Did you know that, today, Amazon is the leader in e-commerce and is responsible for almost 50% of all e-commerce sales? Most people who shop online have made a purchase from Amazon. 

Amazon, like most successful online businesses, has developed relationships with affiliates. Now, because of marketing changes and influencer marketing in particular, Amazon has now introduced their own influencer program. Anyone with a qualifying Facebook, Instagram, Twitter account, or YouTube channel, can sign up, start promoting products, and get rewarded with Amazon’s influencer program. 

Research shows that consumers look for influencers’ product recommendations almost as often as they do from family and friends, with one study revealing that almost 50% of consumers trust influencers when making decisions on products.

Because Amazon is undoubtedly a retail giant when it comes to e-commerce, have you considered another avenue, besides Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok, for influencers to promote your products? Yes, we’re referring to Amazon’s influencer-friendly platform where content creators promote your products, ensuring your brand is elevated to the next level. 

In this post we’ll show you how to increase sales by working with Amazon influencers.

 

What is an Amazon Influencer?

An Amazon influencer is someone who is signed up to the Amazon Influencer Program. While there are a number of different types of online influencers, Amazon simply requires that the person have an account on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or YouTube. After successfully becoming part of the Amazon Influencer Program, influencers can create their own storefront on Amazon from which to promote products from a brand’s Amazon Store. From the influencer’s storefront, they can create product recommendation lists and be rewarded with commissions for every qualifying purchase made through their storefront. 

When choosing an influencer to market your products, resist the urge to concentrate solely on the number of followers or subscribers the person has. Instead, focus on the demographics of their followers and note how closely the influencer interacts with their followers.

The Advantages of Partnering with Amazon Influencers 

 

High Levels of Engagement

Micro influencers have smaller followings compared to macro influencers, but should not be discounted when it comes to providing value for money when promoting your brand and selling your products. The primary reason is that micro influencers have a clear advantage over even the most prominent celebrities on social media.

It’s been proven that working in partnership with micro-influencers produces higher engagement rates than collaborating with celebrities, which is the only important metric when your aim is to have the most impact and influence.

Higher Conversions 

It appears that this remarkable engagement rate is due to the fact that micro influencers come from modest backgrounds and have smaller followings, which makes them more relatable and accessible to their followers. These micro influencers are more likely to connect with their followers through likes, messages, and comments. The result is that when a micro influencer posts about your products or your Amazon store, their loyal followers will click to learn more, respond by asking questions, and be more likely to purchase your product.

Niched Audience

While it’s true that celebrities have more followers than micro-influencers, people who follow micro-influencers are not only more engaged, they’re typically niched as well. So the main challenge of working in conjunction with a micro-influencer is to find one who has already amassed a following from the precise demographic you need to target.

Let’s say you sell beauty products in your Amazon store. Finding and working with a micro-influencer who does makeup tutorials and product reviews could well be the ideal fit for your business because the influencer already has a loyal following who watch and listen carefully when beauty products are being discussed or trialed. And when you have a micro-influencer who has knowledge and experience in their specific category, regardless of whether it be in beauty, health, fashion, or tech, they have already captivated a following who shares their passion. But it’s more than that; their audience trusts and believes in them. According to an Edelman report, 40% of consumers stated that they trust a certain brand solely because of it’s connection to a specific influencer. 

Increased Conversions

That trust and belief in a micro-influencer is the very reason why they are the secret to increasing your Amazon sales. So why does this work so well? Because when the micro-influencer recommends a product, that recommendation is viewed by consumers as coming from someone they trust. And that’s all they want! They know the micro-influencer is staking both their reputation and their brand on a specific product endorsement and that the influencer will only recommend products they like and use themselves. This is an entirely different situation to celebrities, where savvy consumers know the celebrity probably doesn’t even use the product.

It’s Affordable

The Amazon Influencer Program gives sellers cost-efficient marketing, at the same time reaching potential customers who will at least be prepared to look at your product. It’s very efficient for sellers to work with an influencer, and affordable too.

