Amazon Influencer Marketing The COMPLETE Guide
Amazon Influencer Marketing The COMPLETE Guide
Amazon Influencer Marketing drives sales and builds brand awareness, offering some of the best ROI on Amazon.
Your goals are to get your products featured on Amazon Influencer blogs, YouTube Videos, Twitch Streams, Amazon Storefronts and Amazon Live videos.
With a typical ROI of 23:1 and with Amazons program having been around since 1996, Influencer Marketing is a no brainer for small, 1 person private label brands all the way up to mega brands selling on Amazon.
Selling on Amazon sure isn’t as easy as it used to be.
What with Amazon prioritizing brands who have the ability to drive external traffic from OFF Amazon onto Amazon.
But what if you don’t have a big email list, social media presence or great SEO?
Enter Amazon Influencer Marketing.
Amazon Influencer Marketing enables Amazon sellers to partner with Amazon Influencers on Blogs, YouTube and social media to get their products in front of existing audiences of their target customers.
In this simple Amazon Influencer Marketing guide, you’re going to learn EXACTLY everything you need to know to drive sales, boost brand awareness and more with Amazon Influencer Marketing.
What is Amazon Influencer Marketing?
No Amazon Influencer Marketing guide would be worth it’s salt without beginning with: What is Amazon Influencer Marketing?
Amazon Influencer Marketing is a marketing channel where Amazon Sellers partner with Amazon Influencers with audiences of their target customers on Blogs, YouTube, Twitch and social media.
Did you know that since 1996, Amazon has had a program called the Amazon Associates Program that pays a small commission for referring sales to Amazon?
What’s more, there are over 1 million associates in the Amazon Associates Program.
That’s a lot of opportunities for brands to get their products found.
Not to mention, did you know that most Amazon Sales don’t originate on Amazon?
If you run most best-selling products on Amazon through a tool like Sellzone, you will see most of their sales originate off Amazon as referrals from blogs, YouTube & more.
Take a look…
Have a look at the difference in impressions between Referral Traffic and Amazon.
That’s a difference of about 357 million impressions.
In other words, this K Cup brand is generating 363.2 million impressions each month just from their Amazon Influencer Marketing.
Here’s how it works…
How Does Amazon Influencer Marketing Work?
- An Amazon Seller partners with an Amazon Influencer with a strong audience on Blogs, YouTube or social media.
- The Amazon Influencer publishes content promoting the product.
- Their audience clicks on the link and buys the product on Amazon.
- The Amazon Influencer gets a small commission from Amazon for driving the sale. (NOTE: The commission comes out of Amazon’s pocket, and not the brand/seller.)
- The Amazon Seller gets the sale but also improves their overall SEO, PPC, and more by sending external traffic to their Amazon listing.
You may have heard that with the Amazon a10 algorithm, Amazon prioritizes brands that send external traffic to Amazon.
For most Amazon sellers, minimum viable effort consists of Amazon SEO, Amazon PPC and sending traffic to your Amazon listing from Google Ads and Facebook / Instagram Ads.
Well, the best part about Amazon Influencer Marketing is that your promotion is evergreen and lives on well after you would have turned off ads on other platforms like Facebook.
It benefits you both ON Amazon and OFF Amazon.
The brand mentions and social signals that come from working with Amazon Influencers help your brand on Amazon and on Google.
Let’s take a look at the benefits…
Benefits of Amazon Influencer Marketing:
- Sales Velocity
- Amazon Influencers do all the selling for you, this is called pre-staging, so by the time the customer lands on your Amazon listing, the heavy lifting is over.
- Sales from external sources like Amazon Influencers are far easier to convert than from a PPC ad.
- Boost in Amazon SEO
- External traffic improves your Amazon SEO.
- Boost in Amazon PPC
- The additional Impressions boosted SEO and sales velocity will give a boost to your impressions and a reduction in your cpc.
- By seeing your brand on other channels, it will take fewer click-throughs to convert a sale since customers are more familiar with your brand and are more likely to give you a try.
- Google Rankings
- Social signals, brand mentions & more help brands feature more prominently in search engines like Google.
- Evergreen Content
- Evergreen content means, it is searchable and consumed year-round unlike Google Ads or Facebook Ads which cease after you turn them off.
