INFLUENCER MARKETING

What Is Amazon Influencer Marketing and How Does It Work?

Amazon influencer marketing helps you sell more products using Amazon influencers, so this article takes you on a ride through Amazon’s Influencer Program.

With a twist.

We’ll show you how this program works and specific eligibility conditions. We’ll analyze how the Influencer Program differs from the Affiliate Program, looking at different examples.

But then, we’ll also tell you how to use all that information to find the right creators for your campaign.

We’ll dissect Amazon influencer examples, reveal warning signs, and show you how the most effective-looking profiles may not be what they seem.

Keep reading below.

TL;DR

Amazon Influencer Marketing Overview:

• Explore Amazon's Influencer Program, its eligibility criteria, and how it differs from the Affiliate Program.
• Understand the effectiveness of influencer marketing on social media compared to regular affiliates.

Amazon Influencer Program vs. Amazon Associates:

• Amazon Influencers receive storefronts, vanity URLs, and access to exclusive events, providing a more professional appearance.
• The advantages of Amazon Influencer Storefronts for seamless product recommendations and conversations with the audience.

Eligibility and Application:

• Joining the Amazon Influencer Program is more exclusive, requiring high engagement rates and a significant social media following.
• Apply with social media channels such as YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and link them to an Amazon account.

Identifying Suitable Influencers:

• Analyze your follower database, loyal customers, and relevant hashtags to find potential influencers.
• Consider using influencer discovery tools like inBeat for a more efficient search and vetting process.

Starting Your Amazon Influencer Marketing Campaign:

• Approach selected influencers with appealing offers and collaborate to generate creative content.
• Ensure to sign contracts and agreements to formalize the partnership and campaign.

Pro Tips:

• Schedule a free consultation with a full-service influencer agency to kickstart your campaign.
• Use additional tools in conjunction with your campaign, such as AI price scraping software to help you monitor your competitor’s store and see how they react to your campaign.

What Is the Amazon Influencer Program?

The Amazon Influencer Program is a rewards program that Amazon set up for content creators who promote Amazon products. The UGC done by the influencers on this program shows up very much like Amazon Post.

It’s like the Amazon Affiliate Program but for the elite:

• Any run-of-the-mill person can become an Amazon Affiliate, promoting Amazon products and earning passive income through commissions when these products sell.
• Only specific creators can become Amazon Influencers. These content creators get:
• Amazon storefronts
• Vanity URLs
• Specific rewards, plus access to exclusive programs and events

Therefore, Amazon influencer marketing entails hiring Amazon influencers for your influencer marketing campaign.

Why does Amazon influencer marketing work?

Social media influencers have a larger reach than regular people and are also more trusted by this loyal community. As such, they can affect the purchasing decisions of more individuals than regular affiliates.

Here’s what influencers do after being approved for the program:

1. They create an Amazon Store with their audience's favorite products.
2. The content creators begin promoting these items on their social media channels.
3. Interested potential customers access the influencers’ social media links to the Amazon Stores.
4. Each time someone buys something from this online store, the Amazon influencer gets two commissions:

• One for the item purchased from their store
• One for every other Amazon purchase made during the next 24 hours

Amazon Influencer Program vs. Amazon Associates

The Amazon Influencer Program is an extension of the Associates Program but for influencers. That means Amazon Influencers are vetted more rigorously, though people in both programs get Amazon support to build their reports and keep their accounting.

However, Amazon Influencers get Amazon storefronts and vanity URLs, whereas Amazon associates only get affiliate links.

Why does that matter?

• Amazon Influencer Storefronts look more professional and allow people to explore more options. All the influencer’s product recommendations are easy to access with just a click.
• Some channels don’t allow hyperlinking (e.g. Instagram captions).
• Content creators have more product-related conversations with their audience than regular people. Sending their followers multiple links might look spammy instead of persuasive.

There’s more:

Amazon Influencers also get access to specific events, like the Prime Early Access Sale, through which they can attract more prospects. Therefore, Amazon Influencers kill two birds with one stone: they get more recognition and more sales.

And here’s a quick rundown of the similarities and differences between the two programs:

As you can see, this Amazon shop looks like any other online e-commerce store, with different product categories.

Influencers will link to this store on their social media platforms or in conversations with followers.

By contrast, an Amazon Associate will most likely write blog posts with product reviews to popularize the affiliate links:

Who Can Join the Amazon Influencer Program?

Joining the Amazon Influencer Program is harder than affiliate marketing because:

• Eligibility conditions include high engagement rates on social media. If you want to pick involved content creators, use our engagement rate calculator.
• These content creators must already have a significant number of followers on social media. Amazon accepts different types of influencers, but our free fake follower checker ensures these creators are legit.

To join the programs, influencers:

• Should apply with their social media channels. Creators using YouTube accounts may be approved immediately, whereas those applying with Instagram and Facebook may wait up to five days.
• Need social media accounts. According to Amazon’s new guidelines, these include Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube.
• Need Amazon accounts. Once these creators get approved, they must link their social media channels to the Amazon account.

