Amazon likes incoming traffic from other sites. Now, thanks to its Brand Referral Bonus, it has found a way to reward sellers who drive traffic from paid ads running on off-marketplace channels like Facebook and Google.
Brand Referral Bonus is a program that benefits both Amazon and its sellers. It helps increase sales velocity on a product, which in turn drives up that product’s search ranking. The inbound traffic from other sites is a ranking signal to the Amazon Algorithm, which has a strong positive impact beyond the direct sales generated from the inbound linking.
Because many of the old strategies, like 2-Step URLs, are either prohibited or no longer effective, the Brand Referral Bonus is an effective seller tool that can help you grow your Amazon business.
What is the Amazon Brand Referral Bonus?
The Brand Referral Bonus is an opt-in program that incentivizes a seller to send paid off-Amazon traffic to their product listing with a credit on most or all of the referral fee paid to Amazon when an order is placed.
This credit is, on average, 10% of the sale (the referral fee on most categories is 15%) and varies by category. The program attributes the Amazon sale generated from off-Amazon traffic for up to 14 days. However, the bonus is not paid in the form of cash. It is given as a credit against your Amazon fees.
You can estimate your bonus by multiplying your qualifying sales by the minimum bonus rate in the respective product category. Your actual bonus rate may differ based on factors such as additional shipping and gift-wrapping fees.
Amazon determines your off-Amazon driven sales through attribution tags. These tags are provided as part of the setup process for the Brand Referral Bonus program.
Who is Eligible for Brand Referral Bonus?
The Amazon Brand Referral Bonus program is open to sellers on its US marketplace who are brand registered.
How Do You Get Paid?
The Amazon Brand Referral Bonus will appear as a credit against your Amazon fees.
To allow some time for order cancellations and customer returns, there is a two-month waiting period before the credit appears in your seller account.
For instance: an eligible sale was made in June. The bonus will appear as a credit in your account in August. The bonus is used to deduct referral fees until the total attributed bonus is credited.
To monitor your Amazon Referral Bonus activity, download a report in your Seller Central by navigating Brands > Brand Referral Bonus. Every Friday, the system provides an updated report that gives the estimated bonus amount earned over the prior 90 days.
How to Setup Brand Referral Bonus
Sellers must opt-in to the program and can do so by going to the Brand Referral Bonus page. If you are NOT the seller account owner, you may need to update your user permissions to view this page.
The next step is to create the attribution links. This allows Amazon to Amazon to see that you are running ads in the Brand Referral Bonus Program. And it will enable reporting on the performance of your off-marketplace ads and conversion.
On the Brand Referral page, click on the “Generate Referral tags” button. The setup allows you to specify platforms (i.e., Facebook) as well as campaigns (i.e., Mother’s Day).
Why Use Amazon Brand Referral Bonus?
Participating in this program can boost your Amazon SEO and build up credits for each sale made. And for helping Amazon increase its marketplace presence, you’ll be rewarded with benefits that can help you build your brand on Amazon.
Final Thoughts
However, one consideration for sellers is the conversion rate difference between your direct Amazon traffic and the traffic coming from your off-marketplace to Amazon ads. A good strategy is to allocate some percentage of your ad budget to this effort. Then monitor and adjust your ad spending accordingly.
Channeled is a full-service marketplace agency. We combine strategy and execution to deliver full channel management for multi-channel, direct-to-consumer brands that sell on Amazon, Walmart, and beyond. From strategy to brand management and advertising to logistics, we are a trusted partner for scaling DTC brands. Contact us to learn more about our suite of services.
If you learned a thing or two from this article, then you may also enjoy Amazon DSP Advertising – 3 Creative Insights.