Boost Your Influence & Earnings with The Amazon Influencer Program (2024)

In the booming world of digital marketing, Amazon Influencers have become a significant force since the platform launched the program in 2017. In this in-depth guide, we will explore the Amazon Influencer Program, its advantages, eligibility criteria, and how to maximize your earnings as an Amazon Influencer with the right strategies and technologies.

With a 10% YoY audience growth, Amazon keeps its best-in-class market leader position in regards to:

• Targeting how the platform engages with shoppers
• Connecting with the shopper along the entire path to purchase
• Driving innovation and AI adoption
• Building best-in-class joint business collaboration between vendors, sellers, and creators.

Amazon is also aggressively moving into the broader digital OTT space to compete against the likes of Google and Facebook and believes in the power of Influence by enabling creators and influencers with constant new tools from them to be successful in and out of the network.

Amazon by the Numbers

• With a 37.8% market share, Amazon still leads the pack in retail e-commerce.
• Net sales increased 9% to $127.4 billion in the first quarter, compared with $116.4 billion in the first quarter of 2022
• Net sales are expected to be between $127.0 billion and $133.0 billion or to grow between 5% and 10% compared with the second quarter of 2022. 
• Instagram remains the top platform for sponsored content, per a March 2023 report from Later and Mavrck, and more creators worldwide report being paid to create Reels compared with TikTok videos. (Source Insider Intelligence)
• Amazon has over 300 million customers worldwide.
• Amazon ships to more than 100 countries and regions.
• New creator and seller feature tools are expected to increase sales by up to 25 percent 

What is the Amazon Influencer Program?

The Amazon Influencer Program is an initiative by Amazon – and a subset of Amazon Associates – to involve content creators, or ‘influencers’, in promoting products on their platform. Influencers are individuals who have built a substantial following on social media platforms and have the power to sway their followers’ purchasing decisions. The program allows these influencers to get paid a commission by directing their audience to Amazon through affiliate links.

The program specifically targets social media influencers and creators who have engaged followings on platforms like YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok.

Through the program, influencers can create their own personalized Amazon storefronts where they curate and recommend products to their followers. These storefronts serve as a hub for their audience to discover and purchase the recommended products directly from Amazon.

New to Affiliate Marketing? 

Checkout our comprehensive guide on How to Start Affiliate Marketing in 2024 

Key differences between Amazon Influencers and Amazon Associates

While Amazon Influencers are part of the broader Amazon Associates Program, there are key differences between the two. Amazon Influencers, unlike regular associates, have access to a wider array of affiliate tools and promotion methods. They can create personal storefronts, shoppable photos, and live streams. They also receive vanity URLs for their storefront, making it easier for their followers to find their recommended products.

Criteria	Amazon Influencers	Amazon Associates
Program Focus	Individuals with a strong online presence and influence over their followers	Bloggers, website owners, and content creators
Eligibility	Specific criteria based on audience size, content quality, and niche specialization	Open to individuals with a website, blog, or online platform
Application Process	Application required, selection process based on content quality and alignment with Amazon’s goals	Direct signup through the Amazon Associates website
Product Promotion	Curated Amazon storefronts where influencers recommend products	Affiliate links placed on niche websites, blogs, editorials, review sites, media publications or online platforms
Target Audience	Engaged social media followers, focus on community building and direct engagement	Website or blog visitors, niche-specific audience
Monetization & Payout Model	Earn commissions on sales made through their storefrontsFlat Fees or Hybrid (Flat Fees and CPA)	Earn commissions on sales made through affiliate links CPA or Hybrid (Flat Fees and CPA)
Approval Process	Approval through the Amazon Influencer Program	Instant access upon signup to the Amazon Associates Program

Benefits of becoming an Amazon Influencer

By joining the Amazon Influencer Program, influencers have the opportunity to earn commissions on qualifying purchases made through their storefronts. This provides a way to monetize their online influence, turn their recommendations into a source of income, and unlock many other benefits; 

For influencers,  becoming an Amazon Influencer can provide you with monetization opportunities, credibility, and the chance to expand your reach and partnerships.

• Earn commissions on qualifying purchases made through your personalized storefront.
• Access to a wide range of products across various categories to curate and recommend to your followers.
• Increase credibility and trust by collaborating with a trusted platform like Amazon.
• Reach a larger audience and attract new followers through Amazon’s customer base.
• Diversify your income streams with Amazon affiliate earnings do not solely rely on one source of revenue, such as brand partnerships or sponsored content.
• Utilize tracking and analytics tools to optimize your strategies.
• Potential for brand collaborations and exclusive campaigns.

