The A-Z of Amazon Influencer Marketing Program in India

Original piece of https://medium.com/@shefali.mathur17/the-a-z-of-amazon-influencer-marketing-program-in-india-b780e608c403

Did you know that influencer marketing is predicted to reach $24 billion by 2025, making its mark in this growing market is Amazon? Interestingly, Amazon’s Influencer Marketing Program is driven by social media stars who leverage their popularity to:

Promote brands

Drive sales

In fact, in this program, influencers can earn a commission of anywhere from 1% to 10%. The Amazon Influencer Marketing Program in India and across the world is now one of the most important associate marketing segments. Such is its popularity that even the Shark Tank VC Mark Cuban is an Amazon influencer!

What is Amazon Influencer Program?

How does Amazon Influencer Program Work in India?

What are the Requirements for Amazon Influencer Program in India?

How to Register for the Amazon Influencer Program in India?

How to Set Up an Amazon Influencer Page?

Amazon Influencer Program Vs. Amazon Affiliate

Social Sharing Tips for the Amazon Influencer

Now, a new terminology in the market known as ‘amazon-influencers’ allows social media influencers to funnel their followers into customers for Amazon.

Amazon realized the power and potential of social media influencers in broadening its potential sales capacity. The product list of these followers is the wish list of their followers who would search for e-commerce and other retail platforms to purchase them.

The Amazon Influencer Program directs them to their e-commerce platform instead of opting for any other online store

This program is a win-win for Amazon and the influencers, who can now expand their business and have better business deals to monetise their social media presence.

However, one cannot negate the potential risk of faulty promotions that these influencers can bring to mint money. Amazon follows a strict transparency policy and will shut down any fraudulent profiles. These rising social media influencers do not want to fall victim to that and tarnish their reputation.

Though you can find traces of similarities between the Amazon Influencer Program and Amazon Affiliate, the latter, as the name suggests, is based on influencer marketing.

This platform allows you, the social media influencer, to create your own following and presence on Amazon by promoting the brands of products that you recommend or review on either YouTube or Instagram.

You are given a unique vanity URL which is the address to your Amazon shop front that customers can visit to check out the products that you are recommending. Customers who shop on Amazon via that link are offered relevant compensation from the sale. This is your commission.

Note: As per the Amazon help centre, you must disclose the vanity URL provided to you to your audience. This transparency will allow them to trust rather than consider this as another marketing gimmick, as you guide them to the exact location for shopping instead of simply mentioning the brand name or the site.

While influencers across all categories- namely Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook- are welcome and eligible to participate in the program, a few things make up for a perfect Amazon influencer.

A large following: This is a given. You must have a broad reach (almost 100,000–500,000) across various brands to cross the first step towards being an Amazon influencer.

Quality Content: Many influencers make the mistake of filling their posts with a ‘promotions-only’ tonality. To be an Amazon influencer, your posts must be organic, with quality images and videos that do not market products blatantly to the followers.

Engagement: Amazon checks your engagement rate to determine your quality work as a social media influencer, not simply a broadcaster of brands.

Amazon Relevant Content: To be an Amazon influencer, your previous engagement should be relevant to Amazon, i.e., your audience and your content that should talk about the products sold on Amazon.

So there are two options to be an influencer. You can either be invited by Amazon or apply at the Amazon influencer site. You may not get in on the first go, but eligibility requirements keep changing, and you can try again sometime later.

To be an Amazon influencer, your first step is to fill out an application which, upon review, is subjected to approval or rejection. A following of at least 100,000 to 500,000 is the sweet spot and significantly improves your chances of being an Amazon influencer.

Here is a step-by-step approach to crack the Amazon influencer marketing domain.

Application: As mentioned, this is the first step of your journey to becoming an Amazon influencer. Fill in your information and ensure that your application form has no missing points and is as comprehensive & transparent as possible. Once you hit the submit button, you can only hope that Amazon likes your profile.

Set Up a Payment Method: Before earning, you must fill in your tax information and payment details, which are later paid out as cash, Amazon gift, deposit or card. However, ensure you have made at least $10 or ₹720 to start encashing your commission.

Acceptance: If your application has been accepted, Amazon will send you an email confirming your acceptance and then chart out the next steps that you should take to establish your store.

Your Very Own Amazon Shopfront: Like our conventional brick & mortar shops, Amazon provides a virtual shopfront where you will work to curate brands and products to resonate with your profile and your following.

Marketing: Once your shopfront has been created, you will get your vanity URL which you can now share with your followers and encourage purchases. Ensure your campaign is organic and creates engagement rather than just announcing your favourite products. Create a rapport which will lead to more purchases and hence, more commission.

