Amazon Affiliate vs Influencer Program: Key Differences

The Amazon Affiliate Program and the Amazon Influencer Program are both great ways to make money with Amazon. But which one should you choose?

As affiliate marketing pros with over 10 years of experience (and many Amazon commissions under our belts), we’re here to help you decide.

Here’s a quick comparison between the two. 

Still not sure which to pick? Let’s get into a deeper comparison. 

Amazon Influencer Program vs. Affiliate Program 

The Amazon Influencer Program and Amazon Affiliate Program let you earn commissions by promoting Amazon products to your audience. 

But there’s one big difference: the Influencer Program also pays you for converting shoppers who are already browsing Amazon. 

This unlocks a huge potential revenue stream that doesn’t require you to drive traffic to Amazon – a major benefit considering how much harder it’s become to get traffic from Google. 

The good news is that getting approved is quite easy. Despite the name, you don’t need to be an “influencer” to get approved for the Influencer program. With a social media account and a little persistence, you can easily meet the requirements. 

With that major caveat out of the way, let’s run through the essentials of each of these programs. If you already understand them, skip to the Main Differences section. 

What Is the Amazon Affiliate Program 

Amazon’s affiliate program, officially known as Amazon Associates, lets anyone with an online audience earn commissions by creating and promoting affiliate links. You earn a commission when someone clicks your link and buys from Amazon. 

Amazon sells just about everything, so it’s a great fit for affiliates in any niche. Plus, Amazon runs lots of promos (like free shipping and discounts) to help you get more clicks and sales.

It’s no wonder our affiliate marketing statistics show that Amazon Associates is the world’s most popular affiliate program!

There’s a lot of potential with the Amazon affiliate program. Here’s a glimpse at some earnings reports from successful affiliate marketers:

What is the Amazon Influencer Program

The Amazon Influencer Program allows you to create short video reviews of products sold on Amazon. Amazon then places these videos on their product pages to boost conversions. 

If someone watches your video and makes a purchase, you earn a commission, similar to the Amazon Associates program. 

The key difference is that you don’t need to drive traffic to Amazon to get paid. Amazon embeds your videos on their site, shows them to their own traffic, and pays you when a sale is made.

Amazon also gives you a storefront to showcase your favorite products. You can direct people to this page and earn commissions on the products they buy. 

These extra features make the Influencer Program a more sophisticated version of the affiliate program. 

The potential to make money is definitely there. Here are a few examples of success stories pulled from the depths of YouTube:

For a complete breakdown of earning potential, watch our podcast with Jared Bauman, who earned $40,000 in just a few months with the Amazon Influencer program, working just four hours per day. 

Main Differences 

Let’s break down the main differences between these programs. 

1 Requirements To Join

For Affiliate Program

For the Affiliate Program, all you need is:

• An email address
• A bank account 
• A website, blog, app, or YouTube channel
• The ability to create original content

There’s no minimum follower count or traffic level. Even total beginners can join!

The catch? New affiliates have to make 3 qualifying sales in their first 180 days. This is doable if you already have an audience, but it’s tough if you’re starting from zero.

For Influencer Program

It’s really easy to join the Influencer program. 

Amazon will apparently vet your account based on your following and engagement, but the bar for entry is very low. We’ve seen accounts with just a few hundred followers get approved, and we even got a fresh account approved in 2 weeks by posting cat videos on TikTok. 

Note that gaining acceptance to the program is only the first step. 

There’s a separate (and stricter) approval process for adding videos to product pages, which is the most lucrative part of the program. 

You have to submit 3 example review videos, and you only get 3 tries to get approved. If Amazon rejects you 3 times, you’re banned for life.

2 Promotional Tactics 

Let’s dive into the differences in promotional tactics. 

Affiliate Program

As an Amazon affiliate, you can promote your links by:

• Writing product reviews and buying guides with your affiliate links
• Adding links to your YouTube video descriptions 
• Sharing links on social media or in your link-in-bio

If you’re an email marketer, you’re out of luck – Amazon doesn’t let you share referral links via email.

Influencer Program

Amazon Influencers can also share their referral links on social media, YouTube descriptions, and link-in bios. They can also direct followers to their Amazon storefront, full of curated products.

But top-earning influencers make most of their money through onsite earnings. You get commissions when shoppers watch their product review videos and make a purchase. 

Why? You’re targeting shoppers already browsing Amazon product pages, so they’re clearly in the buying mood. 

If they watch one of your review videos and then buy the product, you get paid, even though you didn’t play any part in bringing them to the site.

3 International Monetization 

You need to be aware of a few differences with international monetization. 

Affiliate Program

Amazon affiliates can easily monetize international traffic through an Amazon tool called OneLink, which redirects international visitors from your website, app, or YouTube channel to their local Amazon store (or the closest match).

It’s currently capable of automatically detecting and redirecting shoppers from over a dozen countries, including Australia, Canada, and the UK. This lets you earn from international sales without doing any complicated redirecting yourself.

