Amazon Associates: How to Make Money As an Amazon Affiliate

It would be great to make money from every post you make about your emotional support bottle or the book you read in an afternoon. Amazon Associates is the key. If you are just starting out as an influencer or blogger, becoming an Amazon affiliate can be a great way for you to make money as you grow.

Do you find it difficult? Don’t worry. This guide will cover everything you need to know regarding Amazon Associates, the highly-oiled affiliate marketing program. Learn how to get started, post your recommendations, as well as how to reap the sweet, sweet rewards that come with your great taste.

What is Amazon Associates?

Amazon Associates is an affiliate program. It allows bloggers, influencers, creators, and others to monetize their reach. Participants, also known as “Amazon affiliates”, can earn a percentage for sales that are generated by their recommendations. They can post Amazon affiliate links on their website and social channels.

No matter how many followers you have, anyone can sign up to Amazon Associates. This does not apply to Amazon Influencer. The more people you have, the more you will make commissions.

Source: Pinterest

Amazon Influencer vs. Amazon Affiliate: What’s the difference between them?

First, you should know that Amazon Associates includes a number of affiliate programs. You need to determine which one suits your style of influence.

For those who have blogs or websites, the standard Amazon affiliate program is the best. It’s also great for those who are still growing their social media following. Do you plan to make the most of your referrals by writing blogs, articles, or emails? This option is recommended.

Amazon Influencer might be a better option for you if you have a large following on TikTok or Instagram, YouTube, YouTube, YouTube, Facebook, or YouTube. Amazon Influencer is an extension to Amazon Associates. It is for social media influencers and creators of social media who already have a following.

Amazon doesn’t specify how many followers an author must have to become an Influencer. We’ve heard of creators who have less than 200 followers being accepted and others who have many more being denied. We recommend that you give it a shot if you are interested in signing up. There is nothing to lose.

Amazon Influencers are different from regular affiliates. Amazon allows influencers to create their own Amazon Storefront. This is where they can showcase products in shoppable list, photos, videos and live streams.

Source: Amazon

How does Amazon Associates work

Imagine if you were paid for every friend who recommends a product. This is what the Amazon Associates program does. Do you like something? Tell your friends, and you can make money. It’s as easy as that.

Register now, choose what you want to promote, then create affiliate links as you browse.

You can browse Amazon while logged in to your affiliate account. A toolbar called SiteStripe will be at the top of each page. SiteStripe will automatically generate photos and links for each page, so you can share them easily to your website or social media channels.

Amazon knows which link you refer by using a built-in code. Copy it and paste it in your post. Amazon will track the number of users who visited the link and made a purchase. You’ll receive credit once they add the item into their cart.

The percentage of the sale is then mailed to your address via a monthly check, or Amazon gift card. Boom. Riches!

How to become an Amazon associate

Are you ready to get started? Here’s how to get started with Amazon affiliate marketing.

Step 1: Register to become an Amazon Associate

Go to Amazon Associates Central, and click Sign up. You can either log in to your existing Amazon account, or create a new one by using the email that you have associated with your website or social media channels.

Step 2: Add your social media channels or website to the list

Signing up for Amazon Associates will require you to follow a series of prompts. You will need to enter your name, address, phone number, and email. The next step is to add your “website” and mobile apps. These are the websites on which you will promote your Amazon affiliate links.

Source: Amazon

Enter the URL of your blog, website, or social media pages. If you don’t have a website but want to promote Amazon products on social media, do you have one? Make sure you include the public-facing links that direct users to your profile.

Step 3: Create your Amazon Associates profile

Next, create your Amazon Associates profile. You’ll then create an Associates ID. This is Amazon’s store ID or identification code that tracks your link referrals. You can quickly identify which clicks are coming to which channels by choosing a short version or your social media handle.

You’ll need to tell Amazon about your business and focus during this step. It will ask you about your audience, what products you plan on promoting, and how you drive traffic through your social media channels or website.

Source: Amazon

Step 4: Add your tax- and payment information

Last step in setup is to add payment and tax information so Amazon can pay you. Once you start earning commissions, Amazon will pay you either by check or with Amazon gift certificates. During this step, you can choose your preference.

Make sure you fill out the prompt regarding tax information. You will need to enter a social security number or employer identification number.

Step 5: (Optional). Sign up for Amazon Influencer

Do you want to create an Amazon Storefront? Register for an Amazon Influencer account. Here’s how you can become an Amazon Influencer.

Go to the Amazon Influencer dashboard, and click sign up. We recommend that you use the account you used for signing up for the Amazon Associates program.

After you create your Amazon account, Amazon will ask for you to link your social media accounts. Amazon will ask you to link your social media accounts. This allows Amazon to evaluate your content, follower count and engagement rates. This information will be used by Amazon to approve or deny your application for the program.

Not all creators will be approved to join the Amazon Influencer program. Some users are approved immediately, while others are denied and/or go under review. You can start building your Amazon Storefront immediately if your application has been approved or pending.

Don’t panic if you aren’t approved for the Influencer program immediately. To earn commissions and grow your audience, you can still use your Amazon Associates account. You might consider setting up a link-tree and adding it to your social media profiles so that your followers can still shop from all your recommendations.

Source: Amazon

How much can Amazon affiliates make

Now, the big question: How much money can you make as an Amazon Associate? Amazon pays a percentage of sales. It all depends on how many affiliate links you post and how much reach you have. Some creators make more than $16,000 per month, while others make $0. It can vary widely.

The type of product or category you are promoting will determine how much you get paid. Each product category or event is associated either with a flat fee or a percentage commission. Amazon considers non-purchase actions such as Kindle and Audible sign-ups as “events” and will pay an affiliate a flat fee.

