The influencer marketing industry is valued at $13.8 billion – there’s big money in social media, and for good reason. An impressive 61% of consumers told Matter Communications they are likely to trust recommendations from a social media influencer, compared to just 38% who trust the same recommendations from a brand. Meanwhile, Amazon generated more than $80 billion in sales for its third-party sellers alone in 2020. It only makes sense for the e-commerce giant to join the influencer marketing landscape.
Businesses large and small are wise to take advantage of the Amazon Influencer program to boost their marketing efforts. Whether you’re an Amazon influencer on a business website or a brand searching for an influencer to market your products, this is the ultimate guide Amazon Influencer marketing.
What is an Amazon Influencer?
What is an Amazon influencer? What is an influencer? An influencer is a person who uses their social media platform to market brands, products and services to their following. Rather than publishing or broadcasting traditional advertisements, they create content and engage with their followers while either directly or indirectly promoting their clientele.
An Amazon influencer is a person who promotes products sold on Amazon to their followers on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok. Popular Amazon influencer include Felicia Day, Yesteryears actress who uses who social media influence to promote baby products and books andis a part of the Amazon Influencer Program’s hall of fame, and YouTube personality Justin Braun who’s Amazon storefront OvertimeGarage markets construction tools and off-road supplies. While the influencers don’t sell products themselves, they earn small commissions each time one of their followers makes a purchase based on their recommendations.
What is Amazon Influencer Marketing?
With the growing trend of influencer marketing now amounting to billions in sales each year, it only made sense for Amazon to get in on the game. Why shouldn’t brands selling on Amazon be able to leverage the power of social media influence to sell more products?
Somewhat like its Amazon Affiliates program, the influencer program allows Amazon users to promote products and services while receiving a commission on the sales. But instead of placing advertisements for products, Amazon influencers direct their social media followers to their own personalized Amazon storefronts, where they directly promote the products and services they love. When a customer purchases one of those items from the seller, the influencer gets a commission of the sale.
How the Amazon Influencer Program Works
Influencers can earn money through the Amazon Influencer Program in a variety of ways. They can create a storefront where they promote products and share the URL on their social media platforms. They can also share affiliate links on social media, and Amazon might even promote their storefront, further increasing their influence and social media following.
Brands can work with influencers to recommend their products and services on their social media platforms and on their Amazon Influencer storefronts. Brands also can create their own storefronts to further boost interest in their wares using their own social media influence.
The program is mutually beneficial to both brands and influencers. Amazon influencers get an opportunity to further expand their followings while earing a commission on product recommendations and bounties on services. They also often can acquire free products and services to sample and recommend.
Meanwhile, brands gain an opportunity to harness ready-made social media followings to increase awareness and boost sales. The Amazon Infuencer Program was started in 2017 as an extension of its successful affiliate program, but they are separate programs, and an influencer does not have to be an affiliate to get started. While anyone can sign up to be an affiliate, influencers must apply, and approval isn’t always easy.
Why You Should Become an Amazon Influencer
The Amazon Influencer Program offers additional monetization options for those with social media passion and skill. By promoting products to audiences on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok, influencers can offer value to engage their followings, and get paid for their recommendations. Influencers sell products without spending a dime on inventory, creating products or incurring overhead costs, and their audiences trust their recommendations, transforming the social media relationship into profits.
The influencer market is growing rapidly, including on Amazon. At least 6% of Amazon’s third-party sellers hire influencers to promote their products, and 32% plan to grow their businesses through the power of social media, influencer marketing and other efforts. Businesses can benefit from becoming an Amazon influencer in the following ways:
- By recommending products you use and love, your trusted following will seek out those same brands. When they purchase items you recommended from your Amazon storefront, you will get a commission for each products and bounty from each service promoted.
- Consumers trust social media recommendations and frequently turn to the platforms for new ideas to try. Promoting products you use and enjoy offers extra value to your audience, which increases your own brand loyalty.
