How To Become an Amazon Affiliate & How It Can Help Your Streaming

We all know Amazon. Love it or hate it, it has become one of the most important tech companies of our time. It has the greatest e-commerce in the world, a massive music streaming service, a video streaming and rental service, and so much more.

However, getting goods sent to your doorstep in a matter of days is just one of the many ways Amazon can benefit you, especially if you’re pursuing a career as an influencer, content creator, or streamer.

Our message to all you streamers out there: Become an Amazon Affiliate. Don’t know what that is or how to do it? Keep reading, and you’ll discover how Amazon can take your career to the next level.

What Do Amazon Affiliates Do?

Let’s jump right into the nitty gritty. The Amazon Affiliate program, also known as Amazon Associates, is one of the more innovative digital marketing solutions Amazon has come up with. Essentially, affiliates act as marketers to get specific products in the Amazon store out to their audiences in exchange for compensation. If you want to know how to make money as a streamer, this is one of the best ways.

Becoming an affiliate means generating unique Amazon Affiliate links to specific products on Amazon and blasting those links across your channels. It benefits everybody. The products get advertising, and you get to profit.

How Does it Work?

Once you’ve become an affiliate, you can find Amazon products you want to market, generate a hyperlink that is unique to you, and spread that link around your various social network channels. Whether you’re a streamer, you have a big following on Instagram, you have a podcast, or you’re a successful blogger, you put these links out on your platforms.

Once you’ve done that, simply wait for the magic to happen. If one of your followers or viewers clicks on your link and gets sent to Amazon, you’ll make a commission off anything they buy on the site for the next 24 hours. Now, you have a new revenue stream that aligns with your platform.

The commission rates vary depending on the types of products that they buy through your link. Amazon has fixed affiliate commission percentages for different categories of products, and some are higher than others.

How Does It Help My Streaming Career?

There are tons of ways that this affiliate marketing program can help to give your Twitch channel a boost. Let’s talk about some short and long-term benefits.

New Income Streams

Becoming an affiliate will unlock a new stream of income for you as a streamer. If your links are successful and your followers use them to buy products on Amazon, you can start to make a meaningful amount of money.

You need to make money if you’re trying to become a full-time streamer. For most streamers, their money comes from lots of places outside of Twitch. Affiliate marketing is one of those places. If you want to make this your career, you need to start generating multiple income streams as soon as you can.

The more you make, the closer you get to quitting your day job and streaming full-time.

Build Your Resume for Sponsorships

The Amazon Associates program is a valuable asset, but it’s only the beginning of the marketing and sponsorship deals you can get your hands on as a streamer. There are tons of different companies and products out there that are looking for creators to advertise through, and you could be one of those creators.

However, brands aren’t going to partner with just anybody. Brands need to know that you’re capable of generating sales. They need to know that you have a reliable audience who listens to you, and they need to know that you know what you’re doing when it comes to things like affiliate links.

If you have some experience with the Amazon Associates program, you can use that to your advantage. Gather some of the data from your links to use when you pitch yourself to brands. Let them know how many clicks you generate in a month, and then let them know your conversion rate, or how many of those clicks turn into sales.

Using this to build your resume while generating some income is an incredibly valuable use of your time and energy, and it could help you make money in the long run.

How To Become an Amazon Associate

Now that you know the benefits of Amazon Affiliate marketing, it’s time to learn what you need to do to get involved. Here’s a step-by-step guide to get you started and some tips to help you find success with your new Associate status.

Develop a Qualifying Channel

Before you start with the Amazon Associates program, you must have a meaningful online presence with a decent following for your original content. Amazon needs to know that you’re serious and that you can add value to the Amazon customer’s experience.

To that end, you need to ensure you have one or more platforms with a relatively good-sized audience with consistent, quality content. The more platforms, the better.

However, it doesn’t have to be just your Twitch. Include your YouTube channel, Instagram, TikTok, blog, website, or any other platform you have. If you have a devoted, engaged audience across all of these platforms, you’ll be ready to get started.

It’s good to start making some product review content if you can. This is a great way to show Amazon that you’re a serious affiliate marketer, giving you a great place to put your affiliate links.

Apply to the Program

Once you’ve got a platform, it’s time to apply. Applying is pretty straightforward. You’ll need to provide the links to all the platforms you will utilize. You can add up to 50 sites or mobile apps, so add as many as you can.

Then, you’ll get an Associates’ Store ID and describe a little more about what your platforms are about and what they focus on. Then, you’ll select a product category or two that you want to promote.

Finally, you’ll describe how you plan to build your platforms and drive traffic to your affiliate links. After that’s done, plug in your phone number, and you’ll get a call from Amazon. Set up your Amazon Associates account, and you’re ready to get started. Make sure you have your tax information, direct deposit, and bank account information so your money can find its way to you.

Create Some Links

Now that you have your affiliate account, head to your Amazon Associates Dashboard or homepage and click the “Product Linking” dropdown menu. Select “Product Link” and then search for the product you want to plug.

You can generate a unique link for as many individual affiliate products as you want. Remember to make links for high-quality products you think your audience would be interested in. This way, they’ll be more likely to buy the product and generate that commission for you.

Generate Three Sales

Once your application is complete, you need to put your links to work. Blast your links on your social media accounts. Mention them in your videos and streams, and make them easy to find in your bios.

In order to remain an associate, you need to generate three legitimate sales within your first 180 days. So, make sure you get your links out there!

Stay Within the Guidelines

Throughout this whole process, it is incredibly important that you always comply with the Associates Program Policies on your respective channels. Your content can’t be too out there if you want to keep your associate status.

Sexually explicit content, promoting violence, promoting false information, discrimination, illegal activities, violating intellectual property rights, and more can all lead Amazon to revoke your status as an associate. So stay away from this content if you want to keep making money.

Keep Plugging Your Links

Once your links are up and running, it’s time to keep trucking along. It’s important to get your links out there as often as you can. Make them easy to access, and refer to them often. Embed them in your videos where it makes sense. You can even get a LinkTree to put in your bio with all your links, making it easy for fans to support you.

It’s important that you start to think about products that make sense to your audience. Mention links to products that they will be interested in. Make sure you link relevant products to your content. This will make it far more likely for the clicks to roll in and the sales to stick.

Track Your Sales and Click Data

Data is your best friend. Keep track of how many clicks your links are getting and what your conversion rate is looking like. Typically, your average link will convert between 0.5 percent and one percent of clicks into sales, so try to shoot for that range.

Sometimes, keeping your conversion rate high rather than your overall click rate is better. Keep this in mind, and make sure that you’re presenting your links in a way that gets people to make the purchase.

Make Money, Keep Streaming

The Amazon Affiliate marketing program is a fantastic way to break into the world of affiliate marketing, sponsorships, and influencer deals. If you do it right, you’ll start to generate some passive income and get one step further down the monetization road.

So, if you’re a beginner streamer who needs some extra cash, become an Amazon Associate today and take the next step towards independence.

For more information about affiliate marketing and tools that can help you as a streamer, check out Powder's blog.

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