If you’d love to affiliate for products on Amazon without having a website the Amazon Influencer Program might be just what you need.
Rather than having to create a website and rely on SEO to grow your organic traffic, becoming an Amazon Influencer means you can leverage your existing social media audience and create your own Amazon storefront as an influencer.
A great example is Jalissa Queen who’s a top amazon influencer and has been reviewing brands and products on Amazon for 5+ years.
Image source: jalissa_queen
Not only does she earn a commission when anyone clicks through her storefront links, but as a top amazon influencer she now also offers review services, live streams, unboxing videos, and more.
So, how do you become an Amazon Influencer and more importantly, start to make money on Amazon with the opportunity?
What is the Amazon Influencer Program?
The Amazon Influencer Program is essentially an extension to the Amazon Affiliate Marketing Program. However, while the Amazon Affiliate Program is targeted toward blog readers, the Amazon Influencer Program is geared toward the social media crowd.
It is geared towards those who exert influence through social media platforms instead of blogs or websites.
The Amazon Influencer Program is more of a supercharged influencer marketing where brands reach out to social media influencers to promote the products that they will be selling on Amazon.
Such social media influencers are referred to as Amazon influencers. They usually set up custom storefronts. These storefronts usually offer only those products that Amazon influencers endorse.
People who follow those influencers have the choice of purchasing products from those storefronts exactly the way Amazon customers buy directly from Amazon.
How Does the Amazon Influencer Program Work?
The Amazon Influencer Program is essentially influencer marketing with a twist.
You can call it Amazon Influencer Marketing in which amazon uses social media influencers to sell products through Amazon influencer storefronts via their social media accounts. Those products may be an Amazon brand or any third-party brand.
The modus operandi of the Amazon Influencer Program is fairly simple. Here are the steps involved:
Apply for the Program: The first step is to create an Amazon account and apply for the program. You must satisfy all program requirements.
Create a Storefront: Once accepted as an Amazon influencer, you need to build a storefront on Amazon. You can add a custom logo if you want or you can just use your profile photo.
Here is an example of an influencer storefront with a custom logo:
Image source: trailrecon
And here is an influencer storefront with a profile photo:
Image source: momables
It is always a good idea to add an attractive header image to your Amazon storefront.
Connect Social Accounts: It is important that you connect your social media networks to your storefront. You must have at least one acceptable social account.
Work With Brands: The storefront that you build can have the products that you like, or you can work with certain brands and display their products. You can reach out to brands or brands may reach out to you.
Create Valuable Content: Just displaying products on your amazon store is not enough. You must create valuable content that your social media followers will find useful. Try to create evergreen content or something that adds value or sparks interest.
The content you create can be anything from a short video to a beautiful still image. You can upload the content to your influencer store and share a link to the content to your social accounts.
How to Make Money as an Amazon Influencer
Commissions from Storefront:
Amazon influencers earn commissions on the sales they bring for the e-commerce giant through their storefronts.
If you get approved for the program, you can share the link to your storefront on your social media channels.
When someone follows the link and purchases a product on Amazon through your storefront, you will earn a commission.
Amazon Bounty Program:
Earning commissions is not the only way to make money. Amazon influencers can promote Amazon services under the Amazon Bounty program and earn fixed commissions known as “bounties.”
The services that can be promoted include Amazon Business, Amazon Baby Registry, Amazon Home Services, Prime Video Channels Free Trial, Amazon Music Unlimited Free Trial, etc.
One great way to maximize earnings is to promote complementary services and products. For instance, if you are promoting baby products, you can also promote Baby Registry. Similarly, if you are promoting fashion clothing, you can also promote Prime Try Before You Buy.
Extra Brand Services:
You can extend your services to brands looking for influencer marketing. Jalissa Queen I mentioned earlier is a good example.
Brands often approach her for Amazon Live product reviews, unboxing videos, product usage videos, product featuring on her storefront, etc., and pay her directly in advance.
You can check out the list of services she offers to draw some inspiration. However, do remember that you need to have a significant and relevant social media following before brands decide to pay a hefty amount for the services you offer.
Moreover, you will need a mechanism to sell your services to brands. The best option is to create an e-commerce site or blog style website to list your services, or use platforms like Discord to promote your services.