- When brands contact successful Amazon influencers, they often will provide the influencers with sample goods and services to try, hoping for a product recommendation.
- Should Amazon promote your storefront, your brand will gain instant exposure to millions of potential followers around the world.
- It’s common for entrepreneurs and small business owners to seek additional revenue streams to support their primary venture. Social media influencer brands can add an additional revenue stream by recommending products and services in their other social media efforts.
Requirements to Join the Amazon Influencer Program
Amazon is particular about who becomes one of its influencers, but it doesn’t have a stringent list of requirements. An Amazon influencer can be any person or brand with a meaningful social media following and a presence on one of it’s accepted social media platforms, who meets the following requirements:
- You have a profile on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram or Tiktok.
- You reside or operate business in the United States, United Kingdom, India, Canada, France, Spain, Italy or Germany.
- You have a substantial and engaged following. Amazon does not specify a minimum follower count, although some speculate it could be around 20,000. Amazon does not consider strictly the size of a social media following, however. The program also considers micro-influencers and even nano influencers if they demonstrate an audience with adequate and valuable engagement.
- There are no restrictions on categories or niches that are accepted as Amazon Influencers. Amazon considers the size of social media audiences and the types of engagements, as well as what niche an audience best fits, but none of these factors are criteria to apply.
- Applicants are not limited to a single attempt. If an influence is not accepted to the Amazon Influencer program upon initial application, they can reapply in the future when their audience has grown and engagement has increased.
- Amazon influencers must have an Amazon account to promote products.
Amazon Influencer Vs. Amazon Associates Program
The Amazon affiliate program might be similar to the Amazon Influencer program, but they are separate entitites. Anyone can sign up to be an Amazon Associate and promote Amazon products using unique links, then earn commission from qualifying purchases. While the premise of the influencer program is the same, it’s not open to just anyone. Amazon influencers must apply and be accepted into the program based on their meaningful and engaged social media audiences.
While Amazon affiliates simply share links to certain Amazon product pages, Amazon influencers set up their own storefronts where they recommend products and services they personally use and enjoy. They then take to their social media platforms and guide their followers to their Amazon storefronts, where they can purchase the recommend brands. A follower might visit the storefront to view one recommended product only to also purchase another recommended brand while there.
How to Set up an Amazon Influencer Account
The first step in establishing an Amazon Influencer account is to set up an Amazon account. Amazon accepts applications from all types of influencers, provided they have a Youtube, Instragram, Facebook or TikTok account. Just click on the “Sign Up” option from the Amazon Influencer page to get started. To apply to become an Amazon influencer:
- If you don’t already have an existing Amazon profile, you’ll ge asked to set one up by providing your name, email address, mailing address and a password.
- Then, to apply as an influencer, you’ll be asked for social media details, a photo and a 350-character bio.
- If accepted, it’s time to set up your storefront, where you can recommend products and services to your followers and other Amazon customers. Here’s you’ll add a custom logo and banner image to signify your brand and personalize your Amazon landing page.
- Once the storefront is created, start adding as many product recommendations as you’d like.
- Send your social media followers to your Amazon storefront by recommending they check it out directly or by showcasing products and services sold there that they’ll want to try out for themselves.
- Before they can be paid any commissions or bounties, influencers must provide their payment and tax information.
How Much Could My Business Earn as an Influencer for Amazon?
Amazon influencers typically earn anywhere from a few dollars to $1,500 each month, and they can begin receiving payments as soon as they earn at least $10. Commission rates vary widely depending on their product recommendations. When their followers purchase from Amazon’s private-label fashion line, for example, influencers can earn as much as 10% commission, while they might earn just 1% for recommending certain video gaming products and groceries.
Even lower commissions can add up when thousands of followers visit the storefront based on an influencer’s recommendations. If an influencer business promotes its favorite skin crème to its 10,000 Instagram followers, for example, it might earn a 3% commission. If only 1% of those followers purchase the $99 product from the influencer’s Amazon storefront, the business just earned $297 by touting it from an Instagram post.