For sellers – aka brands, building direct partnerships with influencers through the Amazon platform allow them to: 

• Have better control over cost, profitability, and partner performance
• Expand non-Amazon traffic reach through partnerships with Influencers 
• Boost their Seller storefront visibility and organic listings authority 
• Build better ROI on their advertising spend
• Get Amazon Brand Referral Credit from driving external traffic to the platform
• Incentivize influencers and creators with generous referral and commission payouts, that can be 10X what the Amazon Associates Commissions could offer alone. 

Amazon Influencer Commission Structure Model

As an Amazon Influencer, your earnings are primarily based on the commissions you receive from the sales made through your affiliate links. Understanding the revenue model, commission structure, and using Amazon’s tools and resources can help you increase your affiliate sales.

Checkout the Full Associates Program Standard Commission Income Statement per product category

Promoting products from categories that offer higher commission rates can help increase your earnings. Additionally, using marketing tools like personalized storefronts, shoppable photos, and live streams can enhance your promotional efforts and drive more sales.

Applying to the Amazon Influencer Program

To join the Amazon Influencer Program, certain prerequisites need to be met. Although Amazon doesn’t specify a minimum follower count, it evaluates potential influencers based on their follower count and engagement rate on platforms like YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok.

Eligibility criteria for joining the Amazon Influencer Program

Influencers need to create original, publicly accessible content and engage actively with their audience. They should have a significant following that interacts regularly with their content, demonstrated through likes, comments, shares, etc.

Although there is no formal minimum number of followers stipulated in the Amazon Influencer program terms, get at least 1,000 followers before sign-up to maximize your chance of approval.

Here is a summary of all the criteria to consider to be eligible for the Amazon Influencer Program:

• Active Social Media Presence: Maintain an engaged following on platforms like YouTube, Instagram or Facebook (Business Account), or TikTok
• Engagement Signals: number of followers and engagement rates and activities, views, clicks, saves, comments, etc. 
• High-Quality Content: Create content that is authentic, valuable, and resonates with your target audience.
• Niche or Specialization: Focus on a specific niche or area of expertise to effectively recommend related products.
• Compliance with Guidelines: Adhere to FTC disclosure rules and follow Amazon’s terms of service and advertising policies.
• Demonstrated Influence: Show your ability to engage your audience and influence their purchasing decisions.
• Geographic Availability: Check if the program is available in your country before applying.

Keep in mind that meeting these criteria does not guarantee acceptance, as Amazon evaluates applications on a case-by-case basis. Familiarize yourself with the specific requirements outlined on the Amazon website to improve your chances of being accepted into the program.

Amazon Influencer Step-By-Step Application Process

The application process to apply to the Amazon Influencer Program is relatively straightforward:

• Step 1: Visit the Amazon Influencer Program homepage and click on “Sign Up”
• Step 2: You’ll need to create a new Amazon account or use an existing customer account.
• Step 3: Choose the social media platform where you have the most followers and engagement such as Facebook and Instagram, Youtube, and TikTok. 
• Step 4: Complete your profile with relevant information about yourself and your social media channels. Be sure to highlight your niche, the type of content you create, and your target audience. After you’ve submitted your application, Amazon will review it and notify you of your acceptance status.
• Step 5: After completing your profile, submit your application for review. Amazon will evaluate your application based on various factors such as the quality of your content, audience engagement, and alignment with their brand values.
• Step 6: Amazon will review your application, and if approved, you’ll receive an email notification confirming your acceptance into the program. The approval process can take some time, so be patient.
• Step 7: Once approved, start building your Amazon storefront. Add a profile picture, a header image, and a 350-character bio, and get access to your personalized storefront where you can curate product recommendations for your audience.
• Step 8: Promote your Storefront to maximize your Amazon Influencer Earnings

Understanding the FTC guidelines for influencer marketing

As an Amazon Influencer, to ensure transparency and disclosure in your promotional content, it’s important to comply with the Federal Trade (FTC) guidelines the same way you do as an influencer or content creator. This includes disclosing affiliate links whenever you promote on behalf o Amazon or other brands and receive compensation or commission for it.

• Use clear and unambiguous language
• Place disclosures prominently in your Amazon Storefront, external social media content, or in your blog content. 

Disclosures should be placed where they are easily noticeable and not hidden. Ideally, they should be near the beginning of the content, before readers engage with affiliate links or promotional material. Disclosures should not require users to scroll or click to view them.

