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Amazon Influencer Program Guide [2023]

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If you are looking for a new way to connect shoppers with your products on Amazon, we recommend taking advantage of the Amazon Influencer Program

With ever-increasing competition for sellers on Amazon, the Amazon Influencer Program is a valuable tool for helping your products stand out. Plus, it can bring in customers who shop based on recommendations from their favorite bloggers.

If done right, the Amazon Influencer program can be a solid part of your overall Amazon marketing strategy.

Never worked with influencers before? Keep reading our Amazon Influencer Program Guide to learn more about using this program to bring in new customers and boost sales.

What is the Amazon Influencer Program?

Tapping into the Amazon Influencer Program network is a valuable way to drive traffic to your Amazon store. However, “influencer” is a broad term. So what does it mean in this context? And how can you take advantage of this resource?

An Amazon Influencer is a content creator that shares recommendations for Amazon purchases on their chosen platform or platforms. These can include blogs, vlogs, social media posts, live streams, podcasts, or any other kind of interactive media. Members of the Amazon Influencer Program often have custom storefronts that their audience can visit and shop from directly. 

To become an Amazon Influencer, content creators complete an Amazon Storefront Application before connecting with shoppers across the platform.

The program is mutually beneficial to influencers and sellers. Amazon Influencers earn a commission on purchases made through their accounts and storefronts, and sellers have their products promoted for them to shoppers already interested in their niche.

Amazon Influencer Program vs. Affiliate Program vs. Amazon Bounty Program

The Amazon Influencer Program is a subset of the Amazon Affiliate Program, which was first established in 1996. The core difference between the two is the method through which influencers and affiliates recommend products. 

Affiliates promote products by sharing links on their platforms. If your product fits well in their niche, they will write or talk about it and send their followers directly to your product page with a specialized link that ensures a portion of the revenue will go to them.

Amazon launched the Amazon Influencer Program in 2017. Influencers publish content with affiliate links but they also build custom storefronts on Amazon their followers can shop from at any time. 

For example, consider a travel blogger who is a member of the Amazon Influencer Program. They may write a blog post covering essentials for every solo traveler. Their post will include specialized links to each of these products on Amazon (like a neck pillow, backpack, or sunglasses), but it will also direct followers to their custom storefront, where they can shop for the listed essentials (and more) in one place. 

In both cases, each click of an affiliate link that brings a follower to Amazon means a reward to the influencer or affiliate.

The Amazon Bounty Program is a bit different. Rather than paying members for each click to a product page, it offers rewards for bringing followers to Amazon services like Audible, Amazon Music, and Amazon Prime. The program is less relevant for the average Amazon seller, but having these on your radar is always helpful. 

What are the Benefits of Working with an Amazon Influencer?

Higher Engagement 

Working with influencers can more effectively target customers with specific interests than traditional advertising. Not only is it another channel through which shoppers can find your products, but the shoppers directed toward your products are already interested in your niche.

Plus, followers trust influencers. They also get a better opportunity to see your product in action, making it easier to visualize themselves using it. 

Affordable Advertising

Compared to Amazon pay-per-click advertising, working with the Amazon Influencer Program can be an affordable method for reaching shoppers. Depending on the influencer and the platform type, you may not have to pay at all – some will review your product if you send it to them to try fo free. 

Others may charge a base rate of anywhere from $10 to $10,000 per post – depending on how many followers they have. If you research carefully, you should be able to find a member of the Amazon Influencer Program who is willing to promote your product for little cost on your end because Amazon will pay them a per-purchase fee through the affiliate link.

Another great affordable marketing tool? Amazon SEO. With SEO, you’ll organically improve discoverability to your target audience. Once your listings rank, your traffic will grow exponentially without the expense of paid marketing, and you won’t have to pay for every click on your listing. 

And with the Sellesta.ai platform, it’s even easier. Sellesta.ai provides includes list scoring, optimization, keyword research, and suggestions all at once. It lso tracks your competitors’ products, rankings, and price changes in real time. The AI analyzes key tags and the emotional tone of key tags in customer reviews to break down what customers love (or don’t love) about a competitor’s product.

Sellesta.ai’s listing optimization.

Established Trust 

If a trusted friend recommends a product, aren’t you more likely to purchase it? Followers of Amazon Influencers will have a similar experience. Followers trust and value the opinion of the writer, podcaster, or vlogger giving recommendations and will therefore be more open to making a purchase of an item they’ve never considered before. 

Niche Interests 

The Amazon Influencer Program can bring shoppers with interests in your niche right to your shop. Because they are already browsing blogs or websites related to the products you sell, they’ll be more likely to purchase one of yours. 

If an influencer includes your products in their storefront, followers who are already interested in your niche will be more likely to find your products. This method is one of the most direct ways to connect with customers on Amazon.