Other commission and bounty rates in the Amazon Influencer program include:
- Amazon Games – 20%
- Luxury beauty, Luxury Stores Beauty, Amazon Explore – 10%
- Digital music, physical music, handmade, digital videos – 5%
- Physical books, kitchen, automotive – 4.5%
- Amazon Fire devices, Amazon Kindle devices, fashion, apparel, Cloud Cam devices, Amazon Echo devices, watches, jewelry, shoes, luggage, handbags, accessories – 4%
- Toys, furniture, home goods, home improvement, lawn and garden, pets, beauty, musical instruments, office supplies, outdoors, tools, sports, baby products – 3%
- PCs and components, DVD, Blu-Ray – 2.5%
- TVs, digital video games – 2%
- Amazon Fresh, physical video games and consoles, grocery, health and personal care – 1%
- Prime Video free trial – $2.50
- Amazon Baby Registry creation – $3
- Amazon Home Services reservation – $3
- Amazon Business registration – $15
- Amazon Prime free trial – $3
- Amazon Wedding Registry creation – $3
How to Maximize Your Income as an Amazon Influencer
The key to success as an Amazon influencer isn’t necessarily having the largest audience (although it doesn’t hurt). The following tips will help maximize your income as an Amazon influencer:
- Engaged followers are just as important as numerous fans, and most influencers find that the secret to an engaged audience is a niche. Social media users are more likely to turn to influencers for recommendations on a specific subject. For example, a fashion influencer will have better success promoting a sweater than someone who typically creates content related to construction. Likewise, a social media influencer whose content revolves around travel will likely boast followers more interested in luggage than in video games.
- Followers are also interested in products and services that influencers personally use and enjoy. If you recommend a product with which you have no experience, why should followers take your advice? In fact, influencers often find the most success when they post content depicting their own use of the product or service.
- Even though Amazon requires a user to have either a YouTube, Instagram, Tiktok or Facebook account, influencers don’t have to limit themselves to a single or even to only those four platforms. Amazon influencers will find the greatest success if they diversify their social media influence and promote products and their Amazon storefront from multiple social media platforms, including others beyond the four Amazon considers in applications. Just because you can’t qualify to be an Amazon influencer using your Twitter platform or blog, for example, doesn’t mean you can’t promote your storefront there.
- Engagement is key to social media influence. Be sure to regularly create and post relevant content to your social media platforms, and don’t forget to interact with followers in the comments. Don’t become a promotional mouthpiece. Be sure to provide plenty of valuable content for social media users to follow, then intermingle your Amazon influencer promotions.
- Don’t spend valuable social media posts and content creation on products your followers don’t want. Amazon provides its influencers with an account dashboard where they can use the reporting tab to track data such as items ordered, earnings, clicks and conversion rates. Track your progress so you can focus on the types of recommendations that your audience connects with the best.
What are the Benefits of using an Amazon Influencer for my Business?
Why should your business partner with Amazon influencers? For starters, Amazon’s net sales in the last quarter of 2020 alone totaled more than $125 billion – and they continue to increase. Who can afford to avoid a market that size?
Increased Brand Awareness
With the Amazon Influencer program, you don’t need thousands of followers to promote your brand on social media. Partnering with an influencer in your niche promises your products to be on display for an engaged social media audience.
Sales Boost
Increased brand awareness leads to increased product awareness and resulting sales boost. Just as the numbers add up for the influencers promoting the products, the sales add up when even a tiny percentage of a large following convert into customers.
Better SEO
Partnering with the Amazon Influencer program provides the secondary benefit of better SEO. While affiliate links are likely to be tagged as no-follow, links organically included in influencer content might not, which increases the authority of the website. Further, traffic and engagement remain important ranking factors, both of which are boosted by influencer recommendations.
Amazon is the World’s Largest Affiliate Program
Businesses and influencers want to partner with a program they can trust, and Amazon already successfully hosts the world’s largest affiliate program. It’s also the world’s largest e-commerce company. Businesses can be sure their products will be seen, and influencers can rely on their payments being received.
