Amazon has beefed up its influencer program in recent months to try to create its own network of creators from the world of social media.
The e-commerce giant has been actively recruiting influencers to join its livestreaming platform and sell products.
Instagram influencer Hélène Desmettre (26,000 followers), and YouTube creators Shea Whitney (1.2 million subscribers) and Tiffany Ma (1.8 million subscribers), tell Business Insider they heard about the existence of Amazon Live after the company contacted them by email.
Whitney, who goes live on Amazon several times a week, says her profits from the show are starting to compete with her main source of income: brand partnerships.
"We're not looking for one particular influencer," says Katie Scott, director of Amazon's Influencer Program, of the program. "Similar to how we engage clients of all backgrounds, we think the same way for influencers."
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Scott works with a team that studies industry trends by watching videos on YouTube and TikTok.
Right now, the Amazon Influencer Program includes four different tools for content creators:
But Amazon intends to add new features, says Scott.
"We are looking for [influencers] to tell us what they want and what they need," adds the director of the Amazon program. "It's really important that we listen to them and see what's working for them. A lot of these features and benefits that we have come from those conversations."
New tools currently being tested in beta include Creator Connection, a marketplace that matches brands and influencers for paid partnerships, and Creator Ads, a program where influencers can appear in Amazon shoppable ads on social media (like Pinterest, Facebook, or Instagram) and the creator will earn a commission every time someone buys something from that ad.
Katie Sands, an Instagram influencer with 280,000 followers, auditioned to host Amazon Style in 2020. She works with the company on the promotion and sale of products through live shopping.
For every item Sands mentions during a livestream, a special link is added within a carousel below the video directing viewers to the product. She earns a commission every time someone buys something with her link. Amazon offers a fixed commission of between 1% and 10%. He has also worked with brands like Intel and Dickies on a sponsored Amazon Live.
This partnership between Sands and Amazon is representative of the company's broader strategy for influencers, which has generally focused on established creators.
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Some influencers in the Amazon program report that the main problem for them has been getting traffic. Unlike YouTube, Amazon does not have a portal where users can see all the Amazon influencers they follow. And creators often have to rely on promotion when they're about to go live on Instagram or YouTube (where they already have a following) as a way to push their followers to check them out on Amazon.
For example, Sands says she draws in viewers by sharing the news when she's about to go live on her Instagram stories.
While Amazon has become an effective moneymaking tool for influencers like Sands, what remains to be seen is whether Amazon will be able to produce its own stars, or create mechanisms for creators to consistently drive traffic.
