Amazon Affiliate Marketing Isn't Just for Publishers: Why Brands Need an Amazon Affiliate Strategy

Affiliate marketing has traditionally been associated with direct-to-consumer ecommerce.

A brand launches an affiliate program. Publishers and creators join. They send customers to the brand's website. Someone makes a purchase. Everyone celebrates.

Simple enough.

Except that's not necessarily how people shop anymore.

For many brands, a significant percentage of customers prefer purchasing through Amazon and other marketplaces. They already have an account. Their payment information is saved. Prime gets the package to their doorstep quickly. And, frankly, sometimes clicking “Buy Now” on Amazon is just easier.

So what happens to your affiliate strategy when your customers would rather shop on Amazon? It's time to think a little bigger.

What Is Amazon Affiliate Marketing for Brands?

Most conversations about Amazon affiliate marketing focus on the publisher or creator side of the equation: joining Amazon Associates and earning commissions by recommending products.

For brands, we're talking about something slightly different.

An Amazon affiliate strategy looks at how brands can intentionally work with publishers, creators and commerce partners to generate product discovery and ultimately drive shoppers toward their Amazon listings.

Instead of treating Amazon as a black box that sits completely separate from affiliate, brands can think strategically about the partners influencing customers before they arrive there.

• Commerce publishers
• Product review sites
• Content creators
• Influencers
• Shopping guides
• Product comparison content
• Editorial partners
• Niche content sites

It's affiliate strategy built around where the transaction is actually happening.

Why Amazon Affiliate Management Matters

Here's a scenario we see all the time in ecommerce.

A brand spends money getting someone interested in a product. The consumer visits the DTC site. Then they open Amazon and buy it there instead.

From the DTC analytics perspective, that marketing interaction might look unsuccessful. From the perspective of the overall business? You just acquired a customer.

This is why channel silos can become problematic.

Consumers don't care which internal team owns Amazon, affiliate, PR, influencer or DTC. They simply discover products and buy them wherever it makes sense.

Amazon affiliate management starts from that reality.

The goal isn't to force every consumer down one perfectly trackable path. The goal is to grow the business.

Joey Asleson, Founder

DTC Unit Economics Have Changed

Direct-to-consumer ecommerce created incredible opportunities for brands. It also created the idea that every brand should try to own every transaction.

That isn't always the best economic decision.

Paid media has become more competitive. Shipping isn't cheap. Fulfillment isn't free. Returns hurt. Technology stacks add up quickly. And acquiring a new customer directly can become expensive.

Meanwhile, Amazon has built an enormous ecosystem around convenience and consumer trust.

For brands with significant Amazon businesses, ignoring that ecosystem because you'd prefer the customer purchase DTC doesn't necessarily make sense.

The economics of ecommerce are constantly changing. Your affiliate strategy should be able to change with them.

Your Partners Care About Conversion Too

Publishers and creators want to recommend products their audiences will actually purchase.

Sometimes Amazon converts better. Sometimes readers trust it more. Sometimes Prime shipping makes the difference. Sometimes the consumer already has three other things sitting in their Amazon cart and adding your product is incredibly easy.

Understanding those behaviors can help brands build stronger partnerships.

Instead of forcing every partner into the exact same customer journey, brands can think about which destinations and strategies make the most sense for different types of content.

Amazon and DTC Can Work Together

This isn't an argument for abandoning your DTC affiliate program. Quite the opposite.

A sophisticated affiliate strategy should account for the entire commerce ecosystem.

Your DTC program might be the right destination for loyalty partners, cashback, certain creators, brand advocates and partners promoting exclusive offers.

Amazon might make more sense for certain commerce publishers, product reviewers or audiences that heavily prefer marketplace shopping.

Different partners can serve different purposes.

The important thing is having an actual strategy rather than pretending customers aren't buying somewhere because it doesn't fit neatly into your attribution dashboard.

Affiliate Marketing Should Reflect How People Actually Shop

The affiliate industry is evolving because ecommerce is evolving.

Brands sell through their own websites. They sell through Amazon. They sell through retailers. They sell through marketplaces. And consumers move between all of them.

Amazon Affiliate Management is ultimately about acknowledging that reality and building partnerships around it.

Because the goal isn't to force every consumer down one perfectly trackable path. The goal is to grow the business.