The Amazon Influencer Program: Using Social Media for Profit

This article discusses the Amazon Influencer Program and offers tips on becoming a successful Amazon influencer. By the end of this article, you will have a solid understanding of how eCommerce influencer programs use social media to increase profitability on Amazon.

To some marketers, hiring an Amazon influencer might seem a bit silly. However, the power of social media marketing is becoming increasingly valuable in the digital age. Amazon’s influencer marketing program helps vendors increase sales, boost SEO, and reduce the ACoS (Average Cost of Sales) in Amazon ads.

What Is the Amazon Influencer Program?

The Amazon Influencer Program allows influential parties on almost any social media platform to advertise various products. The program exists to bring content creators and famous web stars together for collaborative purposes.

Influencers also have access to unique store pages filled with products featured by them. Part of the Amazon Influencer Program requirements is to manage your social media presence while also managing an influencer storefront.  Influencer programs are especially effective at targeting millennial buyers.

The idea is to make your product visible through content creation. For example, if you create a makeup line, a beauty-based content creator can help you display that makeup on their face. Seeing the product in action is an effective way to promote and sell products without creating product listings, stocking inventory, or incurring initial costs.

Read More: How to leverage TikTok to promote your Amazon products.

2. Amazon Influencer Program: Engagement Metrics

Engagement metrics are another factor that determines your eligibility to become an Amazon influencer. Engagement metrics measure the effectiveness of your posts and are expected to be relatively high. Such metrics are calculated by dividing the number of likes and comments within a post by the number of followers.

In addition to analyzing the number of likes and comments your posts receive, Amazon will also look at the number of posts you have and the rate at which you post. For instance, consistent and high engagement metrics indicate a receptive and impressionable social media audience. If this is the case, your chances of becoming an Amazon Influencer Program are substantially increased.

3. Amazon Influencer Program: Follower Count

Although Amazon does not explicitly indicate a minimum number of followers an influencer must have, follower count is still considered during the application process. However, Amazon suggests that when it comes to followers, “the more, the better.” Nevertheless, some would argue quality over quantity.

Take, for example, two social media accounts: account A has 500K followers, and account B has 300K followers. Despite having more followers, account A receives fewer engagement metrics per post when compared to account B. As an influencer, it is more valuable to have loyal and interactive followers who engage with your content instead of large sums of followers who do not engage.

How to Become an Amazon Influencer

Engaging social media personalities make excellent Amazon influencers. However, managing an audience and keeping them entertained can be challenging. Influencers sometimes use their clout to create brands. For example, Hila Klein of h3h3 is the owner of the famous Teddy Fresh clothing line.

If you want to make your brand an Amazon Best Seller, you very well can by implementing these seven tips and tricks:

1. Find a Niche

The first step to becoming an influencer is creating content within a specific niche that captivates a target audience. Ultimately, the idea is to expand that niche to include additional areas. As an Amazon seller, your best bet is to choose a niche associated with a product you would like to sell, such as beauty, fashion, gaming, or health and fitness.

2. Build and Fill Your Storefront

Storefronts increase interest in brands. As an Amazon influencer, you will have access to the storefront to promote your favorite products. Build your storefront around your niche and try to make it as unique as possible. While there are limited customizability options, you can still upload a header image and a profile picture. Building your storefront is just part of it; you have to fill it too. You do this by promoting your products via content (photos, blogs, short and long-form videos). Be sure to link your storefront to social media so that you can promote it and boost visibility.

3. Create a Routine Social Media Schedule

At the beginning of each week or month, you should draft a schedule of what kind of content you plan on disseminating. Keep in mind that content on social media platforms varies. Depending on your niche, you should post on the most conducive platform for the kind of content you create. For example, if you are a fashion blogger, you should specialize in visual content, and your preferred medium might be an influencer marketing platform like Instagram.

4. Determine What Equipment You Will Need

Becoming an influencer comes with certain equipment investments. Typically, you can find much of the equipment on your smartphone. However, things like editing software will require some level of investment. If you want to save some money on that front, several smaller brands offer lifetime deals. You can stick with paying out to Adobe Creative Cloud, which has Premier Pro as their staple video editing software for stability.

5. Engage Your Audience

To remain relevant as an influencer, you must be willing and able to entertain your audience. If you do not, you will lose followers faster than it took you to get them. The idea is to show up ready to perform. Whether you are a reviewer, blogger, or entertainer, you must be creating value-based content for your followers. Then, you hone in on expanding that same energy to your brand, and that high energy translates into profits. Creating original designs or marketing campaigns is only as engaging as the person behind it.

6. Diversify Your Campaign

You must think broadly; you cannot marry yourself to a single marketing strategy. For example, focusing entirely on the Amazon Affiliate Program YouTube option limits you to people who prefer looking things up on that social media platform. So, it is essential to combine this with campaigns from other social media, your website, and PPC campaigns. To find out which of your campaigns are working best, use DataHawk for your product lineup data-driven approach. Advertising analytics can help you understand which areas of your advertising and marketing strategies are working and which are not.

