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What is the Amazon Influencer Program?
The Amazon Influencer Program is growing, along with the role of influencers across e-commerce. Now is time to take advantage of Amazon’s influencer program before your competitors beat you to it.
67.9% of US marketers with 100 or more employees used influencers
The interest in working with influencers has skyrocketed during the pandemic. eMarketer estimated that 67.9% of US marketers with 100 or more employees used influencers for paid or unpaid brand partnerships in 2021. That’s why it is no surprise to hear that Amazon’s Influencer program has also increased in popularity, a trend we predicted for this year.
Influencers are becoming an impactful marketing strategy for brands to boost awareness, sales, and gain credibility. It is also one of the best ways to tap into a specific or niche target audience without needing to be overly “salesy.”
To stand out in the competitive online marketplace, finding the right influencer pairing will better help you connect with your target audience. Continue reading to learn more about the Amazon Influencer program and how you can get started.
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The Amazon Influencer Program Explained
What’s the Difference Between Amazon Influencers and Amazon Affiliates?
The Amazon Influencer Program is an extension of the Amazon Associates affiliate marketing program that qualifies social media influencers. This is one of the largest affiliate marketing programs globally, allowing for creators, publishers, and bloggers.
Unlike those in the Amazon Associates program, Amazon influencers get to create a personal storefront, where they talk about different products from brands and sellers on Amazon.
Influencers earn a commission on Amazon products purchased from their storefront, or unique links (UTMs) shared outside of Amazon on other social media sites like YouTube. Influencers in the program generally have a specific niche that determines the Amazon items they showcase.
Amazon Influencer Program Requirements
How do you qualify for the Amazon Influencer program? The process to qualify for the Amazon Influencer Program is more competitive than the Amazon Associates program, though the requirements remain vague.
For Amazon Influencer program eligibility, Amazon reviews your social media account to determine if you would be a good fit and takes into consideration the following:
- Number of followers on Instagram, Youtube, or Facebook (Amazon does not disclose an exact number of followers)
- Engagement levels on social channels
- Post count and consistency
- Location of the influencer (currently, the Amazon Influencer Program is only available in the U.S.A., the UK, Canada, and India)
The Amazon Influencer Program incentivizes influencers in their program to generate sales on Amazon
Why Should Brands and Sellers Use the Amazon Influencer Program?
If you are selling on Amazon, you are always looking for new ways to bring shoppers to your listings and stand out from competitors or similar products. Using Amazon influencers is an excellent option since the Amazon Influencer Program incentivizes influencers in their program to generate sales on Amazon. That’s a win-win for you.
Though the program is still small, it allows a unique opportunity for brands and sellers to take advantage of the growing feature. Many brands are beginning to use this opportunity to showcase their products on Amazon Live, along with features on YouTube or Instagram. It is important to note that many brands favor Amazon Live due to the high chance of both conversations and conversions.
The Price of Amazon Influencers
There is not a set fee for Amazon Influencers, and some smaller influencers are even willing to work with brands and sellers in exchange for products. Generally, a common rule of thumb is that the more followers and the higher engagement an influencer has, the more it will cost to work with them.
How Do You Find Amazon Influencers?
Before you begin to look for the perfect Amazon influencer for your business, determine your goals and define the audience you want to reach. An influencer’s popularity is important, but what is even more important is that your audiences overlap.
You want to choose an influencer that creates content that your target audience watches on the platforms they use.
It can be overwhelming to find an influencer that is a good fit for your brand and products. We recommend looking through Amazon’s public pages like the #FoundItOnAmazon page or taking a look at who is live-streaming on Amazon Live.
Trisha Hershberger, a digital creator for Amazon Live, recommends for brands to approach content creators with as much information as possible about a brand deal. This includes information such as:
- Tentative campaign start
- Clear expectations about messaging
- Expected audience type to engage
- Specific goals for a certain time frame or contract date
Creating these expectations allows for the creators to understand if they are a good fit and can offer you what you are expecting.
Depending on your contract or relationship with the Amazon influencer, there are a variety of ways and channels that can bring your brand or product popularity. Influencers can recommend your products in the following places:
- Amazon Influencer Storefront
- Amazon Live videos
- Blogs
- Twitch
- YouTube
- TikTok
The reason Amazon Influencers are impactful is because of their unique audience. For example, a cooking Amazon Influencer isn’t going to recommend camping equipment like tents. This allows for a better audience match leading to more purchases.
Utilizing the Amazon Influencer program can help you gain visibility on high-profile days like Amazon Prime Day or Cyber Monday
How to Use Amazon Live with Influencers
Amazon Live allows you to utilize your influencers in real-time with engaging livestreaming videos that will enable your influencers to engage with shoppers. For example, Carla Stevenné, an Amazon Live influencer in the beauty category, shared the real-time impact her livestreams have made on purchases.
Stevenné explains, “I’ve had people leave a question in my chat on my livestream as I’m sharing something, and I’ll answer it, and they’ll say, ‘Okay, I’m going to add this to my cart right now. They’re letting me know they just purchased it because I answered that question live.”
Utilizing the Amazon Influencer program can help you gain visibility on high-profile days like Amazon Prime Day or Cyber Monday. Live video demonstrations during high sales days can boost customer engagement and help your product stand out among similar products.
More Resources: The Ultimate Prime Day 2022 Planning Hub
The more competitive Amazon has become, the more crucial it is to utilize the tools Amazon provides to help your business stand out. Differentiating yourself is key in the saturated marketplace.
Products that Amazon Live Influencers recommend during livestreams appear underneath the video, so shoppers can easily purchase the product while continuing to watch the livestream.
How to Find Amazon Live Influencers
The easiest way to find Amazon Live influencers is to go to Amazon Live and sort by the categories that are most similar to your brand or products.
The current Amazon Live categories include:
- Featured Creators
- Get Fit At Home
- Featured Beauty
- Upcoming Streams
- Amazon Live
- Recipes
- Fashion & Beauty
- Food
- Sports & Health
- Baby
- Home
- Automotive
- Electronics
- Toys and Games
- Pets
- Movies and TV
- Industrial
- Video Games
- Handmade
- Amazon Devices
- Books
- Music
Further Reading: How to Drive Brand Awareness With Amazon Live
Final Thoughts
Amazon Influencer marketing, done correctly, can have huge returns on investment, especially when paired with growing social media platforms or livestreaming like Amazon Live. If you are hesitant to begin reaching out to influencers, you can use Amazon Live as a brand to engage in real-time by creating a self-service stream. This allows you to keep complete control over the content.
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