commerce business that generates annual revenue of 386 billion globally. One can’t even search the most basic thing online without potentially hitting something that Amazon sells.
To build this position, Amazon has taken an active stance by acquiring social media influencers who can bring external traffic to their website organically. Wondering how? It’s the Amazon Influencer’s Program that has been ruling the industry since 1996.
That being said, whether you’re a Seller Central Seller, Vendor Central Seller, or Amazon B2B, you must be aware by now that selling on Amazon isn’t as easy as it used to be.
Screening the right keywords, adding high-resolution images and dozens of positive reviews may not enable you to outwit your competitors anymore.
The Amazon a10 algorithm is so advanced that it has begun to prioritize brands on several other parameters too – one of them is when they are able to send External Amazon traffic.
Hold on, there’s more! Amazon Influencers can earn up to 10% on commission rates, as well.
So, whether you are an aspiring Amazon Influencer or a beginner in this field, you must definitely read this guide to know the ins and outs of this program. Our detailed blog covers the following topics –
Amazon Influencers are Bloggers, YouTubers & Social Media Influencers who promote Amazon third-party brands before their viewers and earn a commission as an Amazon Affiliate. In order to do so, they have to be a part of the Amazon Associates Program.
In simple words, Amazon Influencers earn profits by recommending items to buy on Amazon to their audience on various platforms like-
Amazon Influencer Marketing is nothing but driving sales on Amazon’s website through off-page promotion, hence, pushing organic traffic on Amazon from other platforms.
Amazon’s Influencer site criteria are not very clear. However, people who want to be a part of this program need to meet the below-mentioned standards:
Amazon once included Twitter on this list, but they removed it recently.
Recommended read: What are the reasons for losing the Amazon Vendor Buy Box?
Amazon Influencers ARE Amazon Affiliates.
The Amazon Influencer Program is nothing but an extension of the Amazon Associates Program. The Amazon Affiliates Program has been here since 1996 which has been rebranded and named the Amazon Influencers Program.
The ONLY difference is how they recommend the enforced items to their customers. The members of the Affiliates Program can only share affiliate links for particular items on their own blogs or social media accounts, while the Influencer Program members need to build their own custom storefronts on Amazon.
Amazon Influencers or Amazon Affiliates are known for their smart and quirky way of driving sales. They use various modes like blogs and social media to link the products they are advertising for, directly in their YouTube video description or Twitch videos, or social media posts, etc. that redirect to Amazon’s website. This allows viewers to click on the product links and analyze or purchase the item they were just recommended by the Amazon Influencer.
Amazon Affiliates are generally more effective at selling products on Amazon as they are seasoned in creating compelling copy and appealing videos that can convert their viewers into buyers.
Amazon Influencers are those who have qualified after meeting the criteria of the Amazon Influencer Program. They usually have an active YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook account, with a huge following base.
The moment these influencers are accepted for the program, they build a custom storefront on Amazon with all product recommendations they are endorsing. Now, they post these links on their social media or blogs where their audience can directly interact with that product with a single click.
If the customer makes a purchase, the Amazon Influencer gets a commission from Amazon for referring the sale. Let’s break it into steps for a better understanding –
The market for influencers is growing more than ever: 6% of third-party Amazon sellers are collaborating with influencers to promote their listings, and nearly one-third of them plan to grow their brand through social media, influencer marketing, and other off-page Amazon marketing campaigns.
If you have a strong follower base on social media, now is the best time to join the Amazon Influencer Program and start earning money on product and brand recommendations. Let’s begin the process-
To apply, go to the Amazon Influencer Program homepage and click “Get started.”
Now, you will be asked to create a new Amazon account or choose an existing customer account/ Amazon Associates account. If you are creating a new account, you will need the following details for registration –
Amazon’s customer account is fundamental to creating the Influencer program. After filling out customer data, most of it gets transferred to the influencer program account.
The registration process for the influencer program will require you to fill up the following information:
Now, you have to choose between three different social media platforms: YouTube, Instagram, or Facebook.
Selecting YouTube or Facebook will require you to link your account to Amazon. In case you select Instagram, you need to input the number of followers you have, the number of posts you have made, and your Instagram handle.
It’s advised that you select the site where your social media presence is highest. The more followers you have, the higher chance you have for your application to be accepted.
In the following section, you have to add your Storefront name and tagline.
Members of the Amazon Brand Registry can build custom storefronts to enhance their marketing. Amazon Influencers can also avail a special Amazon Storefront. This store is what differentiates Amazon Influencers from Amazon Associates.
Ideally, it would be best if you were promoting the products you have already used or are still using. The most successful members of the Amazon Influencer Program usually talk about their experience with the product.
If you want to make your storefront interesting, make sure you add both a profile image and header image.
Lastly, add your account information. Once done, click on “Save and Finish” and you’ll be redirected to the Amazon Associates dashboard.
Once you’re in the dashboard, follow the Amazon Influencer Program on Instagram with the account you have used to register for the program. Your application will not be approved until you do so.
While your application is still waiting to be approved, you can start building out your storefront!
This is a very common query most aspiring Amazon Influencers have.