How to Qualify to Become an Amazon Influencer
To qualify for Amazon’s Influencer Program, you must be an influencer on a social media platform such as Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram.
Just having a social media presence is not enough. You must have a significant following and high engagement.
The prerequisites for entry into the Amazon Influencer Program boil down to:
- You must have active social media accounts.
- You must have a substantial following.
- You must have acceptable engagement metrics.
Unfortunately, just being a social media influencer will not qualify you for the influencer program. You can only participate if you are from one of the four countries where the program is available.
The Amazon influencer marketing program is available in the US, the UK, India, and Canada.
Depending on your country of residence, you will need to provide payment and tax information for legal compliance.
How to Apply to the Influencer program
Applying to the influencer program is fairly simple. The steps you must follow are briefly described below:
Sign Up:
Head over to the Amazon influencer page and click on the Sign-Up button in the middle near the page’s header.
Once you click on the button, you will be taken to a page where you will be asked to use an existing customer account or create a new account.
Note that if you already have an Amazon Associates account, you must use that account for the signup process.
Assuming that you already have an existing customer account, click on Sign In, and on the next screen, fill in your account details.
Connect Social Media Platforms:
Once you sign in, Amazon will ask you to connect to a public social media account where you have the maximum number of followers. There are four available social media platforms at the time of this writing and they are Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and Facebook.
Once you connect your social media account, Amazon will check whether you are eligible or not by looking at your follower count and other engagement metrics.
If you select Facebook or YouTube, Amazon will check your eligibility immediately. For Instagram and TikTok, it may take up to 5 days.
Assuming that you are eligible, you will then be required to add profile details.
Add Storefront Name & Details:
Once you provide the customer data or profile data, you must add your storefront details. Add a logo (250 x 250 px) and a background image (1810 x 420 px)
Once you provide the necessary details, click on the yellow Continue button for the next step.
Add Account Details:
This is where you must provide information like the payee’s name, address, type of products you will be promoting, etc.
Once you have provided all the necessary information, click on Save and Finish to enter the Amazon Influencers dashboard.
Follow @amazoninfluencerprogram on IG:
Once you are on the Amazon Influencers dashboard, you will find a notice that will ask you to follow @amazoninfluencerprogram on Instagram.
If you don’t do that, your application will not be approved. This is an additional layer of security that Amazon uses to ensure that you are the owner of the account.
The good news is that while your account gets verified (which can take up to 5 days), you can start building your influencer storefront.
How to Make a Storefront as an Amazon Influencer
To visit your Amazon storefront, follow the link you see on the dashboard.
Once you are on your influencer page, you will find the option to create content, edit your storefront, complete your profile, etc.
Click on the Create Content button and then select one of the four options available, which include:
- Idea list
- Shoppable photo
- Video
- Live video (iOS only)
For example, when you select Idea List, you will be asked to add a name to the list and a short description.
Once you create a list, you can then start adding products. There’s no limit on the number of products you can add.
If someone clicks through one of the products you are promoting and makes a purchase, you will receive a commission.
You will find all data on sales and revenue through your Amazon Associates account.
The content or the products you will add will depend on your expertise, or just about any product you enjoy.
Here are a couple of examples of niche-specific Amazon stores by successful Amazon Influencers:
Justin Braun promoting auto repair equipment through Overtime Garage:
Chelsey promoting her favorite baking ingredients and tools through Chelsweet:
How to Promote Your Amazon Storefront
Getting approved and setting up your Amazon store is not all. You must promote the products to the target audience. If your audience responds to your social media posts or content on other platforms, they will trust your recommendations.
Here are some great tips for promoting your store on different platforms:
Instagram:
- Add your store link to your bio page. Use your influencer link in post captions.
- Be vocal and ask your followers to shop through the link in your bio.
- Use Instagram stories to engage your followers and increase your audience. You may pin your best stories or use the 24-hour stories to highlight your recommended products.
- Create reels about the products.
YouTube Channel:
- Use the About section of your YouTube channel to link to your influencer page.
- Add links to the products you are promoting in the descriptions of your YouTube videos.
- Mention your store URL in the video.
- Create YouTube shorts about the products.
Facebook:
- Add a link to your Amazon influencer storefront in the About section of your profile.