For written content, such as blog posts or captions, include clear and conspicuous disclosures within the content itself. 

On video platforms, disclosures should be spoken clearly and shown on-screen for a sufficient duration.

In social media posts, use hashtags like #ad, #sponsored, or #affiliate to disclose your relationship with the products being promoted.

Regardless of the FTC guidelines, it is essential to maintain honesty and authenticity in your content. Disclosures should not be the sole means of conveying important information about the product. Ensure that your reviews, opinions,

Failure to comply with these guidelines can result in penalties, so it’s essential to be transparent about your affiliations.

Becoming a Successful Amazon Influencer

Amazon gives its influencers access to the Amazon Creator University Hub to explore all the guides, tutorials, instructions, and tips to be successful such as: 

• How to onboard to the program, whether as an Influencer or Associate
• How to step up your Storefront 
• Understand the Operating Agreement of the platforms, tracking IDs, Quick Tips, Trademarks, Ste and Social Channels, Commissions, Offline Linking, Public Websites, Replicas, Copyrighted music, and Disclosures.
• Maximize your money with earning strategies 
• Analysis of your performance and reports in the creator tool space

Amazon Influencer Content Strategy

Creating engaging and authentic content is crucial to your success as an Amazon affiliate. Knowing your audience’s preferences, developing a content strategy, and choosing the right type of content are critical aspects of this process.

Whether you’re sharing product reviews, creating tutorial videos, or posting lifestyle photos featuring the products, your content should be authentic and relevant to your audience. Remember, your audience trusts your recommendations, so it’s essential to promote products that you genuinely like and believe in.

Types of Content to Create as an Amazon Influencer

• Product Reviews and Recommendations:
  • Share honest and detailed reviews of products you have used or tested.
  • Highlight the key features, benefits, and potential drawbacks.
  • Provide your personal opinion and insights to help your audience make informed purchase decisions.
• Tutorials:
  • Create instructional content that demonstrates how to use and get the most out of products.
  • Break down complex processes into easy-to-follow steps.
  • Include tips, tricks, and troubleshooting advice to assist your audience.
• Best-of Lists:
  • Compare similar products within a specific category, highlighting their unique features and differences.
  • Create top-rated or best-selling lists to help your audience discover popular and highly recommended products.
  • Include brief descriptions and explain why each product made it onto the list
• Gift Guides;
  • Curate gift guides for special occasions, holidays, or specific target audiences.
  • Suggest products that align with the interests and preferences of your audience.
  • Provide thoughtful recommendations and consider different price points.
• Behind-the-Scenes and Unboxing Videos:
  • Film unboxing videos to showcase the packaging and initial impressions of products.
  • Take your audience behind the scenes of your product testing or evaluation process.
  • Share your genuine reactions and thoughts during the unboxing or testing phase.
• Lifestyle and Demonstration Videos:
  • Incorporate products into your daily life or activities to showcase their practical usage.
  • Demonstrate how products can enhance specific aspects of your audience’s lifestyle.
  • Capture authentic moments that highlight the value and benefits of the products.
• Collaborative Content and Giveaways:
  • Collaborate with other influencers or brands to create joint content.
  • Organize contests, giveaways, or special promotions to engage your audience.
  • Offer exclusive discounts or deals to your followers through partnerships.
• Educational and Informative Content:
  • Create content that educates your audience about specific topics related to your niche or industry.
  • Share insights, research findings, or industry news that your audience may find valuable.
  • Establish yourself as a knowledgeable source in your field of expertise.

Build and Grow your Influence with Amazon and other Social Media

Growing and Engaging Your Audience

Before applying to the Amazon Influencer Program, it’s essential to build and engage with your audience in a meaningful way to build a strong social media online presence. This involves actively engaging through your social media accounts, creating and sharing high-quality content to set yourself as an authority in your niche: 

Growing and engaging your audience is a continuous process. Regularly posting high-quality content, responding to your audience’s comments, and engaging with them can help you build a loyal community of followers. As your audience grows, so will your influence and earning potential.

Influence on your own Social Media

Let’s take an example with GrandMillennialHomeDeals, an influencer passionate micro-Influencer on Instagram with 55K followers and an active community who engage with following her posts, reels, and stories about Home, fashion, and other decor hacks to help us simplify our life

Influencers like Jill from GrandMillennialHomeDeals promote many other stores and channels and use monetization techniques to drive traffic and influencer purchases they can earn a commission on.

