Given the rise of influencers on Instagram, TikTok, and other social sharing platforms, you may also be wondering- what is an Amazon Influencer?
I wanted to figure this out as well, so I did a deep dive, and here’s what I know about the Amazon Influencer Program!
What Is an Amazon Influencer In 2024?
An Amazon Influencer is part of the Amazon Influencer Program, an extension of Amazon Associates. This affiliate program allows content creators to earn affiliate commissions for qualifying purchases from Amazon in 2024. In other words, Amazon Influencers partner with the leading e-commerce company to provide product-related content and promote goods and services on Amazon.
If you’re intrigued by the idea of being an Amazon Influencer, keep reading to learn more, including how to qualify and how to identify influencer content on Amazon!
Who Are Amazon Influencers?
The cool thing about Amazon Influencers is that they come from all walks of life, and chances are you follow and engage with a few already.
Back in 2017, as social media was really taking off and it became clear that influencer advertising was here to stay, Amazon got more involved by launching the Influencer Program.
This is a rev-share model where influencers drive Amazon sales through social media links, which is most common on Instagram.
However, plenty of influencing activity takes place on TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube, too.
These influencers may be fashion bloggers, reality TV stars, motivational speakers, lifestyle gurus, and anyone else with a large following.
Usually, this number falls to around 100,000 – 500,000 followers to start.
Keep in mind that the Amazon Influencer Program is for individuals, while Amazon Associates is for media companies and brands.
Solo content creators working with a number of different brands often aspire to become influencers on Amazon because there are millions of products and promising earning potential.
What’s neat about the Amazon Influencer Program is creators don’t have to only provide positive, glowing reviews.
Rather, they are encouraged to be honest about the products they love and others they could skip.
What Is Amazon Influencer Content?
Next time you’re browsing social media, you may see content from an Amazon Influencer.
This content may feature product ads and recommendations linked to a vanity URL leading to the influencer’s personal Amazon.com storefront, which is amazon.com/shop/influencername.
Amazon and its influencers maintain transparency by always listing the program’s name on associated content, so in this case, all posts say Amazon Influencer.
If you ever noticed #ad or #sponsored on Instagram, it’s similar to Amazon content, with the company name visible so the audience is aware that these recommendations are part of an ad.
It’s crucial that all Amazon Influencer content is properly identified as part of the program, as this ensures creators meet social media guidelines and can maximize their potential earnings.
Also, Amazon does not validate influencer opinions in their content, as creators can independently decide if they want to recommend a certain item.
As long as the content meets Amazon posting guidelines, creators are free to post what they want with no modifications or edits from Amazon.
This means influencers are encouraged to give their honest reviews to help consumers find the best products that work for them.
While influencers must follow community guidelines, they can provide both positive and negative reviews to assist shoppers in finding the right products for their needs.
This is particularly to comparing several items from the same category.
How Much Do Amazon Influencers Earn?
The main reason why people are turning social media into their full-time job is that they can make a lot of money by doing what they love, which is being creative and generating engaging content.
Many influencers start out doing social media on the side and quickly learn they can replace their 9-5 income with something more flexible for their lifestyle, with obvious financial benefits.
In general, social media influencers can make anywhere from $10,000 to well over $1,000,000 a year, depending on how much they do and how much they charge per post.
Amazon is one of the top influencer programs because the earning potential is virtually unlimited.
Influencers get up to 10% commission on products purchased through their storefront.
The key is for followers to click on Amazon through the influencer link, much like affiliate links for bloggers in Amazon Associates.
Amazon influencers could make $100 or $10,000 on a post, as it just depends on follower engagement and how much they shop on Amazon.
To get a better idea of rates, Amazon maintains a list of fixed commission income rates and promotional rates for limited periods.
How Can I Qualify as an Amazon Influencer?
If you’re interested in becoming an Influencer, the top things Amazon looks for are your total follower count and engagement metrics across Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok.
While generally, 100,000 followers is a baseline for acceptance into the program, Amazon has started accepting micro and nano-influencers with much smaller follower counters.
This is allowed if the influencer in question can provide high engagement rates.
Like other influencer and affiliate programs, it’s up to Amazon to decide which influencers are eligible, with expectations changing over time.
Sometimes, an influencer may have a growing follower account but not much engagement, and in that case, Amazon will likely tell them to apply again in the future.
There’s no reason why content creators can’t reapply for Amazon Influencer, so long as their accounts are in good standing and meet community guidelines.
In fact, some of the top Amazon Influencers were originally rejected from the program, and once they grew their followers and engagement, they were able to reapply and join the program.
If you want to see if you qualify for Amazon Influencer, visit affiliate-program.amazon.com/influencers/signup to start the registration and approval process.
If you are looking to learn more, you can also read our posts on whether or not Amazon increases prices after viewing, do Amazon reviews affect sales, and are Amazon reviews fake.
Conclusion
Amazon Associates is a popular way for publishers and bloggers to monetize their websites and generate revenue through advertising and links to Amazon.
Amazon expanded this program to include influencers in 2017, and since then, it’s exploded in popularity, with thousands of individual content creators taking advantage of this opportunity to promote an endless array of products on Amazon.
