Instagram is one of the most popular social media sites with over 2 billion monthly users as of 2024. With such a vast user base, it's not surprising that many users want to monetize their Instagram accounts. If you are one of them, one of the monetization methods you should consider is Amazon affiliate marketing. In this article, we will guide you on how to do it.

What is Amazon Affiliate Marketing?

Amazon affiliate marketing is a program that allows you to promote products on Amazon and earn a commission when someone buys using your affiliate link. With over 2.2 billion monthly visitors from the United States alone, Amazon is not just a marketplace but a household name.

Your audience doesn't only know of Amazon but they regularly shop on it. The fact that people trust it is a big deal affecting their buying decision. Promoting their products gives you better chances of selling and earning an income. So, how do you join the Amazon Affiliate marketing program?

You need a website or an app when starting as an Amazon affiliate marketer. You should then visit the Amazon site and register. Once you are given the green light, you can start promoting their products and services. You will be given an affiliate ID, which you will add to the products you are promoting. This is what will be used to track your sales.

However, once your application is accepted, you can start marketing your affiliate link on Amazon. However, Amazon policy requires that you disclose that you are marketing products in exchange for a commission.

Steps In Amazon Affiliate Marketing On Facebook

Here are the steps you need to follow when doing Amazon affiliate marketing on Instagram:

Adhere to the Amazon Policy

As one of the largest affiliate marketing programs, Amazon is usually more strict than other programs. When you join the program, you are supposed to make at least three sales within the first 180 days. On top of that, the program requires that you include a prominent affiliate disclosure indicating that you earn a commission for sales made.

The e-commerce store is also very strict on how you display Amazon products. You cannot pull the product images directly from the Amazon product pages. You are also not allowed to display the price of the products. The reason is that the prices change often, and you may mislead users when the prices change. Overall, you want to ensure that you adhere to these policies to avoid having your account banned.

Choosing Amazon Products

Once you understand Amazon's policy, the next step is to select products that align with your brand. Remember that Amazon has an endless collection of products in nearly every niche. If you are not careful, you can easily get confused when picking a product. 

One of the critical factors that will affect your ability to succeed as an Amazon affiliate marketer is your choice of products and services. That is why one of the key steps before you start Amazon affiliate marketing on Instagram is to choose products. 

Here are the key factors to consider when choosing Amazon products to sell on Instagram.

Products in Your Niche

Before you consider anything else, you want to select products that align with your niche.  This will ensure that you have an audience interested in the products. It will also set the expectations of your audience and help you build a powerful brand. 

Therefore, select a niche that aligns with the kind of content you create. For instance, if you are in the cooking niche, you should promote cookware. If you create parenting content, you can promote products in the baby niche. 

Choose Trending Items

Even after selecting a niche, you should dig deeper into the products. Pay attention to the New Release page as it will give you a sneak preview of the upcoming products in the niche. Then, you can start preparing your content for when the products will drop. 

Another place to focus is on the Best Seller, Most Wished Page, and Gift Ideas. These two categories will give you an idea of what people are adding to their wish lists and what they are gifting each other. Such products can be a prime addition to your product catalog especially around holidays when people are gifting one another. Also, remember to stay updated on the latest Instagram trends.

Do Keyword Research

While trending items will hint at the popular products people are searching for, it will not show you the products with a high search volume. To get this figure, you need to do keyword research.  

Keyword research tools such as Ahref and Semrush can help you find the exact keywords people use to search for products on Amazon. This will provide insights into the popularity of products on Amazon. It will, therefore, help you to improve your Instagram reach.

For instance, if you focus on coffee machines, keyword research will help you find the most popular brand names that are likely to move. Focusing on products with a high search volume will give your audience what they want and are actively searching for.

Consider the Product Ratings

Another critical consideration is the product ratings. If a product has excellent reviews, it will move faster than another one with poor ratings. The best-performing products usually have a rating of at least four stars. This is because it shows that previous customers are happy with their purchase. When you promote the products to your customers, they are also likely to purchase them.

Avoid looking at the overall star ratings. Dig deeper into these reviews. You want to find out  the exact reasons why people gave five stars to the product. Is it because of its high performance? These are the details you will be using to promote the products. You will likely strike the right cords with customers by highlighting these features in your Instagram captions.