As in the example above, you can create and promote your Amazon affiliate links directly into your social media platforms and point traffic to your Amazon Storefront or to specific Amazon products.

Leverage your Amazon Influencer Storefront

As with non-Amazon social media platforms, Amazon influencers can create and manage their own Amazon Storefront to natively engage with Amazon’s audience or drive traffic to the platform. The top features of the Amazon Storefront include:

• Create an Idea List
• Upload Shoppable Photos
• Upload Product Videos
• Start a Livestream

With our same example of GrandMillenialHome Deals, Jill can connect her external accounts with Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok to her Amazon Storefront and use all the features offered by the program to create idea lists, showcase her live streams, pin top posts or shoppable content, and organize content by boards to create seamless browsing, discoverability, and purchasing experience for her audience.

As with other external social media platforms, you can follow you can grow a base of followers and engage with a live audience during your streaming on Amazon Live

38 % of consumers find sponsored ads helpful, and more than half of them are being influenced by Live streaming and shoppable posts powered by Amazon

There are usually 4 sections especially created to engage with your live audience: 

1. Follow the Influencer storefront at any time during the  live 
2. Discover and shop all the live featured products from the streaming available in the product feed section.
3. Interact live through the message feed for questions, or comments.
4. Discover “More Livestreams” from other Amazon Influencer Storefronts that you may like and usually within the same product category, based on your audience browsing and shopping history and category interest.

By clicking on ‘Browse’, you can discover many other Amazon Storefronts and influencers in all the Amazon categories. This is also an excellent way to get inspired and to help you get started with Amazon Influencer or find new ways to match your audience with products they’ll love.

You can add up to 40 products per livestream video, with commission eligible on each! When a stream is live, the products appear in a shoppable carousel that updates in real-time while customers interact.

As an Amazon Influencer growing your presence in the Amazon network, you can unlock many additional Amazon Live benefits as you achieve new levels of success, including access to the Amazon home page.

LEVEL 1: RISING STAR 

• Can stream using the Amazon Live Creator App
• Able to share links from the app to your live streams to earn commissions
• Can earn commissions on qualifying purchases when you’re discovered through the Onsite Associates program. Learn more here.
• Followers can get notifications when you go live.
• Livestreams can appear on the Amazon Live site and your Influencer Storefront.

LEVEL 2: INSIDER

• All Rising Star benefits plus additional distribution placements on Amazon, including the Amazon Live Homepage hero placement.

LEVEL 3: A-LIST

• Drive 2K followers and either $5K in sales or sell 100 units in 30 days. Apply to be reviewed directly in the Amazon Live Creator app. Learn more here. Watch this video to learn more about the levels.

Maximizing Your Earnings as An Amazon Influencer

While there are many profitable ways to monetize your content as a content creator and influencer, the Amazon Influencer Program will you get access to join a large community of influencers who already knows all the ins and outs of the platform and how to best maximize your engagement and earnings.

Strategies to increase your Amazon Influencer Earnings

• Share your affiliate links with your audience 
• Build your Amazon Influencer storefront
• Entertain and Engage with Livestreams 
• Get more from video content 
• Promote more than just products
• Partner with Brands for extra commissions 
• Amplify your content across all your social media 
• Create your own merchandise 
• Go global and sell internationally

Leverage Promo Codes and Deals to Boost your Amazon Conversions

Amazon offers many tools to its Influencers and one effective way to increase your engagement and earnings is to find the right promo or deals your audience can benefit to boost conversions and store sales. 

• Browse “ Currently Active” or “Upcoming” promo codes by category or find a specific code relevant to your audiences’ interests.
• Get the promo link to start sharing across your social channels

Amazon and Deals promos are an excellent way to boost sales and conversions, yielding more commissions and earnings for you.

Build Direct Partnerships and Collaborations with brands

Building direct partnerships and collaborations with brands as an Amazon Influencer can significantly boost your earnings and create long-term revenue opportunities. By establishing direct relationships, you can negotiate mutually beneficial terms and tap into exclusive campaigns and promotions. 

Start by identifying brands that align with your niche and target audience. Reach out to them with a well-crafted proposal that highlights your unique value proposition and the benefits of working together.

Do you want to increase your influencer earnings? 

Pitch yourself to Brands and Win Sponsored Posts Deals

Join an Amazon Affiliate Network to find new products and brands to promote and work with. 

Showcase your audience demographics, engagement rates, and past successes to demonstrate your influence. As you build relationships, maintain clear and open communication, ensuring transparency and delivering on agreed-upon commitments.