- Brand Awareness
- Exposes your brand to engaged audiences of your target customers that wouldn’t otherwise find your products through an Amazon search.
Looking to go a little deeper? We take a deep dive here: How Does Amazon Influencer Marketing Work? as well as in: What is an Amazon Influencer?
With that in mind, let’s take a look at examples of the different types of Amazon Influencers.
Types of Amazon Influencers
Amazon Influencers come in all shapes and sizes and cover every product on Amazon, from the most obscure Industrial & Scientific products to popular fashion items in #founditonamazon.
Going back to 1996 when Amazon first launched the program, Amazon Influencers have promoted products on Amazon across various platforms.
Back then, it was mostly message boards, emails and AOL instant messenger messages.
Know What To Pay Amazon Influencers.
Get a proven process that’s worked for over 20 years.
Nowadays, there are primarily 12 different places that Amazon Influencers recommend products.
We’re going to take a look at all 12 and see some Amazon Influencer Examples from each.
Amazon Influencer Storefronts:
This Amazon Influencer Storefront Example comes from Amy Fritz.
Here’s How an Amazon Influencer Storefront Works:
- The Amazon Influencer recommends a product either in social media posts, YouTube videos, Blog Posts, & more.
- They recommend you visit their Amazon Influencer Storefront, also known as their Amazon Influencer Page.
- Once on their Amazon Influencer Storefront, you will see their Amazon Posts, Amazon Live Streams and the products they recommend, typically organized into “Idea Lists”.
- The Amazon Influencer will receive a small commission on anything you buy in their Amazon Influencer Storefront AND anywhere else on Amazon for the next 24 hours.
Why Amazon Storefronts Are Powerful:
The only way someone can get to an Amazon Storefront is with the intent to find something to buy.
That means, they’re going to buy something found in the idea lists on that storefront.
What’s more, there is significant evidence to suggest that the more storefront idea lists your product is included in, the better your SEO and visibility will be on Amazon.
Speaking of intent, Google is the #1 search engine in the world.
Enter, blogs.
Amazon Influencer Blogs:
If you’ve ever:
- Used Apple News
- Used Google News
- Used Flipboard
- Google’d Articles
- Seen Articles shared on Facebook
Then you’ve seen Amazon Influencer bloggers.
What’s more, they come in all shapes and sizes.
From major media outlets like Good Morning America and Today to large publications like Buzzfeed or Good Housekeeping, all the way down to the most niche blogger are all Amazon Influencers.
Here’s How an Amazon Influencer Blog Works:
- You Google something like “beginners guide to archery” or “best archery equipment”.
- The article shows up in the search or on your app.
- You visit the article, learn about what you need and click on the product recommendations.
- When you purchase the product on Amazon, the Amazon Influencer gets a commission for what you’ve purchased as well as what you may purchase within the next 24 hours.
Why Amazon Influencer Blogs Are Powerful:
The reason why Blog Amazon Influencers are so powerful is that they create the type of content that people read when they’re looking for recommendations on buying things.
They do not happen upon these articles randomly when scrolling through social media when they may or may not be in the market for something, they search these out with intent.
Keeping on the topic of intent, YouTube is the #2 search engine in the entire world.
YouTube Amazon Influencers:
Just like Amazon Influencer Bloggers, YouTube Amazon Influencers are very powerful at driving sales and building brand awareness.
The reason for this is because of intent.
People use YouTube as a search engine to:
- Solve problems
- Alleviate pain points
- Fulfill desires
All of which are the primary psychological motivators of a purchasing decision.
People commonly search YouTube for things like:
- How to unclog a drain
- Insert Product Name Review
- Beginners Guide To Rock Climbing
- Best Jewelry For Fall
- Amazon Haul
- Jewelry Haul
- & More
All of which is chock-full of product recommendations from YouTube Amazon Influencers.
Here’s How YouTube Amazon Influencers Work:
- You visit YouTube and type in something like “Best makeup for sensitive skin”
- You watch a video from a beauty YouTube Amazon Influencer who recommends a skin care product they use or are being paid to promote.
- In the description of the video is their affiliate link to the product they recommended or a link to their Amazon Storefront where you can find and buy the product.
- When you buy the product, they receive a small commission for facilitating the sale from their special link.
