E-Commerce Trends Effective Influencer Marketing Strategy for Amazon Sellers

Amazon Influencer Program: Creators Shaping Sales with Product Reviews & Recommendations Influencer marketing is known as a reliable strategy to amplify a brand's influence on social media. Celebrity endorsements have been the prototype for influencer marketing, but in today's digital platforms, creators with loyal content fans are providing greater value to brands. ^[1]

In recent years, Amazon has also recognized the importance of influencer marketing and tapped into it by launching the Amazon Influencer Program. Currently, there is no way for Amazon sellers to directly connect with Amazon influencers. Amazon sellers can find, connect, and engage in business with them on Amazon Seller Central. However, the official website for the Amazon Influencer Program is separate and distinct from Seller Central. Since there is no official way to collaborate with Amazon influencers, you need to consider whether you can work with them to promote your products. In this article, we will introduce you to the Amazon Influencer Program and share ideas on how you can work with them to take your product promotion strategy to the next level.

Why is Amazon focused on influencer marketing? Let's first understand the value of influencer marketing, and then you will have some idea why Amazon created its own influencer program. The reason is at the heart of influencer marketing.

Consumers started to value reviews and recommendations more and more in their purchasing decisions, and reviews and recommendations from influencers, especially on social media, lend credibility to products and have a huge impact on their purchasing decisions.

Influencer marketing is a marketing strategy that utilizes influential individuals or groups on social media platforms to promote a product or service. Unlike traditional advertising strategies, it has the advantage of delivering a more personal and trustworthy message to consumers. Simply put, referrals are one of the most effective marketing tools, and influencer marketing uses them on a larger scale. Followers learn about brands and products from influencers who are like trusted friends. ^[2]

Currently, the most popular platform for influencer marketing is Instagram. In its 2023 Influencer Marketing Report, eMarketer estimated that by 2025, more than 80% of U.S. marketers will use Instagram for influencer marketing. eMarketer also found that short-form (5- to 90-second videos) platforms prefer Instagram Reels over TikTok. According to the report, U.S. marketers will use Instagram Reels 47.2% of the time and TikTok 46% of the time for short-form influencer marketing in 2022. While Instagram is slightly higher at 1.2%, the difference in preference between the two platforms is marginal. However, when asked which platform they plan to use in 2025, 62.2% of respondents said Instagram Reels and 57.7% said TikTok, suggesting that more short-form influencer videos will be distributed on Instagram Reels in the future.^[3] For Amazon sellers, this is a big opportunity for influencer marketing.

For Amazon sellers, influencer marketing can be a powerful tool to engage potential customers, educate them about products, and ease the hesitancy of new consumers to make their first purchase by allowing them to trust the “recommendation” of influencers.

Let's take a look at how Amazon is using influencer marketing to drive product sales through the Amazon Influencer Program. How Amazon Promotes Influencer Marketing - Another Revenue Model for Creators

The Amazon Influencer Program is an official program where sellers collaborate with influential creators on social media to promote products and build brand awareness. Influencers feature Amazon products with a sales link, and when a sale is made through that link, Amazon pays the influencer a commission for a percentage of the sale. This is why Amazon Influencer Program is a monetization model for influencers.

This revenue model is one of the main motivators for influencers to join the Amazon Influencer Program, as they are interested in promoting and selling Amazon products on the platforms they are currently active on. If you search for keywords related to Amazon influencers on social media platforms, you will find plenty of content. The Amazon Influencer Program is building an ecosystem that encourages more and more creators to actively promote Amazon products.

Now, let’s learn more about the Amazon Influencer Program and see how it actually works. Amazon Influencer Program vs Amazon Associates Program In fact, the Amazon Influencer Program is not the first program that promotes Amazon products outside of Amazon and offers commissions based on sales.

The first program of its kind was “Amazon Associates Program”.

Both the Amazon Associates Program and the Amazon Influencer Program help brands and creators promote their products and increase sales. However, the two programs take different approaches and have different requirements for participation.

