What Is an Amazon Affiliate?
Affiliate marketing and sales have been around for some time and there are thousands of different programs to choose from. An affiliate program is where you sell someone else’s product and receive a commission or a cut of the profit. You essentially become an internet salesperson for another individual or brand by selling through websites and blogs. Amazon’s affiliate program is one of the first of its kind and has a pretty unique selling proposition than most affiliate programs out there.
Amazon Affiliate is a free program that you can sign up for online. It doesn’t take long, and the approval process is quick. When you sign up as an Amazon Affiliate you can sell any product and make Amazon Affiliate earnings. You’ll receive a commission on the product when there is a sale that you procured. While most affiliate programs do have similarities to Amazon’s, Amazon provides the affiliate partner with an incredibly vast product choice to choose from and often a higher referral fee in return for your marketing.
How does it work?
When you sign up for Amazon’s affiliate program, Amazon sets you up with a back office. Through this, you’re able to choose a product that you would like to promote. When you find your product look for the ASIN number (each product will have one), copy the number and paste it into your Backoffice. This will trigger Amazon to populate your Backoffice with the product and its details and give you a special affiliate link. This link will be used to promote the product and link back to your account so that there is accurate tracking, and you receive the commissions for each sale.
When you add the link to your site you have options on how it’s displayed on your page. You can choose from “Text Only”, “Text and Image” or “Image Only” options.
Visitors to your website will receive a cookie from Amazon that lasts 24 hours if they click on the link. When the visitor purchases the product within 24 hours of clicking the link, then you will be paid. Be aware that if the purchase is not made within 24 hours or if the visitor uses a different affiliate link for the purchase, you will not make a commission. But, as long as the product has been put in the visitor’s cart within 24 hours of clicking on your link, they have 90 days to check out the cart for you to receive the commission. Another added perk is if a visitor clicks your link but purchases a different product on Amazon you will still get a commission on all products sold because of the 24-hour cookie connected to your link. While there are specifications on what qualifies you as an affiliate to get paid out, commissions are based on the type of product you are selling and the category of the product. For example, if you have a link to a baby blanket but a customer decides on a different baby blanket, within 24 hours, and makes the purchase, you will still earn a commission. Look at the affiliate fees page on Amazon for more information and Amazon Affiliate earnings-related information.
Why become an Amazon Affiliate?
In this day and age, side hustle and additional streams of income (we’re all entrepreneurs here) are always welcome, and Amazon’s affiliate is one of the best to make some Amazon Affiliate earnings. Amazon is one of the most popular e-commerce sites with more than 197 million people visiting monthly and there is a great opportunity to earn Amazon Affiliate earnings. Creating an affiliate link is a quick and easy way to start making a passive income such as Amazon Affiliate earnings. With consumers focused more on their trust in a brand, it’s a no brainer to take on a partnership with Amazon. People know, love and trust Amazon, so using an affiliate link for Amazon gives you instant credibility. With a plethora of products sold on the e-commerce giant, you as an affiliate partner get to choose what you want to feature on your blog or website. Whether it’s baby bottles, dog leashes, or resistance bands, you can use Amazon’s affiliate program to fit your niche.
The Pros of the Amazon Affiliate Business Model
Amazon affiliate business model is a great way to make passive income such as Amazon Affiliate earnings with very little engagement. As long as you have a blog or website and keep the traffic rates up through SEO, advertising, and social media accounts, the affiliate links can work for themselves. Plus, the majority of the work is in the preliminary setup.
Some pros of this are:
- Amazon gives you access to a global marketplace that is trusted by the consumer. You can reach millions of people who already shop on Amazon, this gives you access to a wider audience than only your target market.
- You get to pick how you are paid. With the Amazon affiliate program, you can choose your payment method for your Amazon Affiliate earnings, it can be directly deposited into your bank account, you can receive a check, or you can opt for Amazon gift cards
- Amazon affiliate links are also available to use on other sales platforms which widens your access to other apps and benefits.
The Cons of an Amazon Affiliate Model
As with everything, Amazon’s affiliate program does have some shortcomings to make note of.
- For one as previously mentioned, the link has a short cookie window of 24 hours. This could affect conversion rates if people wait longer to make a purchase.
- Influencers without blogs or websites are unable to use this program and will need to look into Amazon’s Influencer Program.
- Commissions are based on the product you choose and are typically lower than other affiliate programs.
- Finally, due to the regulations of this program, you are unable to promote products with email or email campaigns. This limits the way you can attract traffic to the product itself on your site.
What You Need to Know
Now that you’re sorted on what Amazon’s affiliate program entails, and the pros and cons of the partnership, we’ve broken down what you need to understand how it works to be successful.
Amazon has always been strict with its rules of operation whether you’re an FBA seller, a merchant, or an influencer. The calibre of rules holds for the affiliate program. These rules must be followed, or you risk being removed from their program. You must review the compliance documents before getting started as Amazon has the right to terminate your account at any time should they feel you are operating outside of their policies. Actions like cloaking links, not mentioning Amazon on your site, and not listing your site or channels on your affiliate application are all against their rules of operations.
Tips for success
Finding a niche can help corner a part of the market and boost your Amazon Affiliate earnings through your Amazon affiliate link. Implementing a brand strategy where the consumer knows that you are an expert in their needs gives you great positioning for future purchases through your link. Focusing on a particular product category that you enjoy will help you market it to others who also enjoy the category. This attracts like-minded individuals who will engage with you and your platform for your similar interests and your expertise, and they’ll continue to come back for help with resolving their needs. When finding a niche that works for you and your followers, you begin to build a community around your site that is engaging and active, ultimately helping you create trust and conversations around your items.
Content creation across different platforms helps to keep up consistent engagement and traffic to your site and your links. Content must be created regularly to stay relevant to your audience. Video, blogs and social media platforms can create a nice mix of mediums to launch content to different groups and audiences, giving you a wider reach online. Actively creating content also helps increase your search engine optimization performance. From simply updating keywords, making tweaks to older posts, and adding relevant pieces of information specific to your niche, your site’s positioning on search engines increases, therefore driving more traffic to your pages and (hopefully) bringing in optimal shoppers
Keyword searches help determine what words your target consumer will use in a search engine to get them to their end goal of purchasing a product. Targeting keywords to your niche helps consumers find you over competitors and therefore expand your influence. Use product-related keywords or exact keywords from your URL to guide customers to your site when they use a search engine.
Surrounding the link with “Calls to Action” can help point your visitors to purchasing your product. Using action buttons like “Buy Now” can be the extra attention the link needs to lead to a conversion. Giving someone an action phrase helps to let them know what to do next and they are more likely to move forward on their shopper journey.
Wrap Up
Making an Amazon affiliate program work for you takes time, patience, understanding and effort but can be incredibly rewarding. There is boundless potential to earn through affiliate links and they help to grow your website and social media accounts in a variety of ways. Keeping engagement and traffic up on your site is important for visitors to convert to purchasers. For those who already have a running website or blog, this will be easier to do but that doesn’t mean that it’s impossible for those who are just starting. Maximizing your engagement through content and targeted keywords are great ways to help propel your site to the top of the list and affiliate program success.