What are the Types of Amazon Influencers?
Just as there are a variety of social media channels, there are multiple types of influencers. Not every Amazon influencer will have an Instagram following, just as not every YouTube personality will also host a blog. Brands of different niches will find the best success partnering with certain types of Amazon influencers, including:
Amazon Live Influencers
Hoping for a live spokesperson to vouch for your brand? Amazon Live influencers are like live sales representatives, there to showcase your products to customers live from within the online store. The Amazon Live streaming platform allows influencers to host live streams where they recommend products available in their Amazon storefronts.
Amazon Storefront Influencers
The Amazon storefront sets influencers apart from other Amazon Associates. Instead of just sharing a link to a seller’s product page, they share products they like in their storefronts and direct followers to their influencer page within Amazon, where customers can purchase the products from the sellers.
Publication Amazon Influencers
Influencers don’t merely promote products they can physically showcase on each social media channel. Publication influencing, commonly referred to as Bookstagramming among the Instagram crowd, is an increasingly popular way to market books and other printed publications. Certain influencers will accept copies of books that they will then read and review for their book-loving audiences. Considering Amazon’s book-selling origins, publication influencing is only the perfect combination for the Amazon Influence Program.
Social Media Amazon Influencers
Regardless what other platforms they use to influence their audiences, all Amazon Influencer Program participants must be social media influencers since a Facebook, Instagram, YouTube or TikTok following is required to join the platform. Social media influencers create content to post to their channels, where they then interact and engage with readers, followers, friends and fans. If they include products showcased on their Amazon storefront influencer pages when creating their content, their audiences can take their recommendations and make purchases, which earns the influencer a commission.
Media Influencers
For some influencers, it’s a full-time job. Their social media precense becomes their job, as they create content to engage their growing audience and promote their personal brand. For many influencers, however, social media and programs like the Amazon Influencer Program are a side-hustle. Such “nano influencers” are defined as those with fewer than 10,000 followers on Instagram. Social media started as a hobby, but they gained a following because for a variety of reasons, including members of the media and and entertainment industries. A brand partnering with a media influencer in the right niche is as recipe for success, regarless the size of the Amazon influencer’s following.
Bloggers
Bloggers have long used the Amazon affiliate program to boost their income, promoting product pages using specialized links in their content. Therefore, it’s no surprise Amazon influencers also find success sharing product recommendations from their blogs. Remember, while a Facebook, Instagram, YouTube or Tiktok account is required to become an Amazon influencer, approved influencers can promote their storefronts from other online channels. Blog recommendations also have the dual benefit of ranking well with Google, further establishing trust among consumers.
YouTube Amazon Influencers
YouTube offers a powerful channel for influencers to reach their audiences. The social media platform is particularly beneficial for Amazon influencers who easily can create a social media post with product demonstrations that showcase precisely why they recommend the item. After all, what better place to recommend, for example, a wrench than in a video about how to unclog a sink? Likewise, is there a better way to recommend a scarf than to present oneself wearing it? Loyal viewers will almost always know to check out the video descriptions and learn where they can buy their very own.
How Much do Amazon Influencers Cost?
According to Neil Patel, every dollar spent on influencer marketing will result in a $23 return on investment. Of course, what each influencer charges can vary in normal circumstances. But the Amazon Influencer Program features standard commission rates based on purchase category, so it’s easy to know how much any influencer earns on any given sale.
Is an Amazon influencer worth their commission? It might depend on the seller’s profit margins, but chances are it’s a worthwhile investment. Consider losing a percentage of one product, but then compare that to selling 100 products at the same slightly reduced profit instead.
The true value of an influencer’s recommendation, however, cannot always be measured in the price per sale. After all, brand recognition creates customer loyalty, which leads to greater sales down the road, and that can be a gift that keeps on giving for years to come.