By fostering direct partnerships, you can secure higher compensation, unique collaborations, and increased brand exposure, leading to a substantial boost in your Amazon Influencer earnings.

Using Analytics Track Performance and Optimize Your Campaigns

Tracking and analyzing data is essential to measuring the performance of your influencer efforts and making informed decisions to improve them.

Amazon provides detailed analytics and reporting tools for their Associates and Influencers that allow you to track the performance of your storefront, including clicks, conversions, and earnings. This data enables you to optimize and refine your content and promotion strategies, identify high-performing products, and make informed decisions to maximize your earning potential. Get access to: 

• Consolidated Summary of Earnings
• Download reports
• Analyze top sellers and daily trends
• Analyze your “on Amazon” earnings from referrals from your published content (i.e. articles, live streams, photos, lists, and videos) on Amazon
• Analyze your “off Amazon” earnings from referrals from your content outside of the Amazon retail website such as publisher websites, blogs, and social media sites, and includes product links and bounties.
• Keep track of Clicks but don’t obsess over it 
• Review the path to purchase and Final Conversions –  If a recent click resulted in a customer adding a product to their cart for a future purchase, no order will appear in your reports until the customer completes the check-out process (assuming it occurs within 90 days). 

Third-party Amazon Affiliate platforms for influencers

Levanta

Levanta is a partner marketing platform that supports Amazon’s Attribution API and allows sellers and publishers to build direct partnerships. The platform offers more visibility in Amazon revenue attributed to Amazon Associates. Their link-tagging feature is fully compatible with Amazon Associate Links which allows affiliates, joining this network, to increase affiliate earnings and commission opportunities with top Amazon Sellers.

Referazon

Referazon is a great platform for brands to quickly find Amazon Influencers like you and easily manage campaigns. This is the first platform to roll out Amazon Influencer Marketing Software for brands and influencers to better partner together. 
Simply add your Amazon Influencer Live & Storefront and enter your details so Brands ready to work with influencers like you can easily find and work with you.

Refersion

Refersion is an affiliate influencer marketing platform to establish partnerships with affiliates who promote their products or services in exchange for a commission on each referred sale.

Powered by top-performing affiliates, high-converting external traffic, and elevated page rankings, Amazon Affiliate Marketing is the solution to scale your Amazon growth strategy and find brands willing to offer generous payouts for products your audience will love. 

Content creation and Optimization for Amazon Influencers

Canva

Canva is a powerful design tool for creating professional-looking graphics, affiliate banners, social media ads, business documents, and creative presentations. It is simple to use, with a drag-and-drop interface that allows users to quickly design unique graphics, logos, posters, website banners, and more.

Linktree

Linktree is a popular online tool used to create a simple landing page or “link in bio” for individuals and businesses. It provides a convenient way to share multiple links on platforms like Instagram, where the bio section allows for only one clickable link.

Linktree is especially useful for content creators, influencers, and businesses that want to direct their audience to different online destinations or resources without the need to constantly update their bio links on various platforms. By simply sharing their Linktree URL, users can provide a centralized hub for their audience to access all the relevant links and content they want to share.

Amazon Influencer FAQs

Wrapping-up

If you are an aspiring influencer looking to maximize your Amazon Earnings or to get started with the program, you should have all the details to be successful in joining the program, promoting, and scaling your passive income. 

By understanding the benefits, eligibility criteria, and key differences between Amazon Influencers and Amazon Associates, you can gain a solid foundation. Our guide emphasized the importance of building an online presence, choosing a niche with high earning potential that resonate with your audience, and following the best practices and step-by-step application process to get easily approved by the Amazon Influencer Program. 

Creating engaging and authentic content is a crucial aspect covered in the guide, along with strategies to maximize earnings, partner with brands, and grow and engage with an audience. Adhering to FTC guidelines for transparency and disclosure is also highlighted. 

To 10X your chance to land the right partnerships with Amazon sellers and build direct partnerships, there are also third-party Amazon platforms and must-have tools for content creation and optimization that we recommended you check as these tools and platforms have brought much success to brands, sellers, and creators The Good Strategy team work with. 

Armed with the knowledge and strategies to get started with the Amazon Influencer program or to take this channel and your revenue stream to the next step, it is time to continue to establish yourself as an influential figure in your niche or vertical, create compelling content, maximize and build a loyal audience to thrive within the Amazon Influencer Program and achieve long-term success.

For more details about building à successful Amazon Influencer Business and Revenue Stream, contact our team. 

Your success starts with The Good Strategy!