Why YouTube Amazon Influencers Are Powerful:
The reason why YouTube Amazon Influencers are so powerful is that they are some of the most trusted sources on how to:
- Solve a problem
- Alleviate a pain point
- Fulfill a desire
What’s more, typically you get to see the product in action, creating an even stronger perceived value by the customer.
People watch videos looking for recommendations and they take action on the recommendations.
If being the #2 search engine in the world wasn’t enough, look at this…
What you’re looking at is a traffic report from SEMRush showing the top 5 places where Amazon gets its traffic from and the top 5 places they go after visiting Amazon.
YouTube is constantly in the top 5 referring sites to Amazon.
That’s huge.
That means people watch videos and then buy the products in those videos.
On the topic of video, enter Amazon Live Influencers.
Amazon Live Influencers:
Imagine how powerful it would be if someone could demonstrate your product live to shoppers on Amazon looking to buy what you’re selling?
Just like QVC or the Home Shopping Network.
The good news? It exists!
Amazon Live Influencers have audiences of engaged potential customers on:
- TikTok
- YouTube
- Blogs
- & More
Plus, there are live streamers that you can browse across any category you can think of.
Here’s How Amazon Live Influencers Work:
- Amazon Live Influencers let their audience on social media know when they will be going live over on Amazon, shares a link and typically preview the topic or types of products they’ll be covering. Or, Amazon shoppers visit the Live section on Amazon and select the streams currently Live or previously Live that they’d like to view.
- The Amazon Live Influencer then live streams on Amazon, demonstrates the products or browses the product listing page live, discusses what they like about them and recommends the product.
- The products that the Amazon Live Influencer recommends conveniently appear, while they’re talking about them, right underneath the video player.
- Customers click on the products and purchase them, earning the Amazon Live Influencer a small commission from Amazon.
Why YouTube Amazon Influencers Are Powerful:
Amazon Live Influencers are so great at driving sales because:
- They can demonstrate the products on video or showcase the product pages and pitch them.
- The convenience of being able to purchase the products by simply clicking directly underneath the video.
- When their audiences follow them over to Amazon from social media, they do so with intent to buy.
Not to mention, Amazon Live Influencers have Storefronts which we discussed earlier, meaning your products are able to be discovered year-round.
Plus, since your products will live in an idealist on an Amazon Storefront, there is significant SEO benefit and more.
Truth be told, there is actually another way to get your products recommended directly on Amazon.
Amazon Editorial Reviews:
This Amazon Influencer Marketing guide wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t mention Amazon Editorial Reviews.
What if you could get your product recommended above all others when customers are searching for products on Amazon?
That’s exactly what Amazon Editorial Reviews are.
Amazon Editorial Reviews are blog posts syndicated from off Amazon, displayed on Amazon in search results that give recommendations of their top reviewed products.
Amazon Editorial Reviewers are called “Onsite Associates” which is a subsidiary of the Amazon Associates Program.
They are typically major media publications or large Blogs that have demonstrated a strong ability to refer sales from OFF Amazon ONTO Amazon, so Amazon invites them to be Onsite Associates.
Here’s How Amazon Editorial Reviews Work:
- A potential customer performs a research-based search on Amazon. Research-based searches are general searches like “k cup” or “best k cups” which indicates the customer knows they want K Cups, but they don’t know which ones and want help deciding so they want to see what is available.
- Amazons’ a10 algorithm understands the intent behind the search and surfaces an Editorial Review among the search results to help the customer decide what product will be a good fit for them.
- The customer clicks on the Amazon Editorial Review and reads the article that lives off of Amazon on that Editorial Reviewers Website, but Amazon shows a scaled-down version of it right on Amazon.
- When a customer buys a recommended product, the Amazon Editorial Reviewer earns a commission for the sale.
Why Amazon Editorial Reviews Are Powerful:
Amazon Editorial Reviews are unparalleled when it comes to both brand awareness and sales.
The reason for this is because they:
- Show up in product searches right when customers have intent to buy a product.
- They immediately increase the perceived value of the product.
- Since they are reviews and ratings, they are being pre-staged and sold to the customer on-site.
- The convenience of immediately reading an article and buying a product right on Amazon at the very moment you are looking for what you need.
If you’re looking for more in-depth insight, we have a comprehensive article here: Amazon Influencer Examples.
Or, if you want to know How To Evaluate Amazon Influencers, we recommend reading that article as well.
