Amazon Creator Connections is an Amazon Ads program where sellers and vendors can connect with content creators, influencers, affiliates, and Amazon Associates. Through the self-service portal, sellers can provide an additional bounty amount to content creators who promote their products to their audience. When shoppers follow an influencer they like, there is an added layer of trust that the influencer is promoting quality content that fits the needs of a brand's customer base. This unique marketing opportunity is a great way for sellers and vendors to work with influencers to promote their products to drive awareness and sales. This post will answer all the questions you have about the Amazon Creator Connections program including:
What is the Amazon Creator Connections program?
Why Should Sellers Work With Influencers through the Amazon Creator Connections program?
How to Set Up Creator Connections Campaigns?
Frequently Asked Questions for Amazon Creator Connections Sellers Working with Influencers
What is the Amazon Creator Connections program?
Amazon Creator Connections is the Amazon Ads program that allows sellers and vendors to work directly with content creators. The self-service system lets you build a campaign and interact with influencers to help generate awareness and sales for your products. Amazon has a large affiliate network through their Amazon Associates and Amazon Influencers program, where affiliates can get a small percentage of each sale on Amazon for customers clicking through their affiliate link. Creator Connections lets you add a bonus commission for creators to promote your products. Creator Connections is currently in Beta but is a great step forward for helping Amazon sellers and vendors connect with influencers and Amazon Associates directly on the Amazon platform.
Why Should Sellers Work With Influencers through the Amazon Creator Connections program?
The Amazon Creator Connections program is a great way to increase brand awareness, increase sales, and potentially generate additional brand content. Here are some reasons why the Amazon Creator Connections program specifically is great for managing an affiliate program:
No Service Fees, Custom Bonus Commissions
Currently, Amazon Creator Connections is a free-to-use platform. There is no fee to get started. Sellers and vendors decide the amount of commission to provide to creators to incentivize promotions. The current minimum is 10% commission, but the greater you decide to increase the commission, the more likely influencers will promote your product.
Built-in Trust With Content Creators
Content creators provide a unique marketing opportunity for brands. Customers can develop a deep level of trust or even a parasocial relationship with influencers. So when content creators promote a product, there is a level of trust in making a purchasing decision. Expertise can be a major influence over customers. For example, a celebrity chef can promote a kitchen product and what makes the item stand out. If the product is endorsed by a professional chef, then customers will see it as high quality and want to purchase it for themselves in order to cook like the pros.
Easily Track Performance
Amazon provides reporting at a campaign, SKU, and influencer level within Creator Connections. This makes it easy to measure the performance and whether this marketing effort meets your campaign goals.
How to Set Up Creator Connections Campaigns?
There are a few simple steps to set up a creator connections campaign:
Navigate to Creator Connections within your Amazon Ads console under the Brand Content side tab
Find your selected brand and click “Create campaign”
Input a Campaign Name - this gets displayed to the Amazon Associates that would opt-in to your program. Use a name that describes what the product is, the category or audience this would be a good fit for, and why an influencer would promote your product within the 80-character limit
Add the Message to the creator - this is the brief to provide to the creator that includes an overview of the campaign, an introduction to your company, your campaign goals, key talking points of what to call out (or avoid), additional promotion codes and dates, link to external resources such as image assets or media kits. You should not include any personal information including your email or phone number or anything to drive traffic away from this platform
Any additional disclosures that need to be made. Amazon already requires Amazon Associates and influencers to follow the FTC disclosures for social media marketers, but this would be anything additional including product claims or warranties.
Add a Start Date and an End Date to the campaign
Add interests to make it easier for your campaign to reach creators with your desired audience. There are many interests to choose from including, Automotive, Baby Products, Beauty, Kitchen and Dining, Home, Pets, Sports and Fitness, just to name a few.
