The Ultimate Guide to the Amazon Influencer Program for Digital Nomads

The Amazon Influencer program is one of the best affiliate programs that a growing blogger can be accepted into.

It is significantly more selective than the general Amazon Associates affiliate program. Amazon Influencers are put through a more rigorous selection process that typically involves a social media screening and audience analysis.

Amazon is recognized for having a high conversion rate. For whatever reason, shoppers tend to make purchases more readily while shopping on Amazon’s platform.

My Background as an Amazon Influencer

My website, The Rocky Safari, was accepted into the Amazon Influencers program. For me, the Influencer program felt like the natural next step after years of being an active Amazon Associate.

I share this not to boast or brag, but rather to show you that I’m not just some random guy on the internet writing about things I haven’t done myself. I’m quite familiar with earning money online through Amazon’s platforms. You can visit my store here.

Since I was first accepted into Amazon’s affiliate program in January 2017, I have used the Amazon Associates program to link and refer hundreds of excellent products to my readers in as helpful of a way as possible.

Honestly, I don’t link for the bounties or the fees (though they’re certainly nice to receive!) There have been tons of times when I could have pushed a product but chose not to. I always aim to provide readers with products that genuinely make sense for them to use.

Amazon Influencers

What are Amazon Influencers?

Amazon Influencers are bloggers, YouTubers, and other social media users who refer viewers to Amazon in order to generate sales and earn commissions as an Amazon Affiliate. This is done through the Amazon Associates Program.

Influencers are required to have large, growing audiences. This is how Amazon is able to ensure that Influencers will be able to reach specific audiences to drive traffic and encourage sales through a trusted referrer.

It’s all about the referral.

Word of mouth advertising is at the core of the Amazon Influencer business model.

Everything You Need to Know

The Best Form of Advertising

Selling on Amazon isn’t as easy as it used to be. At one time, choosing the right keywords and using great images from images with a lot of 5-star reviews meant you could make a lot of money with minimal effort. Things are a bit more involved now.

There are exponentially more brands, retailers, and suppliers selling things on Amazon in 2021 than ever before. It is a shockingly big jump from even one year ago.

Companies sometimes spend thousands, if not millions or more, of dollars on advertising and marketing campaigns. Yet, time and time again, word of mouth proves to be the best form of advertising. There’s a reason that testimonials are almost always shown on every sales listing.

The Data

The data suggests that bloggers (along with YouTubers and Twitch streamers) are the best at driving sales to Amazon!

Yay!

They say Amazon Live Influencers, people who stream videos live, have the highest conversion rate. That’s also important since, well, you only get paid when people checkout and pay!

Even if bloggers aren’t #1 at conversions now, that doesn’t mean we don’t have the potential to be! The more engaging and valuable your content is, the higher your odds are of showing people why they need to click that big, “Buy Now,” button at checkout.

Making Money with Amazon

In this post, I’m going to share everything you could possibly want to know about Amazon’s Influencer Program. This is going to be an all-encompassing post that hits on just about everything to ensure you can make money and help people along the way! Let’s make some sales.

By the way, the famous SEO coach Neil Patel explains that for every 1 dollar you spend on Influencer marketing, you can expect to average a $23 Return on Investment (ROI). The average ROI is a 5:1 ratio so I think you can see how powerful influencer marketing really can be!

“Associates” Versus “Influencers”

At first, it might be a little confusing to try to understand and distinguish what an “Amazon Influencer” actually is. A lot of bloggers are already participating in Amazon’s Associate’s affiliate program so they may wonder, “Am I an Amazon Influencer then?”

The Amazon Influencer program is not the same thing as the Amazon Associates program. Perhaps it is more accurate to say that the Influencer program is an extension of the Associates Program.

Amazon Influencers promote products on Amazon in other places off of Amazon. The whole point is to drive traffic and generate sales!

Potential Platforms

Influencers are required to have a large audience. This enables us to reach people on any variety of platforms.

Amazon Influencer platforms include:

  • Blogs 🙂
  • YouTube (I’m considering expanding into this!)
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitch
  • Podcasts
  • Amazon Live

These are the main places you’ll see Influencers promoting products.

How Amazon Influencers Help Brands

The Value Add

By partnering with Amazon Influencers, brands can achieve 2 things:

  1. A surge in new sales
  2. A surge in brand awareness

Think about it.

Where are people’s eyes? On social media, of course! And even though you hear less about it, the data makes it quite clear that blogging is NOT DEAD. People turn to Google more than ever before and blogs are getting PLENTY OF TRAFFIC.

This means… brands need normal, everyday people to help spread the word! In essence, that’s precisely what we Amazon Influencers do!

