Key Takeaways
- Amazon Influencers have been around since 1996, but it can still be difficult to know how to negotiate a fair and reasonable rate.
- Whether it’s trading free product for a post, matching Amazon commissions, payment per post & more, the options are numerous.
- This is how brands and Amazon Influencers can come to mutually beneficial, fair & reasonable relationships.
It’s no secret that Amazon Influencer Marketing has become minimum viable effort for brands selling on Amazon.
What with driving external traffic to Amazon product listings being an Amazon SEO ranking factor.
That said, even though Amazon Influencer Marketing has been around since the start of the Amazon Associates Program in 1996, Amazon Influencers are new to some brands.
That means, negotiating with Amazon Influencers will be new as well.
The good news is, I’m a top-rated Amazon Consultant and by the time you’re done reading this guide, you will be a skilled negotiator with Amazon Influencers.
How Much Do Amazon Influencers Cost?
Whether Amazon Influencers are referring sales from their blogs, social media or YouTube, they earn a commission from Amazon for each sale they facilitate.
The same goes for Amazon Live Influencers promoting products on Amazon Live and Amazon Influencers promoting products on their Amazon Influencer Storefronts.
Here is how much Amazon Influencers earn…
On-Site Amazon Influencer Commission Rates:
| Product Category | Commission Rate |
|---|---|
| Amazon Games | 20.00% |
| Luxury Beauty, Luxury Stores Beauty | 10.00% |
| Digital Music, Physical Music, Handmade, Digital Videos | 5.00% |
| Physical Books, Kitchen, Automotive | 4.50% |
| Amazon Fire Tablet Devices, Dash Buttons, Amazon Kindle Devices, Amazon Fashion Women’s, Men’s & Kids Private Label, Apparel, Amazon Cloud Cam Devices, Fire TV Edition Smart TVs, Amazon Echo Devices, Ring Devices, Watches, Jewelry, Luggage, Shoes, 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 | 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 in a restaurant; Amazon Appstore; Prime Now; Amazon Pay Places; Prime Wardrobe; Prime Video Channels | 0.00% |
| All Other Categories | 4.00% |
Amazon Affiliate Commission Rates:
| Product Category | Fixed Commission Income Rate |
|---|---|
| Amazon Games | 20.00% |
| Luxury Beauty, Luxury Stores Beauty | 10.00% |
| Digital Music, Physical Music, Handmade, Digital Videos | 5.00% |
| Physical Books, Kitchen, Automotive | 4.50% |
| Amazon Fire Tablet Devices, Dash Buttons, Amazon Kindle Devices, Amazon Fashion Women’s, Men’s & Kids Private Label, Apparel, Amazon Cloud Cam Devices, Fire TV Edition Smart TVs, Amazon Echo Devices, Ring Devices, Watches, Jewelry, Luggage, Shoes, 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 | 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 in a restaurant; Amazon Appstore; Prime Now; Amazon Pay Places; Prime Wardrobe; Prime Video Channels | 0.00% |
| All Other Categories | 4.00% |
Thanks to our friends at Influencer Marketing Hub, extensive research has revealed industry average rates for Influencers.
So when thinking about what to ask for from Amazon Influencers, you can use these with your Amazon Influencers to calibrate your negotiations.