Influencer Program

Unfortunately, international monetization is more of a headache for Amazon influencers.

While you can still rely on OneLink when sharing regular affiliate links via social media, Amazon storefronts and onsite videos only work for the locality you set them up in.

For example, if you sign up as an Amazon influencer through the US site (Amazon.com), you can only use your storefront to showcase products available in the US. 

If an international visitor found your storefront, they wouldn’t be able to buy via your affiliate links — so you couldn’t earn a commission from them.

The only workaround is to join as an influencer through multiple marketplaces and create unique storefronts for each (e.g. one for the US, one for Canada, another for the UK, etc).

Then you can list all your different geographic storefronts via your link-in-bio so your audience knows where to go, like Everything Envy does here:

4 Commission Structure 

There are a few differences in commission structure we need to cover. 

Before we discuss the differences, I want to mention that commission rates can drop at any time. Amazon has full authority to change commissions, and they’ve done so a few times in the past. We have a podcast covering these changes that you can check out:

Affiliate Program

Amazon Associates isn’t one of the highest-paying affiliate programs out there — don’t expect to earn 50%+ commissions. But there’s still plenty of affiliate revenue to be earned if you choose the right niche.

Here’s the current Amazon Associates commission structure:

So, if you promote physical video games or personal care products, you’ll earn a measly 1% per sale. 

However, other product categories perform well against the competition. For example, 10% on luxury beauty is very competitive, as is 4.5% on physical books and kitchen products.

You can also earn through special commissions called “Bounty Events”, which pay fixed cash bonuses for actions like:

• Amazon Prime free trial signups
• Amazon baby registry signups
• Amazon Home Services purchases

These rates are subject to change, so be sure to check the up-to-date commission table before deciding what to promote.

Influencer Program

Amazon influencers earn the same commissions as “regular” Amazon affiliates for off-site referrals (e.g. when someone clicks a referral link in your social media bio, lands on the Amazon site, and purchases a product).

But they also make money through onsite actions — like when someone buys a product after clicking through from your Amazon storefront or watching 30+ seconds of your review video on an Amazon product page.

These onsite actions have lower commission rates ranging from 0% – 5%, depending on the product category:

While those commissions don’t look attractive at first glance, it’s important to remember that you’re targeting people who are already browsing Amazon, so they’re more likely to convert.

Again, these rates are subject to change. Check Amazon’s onsite commissions page for the most up-to-date rates.

5 Account Termination: Understanding the Risks

When you’re part of Amazon’s affiliate or influencer programs, it’s crucial to be aware of how strict they are. Amazon can end your participation at any moment, and there are a few things that make avoiding bans particularly tricky:

• Vague guidelines: Amazon’s rules aren’t always clear. This lack of clarity can be a challenge because if they ban you, they typically won’t provide details or evidence of what rule was broken.
• Appealing is tough: Without knowing exactly why you were banned, making a successful appeal is difficult. This practice is part of Amazon’s effort to maintain a facade of compliance with FTC regulations, even though being fully compliant is nearly impossible.

Being aware of these risks can help you navigate the program more cautiously and stay informed about your standing with Amazon.

Let’s discuss some differences in termination between the programs. 

Account Termination For Amazon Affiliate Program

Amazon can (and will) terminate your affiliate account if you don’t make three eligible sales within 180 days of joining the program — excluding self-referrals.

But even if you don’t make the grade, you can still reapply later.

There are many other common reasons why affiliates can get suspended or kicked out of Amazon Associates, such as adding referral links to emails and mentioning prices or product availability in blogs or social media posts.

Here’s an example of an account closure email:

Read Amazon’s operating agreement to give yourself the best chance of toeing the line.

Account Termination For Amazon Influencers

Becoming an Amazon influencer is one thing; retaining your influencer status is a whole other challenge.

Amazon can terminate your influencer account at any time if you’re not actively driving traffic to your storefront. 

Frustratingly, Amazon doesn’t provide any specific time periods here. Your best bet is to build a consistent traffic stream through constant promotion.

Beyond that, you’ll be permanently banned from onsite earnings if Amazon rejects your application review videos three times. 

This isn’t quite the same as an account termination, as you’ll still be able to earn standard affiliate commissions. But it’s a major blow to your earning potential.

Summing Up

If you have a successful blog or website, the Amazon Affiliate Program is probably your best bet. It’s easy to join, and you can start earning commissions right away by adding affiliate links to your content.

On the other hand, if you have a bunch of Amazon products around your house, have a smartphone, and have no problem with making low-effort review videos, the Influencer program is a great option. 

If you’re brand new to making money online, the Influencer program is the better bet. It’s much easier to start earning money, and you don’t have to worry about algorithm changes on platforms like Google tanking your revenue. 

If you’re new to affiliate marketing and want to learn the ropes, be sure to check out our beginner’s guide to affiliate marketing. This comprehensive resource covers everything you need to know to get started.