They speed up the process of getting shoppers to know, like, and trust a brand. This is quite difficult to achieve solely through marketing dollars alone but can be helped immensely with the assistance of Influencers.

How We Do It

Amazon Influencers help in a number of ways:

  • Writing blog posts to explain or recommend a product
  • Adding products to preexisting indexed content
  • Adding products to our storefronts.
  • Creating YouTube videos about a product
  • Recommending products to their mailing list
  • Writing on forums and websites that accept guest posts
  • Recommending things on Twitch (a top referral source)
  • Recommending things on Amazon Live (top converting source)

The list goes on and on. Influencers are creative and highly adaptable. They’re always finding new ways to promote and spread the word about the products they care about.

What is the Amazon Influencer Program?

The Amazon Influencer Program is designed for social media influencers who have large followings and a high frequency of posts containing shoppable content.

Influencers promote products via the Amazon Associates affiliate program to generate sales and earn commissions.

Become an Amazon Influencer

You can apply to join the Amazon Influencer program here.

What is the Amazon Influencer Program Application Process Like?

Applying is simple, but not easy. If you already have an Amazon account, especially one that’s already connected to an Associates account, all you need to do is pass a social media screening and audience analysis.

You can select which social network to have analyzed:

  • YouTube
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

These are the four choices you have.

What Are the Requirements to Become an Amazon Influencer?

Getting accepted as an Amazon Influencer is a much more selective process!

Don’t be disheartened if at first, you don’t qualify.

You may not qualify the first time you apply but Amazon kindly allows you to try again in the future once you’ve grown your audience!

The Application Procedure

  1. Click Sign Up.
  2. Choose which social media network you want to have evaluated.
  3. Await your acceptance or rejection.
  4. If accepted, begin to set up your storefront!

Influencer Program Requirements

The most important requirement is that you have a large following. In the case of bloggers, Amazon wants you to have a huge readership. They’re looking for Influencers who have a loyal and engaged audience!

While Amazon doesn’t publish specific requirements, here are some general guidelines that I recommend keeping in mind:

  • A large following
  • The level of engagement
  • High-quality content
  • Relevance to your niche
  • Some need for products from Amazon

This is the general thought process, in my own words, showing what I believe Amazon looks for when deciding whether or not you would qualify for the Amazon Influencers Program.

Getting Accepted as an Amazon Influencer

How do you get accepted as an Amazon Influencer?

If you follow the steps above and are accepted into the Amazon Influencer Program, congratulations!!!

You’re now one step close to opening your very own Amazon storefront and being able to refer products to your followers!

Here is an example of my Amazon Influencer shop page:

When setting mine up, I tried to make it as relevant as possible for my audience. Each Influencer will have their own niche audience so you should cater your store to the people who will be shopping in it. 🙂

Creating Amazon Influencer Links

The process of creating Amazon product links as an Influencer is essentially the same as creating them as an Associate. The platform is identical even though you’ll likely have a secondary store ID.

When your audience clicks on your tracking link to shop, you’ll earn a commission! What is even nicer to know is that you’ll receive a commission not only from the products your followers buy but also for anything else they buy within 24 hours after clicking the link!

So get promoting ASAP!

Marketing Strategies

Typically, customers will discover your endorsements in one of 2 ways:

  1. Interrupt Marketing
  2. Intent Marketing
Interrupt Marketing

Interrupt marketing is the approach you’ll encounter most often on social media websites like Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter.

This is when customers aren’t looking for you. They weren’t actively looking for you to solve their problem, yet you jumped in and offered to do it anyway! We see this a lot with advertisements and related videos.

If you’re memorable or persuasive enough, this can be so lucrative!

Intent Marketing

Intent marketing means your customer was browsing for a solution and they are ready to solve their problem. You’ll see this type of marketing done more often on YouTube, Pinterest, and blogs!

If you can make a logical case and offer a lot of value and information for the viewer, there’s a pretty great chance they’ll buy products that they are aware they have a need for.

Sellers who shoppers already know, like, and trust typically perform best with this approach.

I typically try to focus on intent marketing.

Still, a healthy mix of the two is the best-case scenario, I think.

Ultimately, you need to choose the marketing strategy that will work best with your business and selling objectives.

How Much Money Do Amazon Influencers Earn?

The rates for Amazon Associates and Amazon Influencers are the same.

For the latest information, it’s best to seek the commission numbers from Amazon directly. However, as of when this was written, these are the current payouts per sale:

Product CategoryCommission
Video Games and Gaming Consoles1%
Televisions and Digital Downloads2%
Computers, Computer Accessories, DVD, Blu-Ray2.5%
Toys, Sports, Pets, Outdoors, Furniture3%
Amazon Tablets and Kindle Devices4%
Paper Books, Kitchen, Automotive4.5%
Digital Music, Physical Music, Digital Videos, Handmade5%
Luxury Beauty, Luxury Stores Beauty, Amazon Coins10%

These numbers change often so definitely check with Amazon for the latest commissions.