7. Become Your Own Influencer

Just because you sell your products on Amazon does not mean you cannot also be an influencer. In an Amazon world, you can be both the seller and influencer. However, the job of an influencer is no easy feat. Engaging people to buy your products might be difficult. For instance, you cannot review your products, as it is biased and deemed unethical.

Instead, you will focus on creating engaging content like brand stories. Combining this with Amazon social media marketing such as other influencers, Amazon Live, Amazon posts is a bonus. Share with others what inspired you to create the brand and why you made the product. Your job as an Amazon influencer is to magnetize consumers to your product by impacting their purchasing decisions.

How to Combine Amazon Live and Amazon Posts

Amazon’s latest updates denote the significance of on and off-site customer engagement. Both Amazon posts and the new program emphasize the importance of creating complete customer experiences. In addition, Amazon’s social media marketing efforts are strengthening with the inclusion of such features.

Amazon posts may include a picture of an influencer using a product. Disseminating posts showing influencers using your products can be a lucrative campaign. Posts may also work in conjunction with a specific advertisement initiative. For instance, creating a series of posts showing the product alongside an Amazon affiliate program might work to your advantage.

If potential affiliates wonder about the Amazon influencer requirements, this would be their opportunity to put their best foot forward. The total effort combines to create a complete Amazon social media marketing campaign.

What About Amazon Live?

Amazon Live is an influencer platform built into Amazon’s storefront. Many influencers utilize this service to promote products.

Additionally, brands use Amazon Live to educate people on the best use of their products. For example, many brands take advantage of Prime Day and Black Friday to draw attention to their products. As a beginner, you may want to develop your Live presence to become more comfortable with it.

You can become an influencer yourself this way. Regardless, the combined approach allows you to interact with customers, and those engagements can result in sales.

Boosting Your Social Media Presence With Amazon Posts

Amazon posts are exclusive to those parts of the brand registry. As a result, a combination of posts and influencers provides you with an overall social media boost. Linking people back to your page encourages your brand to flourish. Having social media posts related to PPC campaigns and influencer contributions is a lethal combination that increases your chances with any product.

For instance, if you are announcing a new version of your product, getting it in front of as many people as possible is paramount. Doing so allows you to increase the potential sales rank of the page, thus resulting in a higher potential for organic growth.

While Amazon’s A10 algorithm focuses on relevant listings over sales, more sales mean more five-star reviews. For example, taking advantage of the Amazon Affiliate Program YouTube option allows you to gain exposure through visual content. The new age of Amazon social media marketing emphasizes this combined approach. The A10 algorithm also emphasizes the importance of gaining more off-site traffic.

How Can an Amazon Seller Find the Right Influencer?

A crucial component of Amazon’s influencer program requirements comes back to linking together influencers and sellers. Whether you want to become an influencer or a seller, finding the best person to satisfy your needs is vital. Thankfully, Amazon does most of the heavy lifting for you. The algorithm finds appropriate influencers to link to your product.

Once Amazon finds the right match for you, your items appear on their influencer storefront. For example, say you sell incredibly comfortable yoga pants. You might end up on the influencer page of Bee Bosnak:

Bee Bosnak is a business mentor and spiritual healer. She created the Heal Yourself method, which seeks to be something of a self-help studio for yourself and your business. She is an excellent example of the Amazon influencer program requirements in action, as she has a significant social presence without an overwhelming amount of followers.

Her ability to engage with her audience hits the right social media strategy. Her influencer storefront shows a wide variety of products, from tech to swimwear. She presents herself in a way that inspires followers to imitate her.

Amazon Influencer Requirements: FAQs

How do Amazon influencers get paid?

Amazon influencers receive payment upon the sale of products through their unique URLs. In this case, it is no different from the standard affiliate program. However, influencers are likely to get paid more due to their increased clout.

Do you have to review products to be an influencer?

The influencer program does not specify if you need to review products. However, product reviews are an easy way for influencers to become part of the platform. Your other choices are to show the products in action, encouraging viewers to match your style by buying it. You can also have a “behind the scenes” video to talk about your equipment used to film.

Are you allowed to critique items as an influencer?

As an Amazon reviewer, you cannot praise everything released on the platform. However, complete positivity will ruin anyone’s credibility as a reviewer. Amazon does not state that you have to be positive about every product you review. Instead, be critical of items that need critiquing as it helps maintain credibility.

Do sellers have to use influencers exclusively through their platform?

With the new release, there is some concern that sellers are stuck with Amazon-specific influencers. However valid Amazon’s platform is on this subject, they do not require you to use their influencers. Nonetheless, because of Amazon’s A10 algorithm, they encourage you to try some things off the platform. When looking for off-site influencers, you will have to handle their payment personally. Be sure you have a method of tracking the number of clicks from an influencer’s location. Having a system ready allows you to track the effectiveness of those campaigns.

Overall, Amazon’s Influencer Program requirements are not too demanding. The first step to becoming an Amazon influencer is being admitted into the program. After that, Amazon influencers work to promote your products through custom Amazon storefronts. Combined marketing strategies are made easy with influencers, and they give you the utmost potential to boost your sales rank and brand reputation.

If you have a solid social media following and want to start monetizing your digital skills, join the Amazon Influencer Program today.