- Use Facebook Stories to tell your customers that you have curated useful products for them.
- Link the Shop Now button to your Amazon influencer page.
TikTok:
- Add a link to your Amazon store in your bio.
- Make product-specific videos and links to the products in the videos.
- Use hashtags like #AmazonFinds, #AmazonMustHaves, etc.
Website & Blogs:
- Know your audience demographics and their preferences and promote products accordingly. Create relevant content around those products.
- Consistently produce valuable content that people will love & trust, and add product links within the blog posts.
- Create a static banner and link directly to your Amazon store.
Other Suggestions:
- Mention your store URL at the beginning of your podcasts. Repeat it somewhere in the middle and once at the end.
- Link your Twitter bio with your influencer page. Tweet product recommendations frequently. Include product links in your Tweets.
- Use email marketing to send a curated list of products from your storefront. If you have a segmented list based on product preferences, make sure that you send product recommendations accordingly.
Amazon Influencer FAQs
How many followers do I need to become an Amazon Influencer?
Amazon don’t specify the minimum follower count you need. While a large number is beneficial, the most important criterion for approval in the Amazon influencer program is to have an engaged audience.
Even micro-influencers and nano-influencers are accepted if they can demonstrate valuable engagement with their audience. The bottom line is that you must have a meaningful social media following and Amazon must consider you as a valuable influencer.
How to find Influencer stores on Amazon?
One easy way to find Amazon influencer stores is to look at the Shop by Interest page. Another way is to check out Amazon Live where creators run Amazon influencer campaigns through live streaming while actively interacting with their followers.
You can also find influencers on social media channels using hashtags. Certain hashtags like #amazonfinds, #founditonamazon, #amazonambassador, etc., can help you to find influencers working on influencer marketing campaigns specifically for products sold on Amazon.
What are the top 3 tips to earn the most as an Amazon Influencer?
Be Niche Specific: Amazon sells a wide range of products so you may be tempted to promote products from multiple niches. Don’t do that! Choose a specific niche and especially the one where you have expertise. This will ensure that your followers trust you and buy through your links.
Create valuable and useful evergreen content that can be used repeatedly: Whether it is a blog post or a social media post, make sure that you are adding value and that the content can be repurposed again and again with minor alterations. This will reduce your workload and allow you to promote and sell more products.
Be consistent with your content strategy: You must have a consistent content strategy for influencer marketing. Many Amazon influencers fail simply because they aren’t consistent and their followers lose trust and interest. Creators who make it to the Amazon influencer program’s hall of fame push content consistently and their followers take them seriously.
How much does an Amazon Influencer make?
The income of Amazon influencers depends on various factors like the number of direct followers they have, how much engagement they have, the products they promote, the effectiveness of the influencer marketing campaign to drive sales, etc.
Amazon offers a fixed commission for different niches. For example, Amazon coins, luxury stores, beauty and luxury beauty offer a 10% commission for each sale. Furniture, home improvement, pet products, etc., have an 8% commission per sale.
Most Amazon influencers say that they earn from a few dollars to over $1,000 a month. This makes sense because Amazon influencers are essentially affiliate partners who share affiliate links diverting the audience to their own storefronts.
In fact, the commission structure of the Amazon influencer program is the same as the Amazon associates program. The only difference is that Amazon influencers can redirect their followers to their own storefronts from their social media pages or blogs, unlike regular Amazon affiliates who can only share an affiliate link through their blog or social media pages.
How to Make Money as an Amazon Influencer: Summary
To make money as an Amazon influencer, you must be a social media influencer with an engaged and meaningful social media audience who will interact with your Amazon affiliate links.
Unlike online arbitrage or Amazon FBA, you won’t need any financial investment or any of your own products to get started.
As a participant of the Amazon influencer program, you can set up a storefront free of charge and divert your followers to the storefront by sharing a link through your social posts.
Most successful members always choose to work with specific niches, making them valuable for industry-specific brands.
For instance, Chelsey of Chelsweets focuses only on baking tools and ingredients, making her a valuable influencer for FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) brands willing to spend on Amazon influencer marketing to promote their products.
The key to success as an Amazon influencer is to select the right products that your social media followers will want to buy. Remember that your content will drive sales so be sure to create meaningful content that people will love.