Enter your desired Payment and Commission rate. The current program minimums require a minimum budget of $5,000 and a minimum commission rate of 10%. The commission rate is the amount per order you are willing to pay to the influencer for a sale. For example, if your product is $100, and the content creator generates a sale with their audience through a tracking link then the content creator will get $10 paid by you. If this campaign has a $5,000 budget, you are willing to pay this $10 for 500 units sold by influencers ($10 commission * 500 units = $5,000 budget).
Add the products you want to be included in this program. There must be at least 1 ASIN added to each campaign, but there is no limit to how many you want to add. It will come down to how you want to structure your campaigns with products based on the goal of the campaign.
Click Create Campaign to publish
How to Manage Amazon Creator Connections Campaigns
Once your campaign is published, you can let creators opt-in to your campaign or you can proactively support the campaign. Here are some helpful tips for managing and optimizing Creator Connections campaigns:
Find Influencers to Promote Your Product through Creator Connections
Under the Creators sub-tab you can find the creators you want to work with and message them using the Amazon messaging portal. Simply add interests to get a list of influencers that build an audience within a specific category. This list can be refined by sorting by sales, clicks, name featured, or recently added. Each creator has an intro area telling more about themselves, the interests they have selected, links to their social media, and products they have recommended for you to have a better understanding of the type of audience they have. Using the Content Creator messaging platform you can message these influencers directly to try to work together, coordinate samples, or answer any questions they may have.
Review the Performance of Creator Connections Campaigns and Specific Creators
Once your campaign is running, you can click into the campaign to see the creators that have opted into the campaign and view the submitted content, which shows links to where each creator has posted about your products including their website or Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and other social media posts. Amazon shares the number of clicks, orders, sales, and spending for the campaign, each SKU, and each creator.
Continue to Create Campaigns and Learn From Past Performance
Analyzing the data from past Creator Connection campaigns can help you create better campaigns in the future. Here are some best practices for analyzing Creator Connections campaigns:
Creator Analysis - You might find that a certain creator drives a lot of clicks or sales to your product listings, you could message this creator to provide additional promotion codes or make a co-branded video or image content.
SKU Review - Looking at the metrics by product can be an indication that certain products perform better for certain creators, adjust your campaign groupings to double down on what is working, and eliminate the poor-performing SKUs.
Timing and Seasonality - reviewing performance based on time can show when certain campaigns perform better at specific times of the year. For example, your products could perform better during a holiday season or an Amazon promotion day like Prime Day. Understanding when your sales are occurring can help in planning the timing of campaigns for future dates.
Frequently Asked Questions for Amazon Creator Connections Sellers Working with Influencers
How do I get access to Amazon Creator Connections?
You can get access to Amazon Creator Connections by getting access to the Beta program. Reach out to Goat Consulting and we can see if there is a navigation, user permission, or program access issue and help you get access.
Who are the creators in the Amazon Creator Connections programs?
The creators in the Amazon Creator Connection program include Amazon Associates, influencers, and content creators. They are people who have built an audience by creating videos, images, and a following.
Can I control what content is made by Amazon creators?
The Amazon Creator will have sole editorial control over its Creator Content. You will not have a pre-publication opportunity to review or approve Creator content. That said, the Creator Connections messaging platform is a great way to work collaboratively with creators to make the best content possible for Amazon customers and your brand.
Can I cancel a Creator Connection campaign once it is published?
At present, you cannot cancel the Creator Connection campaign once it is published and after the 24-hour pending period has ended. Be sure you are confident in the campaign you want to move forward with.
How much does Amazon Creator Connections cost?
Amazon Creator Connections has no service fee and is a free service to use. Sellers and vendors decide the amount of commission bonus (minimum 10%) and campaign budget (minimum $5,000).
What type of content is created by Amazon Creators with the Amazon Creator Connections program?
At the bare minimum, Amazon creators share a tracking link that their audience can click to go to the featured product listing. This is how creators get credit for promoting products and driving traffic to Amazon. Creators can create videos like unboxing, reviews, or use videos. The more you support creators with samples or larger bounties, the more effort they will make to drive traffic and sales to your listing as there is a greater reward.