Target Audience : The Amazon Associates Program is aimed at website owners and bloggers, and does not specify the size of the site or blogger. The Amazon Influencer Program is for influencers who are active on social media platforms - Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and TikTok - and have a following of a certain size. While Amazon has not officially announced its eligibility criteria, it is known to take into account a variety of indexes, including engagement as well as subscriber count. ^[5][6]

Content : The Amazon Associates program focuses on textual content with product links and banners, driving users to Amazon product pages. The Amazon Influencer Program is known to emphasize creative content, such as videos, social media posts, and live streams that show customers how to use the product. ^[5][6]

Conditions of Participation : To participate in the Amazon Associates Program, you must have a website or blog that publishes content that is relevant to the program product categories and be approved by Amazon. The Amazon Influencer Program requires a social media account with a certain size of followers and an active Amazon account. ^[5][6]

Overall approach : The Amazon Associates program offers a traditional affiliate marketing approach that leverages an existing content platform. The Amazon Influencer Program leverages the influence of social media influencers and their ability to create engaging content that resonates with their audience.

Benefits from Amazon - Whether or not you open an Amazon store : The Amazon Associates Program earns commissions on sales generated through affiliated links. The Amazon Influencer Program offers even more benefits; you can promote products on your existing social media platforms and earn a percentage of sales based on sales generated through the Amazon links provided. The biggest benefit of the influencer program is the ability to open an Amazon store. As an Amazon influencer, you can create your own customized store on Amazon. This allows followers to see all of the influencer's Amazon product recommendations together through a single link. Influencers can also categorize different types of products within their store to make it easier to navigate the products they promote and recommend. ^[5][6] Understanding Amazon Influencer Eligibility and Earning Activities Any type of creator with an Amazon account and a YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok account can sign up for the Amazon Influencer Program. If you are applying with an Instagram or Facebook account, you will need to use a business account. Once you submit your application online, Amazon will review your application to determine eligibility. While Amazon has not disclosed specific metrics, they have stated that they look at social media platform engagement metrics and follower count. ^[5]

Engagement Metrics by Social Media Platform
Instagram: Likes, comments, shares, saves, views, mentions, direct messages (DMs)
YouTube: Likes, dislikes, comments, shares, views, subscriptions, like/dislike ratio, comment engagement rate
TikTok: Likes, comments, shares, downloads, views, mentions, hashtag usage
Facebook: Likes, comments, shares, saves, group participation, reactions (anger, sadness, love, surprise)

Even if you are not selected as an Amazon Influencer, all creators who submit an application are eligible to earn commissions on eligible sales made through affiliate links on their social channels. Once you are accepted as an Amazon Influencer, you will be able to open an Amazon store and post content, such as images and videos, alongside products on your store.

It is important to note that Amazon influencers' product recommendations are made independently by the influencer, and Amazon does not intervene. Amazon will not modify or edit the influencer's content as long as it adheres to Amazon's content policies.^[5] We expect this system to drive more Amazon product reviews from creators, more recommended content, and more collaboration between Amazon influencers and Amazon sellers. Commissions on Amazon Influencer Eligible Sales As an Amazon Influencer, you earn a commission when a follower makes a purchase using your Amazon affiliate link. You also earn a commission on all purchases made by your followers, as long as the purchase is made within 24 hours of clicking your affiliate link. Commissions are calculated based on the sale price, not the list price of the eligible item.

Among product categories, luxury beauty has the highest commission at 10%, followed by apparel, jewelry, and shoes at 4%. Products such as beauty, home, toys, and pet supplies earn a 3% commission.

Amazon Influencer Collaboration Ideas Many sellers collaborate with creators on social platforms to help brand and drive sales of their Amazon products. They often reuse the collaboration output as product marketing content. In some cases, the review videos are posted on social platforms and Amazon detail pages as part of a separate agreement with the creator.