Finding Amazon Influencers

As you can see, it’s vitally important that sellers find an influencer who will represent their brand well and with respect, and because it can be time consuming locating the right influencer for you, see below for our suggestions on ways to start your search.

Know Your Fans and Followers: Are you aware of who is following your brand on social media? These are the people who are engaging with your content with likes and comments. Therefore, it stands to reason that these people who are already fans are the perfect candidates for representing your brand and promoting your products.
Check Out Creators on Amazon: You’re looking for Amazon influencers, so begin by checking out the #FoundItOnAmazon page and click through to the public profile of each influencer. You’ll notice that some have listed their Instagram handles on their profiles and this information will give you a good feel for who their followers are, the types of content they post, and what their engagement is like.
Search ‘Amazon Lives’ on Amazon: This will show which creators live-stream on Amazon. From here, click through a range of livestreams by topic, from Fashion & Beauty, Featured Creators, and so much more. By opening a livestream you’ll discover who is commenting and how many viewers it has, plus you can learn more about the influencer by clicking on their profile. You can also look at Amazon’s Instagram account - @amazonlive – to find shoutouts to some of the most popular live streamers. Remember, however, that many of the influencers featured on Amazon’s Instagram account will be high-level celebrities with as many as millions of followers. Regardless of the size of an influencer’s following, it’s important to check the demographics of their fan base, as not every influencer will be right for every brand.

 

Know Your Audience 

Amazon influencers use so many more channels to promote themselves than just Amazon. Social media platforms like Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram are just some of the many avenues utilized by influencers to build up their followings and promote their messages. 

An excellent way to start with Amazon influencers is to take the time to look up your own brand on these and various other social media channels. Which social media channels produce the greatest levels of engagement? Are people more likely to interact with a post on Facebook or on Instagram? By asking yourself about the demographics of your audience across the various social media platforms, you can better understand the influencer partnerships that might be the best fit for your brand. From there, it’s a simple matter of searching for Amazon influencers that are active on the right social media platform and which fall within your niche.

 

Search Popular Hashtags

When searching for influencers, an excellent way of narrowing your options is to search for hashtags. Hashtags have evolved to help people narrow down the noise of a social media platform to concentrate solely on conversations about narrow topics. It is through hashtags that communities are created and users can reach out to each other to form valuable connections. To find influencers on Amazon who are already interested in your brand, create a hashtag that specifically represents your brand.

 

To locate influencers who may not even be aware of your brand, we suggest looking up common hashtags related to your industry, brand, and niche, together with hashtags like #amazoninfluencer, #amazonfinds, #amazonstyle, and #amazonambassador, to see who’s active on Amazon.

 

How Should Brands Work with Amazon Influencers?

The great news from a marketing perspective is that Amazon influencers can potentially make a lot of money. 

 

Even at substantial commission rates, influencers must still sell a large number of units to make the huge profits that some influencers proudly bring in. If influencers are making that kind of money on commission, the brands producing the products must be making even more. If other brands are selling huge volumes of products via Amazon influencers, you would do well to join in on this trend too. Discerning brands would not leave it to chance in the hopes that an influencer will stumble across their product and decide to promote it. Instead, brands should actively search out Amazon influencers and make the right connections.

 

We also suggest that, if you’re already paying an influencer to do a typical sponsored post, you encourage them to also sell the product through the Amazon program. It’s as simple as placing a link in the caption or description. With video, the influencer should mention their store and advise that the item can be bought there. This method means that your brand ends up reimbursing the influencer for both content and results, which is a sort-of hybrid compensation method.

 

In Summary

We love the fact that people can be exposed to specific products through influencer marketing. It’s a great marketing strategy because it uses leaders of a specific industry to share with their own audience your brand’s messaging and products. The result is that brands can effectively reach their target audience in a meaningful and organic way. 

 

Did you know that influencer marketing on Instagram alone is a staggering $1.7 billion industry, simply because it’s so effective!