Average Amazon Influencer Rates:
| Influencer Size | Rate |
|---|---|
| Nano-Influencers (1,000 – 10,000 Followers) | $10-$100 per post |
| Micro-Influencers (10,001 – 50,000 Followers) | $100–$500 per post |
| Mid-Tier (50,001 – 500,000 Followers) | $500–$5,000 per post |
| Macro-Influencers (500,001 – 1,000,000) | $5,000–$10,000 per post |
| Mega-Influencers (1,000,001 + Followers) | $10,000+ per post |
YouTube
| Influencer Size | Rate |
|---|---|
| Nano-Influencers (1,000 – 10,000 Monthly Views) | $20–$200 per video |
| Micro-Influencers (10,001 – 50,000 Monthly Views) | $200–$1,000 per video |
| Mid-Tier (50,000 – 500,000 Monthly Views) | $1,000–$10,000 per video |
| Macro-Influencers (500,001 – 1,000,000 Monthly Views) | $10,000–$20,000 per video |
| Mega-Influencers (1,000,001 + Monthly Views) | $20,000+ per video |
TikTok
| Influencer Size | Rate |
|---|---|
| Nano-Influencers (1,000 – 10,000 Followers) | $5–$25 per post |
| Micro-Influencers (10,001 – 50,000 Followers) | $25–$125 per post |
| Mid-Tier (50,001 – 500,000 Followers) | $125–$1,250 per post |
| Macro-Influencers (500,001 – 1,000,000) | $1,250–$2,500 per post |
| Mega-Influencers (1,000,001 + Followers) | $2,500+ per post |
X
| Influencer Size | Rate |
|---|---|
| Nano-Influencers (1,000 – 10,000 Followers) | $2–$20 per post |
| Micro-Influencers (10,001 – 50,000 Followers) | $20–$100 per post |
| Mid-Tier (50,001 – 500,000 Followers) | $100–$1,000 per post |
| Macro-Influencers (500,001 – 1,000,000) | $1,000–$2,000 per post |
| Mega-Influencers (1,000,001 + Followers) | $2,000+ per post |
| Influencer Size | Rate |
|---|---|
| Nano-Influencers (1,000 – 10,000 Followers) | $25–$250 per post |
| Micro-Influencers (10,001 – 50,000 Followers) | $250–$1,250 per post |
| Mid-Tier (50,001 – 500,000 Followers) | $1,250–$12,500 per post |
| Macro-Influencers (500,001 – 1,000,000) | $12,500–$25,000 per post |
| Mega-Influencers (1,000,001 + Followers) | $25,000+ per post |
Blog
| Influencer Size | Rate |
|---|---|
| Nano - Mega | $60 per 1,000 Monthly Page Views |
That said, Amazon Influencers are evaluating you, just as you are evaluating them.
Here’s how they evaluate you.
How Amazon Influencers Choose To Work With Brands
One of the most important things for Brands to know when reaching out to 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?
How To Negotiate With Influencers
Get 10 TACTICS working right now.
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 how should you negotiate with Amazon Influencers to create a long-term mutually beneficial relationship?
Amazon Influencer Negotiation Tactics
Usually but not always, Amazon Influencers will be able to present some sort of a rate card or media kit that shows their suggested rates and content packages.
Some Amazon Influencers may stick to those rates.
But not all.
At the end of the day, both sides are conducting business and many will be open for negotiation.
That said, there are a few key details you should have worked out prior to a negotiation with an Amazon Influencer.
Key Details To Work Out Before Negotiating
- Know exactly what type of content and how much of it you want from the influencer.
- Know how long you intend to partner with the Amazon Influencer.
- Know your campaign structure. Would you like to get included on a top 10 article, then have them do an op-ed review for you, then do regular giveaways and coupon codes for their audience throughout the year?
- Make sure you have a Brand Identity Kit with your logo, talking points, product images, awards, certifications, videos & more ready to send to the Amazon Influencer so they can make the best content possible.
What’s more, you will want to know How To Evaluate Amazon Influencers before discussing compensation for content.
Here are the most effective negotiation tactics and strategies to use when negotiating with Amazon Influencers.
1) Free Product For Content
This is the most simple negotiation tactic with Amazon Influencers.
Many Nano-Influencers and Micro-Influencers may be interested in trading content for products.
One item of note, it may not be a large piece of content such as a dedicated YouTube video or a long-form Op-Ed style blog post, but something within reason is certainly on the table.
If you attempt to work with someone on YouTube or Amazon Live but their rates are a little higher than you’re interested in paying, perhaps they also have an audience on TikTok or Instagram where you can get a meaningful piece of content in exchange for a free product.