Each catalog on Amazon has a fixed commission percentage for influencers. For instance, the Luxury Beauty, Luxury Stores Beauty, and Amazon Coins categories have a 10% commission rate, while the Video Game Consoles, Grocery, Health & Personal Care categories have only a 1% commission rate for influencers.
Make sure you analyze Amazon’s Commission Income Statement well before choosing the category you want to promote. For your comfort, we have created a table below with the commission rates for all the Amazon product categories –
Product Category | Commission Rate |
---|---|
Video games and game consoles: | 1% |
Televisions & digital download games: | 2% |
Computers, computer accessories, DVD & Blu-Ray: | 2.5% |
Toys: | 3% |
Amazon Tablets & Kindle devices: | 4% |
Paper Books, Health & Personal Care, Sports, Kitchen, Auto & Baby: | 4.5% |
Digital Music, Video Downloads, Grocery, Handmade, Musical Instruments: | 5% |
Business & Industrial Supplies: | 6% |
Clothes & Accessories, Amazon TV’s, Echo’s & Jewelry: | 7% |
Furniture, Lawn & Garden, Home Improvement, Prime Pantry & Pet Products: | 8% |
Amazon Fashion Items & Amazon Coins: | 10% |
Well, you may feel that the commission rate is too low for certain categories, the ROI will really add up over time! And the best part is, it costs nothing to add your storefront link on your Instagram bio or YouTube description — hence, it’s worth every effort.
Let’s say you promote this popular video game brand — which will earn you a 1% commission — to your 10,000 followers. It’s listed for $10,000 on Amazon.
Even if just 1% of your followers decided to purchase that product, you’d make $10,000 just by linking to it in your YouTube video description! Isn’t that amazing?
Congratulations on getting approved for the Amazon Influencers Program. You have already come half the way—now you have to promote it!
Let your audience know that you’ve selected a list of items that you are satisfied with and recommend for your specific audience. If you have a loyal viewer base that responds to your content, many will trust your product recommendations too.
Amazon has some great tips on how you can promote your store to increase your commissions. Check them out.
Leverage Snapchat Stories to provide followers with a detailed idea about your influencer page and recommended products.
Amazon Live is Amazons’ live streaming platform for Amazon Live Influencers to stream live for promoting brands and items.
If you’re not sure how Amazon Live works, here’s a detailed walkthrough of its functioning –
This is very powerful because Amazon Live Influencers’ audiences are customers who are in the buyers’ mindset. Amazon Live Influencers are members of the Amazon Influencer Program.
Along with recommending on-sale items on Amazon, you can also endorse Amazon services — also known as “Bounties” in the Affiliate program. Amazon services include:
The Amazon Bounty Program offers fixed commissions — or bounties — for every service advertised by an affiliate or influencer. For example, if you can yield a visitor to your influencer page for creating an Amazon Prime Video channel with Amazon, you will receive a commission from Amazon.
The Best Type of Amazon Influencers is the ones who leverage the following platforms for influencer marketing:
In my experience, you must ask yourself the following questions and find out the answers with respect to your domain and marketplace –
Once you have answered these questions, you will be easily able to decipher the type of influencer marketing you wish to do.
Additional Read: How to Answer Customer Questions on Amazon.
If you are an Amazon seller and want to collaborate with Amazon Influencers, it’s recommended to send cold emails instead of DMs for better response and credibility.
You have three goals.
To achieve these goals you need to:
Hey [Influencer Name],
We’d love to sponsor the content that you are posting.
We recently checked out you are [ Name of the influencers Blogs/ YouTube Videos/ Live Streams or Social Media Content] and we think it completely resonates with our brand.
We sell [What You Sell] and we are proud to say that it’s bringing in great sales on Amazon right now, but with an Influencer like you, we believe it would fetch us even more sales than now.
I’d love to know your quotes and further processes on how we can work together.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
PS: If you don’t have a fixed quote, that’s okay, we can talk about it.
Here is a link to our Amazon store:
[Link to Product or Amazon Store]
Best,
[Your Details]
Amazon has had the Amazon Influencers’ Program since 1996, and it has still not released any metric to track the results.
So what do you do?
You focus on monitoring the results from the content you were featured on, as well as promo code usage.
As an Amazon Influencer, you can earn by endorsing your favorite products through your own custom Amazon storefront.
If you have a huge follower base on Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube, then what are you waiting for? Apply for the Amazon Influencer Program and get paid for product recommendations your followers will enjoy.
When it comes to earning from your social media skills, joining this program is the best bet.
Are you a part of the Amazon Influencers Program? Let us know about your experience in the comments below.
Additional Read:
Is Amazon Pay Good For Sellers?
15 Practical Ways to Make Money on Amazon
Amazon Scams: How Sellers Can Stay Protected?
Going crazy over your Amazon product research?
Rosanna Dewire
September 4, 2022Thanks for sharing this informative post about the Amazon Influencer Program. I especially liked the section on using analytics to measure the success of my influencer campaigns.
Arishekar N
January 17, 2023Thanks for sharing your feedback
Lisa Mez
November 22, 2022Your guidelines on how to create engaging content and leverage your social media following to grow your audience are spot on.
Arishekar N
January 17, 2023Thank you Lisa for you feedback.