Check out the negative reviews too. Are there people saying that the product fell apart after a few uses? You should avoid such a product or provide this information to potential buyers. Check out the exact number of reviews the product has. Choose products with at least 50 reviews as you can be assured that you aren't dealing with fake reviews.

When you select products with high ratings, you will not only show your audience some random products, but you are showing them trusted and vetted products they are more likely to love.

Consider Amazon Prime Perks

Amazon membership offers users a hassle-free shopping experience. If you have seen products with the Prime badge when browsing on Amazon, those products have free shipping, some even with same-day shipping. 

So, why should you add Prime products to your affiliate marketing catalog? These are some of the products that are hot-selling. People will often choose products with free shipping as they don't have to pay extra. That's on top of the fast shipping offered for such products. 

Chose Products In Different Price Ranges

The price tag is another key factor determining your ability to promote Amazon products. It can be tempting to choose highly-priced items because they will give you a hefty commission. However, not many people will buy highly-priced items on impulse. Instead, they tend to take their time deciding whether to splurge, which can slow down your sales.

Conversely, low-priced items are like chewing gum in a checkout line. People will easily add them to their shipping carts without a second thought. This translates into more sales and higher commissions. Therefore, a good idea would be to provide buyers with a wide range of items at different price points. This way, potential customers can choose a product at their price point.

Create a Professional Instagram Account

A professional Instagram account will provide additional tools for your Amazon affiliate marketing. For instance, you can access a content scheduling tool, content and audience insights, and more. Here are the steps to follow when turning on professional mode for your  Instagram account:

1. Click on your professional photo
2. Go to Accounts Settings
3. Choose Settings
4. Select Account
5. Tap Switch to Professional Mode
6. Click on Continue
7. Select your Category
8. Click Done
9. Choose Business
10. Choose Next
11. Again, Click Next
12. Click on the Cross button

Add an Instagram Bio to Your Amazon Affiliate Marketing

The first place to add your Amazon affiliate marketing link should be in your bio. Use this space to tell your followers who you are and gain their trust. Some of the details to include in your Instagram bio are:

• Username: This is one of the tools people can use to find your Instagram account. The username should have the product or the topic. That will ensure that people see your account when searching for a product.
• Profile photo. You should use your photo if you have already made a name on social media. Since people will recognize you, they will subscribe to your account. But if you aren't well known, you can use a photo of the product you are promoting.
• Category. You can select a category related to your niche. Alternatively, you can select one related to retail such as Entrepreneur, blogger, or Shopping and Retail. This will also make it easier for Instagram users to find out what your account is about and if they need to subscribe.
• Bio text. Use this space to explain what product you sell. Include a call-to-action, asking your followers to follow the link.

Amazon Disclosure

We mentioned earlier that according to Amazon policy, you must include a disclosure that you are marketing Amazon products in exchange for a commission. While this won't improve your marketing, it can help to keep you out of trouble. You should, therefore, include a phrase such as “As an Amazon Affiliate, I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.”

Share the Amazon Link on Your Instagram Profile

Remember that the more people see your affiliate links, the more likely you are to make a sale. That means you need to take every opportunity to promote the Amazon link. However, you need to realize that you will not have a lot of flexibility for where you can place your Amazon links on Instagram. All in all, here are the places you can place your Amazon affiliate links:

Instagram Stories

Instagram stories can help you grow your audience. Therefore, they are now one of the best places to place your Amazon affiliate marketing link. Their casual nature makes them an excellent choice for adding a quick bounty recommendation.

You can share the products you are marketing on a “story” while including the link in the text. Alternatively, you can include the link in the Swipe Up feature enabling your followers to click on it easily. However, this feature will only be available for accounts with at least 10,000 followers. If you have less than 10k followers, you can add links to IGTV videos.

Try to be creative when adding Amazon links to stories. For instance, you can:

• Use life hacks in your stories when promoting the products.
• Add videos when unboxing the products.
• Run contests and giveaways.

Bio Sections

This is a perfect place to include a link to a one-stop shop where your followers can find the products you are promoting. It is also a great place to include a call-to-action such as Visit My Amazon Store, or Check Price. These CTA will help encourage clicks to the link.

Reels

An Instagram reel can be an excellent tool for showcasing the products you are promoting. On top of the product, you can also use reels to showcase the features and benefits of the products. You can then include the affiliate link in the description. Again, remember to have a clear Call-to-Action.