What’s more, you can sweeten the deal by offering more free products on a regular basis to be used as a giveaway to their audience.
2) Pay For Performance
Offer the Amazon Influencer a fair and reasonable percentage of what they are asking for the content you are looking for.
Then, ask the Amazon Influencer to share their Amazon Associates Dashboard with you at the end of the month to see how many sales they contributed.
Or, you can provide the Amazon Influencer your own Attribution link so you can see the sales attributed to this Influencer.
This would make you eligible for the Brand Referral Bonus Program.
Going this route would prevent the Amazon Influencer from earning commission from Amazon, so you would need to replace this.
Set a fair goal and if they meet the said goal, offer to kick in an extra percentage above what they were asking for.
You could also mix negotiation tactics here.
For example, if they meet the goal, you could match their commission.
If they earn 5% commission for their product category, you can contribute another 5% on top of each sale they made.
That would double their commission.
3) Pay Half Upfront and Half After Delivery
If you’re concerned about an ethical transaction or if the quality of the content would meet your expectations, offer to pay 50% to start the project and then 50% once the deliverable has been completed.
This is a great tactic for one-off pieces of content in an ad-hoc campaign.
This wouldn’t be ideal for an ongoing campaign.
4) Negotiate Rights Usage (Only Purchase Content For One or a Few Platforms)
One way of getting a more economical price when negotiating with Amazon Influencers is to only request the rights for one or a few platforms.
For example, let’s say that you partner with the Amazon Influencer on getting included in an op-ed style product review blog post.
Typically, the content they would create, such as the images would also be able to be used on your own social media, email list and elsewhere.
In this case, you could negotiate with the Amazon Influencer to let them keep all of the content with no other usage rights other than being included in the review.
5) Commission Match
A very popular negotiation tactic with Amazon Influencers is commission matching.
Amazon will likely never release API’s that let software like Referazon know how many sales came from a particular Amazon Influencer, but Amazon Influencers can let brands know this.
Brands can ask the Amazon Influencer to share a screenshot of their Amazon Associates Dashboard reflecting the sales they contributed of your product.
From there, you can offer to match the commission they receive.
For example, if they make 4% for each sale of a product in your product category, you will offer to add 4% on top of their 4%.
Instead of asking them to share a screenshot of their earnings, you could offer them your own Amazon Attribution link and then let them know you’d give them their commission and then in essence double it by adding on top of it if they’re willing to use your Attribution link instead of their own Affiliate link.
6) Package Deals For Content
After looking at The Best Amazon Influencer Marketing Campaign Examples Amazon Influencer Marketing The Complete Guide and also Amazon Influencer Examples, you’ll likely have an idea of the different types of content you’d like to have to promote your brand.
What’s more, you will also know that working with Amazon Influencers in a one-off capacity typically doesn’t bring in a steady flow of external traffic to Amazon, which helps you rank in Amazon SEO.
So, with that said, offer to buy in bulk and inquire about a bulk discount.
You can spread the content you receive from them out over a year-long campaign or more.
For example, you could ask to be included in a top 10 YouTube Video, then a haul video, a product review and an unboxing and even to be included in a blast out to their email list.
7) Commit To A Long Term Relationship
You are likely seeking a long-term mutually beneficial relationship with your Amazon Influencer partnerships, so let them know that up front.
The comfort level you get on both sides is extremely valuable.
That said, when negotiating with an Amazon Influencer, let them know up front that you’re looking for a long-term relationship spread over possibly years that could grow and see if they’d be willing to adjust the upfront payment required to partner with them on content.
8) Exchange Professional Services for Content
For this one, it is also known as bartering.
Your brand may be particularly suited to offering something that your Amazon Influencer would need.
Perhaps it could be, that the Influencer is getting married soon and you offer free products as gifts for the bridesmaids and groomsmen.
Or, you could offer the services of your team to help them with a project they’re working on.
The key here is to think creatively.