Above all else, there is one thing all Amazon Influencer Marketing campaigns should have in common, clear goals.
Amazon Influencer Marketing Goals
Amazon Influencer Marketing Goals are the same whether you are a 1 person private label Amazon brand up to a large global corporation.
- Drive Sales
- Boost Brand Awareness
- Skyrocket SEO
- Amplify ROAS
Amazon Influencer Marketing has a direct impact on all major Amazon marketing channels, SEO, Ads, External Traffic & more.
You’ve likely heard about Amazon’s a10 algorithm that prioritizes brands that can:
- Drive external traffic to their product listings
- Get more impressions than their competitors
- Build their brand OFF Amazon
This is because Amazon directly relates these things to relevancy and relevancy into the likelihood of converting a sale.
This impacts everything from:
- How visible you will be in SEO
- How much you will PPC in ads
- How many impressions you’ll get on your ads
- & much more
That’s not all, from a brand awareness perspective, you’ve likely heard of the rule of 7.
Meaning, a customer must see you at least 7 times before they’d be willing to try you out and make a purchase.
In the old days of print media, this used to be the rule of 3, but with all the new touchpoints brands potentially have with customers, it is even more noise to cut through and build continuity from.
Imagine this:
- A customer sees your product in a post on Instagram
- Then they see you later when looking up reviews on YouTube
- Then you’re recommended in a top 10 list Blog article
- Now the customer is on Amazon and they see a few of your ads.
- From there, the next time the customer sees you, they’re ready to make a purchase.
So you may be asking, “how do I achieve this?”
Amazon Influencer Marketing Strategy
As a top-rated Amazon Consultant over the years, I’ve learned that the biggest mistake brands make is:
- Only focusing on 1 type of Amazon influencer
Why this is a mistake:
- Amazon rewards you for driving off Amazon traffic onto Amazon specifically to your store or product listings.
- If you were to say only focus on storefront influencers, they drive traffic to THEIR storefront and THEN to your store. Even though storefronts are tremendous at driving sales, you miss out on a lot of the other benefits from driving traffic directly to your listings from outside sources like Blogs and YouTube videos.
Now, I am not referring to audience size.
Amazon Influencers come in all shapes and sizes, that’s what makes them so accessible, yet powerful for all brands on Amazon.
Amazon Influencer Sizes:
- Nano-Influencers
- Micro-Influencers
- Maco-Influencers
- Mega-Influencers
Depending on the size and budget that you have, you will likely hone in on Amazon Influencers of certain audience sizes.
Seeing this mistake over and over is in part what inspired me to create this Amazon Influencer Marketing guide.
The biggest impact you can make on your Amazon sales is having touchpoints with the customers at the various parts of their customer journey.
Here is the EXACT Amazon Influencer Marketing strategy that we focus on with our Referazon Express clients and that I do with my Amazon Consulting clients.
Get Featured on Amazon Influencer Blog Posts
Get featured on upcoming or existing Blog Posts like:
- Top Lists
- Best Lists
- Favorite Lists
- Idea Lists
- Must-Have Lists
- Gift Idea Lists
- Guides
- Checklists
- How-To Articles
- Tips & Tricks Articles
WHY YOU WANT THIS: First, these articles get found & read online. They show up on Flipboard, Apple News, Google News & other popular blog aggregators. Even better? This type of content is generally the last stop before a purchasing decision. This content does a remarkable job of driving external traffic to Amazon, which you need for Amazon SEO.
Get Featured On Evergreen Amazon Influencer YouTube Videos
Get featured on upcoming videos like:
- Top Lists
- Best Lists
- Favorite Lists
- Idea Lists
- Must-Have Lists
- Gift Idea Lists
- Guides
- Checklists
- How-To Videos
- Tips & Tricks Videos
- Hauls
- Unboxings
WHY YOU WANT THIS: First, these types of videos get found and get watched. They dominate both search results and YouTube suggested videos. These types of list videos are generally the last stop before a purchasing decision. This content also does a remarkable job of driving external traffic to Amazon, which you need for Amazon SEO.
Op-Ed Style Reviews & Unboxings With Catchy Titles Using Your Keywords (Video and/or Blog Article):
When asking for product reviews, request an Op-Ed style where you can help dictate the narrative.
