Amazon Creator Connections 101 – How Influencers Can Make More Money and Get Free Products

If you've been making onsite videos for 1%-5% commission rates, you could earn between 10% - 50% commissions on top of those with a couple of clicks.

Oh, and you can get tons of free products along the way.

Creator connections is not just for traditional Amazon affiliates, it's the secret to dramatically boosting your Amazon influencer payouts each month.

Let's dive in!

What Is Amazon Creator Connections?

Creator Connections is an Amazon service that connects brands selling on Amazon with Amazon Influencers and Amazon associates (affiliates). 

Think of it as a matchmaking platform for brands and creators.  Brands create campaigns, and you (the creator) can opt into those campaigns to earn bonus commissions on top of your standard rates.

With creator connections, instead of earning your typical 2%–4% commission, you can earn far more.

Anywhere from 10% (the minimum) to 50% bonus commissions for the same products you’re already promoting. 

The benefits of the program are clear.

1. Massive Commission Boosts

Your standard Amazon commission rates just became your baseline. With Creator Connections, you’re earning bonus commissions that can multiply your earnings by 5x or more. If a campaign offers 20% bonus commission on a $100 product, you’ll earn $20 in bonus commission plus your regular commission.

2. Access to Brand Partnerships

Connect with hundreds of major brands, including Reebok, Microsoft, Anker, and countless others. No more cold outreach or hunting for brand contacts – they come to you through the platform.

3. Free Products and Samples

While samples aren’t automatically offered, brands frequently provide them when you message them directly. Some creators report success rates of 50% or higher when requesting samples from brands whose campaigns they’ve accepted. 

How to Get Started (It’s Easier Than You Think)

If you're already an Amazon influencer, you're close! If you aren't, you will want to apply for that if you want to get the full benefit of the creator connection program. 

However, you don't need to be approved as an Amazon influencer to access the creator connections program.

The program pays equally for sales creators make via their traditional Amazon associate link or from onsite commissions (from videos published on Amazon). 

You can join the program without being eligible for onsite commissions, but you will be responsible for sending all of your own traffic and conversions.

Here's how to see if you're approved.

Step 1: Check Your Eligibility

You must be at Bronze tier or above in Amazon’s Creator Stars Program.

If you’re already an established Amazon influencer, you likely qualify.

Step 2: Access Creator Connections

Step 3: Start Accepting Campaigns

Browse campaigns by category, commission rate, or newest releases.

Once you find a campaign you like, click “Accept” on campaigns that align with your audience.

But what about the product? How do you get that? Do you need it? Let's discuss...

Here are your options.

Option 1: Request Samples (Most Common)

You can message the brand directly through Creator Connections and ask them for a sample. Many creators report 50%+ success rates** when requesting samples

Important rule: If you receive a sample, you must use the physical sample in ALL content for that campaign

Option 2: Use Existing Products

You can accept campaigns for products you already own or have already reviewed.

Option 3: Purchase the Product

Not ideal, but you can buy the product yourself and earn back through commissions. Calculate if the bonus commission will cover your costs, just keep in mind, this is difficult to get right. It's not a method I recommend unless you're buying products you actually need. 

Option 4: Create Content Without the Physical Product

You can promote using Amazon's product images and descriptions. I often add my links to my newsletters as recommendations or in blog posts. 

How to Request Samples

Here's how to go about requesting samples from brands. Keep in mind, most will say they don't provide samples, but many do. 

Here are a few tips to boost your chances of getting your sample request approved. 

• Mention your follower count and engagement rates
• Show examples of previous brand content
• Explain how you'll use the sample in your content
• Be professional and specific about your content plans
• Automations are great but a more customized message will give you a better shot at a free sample approval.

The most successful creators use a combination of requesting samples, using products they already own, and strategically purchasing high-commission products to maximize their Creator Connections earnings.

Many creators are actually flipping the free products for a little extra profit as well once they're done creating their content for them.

Finding the Best Campaigns

Amazon makes it easy to find campaigns that fit your style and brand. 

From your creator connections dashboard, you can filter by category, commission rate and more. 

New campaigns are added daily so check back frequently.

The Secret Automation Strategy That’s Making Creators More Money

Both tools work, but I prefer Viral Vue.

Once you've installed the Viral Vue extension and activated it, you will see a new pop-up on your creator connections page. 

On this page, you'll now get two powerful functions..

#1 Scan your existing content to find matching campaigns. 

All of those videos you've already published to your storefront might have creator connections!

#2 Auto‑submit your content links to all relevant campaigns. You've already done the work (without knowing it) to complete your end of the creator connection deal. Viral Vue will take your videos and submit them for you to complete your creator connections deals. 

This is literally insane how awesome it is. 

Understanding Campaign Structure

Here are the core components of a creator connection campaign.

Important Creator Connection Notes

Here are a couple of important notes.

• Once you accept, you cannot opt out.
• Campaigns end when budget runs out or dates expire.
• You earn the highest commission rate if multiple campaigns include the same product. For example, if a brand has a campaign for 10% and one for 30%, you get the 30%.
• No flat fees–you’re paid purely on performance. This doesn't mean brands can't pay you additional fees for your content, but that part is done off of Amazon.

Qualifying Sales Requirements

You can make sales by sharing your affiliate link to your audience (1) or through the Amazon onsite commissions (2). The latter is the more common and appealing option. Most of you reading will be excited about the onsite part. 

⬆️  Either of these will pay the same affiliate rate!  ⬇️

Sale must be on a campaign product (obviously) and during active campaign period or before budget is exhausted.

Also, the product must be sold on Amazon and shipped and not returned.

Subscribe and save purchases are unfortunately not eligible. 

Submitting Your Content

Although you can still earn commissions without submitting your content, it's important that you submit your content on time. 

To do it, head to the "Active" campaign area and find the campaign you need to submit content for.

Scroll to the button of the campaign and provide the link to your content. 

Reminder, the content types currently acceptable are...

The content must, of course, be publicly visible. 

How to Stay Compliant

Don't ruin a good thing!

• Always include #ad or #sponsored in your content (with the exception of on-site Amazon videos).
• Submit at least one content link per accepted campaign.
• Use proper disclosure language in videos.

Just behave yourself. This opportunity isn't one you want to waste.

The Future of Creator Connections

With thousands of new campaigns being added daily and major brands increasing their participation, Creator Connections represents the future of Amazon influencer marketing. Early adopters are seeing the biggest gains as the platform continues to evolve.