Sonali Prabhu Austin is an excellent example. Looking at her Instagram account, you can notice that:

• She has 19,800 followers, meaning that she is a micro - influencer.
• She posts multiple times per day to keep her target audience engaged.
• Her content is split into various categories; Amazon Favs is just one category among numerous others.

Let’s discuss one post to see what we can learn from it:

Here’s what you can learn and apply in your Amazon influencer marketing campaign:

• Be authentic. This post doesn’t look spammy or pushy. Sonali presents the Skims bodysuit to her followers very casually; the whole video looks like a discussion between friends.
• Use arguments. The video is filled with persuasive arguments. Sonali understands what her audience is looking for: affordable, quality products that help them look “snatched.”
• Offer alternatives. Sonali offers multiple options. Notice the array of bodysuit colors she presents and how she sends her followers to the Amazon Storefront to check more products.
• Use hashtags. The hashtags that Sonali incorporates help her reach a wider audience of people who browse Instagram for those hashtags.

But would this creator be a good addition to your Amazon influencer marketing campaign?

We vetted Sonali by simply introducing her profile name on our engagement rate calculator and fake follower checker:

Here’s what you can notice (including some red flags):

• Sonali has a good engagement rate, though not as high as most of the influencers inBeat works with. Our potential influencers are chosen among the 1% of creators, so their engagement levels sometimes reach above 10 or even 20%.
• Sonali’s audience score is just 4.1. Although that is a fair audience score, notice that over half of her followers are inactive. Again, inBeat can put you in touch with more engaged influencers with better scores.

Warning: Although Sonali posts regularly and produces relevant influencer content that doesn’t feel spammy, her rates could be better. That’s why you should use the best tools to find your Amazon influencers.

That brings us to the following point:

How to Find Amazon Influencers

Amazon influencers may have a lot of success, and your Amazon influencer marketing campaign can have a booming success. But you must find the best ones.

Below are four ways to start your Amazon influencer search:

1. Check Your Follower Database

If you are already using social media platforms to promote your brand, browse your followers:

• Check the profiles of people usually interacting with your social media posts, commenting, or sharing the most.
• Make a short list of those who have the potential to become influencers. Analyze their audience score and engagement rates using inBeat’s free tools to gauge their effectiveness better.

2. Consider Your Best Customers

You can easily identify your most loyal customers using eCommerce analytics tools. Repeat shoppers and people who spend a lot of money on your website probably love your products.

Next, analyze their social media profiles to check if they fit your brand’s personality, values, and tone. Also, ensure their audience is wide and loyal enough to listen to their recommendations.

3. Search Hashtags

There are several ways to use hashtags to find influencers:

• Use your branded hashtag to see who is engaging with it.
• Search through trendy hashtags relevant to your brand. For example, #fashion and #lifestyle are a good start for clothing companies.
• Use hashtags for product searches in your niche.
• Check Amazon influencer hashtags, such as #amazon and #amazoninfluencer.

After that, see which popular influencers pop up that would be a good choice for your company.

4. Use an Influencer Discovery Tool

Influencer discovery tools like inBeat are the best for Amazon influencers. We don’t want to toot our own horn too much, but this isn’t just bragging.

We have objective features that set us apart from other influencer marketing platforms:

• inBeat specializes in TikTok and Instagram influencers, which is where most Amazon influencers activate. We can also connect you with YouTube and Facebook creators.
• inBeat is best for nano and micro - influencers, the best types of creators for Amazon Influencer Storefronts because they’re more engaged and hold more conversations with their target customers about their promoted products. Smaller influencers are also more motivated to grow, more affordable, and more open to collaboration than mega - influencers or celebrities.
• inBeat’s influencers are thoroughly vetted. We work with the top 1% of creators who have much higher engagement rates than the typical averages. Besides, these creators are very professional and prompt, with stellar collaborations.
• inBeat is an intuitive platform. Our wide array of filters helps you narrow down the right influencers in seconds, thus saving you hundreds of hours on discovery. Then, you can export the database of influencers and integrate it with your CRM software seamlessly. We will also help you with progress reports and monitoring tools along the way.

• inBeat has a slew of free tools. You can check our toolkit here – we already mentioned the engagement rate calculator and fake follower checker. But you can also use several Ad mockup generators to give your Amazon influencer marketing campaign traction. And our engagement metrics calculators help you monitor your progress.

Starting Your Amazon Influencer Marketing Campaign

Now that you have found the right influencers, it’s time to kickstart your campaign.

Approach potential creators with a good offer, but also ask for their input. They will likely have plenty of good ideas from their insights into your customers’ minds.

And if you are ready to bring someone on board, remember to sign a contract. Our agreement template can help you start your Amazon influencer marketing program or any other influencer campaign.

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