I love the Amazon Associates program, although I’ll admit it took me a while to get the most out of the platform. Today, I couldn’t remember last month that I didn’t get a deposit from Amazon. Although Amazon is not the only way I earn affiliate income, it is definitely worth the time it takes to feature those product links. Here are some of my favorite tips for making money with Amazon’s affiliate program
Amazon Associates Program Professional
Amazon offers several ways to earn your commission through its affiliate marketing program. Payments are made approximately 60 days from the end of the month in which you reach the threshold. (Example: If you payout in January, you will receive your payment in late March.)
- Amazon Gift Card/Certificate – $10 minimum
- Direct Deposit – $10 minimum
- Check – $100 minimum
Besides the multiple payment methods and low threshold for getting paid, there are a few other things I really like about the program:
- Easy to implement, even for beginner affiliate marketers
- Huge variety of products to promote
- Well known and trusted merchant
- You can easily link to individual products instead of just having a generic creative available
Potential pitfalls
- The duration of the cookie is short – 24 hours – unless the person adds an item to their cart. Then your cookies are locked for 89 days.
- Some complain that the commission rate is low. However, I find it comparable to other major merchant affiliate programs.
- The Amazon Associates Program is prohibited in some states.
Tips for becoming a successful Amazon affiliate
Don’t grasp at straws – First things first – be honest with what your audience expects, whether your site is new or old. Choose a product category related to your content. Is there a book that covers more of the topic you are discussing? Do they need special tools or ingredients to make that recipe or craft? If you want to increase the number of people who see your posts, make sure you include strong keywords that are related to both the blog content and products you are promoting. Writing strong product information about these links is incredibly important for your visibility (and marketing.)
Product selection – Don’t drown your blog posts in every product under the sun that is relevant to your niche. You will lose the trust of your loyal site visitors if they see that everyone else is giving the item 2 or 3 stars. Features your favorite products, bestsellers and new releases If there is an error, point it out and let your reader know if it’s a deal-breaker or a minor inconvenience.
dig deep – Especially this time of year, everyone is posting top 10 lists. Instead of being generic (Top 10 Laptops), dig deeper to get their attention (10 Best Budget Laptops for Broke Students).
Promote by post – Banner ads have much lower conversion rates than text links – Amazon or not. You are going to make your money pre-selling products. That could be reviews, product comparisons, gift guides or other types of recommendations. Include at least two links and a product image. If you need to fill those sidebar widgets, try the Carousel widget. It is much more interactive and engaging.
Mix cheap with high end – Many aspire to be successful Amazon Associates right out of the gate. Your reader pool for 3 Ct. Diamond engagement rings are much smaller than wedding invitations and the former is going to be a tougher sell Mix up your price points to move up through the performance ranks. And you’ll probably find it rare that you find a single-item sale on things for less than $35. This is Amazon’s new “free shipping” threshold. Even if your recommended product is $7, your reader will likely keep adding to their cart until they reach the free shipping mark.
Let Amazon stop selling – You don’t need to sell with high pressure. Notify your reader and let Amazon stop the sale. Amazon will also recommend complimentary products, push that free shipping, and show options. Let them do the heavy lifting.
Get some great tools – There are some really neat things to help save you time and increase your conversion rate I have been using EasyAzon for more than three years. This nifty WordPress plugin will help you create text and image links without leaving your blog. You can add information blocks, international links and hover pop-outs. Their latest version even includes Add to Cart buttons that will set those 90-day cookies we love.
How to Set Up Amazon Associate Tracking ID
Unless you’ve set up multiple Amazon Associate Tracking IDs and are promoting with multiple sites, however, it can become difficult to know what’s sold from where and what marketing tactics are working.
Adding Amazon Associates ID for tracking purpose is rather painful. With a few quick clicks, you can easily analyze your marketing efforts.
Setting up additional Amazon Associate Tracking IDs
Once logged in, you will see your email address and tracking ID assigned by Amazon at the top of the screen. Click the arrow below your email address and select “Manage your tracking IDs.” This is where you add more IDs for tracking purposes.
On the next screen just click on Add Tracking ID and start searching for availability. You may choose to add an ID associated with a website or marketing campaign (eg Facebook, resource page, a second blog, etc.). It will always have that -20 behind it.
Once you’ve chosen your new tracking IDs, you can view their stats individually or as a combined report. don’t worry You are not creating a new account here. All your earnings are still going in one place. This is done strictly for statistics.
When you go to create links to Amazon products going forward, there will be a drop-down box listing your tracking IDs Choose the applicable ID, and you’re good to go.
If you’re an Amazon Associate with multiple sites, you probably won’t have a problem seeing the value here. Much of our Amazon revenue comes from products that we do not promote. Sometimes they are not connected in any way to what we preached. Where did those lawn mower sales come from? I do not promote any home and garden items. In this situation it is difficult to connect the dots as to where the sales came from. This will make that connection a little easier.
The Amazon Associates program is a natural fit for many bloggers and is very beginner-friendly. If you want to make money with affiliate marketing, I highly recommend adding it to your monetization mix.
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