{"id":337301,"date":"2017-04-01T01:26:22","date_gmt":"2017-03-31T17:26:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/techcrunch.com\/?p=1471411"},"modified":"2017-04-01T01:26:22","modified_gmt":"2017-03-31T17:26:22","slug":"amazon-quietly-launches-its-own-social-media-influencer-program-into-beta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/amazon-quietly-launches-its-own-social-media-influencer-program-into-beta\/","title":{"rendered":"Amazon quietly launches its own social media influencer program into beta"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Social media influencers \u2013 like Instagram stars or YouTube celebs \u2013 often promote products they like, either as part of a brand relationship or as means of generating income through affiliate sales. Now, Amazon is looking to get in on this action as well. The company has quietly launched the \u201cAmazon Influencer Program<\/a>,\u201d which is currently\u00a0in beta testing as of a couple of days ago. Similar to the Amazon Affiliate program, the new program will offer influencers commission on products sold, but is not open to the public.<\/p>\n

One of the key things that makes the new Influencer program different from Amazon Affiliates is\u00a0its exclusivity.<\/p>\n

Today, anyone can sign up to be an Amazon Affiliate, which lets you build links and shopping ads that you can use on your own website or blog. When a reader clicks through to buy the product, the affiliate\u00a0receive a commission on those sales, which varies by product type.<\/p>\n

Amazon Influencers, meanwhile, must submit an application to be considered for inclusion.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

According to the program details page<\/a>, only those influencers with \u201clarge followings\u201d will be accepted. In addition, Amazon considers other metrics, like the fan engagement on posts across a variety of social media platforms, quality of content, and the level of relevancy for Amazon.<\/p>\n

The company says there is\u00a0not set a cut-off in terms of follower count that guarantees an influencer will be let into the program, and that influencers across \u201call tiers and categories\u201d\u00a0will be represented.<\/p>\n

The Influencers are given a unique vanity URL on Amazon\u2019s domain that will be easy for customers to remember and find.<\/p>\n

Here, shoppers will be able to browse through the curated selection of products that the influencer recommends. The URL could be placed in the comments section of a YouTube video or in Instagram, for example, to reference the products mentioned.<\/p>\n

Basically, it\u2019s a more exclusive step up from Amazon Affiliate linking, and offers a better browsing experience. Amazon has not disclosed if influencers are receiving higher commissions than Affiliates, however.<\/p>\n

For example, this popular YouTube channel aimed at moms mentions their new Amazon shop, which has the URL format: amazon.com\/shop\/username.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Clicking through, you\u2019re redirected to a page featuring thumbnail images of the suggested products, their pricing, their Prime status, and a brief description.<\/p>\n

We understand that Amazon is in no way working with the influencers on product selection, vetting products, nor providing free products. Brands are also not working through Amazon to reach these influencers either. Instead, the selection of products \u2013 which can be anything sold on Amazon \u2013 are entirely the influencer\u2019s choice.<\/p>\n

Of course, influencers may have relationships with brands outside of this program, but Amazon does not get involved with that aspect of\u00a0the influencer\u2019s\u00a0business.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The program only launched a couple of days ago, and is really meant as a test to see how customers will responded to curated pages of products, and what impact that will have on sales. At \u00a0present, only a small group of influencers have joined.<\/p>\n

Amazon declined to comment.<\/p>\n

Featured Image: Jaap Arriens\/NurPhoto\/Getty Images<\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"\" Social media influencers – like Instagram stars or YouTube celebs – often promote products they like, either as part of a brand relationship or as means of generating income through affiliate sales. Now, Amazon is looking to get in on this action as well. The company has quietly launched the “Amazon Influencer Program,” which is currently\u00a0in beta testing as of a couple… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n

\n<\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a>\n<\/div>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5817,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[59,66,26],"class_list":["post-337301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology","tag-media","tag-techcrunch","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5817"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=337301"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337301\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=337301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=337301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=337301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}