What to Know Before Working With Amazon Influencers

1. The Best Influencers are Organized

You can find influencers to work with by reading blogs related to your niche or exploring the Amazon Influencer Program network. Make sure you browse posts on social media, read their Amazon Influencer bio, and look through their store. You should aim to find a well-organized influencer because if their outputs are in good order, chances are they run their platforms and content like a business. 

Professional, organized influencers will be more reliable, which will make your working relationship that much better. 

2. Amazon Doesn’t Manage Their Influencers

The Amazon Influencer Program acts more as a networking tool than a management tool. Once Amazon accepts a content creator into the program, they don’t monitor the content they produce. Nor will they help sellers hire or manage Influencers. 

The requirements to join the Amazon Influencer aren’t very strict, so if you’re going to hire an influencer, ensure you perform a deep dive into their prior work, and have a formal agreement to the terms of your contract.

3. Don’t Try to Get Incentivized Reviews

Reviews are one of the most valuable tools for shoppers when deciding what products to purchase. And while it may feel important as a seller to have as many positive reviews as possible, there are better ways to do that than incentivized reviews (aka positive reviews that a customer writes in exchange for a benefit). 

Not only are incentivized reviews not allowed on Amazon, but they also break the trust between shoppers and sellers. So what is the best way to ensure positive reviews? The tried and true method is to provide your customers with stellar products and excellent customer service.

Reviews are also a great way to uncover new opportunities to improve your product. Sellest.ai’s review analysis analyzes key tags and the emotional tone of key tags to break down what customers really think about your (and your competitors’) products. 

You can see where customers are having issues with your product and make the necessary changes. And, you gain insights into why customers love (or don’t love) a competitor’s product, and how to adjust yours accordingly. Make your product listing stand out by addressing these concerns and emphasizing exactly what you know customers appreciate about this product type (in their own words)! 

4. Track the Partnership Results

To make sure that your investment in the Amazon Influencer Program is paying off, track your partnership’s results. Follow the key performance indicators for both you and the Influencer to decide whether their approach is really helping you stand out in the Amazon marketplace.

How to be an Amazon Influencer

Are you interested in becoming an Amazon Influencer? If you have a solid follower base on a social media platform, this can be another way to promote your products. Simply follow the application and registration process listed on their website to join the program.

1. Register

The first step to becoming an Amazon Influencer is to visit the Amazon Influencer Program homepage, make an Amazon Associates account, or log into an existing customer account. You’ll need to provide your name, email, password, and address. 

You will then need to connect the platform where you have the most followers. You’e going to want a solid base – many influencers have at least 20,000 followers.

You’ll also need to upload a profile picture, header image, an Amazon Influencer bio, and an address for sending reports.

2. Apply for the Amazon Influencer Program

The Amazon Storefront application will require you to link your YouTube, Facebook, or Instagram account to Amazon. Again, selecting the platform with the highest number of followers is important because that will make your application more likely to be chosen.

3. Create a Storefront

Having an Amazon Storefront is crucial to joining the Amazon Influencer Program. You will create your Storefront name and tagline, and then you can get to work promoting products.

4. Add Products

It is best to start by promoting products with which you’re already familiar. Maybe you have some old favorites that your followers would especially enjoy, or there is a new gadget that has been making your life easier lately. 

You can promote anything you like in your shop, new products or old favorites. Just ensure your followers know you are not an unbiased reviewer. 

You can also start by reaching out to sellers and seeing if there are any products they’d like promoted to your audience. 

5. Optimize Product Listings

You’ll want to optimize your listings if you want to bring shoppers to your product pages. While pushing shoppers to your storefront from your social pages, optimized listings are a great way to boost sales overall. 

This means having the right product title, description, photos, and keywords. Sellesta.ai is a tool for Amazon sellers and agencies providing optimization recommendations, AI content creation, keyword suggestions, and more. With the power of artificial intelligence, Sellesta.ai analyzes reviews, customer products, your current listings, and more to provide product listing suggestions that lead to more organic traffic and conversions.

6. Promote Your Store

Once your storefront is up and running, you can start promoting it on your social media platforms. Encourage your followers to visit so that they can learn about the newest product releases, your favorite products, and anything else they might be missing. 

You can also collaborate with other influencers to drive traffic to each of your products or stores.

Increase Your Amazon Sales Today

With ever-increasing competition across the Amazon marketplace, you must take as many steps as possible to bring shoppers to your products. From the best Amazon seller apps to marketing agencies, to influencers and beyond, sellers must do what they can to gain visibility. 

The Amazon Influencer Program and completing the Amazon Storefront Application are helpful tools, but without a strong foundation in your product listings, you can miss out on business. 


Optimize your listings with Sellesta.ai and start boosting your sales today!

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