If you are a social media influencer, you pretty much have two options to monetize your influence: you can either develop partnerships with brands — directly or through an influencer agency — or you can join an affiliate program, for instance Amazon Associates.
There is now a third option: the brand-new (beta) Amazon Influencer Program, which is basically a more select version of Amazon Associates, exclusively reserved for social media influencers with “large followings and a high frequency of posts with shoppable content,” who can apply here to join the program.
Although no details have been disclosed by Amazon regarding potentially higher commission for members of the Amazon Influencer Program (versus members of Amazon Associates), the former offers two main advantages over the latter:
- A vanity URL — amazon.com/shop/username — that influencers can proudly insert in their YouTube video descriptions or Instagram profiles.
- A dedicated shop page where influencers’ followers can browse a curated list of products, “featuring thumbnail images of the suggested products, their pricing, their Prime status, and a brief description, ” according to TechCrunch.
The Amazon Influencer Program is currently being tested in beta, with the goal of assessing sales & commissions volumes, for influencers, vendors & Amazon themselves.
What’s in it for social media managers: this new program is actually an interesting way to respectively disintermediate and streamline (even more) the influencer marketing industry and processes, allowing brands who already sell products on Amazon to reach out to influencers and setup partnerships in a matter of clicks.
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