How much are each of these categories worth? Amazon Associates earn 20% on Amazon Games, 10% on luxury beauty items, and 3% on toys and furniture. Other categories offer lower payouts. You can see that the amount you earn will depend on what you promote.

Amazon will also pay creators a fixed “bounty”, or commission, when people follow their links and complete a specific action. Creators can earn $5 for each referral who registers for an Audible trial, and $3 for each referral who registers for a Kindle trial.

How to make more money with Amazon affiliates

You’ll need some tools to boost your sales if you have an Amazon Associates account. These are some tips to help make more money with the Amazon affiliate program.

Find your niche and serve it

Users will see your content if it directly applies to them. Make sure you are recommending products that meet the needs of your key social media demographics. What you recommend can be influenced by gender, age, income, education level, or other metrics.

Focus on products that are relevant to your content and messaging. Don’t spend too much time creating a Storefront with trendy accessories and apparel if people visit your page to find healthy recipes. To determine relevancy, pay attention to how many clicks each hyperlink receives.

Demo videos can be made with Reels and TikTok

While we don’t believe static content is dead, you should definitely take advantage of the growing popularity of TikTok and Instagram Reels right now. These tools are powered by an algorithm that automatically shows users the most relevant content at a given time. This means more clicks for your business!

How can you use these features to make more referral money? Make Instagram Reels and TikTok videos that highlight the products you recommend. If you show the products you love, demo videos and try-on hauls can bring you lots of traffic.

Inspo alert! You can find inspiration by checking out TikTok’s satisfying videos about kitchen organization or browsing crafting Reels on Instagram. These niches are full of pros who know how to monetize their content using Amazon affiliate links.

Reels and TikTok can be essential if you want your reach to grow, but you also don’t want your existing audience to suffer. Make sure to post affiliate links regularly to your Instagram Stories and Facebook Stories, as well as to your static grid.

YouTube has product recommendations that go deep

While Instagram and TikTok are having a moment, it doesn’t mean that you should abandon old favorites like YouTube. According to our Global State of Digital Report YouTube is second in social media usage, behind Facebook. YouTube users spend almost 24 hours per month!

YouTube’s popularity should not be enough to make you an Amazon affiliate. It’s also the way people use it. YouTube users are often looking for more detailed comparisons, demonstrations, or how-to videos. Creators can answer more questions and go deeper with less time limitations.

YouTube may be more competitive than other social media channels depending on your niche. YouTube offers more opportunities for users at the bottom of the funnel who are willing to make big purchases, so it could be more lucrative in long-term.

Important: Include your affiliate product links in every YouTube video description.

Source: YouTube

Meet your users wherever and whenever they scroll

Knowing your followers is key to understanding their habits and which social media sites they use. Consider what content they are looking for when they visit a channel.

If they visit you via your YouTube channel or blog, they are likely looking for more information on a particular topic. This is a great opportunity to provide product comparisons and how-to guides. They’ll be looking at your Instagram or TikTok and will likely want something concise, visual, and quick.

Posting at the time your user is most active will result in more clicks for affiliate links. Hootsuite can help you determine the best time to post and increase engagement.

You should pursue higher-paying events or categories

Amazon doesn’t consider all products equal. You can earn more by focusing on high-commission categories if you want to work less.

Amazon Games, luxury goods and physical books, as well as kitchen products and automotive products are the highest-earning categories for Amazon commissions (between 4.5 to 20% of sales). Amazon Games will give you a 20% commission. This is your sign to begin posting gaming content.

Sign-ups for Audible or Kindle paid memberships are the highest bounty events (up to $25 per signing up). What does this mean? This is a great time to get back into reading and join the #booktok fun.

Note: Amazon’s commission rates are subject to change. Before deciding on where to focus, make sure you check the most recent statement of income.

Pinterest makes it easy to click

Pinterest users are inspired by fashion, craft, and interior design. This means that Pinterest is a hotbed of curated product recommendations, created by savvy shoppers like yourself.

Posting Amazon recommendations on Pinterest doesn’t require that you create video content. However, this may increase your clicks. Design eye-catching static pins that link to your website, blog, and social media channels.

Tip: Make sure your Pinterest image is optimized for the platform. Pinterest recommends a 2 to 3 aspect ratio for static pins or 1,000 x 1,500 pixels.

Source: Pinterest

Your blog can be used to create gift guides and listicles

Bloggers and journalists were the first affiliate pros and they still hold the top spot when it comes to Amazon Associates. Write blog posts that include product reviews, comparisons, gift guides, and listicles about your favorite products. This will increase the visibility of your product links.

Don’t forget to tell your audience! You should not only direct your followers to your website content via email and social media, but also learn how to optimize your site so Google shows it when people search for the relevant terms. To make the most of your nonsocial content, you should brush up on your search engine optimization skills (SEO).

Gatekeep, no matter how tempting

Your followers are generally looking for the next best thing to make their lives easier, more fun, and more glamorous. Don’t post the usual and instead, focus on innovative, clever, or less-known products. This water bottle, which has been endorsed by influencers, is flavored with smell.

We know that new beauty products and game-changing gadgets can go viral quickly and sell out quickly. (See the Dyson Airwrap and anything by Charlotte Tilbury). Gatekeep your favorite products, no matter how tempting! You’ll be rewarded handsomely if you share the best of the best.

Hootsuite makes it easy to manage your social media presence. Hootsuite gives you one dashboard that allows you to publish, schedule, measure and engage your audience. Get it today for free.

Try it Free for 30 Days

The first Social Media Marketing & Management Dashboard article was Amazon Associates: How to Make Money As an Amazon Affiliate.