Setting up an Amazon Influencer page is about curating the products that reflect your social media following and what you are likelier to buy. An authentic purchase from this page will make you eligible for commission.

Setting up an Amazon Influencer page is about curating the products that reflect your social media following and what you are likelier to buy. You will be eligible for your share of money on a qualifying purchase.

Here’s how you can set up your Amazon influencer page or shop.

This is the most crucial step that you will take to pave your Amazon influencer journey. The most common choices are Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Twitter and YouTube are real-time approved; on the other hand, Instagram and Facebook can take up to 5 days to approve.

You must create the store now that Amazon knows which social media account to consider. Here is where you will fill in your personal and shop information.

Many influencers come from the Amazon Affiliate program and, thus, do not have to set up a new influencer account but can simply choose your store ID if you are a part of the already existing online associate program.

You can choose the product category you recommend your followers purchase. This makes the foremost part of your page on the Amazon influencer platform or more commonly known as the storefront.

Then you will be prompted to fill in your details, tagline, profile links, social media links, etc. Once you are done entering your details, you will receive a page that will notify you if your profile has been verified or if more information is required.

Once you finish the information segment and the verification, you will receive a preview of how your shop may appear to your followers.

Simply continue with the process and move ahead with your personalised shop. You can add a new product to your page by following these simple steps.

Go to the Amazon search bar.

Select the product that you want, in this case, influencer

You can also add the element of YOU by including a custom background photo to your shop. Follow these simple steps:

Log in to your Associates account and go to the influencer tab.

Click on the camera icon at the bottom right of the background image.

Choose the image of your choice. Ensure it is in JPEG or PNG format with dimensions of at least 1275px by 284px.

Drag this image over the rectangular space of the background image.

Click on the Save button.

Do not forget to link your shop to your social media profiles!

Bonus Tip: Amazon has a fantastic feature if you are a fashionista! Amazon’s StyleSnap is a killer shopping feature that makes it easy for your followers to shop via your social post.

All they have to do is simply take a screenshot and upload it on the Amazon app while you earn your rightful commission.

Take a screenshot of the post they fancy.

Go to the Amazon app and click on the camera icon at the top

Go to ‘ Upload photo to find the look’

Easy peasy recommendations are now your way!

Interesting to Know: StyleSnap influencing is based on an Amazon phenomenon called Shoppable Photos. Here, when you add your relevant images as Shoppable Photos and if a customer searches for that look by uploading that image, that gets attributed to your influencer shop, and you get your due compensation.

Many of these established influencers are born from the Amazon Affiliate Program. However, what they do here is entirely different.

What is the distinction between the Amazon Influencer Program and the Amazon Affiliate Program?

While we know that the Amazon Influencer program has branched out of Amazon Associates, one cannot help but wonder if it is similar to another Associates program, the Amazon Affiliate.

The simple answer is no.

Amazon Influencers have a social media following and connect with them via bite-sized content to promote their partnered brands. The social media metrics here are

Customer Engagement

Lead Generation and

Following

While on the other hand, the affiliate program is content-based marketing specifically used to sell the brand’s products. The metrics of this program are entirely different. They are:

Website Traffic

Sales

Order Value (Average)

As an influencer, having a social media presence is extremely vital, and you must know the right means to optimally share your link with your followers on your respective profiles for maximum visibility.

This will create a funnel where your follower will discover your vanity URL on your profile and click on it, landing on your Amazon storefront and then making the right purchase.

Start by adding your vanity URL to the About Me section of your profile.

Leverage Facebook stories by posting special offers or promotions highlighted on your page for at least 24 hours.

When posting your product-related posts, link them up to your vanity URL for easy access.

Add your influencer page link in the About Me section of your YouTube profile.

Link up your URL in the video descriptions. You can also be specific with respect to the products that you are promoting on your shopfront.

Mention your vanity URL as a Call-to-Action and it will also help if you add a banner ad that links directly to your Amazon influencer page.

Here too, first, add your vanity URL to your bio section. You can also link your URL to the specific category posts as well.

Instagram stories are a great way to grab attention to your ongoing promotions and activities of your partner brand.

If you are posting a product-related post, simply add your URL and direct your followers to visit your Amazon shop front.

Amazon is making it easier for influencers and brands to end the long hunt and establish a valuable business deal on one platform, the Amazon Influencer Program.

If you have a social media following worth envy, it might be a good idea to monetise your popularity by signing up for the Amazon Influencer program. Good Luck!