Some example headlines include:
- The $30 Kitchen Gadget That Changed My Life
- This $25 Amazon Find Transformed How I Garden
- Suffer From Insomnia? You NEED This Supplement
- The Internet Is Obsessing Over This Coffee, Here’s Why
WHY YOU WANT THIS: What sounds better? “Your Brand – Garden Tool Review” or “This Ingenious $20 Garden Tool On Amazon Saved Me Immeasurable HOURS”? Boring article & video titles never see the light of day. Plus, they don’t sell. You want your review to sound like the influencer just found the best solution to the problem ever. This is called pre-staging. If you are introduced as the best solution to the problem, that’s what your customer will believe.
Get Featured on Amazon Live Stream Videos
Some of the most effective Live Streams at driving sales are topical, top, or favorite products based streams.
For example, if you sell an avocado pitting tool, you would love to be included in an upcoming live stream titled: “Kitchen Gadget Time Savers” or “My Must Have Kitchen Gadgets”.
WHY YOU WANT THIS: Not only will this drive sales and boost SEO, but it immediately increases the perceived value of your products. Amazon Live Streams are growing with no signs of slowing down and with a proven technique akin to QVC or HSN, it’s no surprise why this sales mechanism works. Amazon Live Influencers do a great job of bringing people onto Amazon to learn about new products to try, then closing the deal once they’re there. Although this isn’t driving external traffic to your listing, it still drives conversions and boosts SEO in other ways.
Get Featured on Amazon Influencer Storefronts
Each Amazon Influencer with a Storefront divides their product recommendations into “Idea Lists”. These idea lists are topical.
You will want to check out the idealists of the Amazon Influencers that you are partnering with and recommend which one you’d like to be included on.
For example, let’s say you sell jewelry. You’d want to be included on idealists with titles such as: “My Favorite Earrings”, “Must Have Jewelry Accessories”, “My Wardrobe Staples”.
WHY YOU WANT THIS: Amazon Influencer Storefronts have been a powerhouse for driving sales and awareness for some time now. What’s more, they boost SEO and are an evergreen way to get your products recommended to your Amazon Influencers’ highly engaged audience base. Simply stated, they are an easy way for the audience of your Amazon Influencer to buy their favorite things they see from that Amazon Influencer. Again, although this isn’t driving external traffic to your listing, it still drives conversions and boosts SEO in other ways.
Get Featured in Amazon Editorial Reviews
Locate Amazon Editorial Reviewers by searching for general or research-based searches on Amazon.
NOTE: Make sure you are not logged into an Amazon Business account or they will not show up in product searches.
Then, reach out to the publications and ask them to be included on the existing posts that show up in search results.
It is worth noting that these articles are rotated regularly, giving many Amazon Editorial Reviewers the opportunity to get their content surfaced.
WHY YOU WANT THIS: In short, there is no better time to get a glowing review and a recommendation to a customer than when they are searching on Amazon to buy what you sell. It is the peak time of buyer intent from the customer and your positioning here is critical to brand awareness and driving sales all in one. If you can get these, get them.
NOTE: Most publishers participating in the Amazon On-Site Associates program have a minimum sales velocity requirement, as of course, their goal is to earn commission on the products that sell, so they want to make sure you are converting customers.
We go more in-depth in: What To Ask For From Amazon Influencers.
Also, if you’re looking for more examples, here are some of the best Amazon Influencer Marketing Campaigns for driving sales.
Promoting Monthly Coupon Code Promotions To Their Social, Email, Blog & Video Audiences
WHY YOU WANT THIS: These types of promotional code blasts to blog posts, emails & social drive sales because they are value & benefit-driven from a source the customer knows, likes & trusts. After you’ve built the relationship with the influencer, don’t let it die on the vine, keep things going by rewarding their audience with regular coupon codes. This will keep your sales velocity going on Amazon which significantly improves your Amazon SEO, decreases your PPC costs and even better? Customers who use discount codes tend to leave more reviews.
Regular Giveaways To Their Audience
WHY YOU WANT THIS: Not only these drive demand and drive brand awareness, but they also can grow your following, expanding your reach of potential customers. There are lots of creative ways influencers can have people enter their giveaways that involve massive opportunity for you to grow your followings, fill up your Facebook Pixel & Google Analytics data & much more.
