Amazon Might Have the Influencer Strategy to Beat
What started as Amazon’s simple entrance into the world of influencer has grown into a dynamic, multi-pronged strategy. In 2019 alone, their influencer strategies have grown exponentially to become unique and lucrative programs all their own.
Amazon’s Influencer Affiliate Program Goes 2.0
Affiliate links have long been the bread and butter of Amazon. It started with traditional links that influencers were able to embed in posts and receive a small commission back for their audience’s clicks or purchases. This year, Amazon revamped their affiliate program. Influencers with qualifying Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, or Twitter accounts can move beyond basic affiliate links to have their own Amazon storefront. Influencers are approved or denied based on a variety of analytics, including follower counts and engagement rates. Once qualified, creators can have their own page on Amazon with a unique vanity URL to curate products in line with their content and their audience. Influencers are then compensated for each purchase they drive.
Influencers can up their Amazon affiliate game even further with a verified Amazon profile. Verified influencers receive a profile with a coveted blue checkmark near their usernames, signaling prominence on the Amazon platform. Verified profiles include usernames, short bios, links to social media channels, a link to their Amazon storefront, and recent “content” that consists of the influencer’s product reviews, idea lists, product questions, and product answers. Verified profiles can even be followed by users. In this way, Amazon shoppers can keep up to speed and receive email or push notifications when the influencer contributes new content (reviews, idea lists, product questions, and product answers, etc.) to the site. When users clickthrough from one of these notifications, the influencer receives attribution and a commission on purchases that they make.
Amazon Continues to Pursue Fashion with Top Creators
Outside of affiliate links, this summer, Amazon also continued its foray into fashion with the help of fashion influencers to launch new offerings, The Drop and StyleSnap.
The Drop, a nod to hypebeast culture, is a new fashion initiative that taps top tier fashion influencers: Paola Alberdi, Sierra Furtado, Emi Suzuki, Leonie Hanne, and Patricia Bright to create fashion collections available exclusively on Amazon. The catch, to cut down on waste, each piece is made to order and only available to purchase for 30 hours after “the drop”.
StyleSnap, on the other hand, is a more technology driven launch. It is a new feature on the Amazon App that allows you to upload an image of fashion inspiration that you’ve seen elsewhere, say Instagram, and find similar items available for purchase on Amazon.
Why Amazon’s Programs Are Just So Attractive
These new initiatives are enticing to influencers and consumers alike, but what is it that makes them so innovative? For starters, Amazon’s new affiliate strategy is far more sophisticated than the traditional affiliate programs of late. Influencers are increasingly incentivized to participate thanks to their earned web presence on the world’s biggest online retailer and the corresponding circular traffic to and from their social media channels. Secondly, The Drop incorporates the influencers’ styling and creative abilities that followers love while giving a strong sense of urgency with its F.O.M.O. inducing, limited time only availability. Finally, StyleSnap harnesses the inspirational power of influencers to drive purchases by enabling audiences to locate identical or similar items that they feature in their content.
ACTIVATE is a fully end-to-end influencer marketing platform, covering influencer discovery, program workflow, measurement, and analytics. The platform consists of an opt-in network of 150,000+ vetted and authenticated influencers. Pinpoint niche groups by leveraging our geo-targeting and micro-survey capabilities or dive in deep with our curated networks of creators. Notably, the networks span a diverse variety of influencers including ‘vegan foodies’, ‘outdoor enthusiasts’ , ‘bohemian stylistas’ (and more!). Need a hand? Leverage ACTIVATE Studio, our in-house team of influencer strategists to build out and execute custom influencer initiatives.
Want to learn more about ACTIVATE or Bloglovin’ ? Just drop us a note at research@activate.social.