Post Description

You can also add affiliate links to the descriptions of your posts. This will make it easy for your followers to get the products you are selling. You can also include a shortened link in the post's caption that can be easily copied and pasted.

Instagram Ads

Instagram marketing is one of the most effective ways of increasing your reach and earning potential. With the help of Instagram targeting options, you can ensure that only people interested in your ad can see it. Studies indicate that Instagram ads have a higher clickthrough rate and convert better than Facebook ads even though they cost more. If you are not seeing the desired results, we recommend you read our guide on why your Instagram ads may not be converting.

Building Your Influence on Instagram

Your audience size and engagement can affect the reach of your affiliate links. Here are tips you can use to build your affiliate marketing influence:

• Post when your audience is active. Review your Instagram analysis to determine when your posts receive the highest engagement levels.
• Post consistently. Ensure that your followers understand when they can expect your next post. Posting consistently will also help increase your engagement level, ranking your posts highly on the Instagram algorithm.
• Share helpful content. Avoid filling your profile with links to Amazon products. Remember that your followers want to see value when they follow you. By posting more non-promotional content, Instagram users will see you as authentic. A good rule of thumb is to only have 5% of your content as promotional links.

Best Practises and Tips for Amazon Affiliate Marketing on Instagram

Here are a few tips that will help you see more success with your Amazon affiliate marketing on Facebook.

Use Discount Codes in Story Highlights

Studies indicate that 40% of shoppers in the United States search for discount codes before shopping. You can increase your product interest by including discount codes in your promotional links. With stories being one of the most popular content on Instagram, you can share the discount codes in the link stickers to drive traffic to other products.

Post Product Demos

If your Instagram followers want to buy the recommended products, you should make them trust and like you. You can help with information on how the product works without having to leave Instagram. A suitable affiliate marketing type of content on Instagram should be in the form of reviews, product demos, and recommendations rather than sales pitches. 

Therefore, instead of creating ads encouraging your followers to buy the product, you can do product demos showing them how it works and why you think they should buy it. This way, they can buy the product if they are convinced of what they see.

Make Use of Hashtags

If you want your affiliate marketing business to generate sales, you need to grow your following. When there are more eyes on your content, you can decrease the chance of audience fatigue, where your audience gets bored of seeing the same thing repeatedly.

One of the ways of expanding your reach and audience is through the use of hashtags. Hashtags help Instagram users discover content in your niche. Even when they don't follow you, your content will appear on their feed when they search for a hashtag you have already used.

How do you find the right hashtag to use in your content? One of the ways to do that is by finding the hashtags your competitors are using. Go through their captions and first comment to see the hashtags they are using. But before you use a hashtag, countercheck to ensure it's not against Instagram policy and guidelines. Hashtags such as adulting, pushups, and beauty bloggers are banned by the social media sites for misuse.

Keep Track of Results and Adjust

If you want to know if your marketing efforts are bearing fruits, you need to keep tracking the performance and adjusting where necessary. You can find most of the data on sales and conversion on your Amazon affiliate dashboard. On the other hand, you will find data on your  Instagram account including:

• Follower. Keep track of whether your followers are increasing or decreasing. Find out if the growth is correlating with your campaign. This can help you determine the effectiveness of your campaigns.
• Profile activity. Do you have a link in your bio? Are you pointing your followers to a link roundup? 
• Engagement rate. Under the engagement rate, you need to analyze the type of content receiving the highest engagement rate and the products received positively.

Make Use of Tools

You must use tools well to make your affiliate marketing journey more compelling. Some of the tools that will increase the effectiveness of your affiliate marketing efforts are:

• Link shorteners. If you use the Amazon link as it is on Amazon, it will not look so good. Besides, it can be challenging for your followers to copy-paste it. This is why it can be a good idea to use link shorteners.
• User tracking tools. Take advantage of tracking tools like Google Analytics to see how your affiliate links perform and which ads and posts get the most placement.
• A/B testing tools. A/B testing involves testing two marketing campaign versions to determine which is performing better. For instance, if you create Instagram ads, you can create two ads to see which brings the bigger results.

In Conclusion

If you want a good way to monetize your Instagram account, consider Amazon affiliate marketing. This is especially true if you do not have products to sell. With Amazon being the biggest retail store, it is easier to market its products than other affiliate programs. If you want to get started with an Instagram affiliate on Instagram, our guide can help you do that. You can check out our guide on how e-commerce brands use Instagram.