We dig into more examples of successful Amazon Influencer Marketing Campaigns here: The Best Amazon Influencer Marketing Campaigns and keep the post regularly updated.
The key is, to work with Amazon Influencers who are part of the Amazon Influencer / Amazon Associates program, so you may be asking; “How do I find actual Amazon Influencers?”
How To Find Amazon Influencers
Truth be told, not all Influencers are created equal.
In Amazons’ eyes, if you’re an Amazon seller, you want to make sure you work with Amazon Influencers who are part of their program to get the benefits mentioned earlier.
So, with that in mind, there are 2 ways to find Amazon Influencers.
1) Find Amazon Influencers Manually
BLOGS & YOUTUBE:
Step 1. You would simply search for things on Google and YouTube that your customers would search for like:
- Best educational toys for toddlers
- Top 10 jump starters for cars
- Beginners Guide to Archery
Step 2. Then, click through the results you find until you find blogs and YouTube videos that link to products on Amazon or Amazon Storefronts.
SOCIAL MEDIA:
Step 1. Search for Hashtags on social media that your customers would use.
Step 2. Look for content creators that link to products on Amazon either in the social media post or in their link in their bio.
You may be thinking, “that sounds time-consuming” because it is.
The good news?
There is an easier way.
1) Find Amazon Influencers Instantly With Software
Enter, Referazon – Amazon Influencer Marketing Software.
With a simple search, you can find:
- Amazon Influencer Storefronts
- Amazon Live Infleuncers
- Amazon Influencer Blogs
- YouTube Amazon Influencers
What’s more, every influencer you find inside Referazon is already part of the Amazon program.
If you’d like to go more in-depth, I’d recommend our article on How To Find Amazon Influencers.
That said, once you find them, how do you actually build relationships with and recruit Amazon Influencers?
How To Recruit Amazon Influencers
Recruiting Amazon Influencers is no different than building relationships with anyone else.
You may already be used to:
- Building links for SEO
- Building relationships with reporters and journalists to get PR for your company
- Building relationships with non-competitive businesses for joint ventures like referral sources
It’s all the same.
Here’s the process you follow:
How To Recruit Amazon Influencers
- Follow the influencer on social media.
- Engage with their content so they get used to seeing your brand.
- Send them an email or DM asking to work together.
If you’re not sure what to say to Amazon Influencers, our post: How To Reach Out To Amazon Influencers has templates you can use.
Or, if you need help negotiating with Amazon Influencers, I’d recommend our article: How To Negotiate With Amazon Influencers along with Average Amazon Influencer Rates.
Plus, those templates and more are inside Referazon for everyone to use.
Now, any Amazon Influencer Marketing Guide wouldn’t be complete without a FAQ.
How Amazon Influencers Choose To Work With Brands
One of the most important things for Brands to know when approaching Amazon Influencers is, you are not doing them a favor by giving them a free product.
Many Amazon influencers earn well into six-figure incomes annually.
What’s more? They are evaluating you just as you are evaluating them.
So, what are they looking at when deciding to choose if you are a good fit to work with?
Will Their Audience Enjoy Your Product and Subject Matter?
Think about the time and effort you spend getting the right keywords and optimizing your Amazon Listing.
They are no different.
They need to produce content that their audience likes and engages with. Or else, they will slip in their visibility and lose out on opportunities.
They have algorithms just as we do.
Asking them to promote a product that they don’t think is a good fit for their audience is the same thing as you putting the wrong keywords on your Amazon product listing.
It just wouldn’t work.
Will Your Product Actually Sell if They Drive Traffic?
Even though Amazon Influencers may ask for a promotional fee, ultimately they want to make a commission from the sales they drive to Amazon.
They can do the best job in the world promoting you, but if your product listing isn’t able to close the deal, then they will lose out.
This means they are evaluating your product listing and Amazon storefront to decide if they think it will do a good job converting customers.
You will want to take into consideration things like:
- 7 Product Images
- Effective sales copy in your bullet points
- A+ Content
- Good Reviews
- Good Price
- In Stock
Is Your Offer Fair and Reasonable?
Amazon Influencers are businesses just like you.
They put in sweat equity, capital and opportunity cost the same as you.
Therefore, they deserve to make a return on their investments just as you do in your business.