9) Offer Them Their Own Line of Your Product For Promotion
As a brand, you know how to source, manufacture and produce products.
You also know how to list and launch products on marketplaces like Amazon.
This is not an area of expertise for Amazon Influencers.
Offer to give them their own line of your products that features their name, slogan, or their branding in exchange for them promoting the line.
10) Trade Content for Ad Spend (Advertise the content they made for you, driving traffic to them)
The shoe company All Birds made this ultra-popular several years ago.
Here’s how it works.
You get included in an Op-Ed style review.
Then, instead of simply relying on whatever traffic that Amazon Influencer has on a monthly basis, or people finding the content via searches, you amplify the content.
You would run Native Advertising style ads to the piece of content.
You would ask the Amazon Influencer to be included in the content for free or a very low cost, perhaps free product, then you would pay for the ad traffic to the piece of content which lives on their website.
Then, customers would see your glowing review and click over to your Amazon Product Listings to buy.
This tactic is called Content Amplification.
You can see it in action here from All Birds.
All Birds partnered with the popular product review website Reviewed.com on this piece of content.
NOTE: See the title? “The Internet Is Obsessed With AllBirds Sneakers – Are They Worth It?” — This could have been titled “AllBirds Sneakers Review” but instead, they partnered on a click-worthy Op-Ed style review that increases the perceived value of the brand instead.
As you can imagine, this is a very glowing review.
So, instead of running ads directly to their website or Amazon Product Listings, All Birds amplified this Op-Ed style review by running Native ads to it like this:
This is an ad inside the popular topic and news aggregation app called Flipboard.
See the Sponsored tag at the bottom? It’s sponsored by All Birds, not Reviewed.com.
This is a very smart tactic.
All Birds is making sure before the customer is sent to their product page, they are pre-sold and pre-staged first, then by the time they visit the product page, they are ready to buy thus increasing their conversion rates.
It’s ingenious.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Do Influencers Negotiate With Brands?
Influencers negotiate with brands in an array of ways ranging from:
- Pre-determined pricing packages on rate cards and media kits.
- Commission for products sold
- Creating content for free product
- Creating content if the brand will advertise that content
How Much Do Amazon Influencers Cost?
How much an Amazon Influencer costs will depend on their audience size. There is a general industry standard for Average Amazon Influencer Rates.
How Much Should You Pay an Influencer?
How much you should pay an Influencer is generally based on the industry standard for Average Amazon Influencer Rates.
How Do You Ask For Influencer Rates?
Mid-Tier, Macro and Mega Influencers will almost always have a rate card or media kit to share upon asking. Nano and Micro-Influencers may not have a rate card or a media kit. When asking for Influencer rates, you want to have an idea going into it for what the Influencer is worth to you and exactly what type of content you want from them.
What Are The Amazon Influencer Commission Rates?
Commission rates vary by product category, generally ranging from 1% to 10%. Influencers can provide you with a breakdown based on your specific product category.
Can I See Some Amazon Influencer Examples?
Sure, check out our post: Amazon Influencer Examples.
How Do I Structure a Deal With an Influencer?
You want to structure your deal with your Influencer based on 5 styles of deliverables:
- Pay per Content
- Pay per Recurring Content
- Pay per Performance
- Free Product for Content
- Content in Exchange For Advertising The Content
What is an Amazon Influencer Page?
Amazon Influencer Pages are Amazon Influencer Storefronts where they drive traffic from their audiences to buy the products that they recommend.
What Is the Difference Between an Amazon Affiliate and An Amazon Influencer?
The truth is, they are one and the same. An Amazon Influencer is anyone with a platform that has “influence” over a purchasing decision. However, the Amazon Influencer Program provides a custom storefront URL.
How Do I Connect With Amazon Influencers?
Simply find Amazon Influencers with the Referazon Amazon Influencer Marketing Platform Search. Follow them on social media. Engage with them on social media for 4 – 5 days. Find your conversation starter and reach out via DM or Email to ask to work together.
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