Influencer marketing has for years now proven to be a golden ticket for brands looking for new, accessible ways to promote their products. Thanks to online creators managing to cultivate dedicated audiences with everyday, relatable content, they’re the perfect avenue for brands looking for a “one up” of word-of-mouth marketing.
Guess what? The world of Amazon is no stranger to this trend. In fact, for many sellers who use Amazon as their platform of choice, collaborating with Amazon influencers can be the perfect way to reach just about anyone. Whether you’re selling homemade candles and trinkets or pushing a range of next-level cleaning gadgets, there’s an audience for you – you just need a way to reach them.
And so we come across our first hurdle: How do you find Amazon influencers? In this article, we’ll be going over 5 simple, easily accessible methods to help you find influencers who can promote your products and bring some extra attention to your offerings.
First off – what is an Amazon influencer?
Let's break it down. Amazon influencers are content creators who leverage the platform's features and their own followings to promote products they’re using and enjoying. They can be popular on mainstream platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube, bloggers, or even Amazon Live streamers –– all with the ability to introduce their audiences to fresh, relevant Amazon products.
Now, you may be wondering why these creators take the time and effort to do this; the answer is that, by partnering up with Amazon, they can earn commissions on sales made through affiliate links.
The way it works is quite simple:
People with established social media followings on platforms like YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, or Facebook can apply to the Amazon influencer program.
Once accepted, these creators will then start posting content featuring products they recommend. They include affiliate links or their Amazon storefront URL in their posts and then, when someone clicks their link and makes a purchase on Amazon, the influencer earns a commission.
The overall goal here is to inspire their followers with exciting, engaging content that showcases Amazon products. They might do this using trending formats like reviews, tutorials, or other lifestyle content to promote Amazon products they find interesting.
The tricky part with Amazon influencers is that finding the right fit might be a little challenging – but don't worry, we've got some tried-and-true ways to help you find influencers that can work alongside your brand.
1. Finding influencers on Amazon’s platform itself
Let's start with an obvious one – exploring Amazon itself! Here’s how to find influencers on Amazon:
1. Amazon Live:
The Amazon Live feature lets influencers give live product demonstrations all while viewers can interact, ask questions, and provide their feedback. By checking out this feature, you’ll get to see how Amazon Live influencers show off and talk about specific products, offering you a glimpse at who you could potentially work with (specifically those working on products within your niche). There are a few factors you should take note of when doing this:
Presentation: How effective is the content creator at introducing and describing the products at hand? Their approach can reveal their ability to promote your brand's offerings in an engaging manner.
Audience Engagement: Are audiences enjoying the content and responding accordingly in chat? High audience engagement indicates the influencer's ability to connect with viewers, which becomes crucial later down the line when partnering up for influencer marketing campaigns.
Personality: Take a look at how the influencer interacts with viewers. Finding an influencer who embodies your brand values can significantly enhance the impact of your campaign, so it’s vital that you consider whether their overall style and language match the image you want to be associated with your brand.
2. The #FoundItOnAmazon feed:
This is essentially a curated feed showcasing photos and posts that influencers have created featuring Amazon’s products. Browsing through these posts can help you not only find appropriate influencers but also get some valuable insights into their style and overall presentation to help you figure out whether they’re the right fit.
To help narrow things down and make sure you’re finding relevant creators, you can select specific product categories to specify your search.
2. Making use of social media platforms
Social media platforms are where influencers thrive, so checking them out is a no-brainer for finding creators who work with Amazon.
Let’s look at a few ways to make your social media search more effective:
1. Hashtags
Most influencers will adorn their posts with a range of relevant hashtags to boost their own discoverability and ensure they stay on others’ radar. Brands are the other half of that puzzle – they’ll search these hashtags in hopes of finding content and influencers they like, effectively making hashtags the link between the two!
Some popular hashtags to keep note of include:
#AmazonInfluencer
#AmazonFinds
#Amazon
#AmazonAffiliate
#AmazonDeals
#AmazonShopping
#AmazonReviewer
#AmazonReview
#FoundItOnAmazon
#AmazonHaul
Of course, you can go more specific to find hashtags more well-suited to your niche. This could include looking up #AmazonFashion, #AmazonFashionFinds, or #AmazonStyle to help find an Amazon fashion influencer, for example.
You can also ensure you keep tabs on these hashtags by choosing to follow them, which helps with letting eligible creators come right to your feed. Some platforms even suggest similar hashtags to what you’ve searched, letting you expand your search and hopefully find more relevant options.
2. Follow @Amazon
Make sure to keep an eye on Amazon's social media accounts such as Instagram. They often feature or share collaborations with influencers, giving you a helping hand with identifying potential partners. There’s the added bonus that following their accounts can keep you updated on upcoming influencer campaigns, which gives you another avenue to search for and find creators you might be interested in.
