YOU WILL AMAZON

I recently went online to start looking for a cool 30^th birthday gift for my boyfriend and I noticed that my first search was automatically on Amazon because, as we all know they have everything, and I also see tons of cute ideas from Instagram that take me directly to Amazon via their swipe up links. I wondered, is Amazon securing the e-commerce market? Facebook attempted to use Instagram as their platform to push ads in stories and posts but landed a bit short. 2018 was the year of Amazon, as it turned the duopoly into a trio-poly and officially became the third largest digital advertising platform in the U.S. behind Facebook and Google according to Wesley MacLaggan (2019).

There has been a huge spike in social media influencers that are selling clothing, accessories and household items via Instagram more recently, but why are they selling these specific items you ask? Well, Amazon has ingeniously created an Influencer program where they are using the influence of these brand ambassadors to push their more affordable and trendy items and it appears to be working tremendously. Lauren Johnson (2019) wrote that creators say that revenue from the Amazon influencer program can vary from a few dollars to $1,500 a month.

So, although you may be on Instagram and like an influencer’s items, you are likely to end up on Amazon anyway as they are the brains behind the operation. Instagram stories seem be the best social media outlet for influencers and here is the good news, anyone can do it. After doing some research I found out that you don’t necessary need to millions of followers, just a YouTube, Instagram, Twitter or Facebook account to qualify. They will look at your followers but there is no detailed number required which means anyone can cash in on items that you probably purchase anyway.  Now in order to make money people have to click your links and buy, so that may be the catch and advantage of a larger audience. So, my question to you is, have you purchased anything from these Instagram/Amazon influencers? I know I have, and I loved most of my purchases! Is there anyway that influencers truly love sharing a deal? Or is it all just to make a buck?

References

Johnson, Lauren. (2019, February 7). Amazon is paying influencers big commissions to sell its products, and it’s open to anyone. Here’s how to sign up. Retrieved from https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-influencer-how-to-make-money-2019-2

MacLaggan, Wesley. (2019, January 8). Top 10 Trends in digital Advertising in 2019 -Marketing Insights. Retrieved from http://insights.marinsoftware.com/trends/top-10-trends-in-digital-advertising-in-2019/

Amazon Influencer Program: https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/influencers