Why Working with Amazon Influencers Is So Compelling Understanding of Amazon content and policies : First and foremost, Amazon influencers will have a deeper understanding of the Amazon marketplace and Amazon content policies than the average influencer. Amazon is also more likely to provide training and benefits to help Amazon Influencers drive positive results for Amazon sales. As a result, content created by Amazon Influencers can be expected to perform better on the Amazon platform.

Content can be exposed to the Amazon platform without separate copyright agreement : If the YouTuber whose video posted on the Amazon detail page is an Amazon influencer, there will be an influencer store on Amazon, and the seller's product will be displayed in the influencer store with the video. There is a high possibility that they will be exposed together. If you are a regular YouTuber, you must have a separate copyright agreement to post a video on Amazon, and copyright fees are added. Finding Ways to Collaborate with Amazon Influencers There is no way for Amazon sellers to connect with Amazon influencers on Amazon Seller Central or on their influencer pages. That doesn't mean you can't have an engaging marketing partner. If you are looking to collaborate with social platform creators, here are some suggestions for working with Amazon influencers.

Find an Amazon influencer: Utilize Amazon shopping-related search queries
Find creators who are active as Amazon influencers on social platforms. If they are active, they will already have content related to Amazon Shopping.

The process for finding Amazon influencers
1) Search for relevant content on social platforms like YouTube using keywords related to Amazon shopping, such as "Amazon Deals" or "Prime day deals".
2) Look for "Amazon Influencer," "Amazon affiliate link," or "Amazon store link" in their content and channel bio.
3) If the creator is an Amazon Influencer, start pitching them for a collaboration.

Hypothetical example: Finding a fashion and beauty Amazon influencer
1) Search YouTube for "Amazon Deals" and add keywords based on the seller's product to see the results.

2) Click on the fashion and beauty-related content to see if it's an Amazon influencer with an Amazon affiliate link, store, etc. You can check it in the 'More' section of the video introduction.

3) Now that you have found a creator who is an Amazon Influencer, start proposing a collaboration. If you are working through an agency, you can share your findings with them and let them know that you prefer Amazon Influencers for your creator requirements. These are some ideas for collaboration proposals, and sellers are advised to develop those ideas according to their situation. What to Know When Working with Amazon Influencers • Amazon compliance : : Amazon has not identified any explicit policies that prohibit direct communication and transactions between sellers and influencers. However, you should be aware of the relevant rules that Amazon strictly enforces - such as inappropriate inducement of reviews, unfair competition, and misleading consumers - and be mindful of the rules for working with Amazon influencers.
• Set clear goals and strategies : You need to define your campaign objectives and create a strategy to meet them: e.g. Increase brand awareness, increase sales, etc.
• Choose the right influencer : Whenever possible, try to find an influencer whose audience matches the target audience for your product.

The Amazon Influencer Program offers a new promotional strategy for sellers. Many sellers are working on collaborative projects with creators on social platforms, and Amazon influencers are more effective at promoting their products than regular creators. If you want to reap the rewards of Amazon influencer marketing to increase product awareness and drive sales on Amazon, collaborating with Amazon influencers will be an attractive project. # References [1] Influencer Marketing Guide: How to Work With Influencers, Hootsuite
https://blog.hootsuite.com/influencer-marketing
[2] Discover New Leads and Brand Growth with Influencer Marketing, Bigcommerce
https://www.bigcommerce.com/articles/ecommerce/influencer-marketing/
[3] Influencer Marketing by Platform 2023, eMarketer
https://www.emarketer.com/chart/253414/social-platforms-used-by-us-marketers-influencer-marketing-2020-2025-of-total-marketers
[4] Amazon Influencer Program: How to Apply in 2024, JungleScout
https://www.junglescout.com/resources/articles/amazon-influencer-program/
[5] Amazon Influencer Program, Amazon
https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/influencers
[6] Amazon Associates - Amazon’s affiliate marketing program, Amazon
https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/
[7] The Amazon Associate's Guide to the Amazon Influencer Program, Amazon
https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/resource-center/the-amazon-associates-guide-to-the-amazon-influencer-program

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