This is not to say they are not up for negotiation, because they are, however, do not enter into the arrangement expecting that just because they earn a commission from Amazon, that should suffice.
At the end of the day, this is an Influencer relationship and not an Affiliate relationship.
The line of distinction?
Amazon Influencers are part of the Amazon Associates Program, which means they are Amazon’s Affiliates and not your Affiliates, as you may have for your website.
So, what do Amazon Influencers have to say about creating a great partnership?
Advice From Amazon Influencers
To make landing the perfect Amazon Influencer easy for you, we’ve collected tips directly from Amazon Influencers we’ve built great relationships with at our Amazon Influencer Marketing Agency, Referazon Express.
Here’s critical advice from top Amazon Influencers on what they look for in partnering with brands on Amazon and more.
Partnership Advice From Amazon Influencers:
“What immediately turns me off is when a company rushes me to post content but takes their time to send over my payment knowing that I have other content to post. Also, when a company doesn’t take the time to spell my name correctly.”
- Symphony Taylor
- https://instagram.com/symphonytaylor/
- https://youtube.com/c/SymphonyTaylor
“Personally, whenever I receive emails from various brands, I tend to prioritize the brands who have better offers like those who offer paid partnerships more. In addition, before I respond to any emails, I like to do a lil research of the company/brand and see if there are previous influencers that have worked with them and what kind of brand they are. Do they have a good reputation? How do they treat their customers as well as their promoters or influencers? What are the pros and cons in terms of shipping, customer service and so on and so forth? Those are mostly the questions I ask myself before collaborating with anyone.”
- Kate Chavez
- https://instagram.com/kayceeting/
- https://youtube.com/c/KateChavezSite
“The biggest/quickest turnoff for me personally is when agencies or brands aren’t interested in a paid partnership or a long lasting relationship and are more focused on immediate ROI or getting free press without understanding my work or social algorithms, or respecting my own job. I’ve been doing this full time for 6+ years now and have the best insight on my own audience and channels, and when brands/agencies ignore that or just disregard the amount of time and work it’s a.) taken to build platforms in the first place and/or b.) takes to create quality content and an engaged community, that’s an automatic no go for me for any sort of collaboration. It gets to be exhausting and so frustrating explaining why I can’t pay my bills in free products or spend hours upon hours working for a free bottle of shampoo or a sweater, just like they can’t!”
- Erica Ligenza
- https://instagram.com/ericaligenza/
- https://cominguprosestheblog.com/
“I think a tip for a brand or agency looking to partner with an influencer is to be transparent and create a partnership that is beneficial to both parties!”
- Alexandra Martinez
- https://instagram.com/aleeeeeexx_/
- https://youtube.com/c/0oallyo01
“I do believe influencers should be offered payment when creating a video. The level of payment should depend on each channel but it does take a lot of time to create and edit each video. It’s nice to feel appreciated. Free items are fine but they are items we wouldn’t have purchased to begin with. My channel is not about making money but rather creating so again, it’s not about the amount but more to show this is a job. It’s a job influencers love doing but it’s still work.”
- Debbie NY Curl
- https://instagram.com/nycurl401/
- https://youtube.com/c/NYCurl401
“My best advice for partnerships is making sure that brands have deliverables on the front end. It helps to know exactly what they want and the direction they’re going with as well as the vibe they’d like. For instance, if their directive is to show ways to use their makeup sponges, or how to clean brushes. This helps to know what kind of video to provide for them.
I would encourage the brands to have a short list of exact deliverables i.e. 2 photos and 1 video and also a few suggestions for the content that you’re interested in.( upbeat, tutorial, GRWM).”
“I think the biggest turn off for most content creators is when brands immediately offer just a product in exchange for content, especially exclusive content or videos etc without the option to discuss other possibilities. They already show that there is little value placed on the creator’s time and effort to produce.
I appreciate when brands have a reference of my content that they liked to refer to, for the project, which shows a little more real interest than some of the pitches I receive. :-)”
- Sheri Approved
- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzPPNV-hu7MJT516hPBssNA
- https://www.instagram.com/sheriapproved/
Amazon Influencer Marketing FAQ
I’m going to quickly cover the most common questions I get in regards to Amazon Influencer Marketing.
How Much Do Amazon Influencers Cost?
If one thing is true, in the last 15 or so years that Influencer Marketing has become very popular, there is no industry standard.