Amazon Influencer Campaigns
Amazon influencers earn either a commission from the sale or products they recommended or a bounty for services purchased through their promotions, but not all influencer campaigns are so cut and dry. In fact, a variety of influencer campaigns are available to benefit both sides of the partnership, including:
Brand Ambassadors
If a popular social media user loves your brand and products, they might be willing to drive sales by raising brand awareness. Sometimes brand ambassadors are paid a commission, such as through the Amazon Influencer program, but many times they are simply fans of the brand willing to mention their preference in exchange for free products.
Gifting
Not all brands are in the position to pay for influencer promotions, and many influencers – particularly micro-influencers with followings less than 10,000 – don’t yet boast a large enough following to justify a paid commission. Neither scenario means influencer marketing can’t work, and in fact the two might be a match made in heaven. A brand can work toward establishing itself through influencer marketing by offering free product to the social media personality, in hopes of scoring free online recommendations.
Competitions
Competitions are an effective way to partner with an influencer that equals almost instant engagement with their audience. Amazon influencers can host a competition on their social media pages, offering free products and discounts to winners as a way to drive brand awareness and interest in the product. The more creative the contest or giveaway, the better engagement will result.
Affiliate Links
Affiliate marketing predates influencer marketing but follows a similar concept. Knowing how to become an Amazon affiliate and being part of the best affiliate programs, therefore, can help your overall earning capability. Anyone can be an Amazon Associate, and as an affiliate can share custom links to product pages, earning a small commission rate from each qualifying sale. Influencers also use these trackable links, known as affiliate links, in their storefronts to track how many purchases were made by their followers.
Guest Posts
Influencers offer preferred guest blog posts because of the following they bring with them. In fact, guest posting to blogs is mutually beneficial to the influencer and the publisher since the content also adds credibility and brand awareness for the influencer. Product reviews are a popular form of guest post that boost sales and reputations.
Discounts
Providing influencers a discount code to share with their followers is practically guaranteed to boost sales. Who doesn’t love a deal? Plus, a unique coupon code for each influencer offers a business a simple and effective way to track how much revenue each personality generates.
Takeovers
Want to partner with an influencer who doesn’t have the time to promote your campaign? Perhaps the influencer has the right following, but not the right personal expertise to market your product or brand. A takeover occurs when one brand allows another social media user to post to their feed for a short period of time. These short bursts of unique activity can include photos, stories, videos and other updates that offer an exciting change of pace to attract the eyes of an existing following.
How to Find an Amazon Influencer
Of course, when it comes to influencers, not just any personality or brand will do. There are a variety of ways to find an Amazon influencer, including:
Search Through Relevant Hashtags
As with much online content, hashtags serve as a solid starting point in searching for influencers. Social media users typically use hashtags as a way of building their communities and lead conversations about certain topics. So, for example, if a fashion influencer draws followers using the hashtag, “#lovecardigans,” a brand selling cardigans might find relevant influencers searching for the same.
Know Your Niche and Find a Relevant Influencer
It’s important to find an influencer whose following is interested in the product’s and brand’s niche. A camping enthusiast is unlikely to care about a product recommendation for a tooth whitener. Know your target customers’ primary interests, and seek out influencer’s whose content relates to it.
Explore Amazon Creators
Niche hashtags aren’t the only ones that can help find influencers, however. Another good starting point is the #FoundItOnAmazon page, where participants in the Amazon Influencer Program are listed. Users can click on any influencer’s public profile and view their social media details. From there, it’s easy to see what types of content the influencer shares with their community and how they engage with their audience.
To find Amazon Live influencers, just check out Amazon Live to see who is live-streaming on the platform. At any given time, you can browse through a variety of livestreams sorted by topic. Each livestream displays how many viewers it has and who is commenting on it, as well as a links to the Amazon Live influencer’s social media profiles.
