How To Become An Amazon Influencer Get Started Guide
When I had to close my onsite business, I shifted my focus to the internet. I wasted time combing through ways to make money online, weeding out scams and irrelevant advice. Finally, I discovered that some influencer niches yield anywhere from $4,000 to $50,000 a month.
By building a social media presence and partnering with Amazon, you might be able to embark on a new career without leaving the house.
Read on to learn how to become an Amazon Influencer
What is an Amazon Influencer?
An Amazon influencer is someone who has a marketing partnership with Amazon to promote products and drive sales. They use their social media presence to connect with their audience and receive income from advertising the goods and services related to their passions, interests, and even their personal brand.
What Does it Mean to Be an Influencer?
In short, an influencer is an individual who has the authority to change or affect others and their behavior by using social media. Using a combination of company-sponsored posts, advertisements, and maybe even a private brand, they receive revenue from posting about them on their social media accounts.
Once an influencer has built a following, they may begin partnerships with advertisers or brands that pay them to post about their services or products (i.e., Amazon). An influencer needs to be a good match with a brand, and they must also reflect the company’s message and vision.
Influencers also have a much closer relationship with their followers. This personal relationship allows their audience to feel more comfortable with the influencer’s promotions. Additionally, the trust they have for the influencer makes them more likely to buy.
An influencer removes the disconnection between big companies and the consumers they are trying to reach. By having the influencer as a medium, they can expand their reach to even more potential customers.
What Do Amazon Influencers Do?
Amazon’s Influencer Program allows influencers to promote qualifying Amazon products to their social media following and earn income in the process. With a customizable storefront and URL, influencers receive compensation for the products people buy through this link.
An Amazon Influencer typically has a particular way of setting up their social media ‘persona.’ Using their platform, they advertise products or services relevant to their interests and the things they already talk about with their audience.
Top Amazon Influencers
With so many influencers in the market, a few stand out more than others. They range from everyday people to celebrities, and all have their own story of how they got to where they are. I picked out just a few of them to give you an idea of just how much variety there is in the world of Amazon influencers.
Kev Blackburn
After quitting his job as a full-time engineer to spend more time with his family, Kev Blackburn started an online business with the Fulfillment by Amazon program. He then created a YouTube channel to teach new influencers how to utilize FBA to earn money.
Felicia Day
Best known for her web presence and acting roles, Felicia Day is an icon in the geek community. She is also a high-profile Amazon influencer. Her Amazon storefront mainly promotes baby products, but her love of sci-fi and varied taste makes her a highly sought brand influencer.
Mark Cuban
Probably one of the most famous entrepreneurs, Mark Cuban is not only an Amazon influencer, but he also holds a considerable amount of stock in the company. With multiple foundations, funding of research studies, appearances on Shark Tank, and rampant support of small businesses, he shares his experiences while giving back to the community as much as possible.
Makoccino
While posting videos on YouTube on how to sketch, paint, and more, Makoccino uses her Amazon page to drive sales of art supplies. Her passion for the arts led her to pursue a multi-faceted education, and she shares her wisdom and knowledge with her 1.85 million YouTube subscribers.
How Much Does an Amazon Influencer Make?
Revenue from the Amazon Influencer program varies considerably. Depending on what you help sell, you receive a commission from approved products. An influencer for Amazon can earn anywhere from a few dollars to up to $18,000 a year.
It can take some time to reach the maximum level of potential income from this program. However, there are many ways to expedite the process and make more money sooner rather than later.
When you first start, you cannot access your funds until you make at least $10. When you reach this goal, you can choose an Amazon gift card, direct deposit, or even a check, depending on the country in which you do business.
Bounties
In addition to sales from your storefront, there is a bounty program that Amazon offers. This program is similar to product recommendations but involves services and programs instead. You can earn a fixed commission when your audience visits the links to these services and programs if they end up signing up or even just starting a free trial.
When we talk about these programs and services, think of Amazon Prime, Audible, and more. This opportunity is another way for influencers to earn money with their Amazon partnership.
Here are some examples:
- Try Amazon Prime 30-Day Free Trial
- Try Amazon Music Unlimited Free Trial
- Create Amazon Business Account
How Does the Amazon Influencer Program Work?
The Amazon Influencer Program is relatively straightforward. Once the company accepts your application and decides to move forward, you get to design your store and choose a vanity link. The program is very competitive, but you can always reapply if the first application does not work out.
Amazon Influencer Requirements
There are specific criteria that you must meet to become an Amazon Influencer. Without meeting these standards, an applicant will likely not move forward in the process. Most of the requirements are attainable with hard work and dedication.