What are the requirements for Amazon Creator Connections?
The requirements for Amazon Creator Connections include: an active Amazon Ads account, Active Seller Central or Vendor Central account, Brand Registry, and healthy inventory levels stocked.
How do I find influencers to promote my products on Amazon?
The Amazon Creator Connections is a great way to find influencers to promote your products on Amazon as you can find influencers by searching for interests and viewing profiles to find the right fit.
Do you need to provide samples to creators with the Amazon Creator Connections program?
You do not need to provide samples to creators with the Amazon Creator Connections program. However, providing samples can help influencers in creating the best content possible.
Do I get to choose who creates and publishes content for my Amazon Creator Connections campaign?
You do not get to fully choose who creates and publishes content for your Amazon Creator Connections campaign. When you publish a campaign, any creator who is part of your interest group can opt into your program and create content.
Do I pay creators directly or do I pay Amazon Ads when running Creator Connections campaigns?
You pay the Amazon Ads Creator Connections platform and not each creator individually for paying bounties.
How fast is the turnaround for content in the Creator Connections program?
There is no exact timing for when you will see the results and content using the creator connections. This timing can be extended if you send samples and content creators create professional videos or other content. I recommend setting a long enough campaign schedule to let creators opt-in and create content.
Conclusion
Amazon Creator Connections is a great way to connect with influencers, content creators, affiliates, and Amazon Associates. You can work with content creators who have a connection and personal trust with an audience that isn’t always there with a faceless brand. Amazon customers win by seeing more Amazon products they are interested in and content creators are additionally supported to continue making content. If you want Goat Consulting to help lead your Creator Connections campaigns or any Amazon account management or Amazon Ads-related activities, please reach out through our Contact Us form.
About the Author - Reed Thompson
This post was written by Reed Thompson, the co-founder and CEO of Goat Consulting. Reed leads Goat Consulting supporting account manager’s clients on Amazon by increasing sales, mitigating risk, reducing costs, and solving problems. He has experience and expertise in building Amazon Creator Connection campaigns starting with an overall strategy, executing campaigns, and analyzing & reporting performance. If you want help with working with influencers, content creators, Amazon affiliates, and Amazon Associates, or assist with other aspects of selling on Amazon, please reach out.
Amazon Creator Connections Terms and Conditions - Updated: July 7, 2020
Creator Connections is a beta service that enables brands to connect with eligible Amazon Associates participants (“Creators”) to offer the Creators enhanced incentives to feature the brand’s products in the Creator’s content. The following terms apply to participation in Creator Connections:
Creator Connections is offered as an Ad Service, and use of Creator Connections is subject to the Amazon Advertising Agreement, including its Beta Features Policy. Terms not otherwise defined here have the meaning given to them in the Amazon Advertising Agreement.
Creator Connections provides you the opportunity to offer incentives (e.g., a one-time payment for content generation, a percentage commission on sales of featured products) you agree to pay to a Creator to feature your products in content created in connection with Creator Connections (“Creator Content”). A Creator may choose to accept or reject any incentive offered.
The Creator will have sole editorial control over its Creator Content. You will not have a pre-publication opportunity to review or approve Creator Content.
The Creator retains its Intellectual Properties Rights in the Creator Content, and Creator’s Intellectual Property Rights in the Creator Content are not transferred from Creator to you solely as a result of your participation in Creator Connections.
Amazon may offer you credits to use for the Creator Connections beta. Such credits are subject to any conditions Amazon may put on them (e.g., time limits, type of incentive offered to Creator), and are non-transferable, not for resale, and not redeemable for cash. Any offers of credits in connection with Creator Connections are void where prohibited and in the event of fraud, mistake, or any failure to satisfy any terms of the offer.
Amazon reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to terminate or modify Creator Connections or this beta at any time. Amazon will have no liability for any matter relating to Creator Content.