Meaning, there is no equation such as: If Amazon Influencer has an audience size of X then they are worth Y.
Another way of slicing it: “Well, based on what you’ve seen, what do they commonly ask for?”
I’ve seen it all and can find no commonalities.
That said, there are a few rules of thumb:
- Nano and Micro influencers with small but engaged audiences often are comfortable with free product or a very small fee in exchange for content.
- Macro and Mega influencers often require a larger investment.
Another way of going about it is to determine how much an Amazon Influencer is worth to you.
We have an in-depth blog post to help you called: How Much Should You Pay An Amazon Influencer.
How Much Commission Do Amazon Influencers Earn From Amazon?
On-Site Amazon Influencer Commission Rates:
| Product Category | Commission |
|---|---|
| Amazon Games | 20.00% |
| Luxury Beauty, Luxury Stores Beauty, Amazon Explore | 10.00% |
| Digital Music, Physical Music, Handmade, Digital Videos | 5.00% |
| Physical Books, Kitchen, Automotive | 4.50% |
| Amazon Fire Tablet Devices, Amazon Kindle Devices, Amazon Fashion Women's, Men's & Kids Private Label, Luxury Stores Fashion, Apparel, Amazon Cloud Cam Devices, Fire TV Edition Smart TVs, Amazon Fire TV Devices, Amazon Echo Devices, Ring Devices, Watches, Jewelry, Luggage, Shoes, and Handbags & Accessories | 4.00% |
| Toys, Furniture, Home, Home Improvement, Lawn & Garden, Pets Products, Headphones, Beauty, Musical Instruments, Business & Industrial Supplies, Outdoors, Tools, Sports, Baby Products, Amazon Coins | 3.00% |
| PC, PC Components, DVD & Blu-Ray | 2.50% |
| Televisions, Digital Video Games | 2.00% |
| Amazon Fresh, Physical Video Games & Video Game Consoles, Grocery, Health & Personal Care | 1.00% |
| Gift Cards; Wireless Service Plans; Alcoholic Beverages; Digital Kindle Products purchased as a subscription; Food prepared and delivered from a restaurant; Amazon Appstore, Prime Now, or Amazon Pay Places | 0.00% |
| All Other Categories | 4.00% |
Amazon Affiliate Commission Rates:
| Product Category | Commission |
|---|---|
| Video games and game consoles | 1% |
| Televisions & digital download games: | 2% |
| Computers, computer accessories, DVD & Blu-Ray: | 2.5% |
| Toys: | 3% |
| Amazon Tablets & Kindle devices: | 4% |
| Paper Books, Health & Personal Care, Sports, Kitchen, Auto & Baby: | 1% |
| Digital Music, Video Downloads, Grocery, Handmade, Musical Instruments: | 5% |
| Business & Industrial Supplies: | 6% |
| Clothes & Accessories, Amazon TV’s, Echo’s & Jewelry: | 7% |
| Furniture, Lawn & Garden, Home Improvement, Prime Pantry & Pet Products: | 3% |
| Luxury, Beauty, Fashion & Amazon Coins: | 10% |
| Outdoors, Tools | 3% |
| Amazon Fresh | 1% |
How Long Has Amazon Influencer Marketing Been Around?
Amazon launched their program, called the Amazon Associates Program dating all the way back to 1996!
Since then, Amazon Influencers have been responsible for over 37% of Amazon’s traffic and are over 1 million strong and growing.
Need help finding Amazon Influencers and managing your campaigns?
Referazon Amazon Influencer Software has a powerful Amazon Influencer Search that makes it simple to find Amazon Influencers and a powerful Amazon Influencer CRM to manage campaigns.
- Amazon Influencer Marketing has been around since 1996 when Amazon launched its Amazon Associates Program.
- Since then, they have become responsible for over 37% of Amazons’ traffic.
- There are several different types of Amazon Influencers including: Bloggers, YouTubers, Storefronts, Amazon Live and Amazon Editorial Reviews.
- Your Amazon Influencer Marketing Strategy should include some from each category and not simply focus on one kind.
- Amazon Influencers come in all shapes and sizes from nano, micro, macro and mega.
- Amazon Influencer Marketing drives your Sales, Brand Awareness, Amazon SEO, PPC performance & much more.
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