3. Streamlining with influencer marketing platforms
Influencer marketing platforms take the legwork out of finding influencers by offering you a range of features to make things simpler. This includes features such as influencer discovery databases and analytics, helping you discover creators and vet them to ensure they’re a worthy, safe investment.
With its 135M+ influencer database and industry-leading fraud-detection capabilities, HypeAuditor is the ideal companion to have at your side when going on the prowl for Amazon creators. Doing so is simple:
First, choose which platform you want to discover creators on (i.e. TikTok, Instagram, etc.)
Next, you can add filters to help narrow down your search. HypeAuditor offers filters for both the influencer themself as well as their audience, letting you decide what it is you’re looking for. While adding a range of filters can make your search more laser-focused, it can also make search results restrictive – so be sure not to overdo it and keep a broad approach if you’re not seeing the results you want.
Consider searching for terms related to the hashtags we mentioned earlier. This could be the hashtags themselves, or just keywords that are related to them. You can make these niche-specific to bolster your search.
This will generate a list of influencers that match your search criteria. Feel free to select influences you’re interested in to get a more detailed overview of what they offer in terms of metrics, past collaborations, collab pricing estimates, and more.
As a bonus, HypeAuditor also offers a feature called the Media Monitor. This useful tool lets you create custom feeds based on keywords and hashtags of your choosing, helping you keep track of whatever matters to you without it getting muddled between other content. For example, you could add the keywords “Amazon purchase” and “latest Amazon find” alongside #FoundItOnAmazon and #AmazonHaul to create a feed consisting of only relevant influencer content, letting you quickly find creators that might work for your Amazon business.
4. Good ‘ol Google
Sometimes, the most effective tool is the simplest. Try out search engines like Google to find Amazon influencers by combining keywords like "Amazon influencer + [your niche]," "influencers who promote + [your product category] on Amazon," or something along those lines. You might surprise yourself and find exactly what you’re looking for – or at the very least, come a little closer than you were before.
5. Don’t neglect other methods
While we did cover most of the basics, there are a couple of extra strategies you may want to consider to round out your search:
1. Look to your followers
Many brands overlook a valuable resource: their existing follower base. Here’s how to find hidden gems among your most dedicated consumers:
Check out engaged followers: Take a closer look at your audience and identify customers who frequently tag or mention your brand. These engaged individuals may be interested in influencer marketing and highly active on social media.
Profile review: Scan through the profiles of any followers who pique your interest. Look for any references to Amazon in their bios, posts, or their captions.
Check for links: Plenty of influencers like to use link compilation features such as Linktr.ee. Take a look to see if they have a link leading to an active Amazon influencer storefront.
Analyze their content: Go over the content these individuals create to see if they promote other brands, specifically those selling on Amazon. This can help you figure out their influencer status.
Once you think you’ve successfully identified an active Amazon influencer among your followers, consider following them back and popping them a message when you’re ready to work together. This could be in the form of a DM or a formal outreach email.
2. Influencer recommendations
Reach out to influencers you already work with (Amazon creators would be even better) on other platforms and see if they have recommendations for Amazon-focused creators. Creators often collab with other influencers relevant to their own audience, so chances are they can help pinpoint others who would be more than willing to work with you.
What makes an Amazon influencer the right fit for me?
Now that you've got a list of potential influencers, it's time to begin the difficult task of deciding who would be a good fit for your brand.
As mentioned earlier, be sure to really comb through an influencer’s metrics to be sure they’re up to snuff. Follower counts aren’t everything when it comes to collabs, so take a look at other valuable indicators such as reach and engagement rate (just take a look at how well micro-influencers perform in terms of engagement, for example). HypeAuditor also offers a proprietary metric known as the Audience Quality Score (AQS), which is calculated using a combination of engagement rates, audience authenticity, follower/following growth patterns, and more – the higher, the better. This can help you quickly find Amazon influencers who are likely to offer better campaign results by helping you determine whether they have an appropriate audience for you to be marketing to.
If you managed to find Amazon storefront links earlier in your search, check out their store to see whether their listed products overlap with your niche. Audiences want relevant, authentic content, which means you’ll need to ensure the influencers you partner up with share a similar audience to who your future customers would be. Furthermore, check out just how well they’ve curated their storefront collections – the more effort you see here, the better.
Lastly, make sure these influences aren’t just glorified advertisement generators. Remember that authenticity we mentioned? That comes from making posts that have to do with day-to-day discoveries, everyday topics, and general content that isn’t always attached to a sale. Consumers are not enthused by being seen only as a way to generate income for a creator, so always vet an influencer’s profile to make sure that there’s more to them than collaborations.
Conclusion
We hope that this article has given you the confidence and ability to see that finding the right Amazon influencers doesn’t have to be difficult. By taking a few approaches and putting in the effort, be it via manual methods or dedicated influencer marketing tools, you’ll be sure to find a whole host of creators worth considering. Throw in some proper vetting and content analysis, and you’ll be well on your way to securing genuine brand advocates who can help you reel in new customers and take your Amazon business to the next level.