Find an Influencer that Knows Your Audience
Amazon influencers do much more than post their favorite products on the e-commerce giant. The entire reason they have an Amazon storefront is because they already promote themselves and their content on YouTube, Instagram, Tiktok and Facebook. The best influencer for a brand is one who shares a similar following. If the people follow an influencer because of their autotmotive knowledge, those same people will be interested in unique car parts sold on Amazon. On the other hand, social media users who follow a fashion influencer are not going to be the same group who flock to Amazon to buy carpentry tools.
Track Your Results
Because Amazon influencers recommend products using unique URLs, sellers can track the success of their campaigns. Is the influencer referring enough sales to justify their commission rates or other perks offered to them? Likewise, engagement metrics are key. Are Amazon influencers adequately engaging with their followings, so businesses can be sure their investments is being well spent building their brand? Brands will enjoy the greatest success by continuing campaigns with influencers who generate a positive return, and changing course away from those who don’t.
Use software to Find Amazon Influencers
You don’t need special skill or expertise to search for and select the perfect Amazon influencer for your brand. Plenty of online tools and software options are available to do the legwork for you, including:
- ReferAzon is an Amazon Influencer marketing software platform where brands quickly and easily can locate relevant influencers and manage their camapaigns. Referazon features its own Amazon Influencer Search and Amazon Influencer CRM, and it’s available to try for a 14 free trial.
- Influence.co works with more than 35,000 brands, 10,000 agencies and 170,000 influencers to create a mutually beneficial community. It offers a single-solution platform that allows users to discover, engage with and connect with influencers from all over the planet.
- Awario allows users to monitor social media and other websites. The software tracks brand and keyword mentions and awards influencers points based on their reach and follower counts. Likewise, it rates bloggers based on their reach and daily traffic. Influencer search is included in the free trial.
- Klear offers a free platform for influencer marketing, which lists online personalities in 60,000 different topic categories. In addition to categorizing Amazon influencers, Klear details their demographics and even psychographics. Users an filter their results further by social media networks, audience sizes, locations, keywords, engagement metrics and other audience demographics.
- Traackr is single app that takes care of entire influencer marketing campaigns from start to finish. Not only is Traackr an influencer database with plenty of ways to search and filter results, but users also can organize and track their entire campaigns from the same location.
How to Contact an Amazon Influencer
The easiest part of establishing an Amazon influencer campaign might be contacting the influencer. This can be accomplished as simply as following the influencers on social media and engaging with their content. Once contact is made, just follow it up with a DM or an email. Many influencers – particularly micro-influencers and nano influencers with smaller yet still meaningful followings – will be all to eager for the additional earning opportunity.
Influencer Outreach Tips
Contacting an influencer might be simple enough, but that doesn’t mean you can say just anything. When contacting an Amazon influencer, be clear when describing your campaign. Be sure to include the following details:
- What is your brand, and what products are you hoping to promote
- What are your campaign goals?
- What can the influencer offer your brand, and what can you offer them in return.
- What are your expectations for content?
- Stay in touch. Follow up on your original email or DM if you don’t initially receive a reply. Then, continue to communicate with the influencer, reaching out periodically with thanks, updates and new opportunities from your brand.
How much do Amazon influencers make?
Amazon influencers can earn from a few dollars to $1,500 a month, depending on how many of their followers, viewers and readers make qualifying purchases from their storefronts. Commission rates vary based on purchase category, rating from 1-10%, while bounties for recommending services start at $2.50 per qualified registration.
How much commission do Amazon make per sale?
Amazon influencers earn commission on the sales they recommend, but the rates widely vary. Certain purchases like groceries and personal care items earn 1% commission, while other luxury brands garner influencers as much as 10% commission. Influencers must earn a minimum of $10 to be paid for their commissions.
What does an Amazon influencer need from me?
Amazon influencers need mutually beneficial offers from brands they represent. A business should develop an influencer marketing campaign that not only boosts their own brand recognition and sales, but also provides ample benefit to the influencer to make the arrangement worthwhile.
Image: Depositphotos
This article, "How to Become an Amazon Influencer" was first published on Small Business Trends
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Samantha Lile, Khareem Sudlow