Here is a rudimentary list of the Amazon influencer requirements:
- Located in the US, UK, Canada, or India
- Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram account
- A sizeable following to advertise to
- Good engagement with the audience
- High-standard content
- Provide a benefit to Amazon
- Content relevance
Applying for the program is just the first step in how to become an Amazon Influencer. Even if you do not make it the first time, you can still reapply later. Qualifications change, and you can continue building your audience in the meantime.
Step By Step Guide
Before applying to be an Amazon influencer, you must have a consistently growing social media following with high engagement. If you do not already have this, it is critical to start building your audience.
The following steps are an overview of the process of becoming an Amazon Influencer:
- Build a following on one of the qualifying Social Networks i.e. YouTube, Facebook, or Instagram
- Achieve status as a nano-influencer. Nano-influencers typically have from 1,000 to 10,000 followers.
- Submit an application for the Amazon Influencer program
- Wait for an answer
- Start setting up your storefront
- Provide tax and payment information
- Personalize the look of your store
- Develop a list of products. Choose products that are in line with your social media profiles or business.
- Advertise to your following and drive traffic. Talk about these items on your social media, and provide the link to your site to your followers, giving them the motivation and curiosity to check out the product.
- Earn money
- Optimize for best selling products and track sales byy keeping track of what is popular and what is not selling, you can adjust your ‘inventory’ to reflect trends and stay ahead of the game.
- Maintain consistency. At the very least, you want to keep your momentum steady as your popularity grows and your relationship with your followers develops. Ideally, however, you should keep aiming for growth, especially if you want to make the most profit.
What Can You Sell?
You can sell almost anything you want on your Amazon storefront. Each product category has a unique commission percentage. If you already have an overall theme or focus as an influencer, finding products that fit well with it is ideal.
The highest commission you can earn is 10 percent by selling Amazon coins or fashion items with the Amazon brand. The lowest is from video games and consoles, at 1 percent. Everything else falls in between these two extremes.
Restricted Items
You cannot sell specific items through the influencer program or even in general on Amazon. This list compiles only a few of these restricted items, but you can find the extensive one here.
- Alcohol and cigarettes
- Cosmetics
- Fine Art and artifacts
- Currency
- Vitamins and Diet Supplements
- Live animals such as fish, reptiles, etc.
- Drugs, pharmaceutical products, and medical devices
- Sex-related items
- Surveillance equipment
- Guns, weapons, and explosives
- Dietary products and food
- Theft devices
Are There Any Stipulations?
One of the requirements that might not sit well with some people is that Amazon requires influencers to connect their social media accounts to their site. Before acceptance into the program, this gives Amazon a chance to look at your engagement metrics, follower count, and content.
After acceptance, this link allows Amazon to access your social media accounts and post on your behalf. It is essential to consider the cost-benefit of permitting Amazon to have this level of control. Evaluation of this requirement is a personal thing, and it is something with which you should feel comfortable.
The only other condition for this program is that you adhere to the Community Guidelines that they have in place. These guidelines include what you can say in reviews, rules about counterfeit products, and more.
How Many Followers Do You Need to Be an Amazon Influencer?
Amazon does not disclose the official number of followers you need to become an Influencer with their program. They tend to look at a combination of follower engagement, the number of followers, and metrics as a whole. You must have a certain balance between these factors for consideration.
A bare minimum of 200 followers is the number some estimate, with others saying it is 20,000. With either of these numbers, if you maintain your dedication to being an influencer, it could positively impact the rate of your audience expansion and growth potential.
Nano and Micro-Influencers
The Amazon Influencer Program does not seem to rule out influencers for not having a big audience. Sometimes the specialists at Amazon prefer lesser-known influencers because of the higher follower to store visit ratio. So, do not let your growing number of followers prevent you from applying for the program.
Rate of Acceptance
The Amazon Influencer Program is incredibly competitive even though they accept smaller influencers. The Amazon Influencer requirements get you on the list, but they must still look at everything else. Luckily, a rejection does not prevent you from applying again, and it is even encouraged.
Is Being an Amazon Influencer a Real Job?
Everyone has an opinion on whether or not being an influencer is a ‘real job.’ The truth is less murky when you look at it from both the influencer and the brands’ perspective.
From the influencer’s point of view, their job is to advertise their interests to people who already care about what they have to say. The brand pays influencers for the use of their platform for advertising purposes. This partnership is the same as any other commission-based job.
Amazon influencers can also create a unique brand and promote it through Amazon, especially if it has to do with physical products. In this case, they are not only ‘just’ influencers, but also business owners. Regardless of anyone’s opinion on this job’s legitimacy, there is something to say about the effort made.
What Next?
Becoming an influencer might be an intimidating goal, but it is an entirely attainable one. The motivation to connect with people and share your passions with them is an essential aspect of being an influencer. When you meet the Amazon influencer requirements, there is nothing wrong with establishing a partnership.
I hope this guide gives you a basic idea of how to become an Amazon Influencer. Good luck!
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