Building Your Amazon Storefront

Setting up an Amazon Influencer storefront is quite simple. Here’s a guide on how to get started with building your very own Amazon Store!

  1. Upload your profile picture
  2. Upload a background header image
  3. Insert a description of what your page is all about
  4. Click “Create a new Idea List.”
  5. Name your list
  6. Add a list description (optional)
  7. Start browsing for items.
  8. Add as many items as you want to each Idea List
  9. Repeat steps 4 through 8 for as many “Category” Idea Lists you want
  10. Post your link and begin to generate sales!

As with anything, building it is only half the battle! Your success here will greatly depend on your ability to effectively market yourself. That’s why I included the marketing section above. Marketing is so so SO important.

On the reverse side, you can’t be mad at commissions you haven’t earned for an Amazon Store you haven’t opened! So get right to it! Set it up and launch your store as soon as possible. Certainly don’t rush the process. A low quality store isn’t helping anyone.

All I’m try to say is that you should make this a top priority if you want to start making money as soon as possible!

Amazon Influencer Store FAQ

How do I create a new category?

Categories are called “Idea Lists.”

How do I reorder Idea Lists in an Amazon Influencer Storefront?

Shockingly, Amazon does not have an option for this feature yet. The only workaround I’ve found (and be forewarned, there’s nothing easy about this if your store is large) is to take an item, rearrange them, and then the entire Idea List moves to the top! If you do this strategically, you can structure your categories in an order to your liking. It’s really the only way I’ve found to reorder the sections in an Amazon Influencer store.

How do I delete an Idea List in my Amazon Influencer store?

You have to click the little pencil under the list’s name! It’s small and easy to miss but if you click it over by where the description should be, you’ll see a popup with the option to delete the Idea List from your store.

Digital Nomads as Amazon Influencers

The fabulous thing about the Amazon Influencer program is that you can work from anywhere making it a fabulous way to earn money online. If you don’t already have a blog of your very own, I recommend starting there first!

Here’s a guide on how to start a blog of your very own!

In this tutorial, I walk you through the steps to get started one by one.

Once you have your website up and running, you can begin to grow your audience. Expand into social media and grow a large following. When you have enough eyes on your content, you can apply to the Amazon Influencer program.

If you’re accepted, this can become an excellent source of income for you.

In my guide on how to make money from anywhere in the world, I talked a bit about affiliate marketing. This falls into that category!

The beauty of working online is that you can earn money from anywhere in the world! Total location independence. It makes for an excellent source of income for digital nomads.

Benefits to Amazon Influencer Partnerships

Ideal partnerships should benefit all parties, not just the sellers. In this case, all 4 parties: brands, shoppers, Influencers, and Amazon absolutely should benefit from the collaboration.

By working with an Influencer, brands enjoy all of the following benefits:

  • Increased visibility on product search pages
  • A jump in Amazon reviews
  • A decreased in the Average Cost of Sale (ACoS)
  • An improvement in Amazon Best Seller Rank
  • Greater visibility on Google search results

This is just a few of many ways everyone can benefit by working together.

Amazon Influencer Campaigns

Influencers have so many creative ways of reaching audiences of all kinds!

Here’s a few ways, in general, we may promote products online:

  • Top Lists
  • Best Lists
  • Personal Favorite Lists
  • Must-Have Lists
  • (You get the idea… all types of lists!)
  • Unboxing videos
  • Product reviews and blog posts
  • Promoting discounted products/coupons
  • Giveaways!

Working With an Amazon Influencer

How to Find an Amazon Influencer

If you’re a brand or business looking to work with an Influencer, look no further!

The Rocky Safari is an active Amazon Associate and Amazon Influencer.

For details on how we can work together, you can read my page: Work With Me.

If you think we may not be a great match, that’s perfectly fine. I don’t work with everyone who approaches me and that’s fine. Neither should you! Partnerships should make sense. They need to be logical and beneficial for everyone involved. Some selectivity is a GOOD thing!

You can find other Amazon Influencers by looking for them on social networks and keeping an eye out across the web and on other blogs! We’re around! 😉

Additional Information about Amazon Influencers

I hope you found this guide useful! I really tried to outline the whole program in great detail to make it as easy to understand as possible.

If you found it helpful, I would be so truly appreciative if you could pass this along and share it with anyone who you think might benefit from the information!

Thanks in advance for sharing!

For more information about Amazon’s Influencer Program, read this.

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The Rocky Safari