Amazon Inspire: Complete 2023 Guide to Making Vertical Video

Amazon recently dropped a new vertical video platform called Inspire. The app is very much a TikTok-like shopping feed that supports both photos and videos. The app allows sellers and influencers to showcase their products through short-form, vertical videos and images on the Amazon Shopping app, making it easier for customers to discover new products and engage with their favorite brands and influencers.

In this short blog post, I go through the best practices for using the App and growing your following on Amazon. I’ll also be sharing some tips and insights on how to produce high-quality vertical video content suitable for Amazon Inspire to help other content creators and sellers make the most of this exciting e-commerce platform.

Understanding Amazon Inspire and Vertical Video

What is the Amazon Inspire app, and how does it work with Influencers? What’s the best way to create content for the app?

Let’s find out.

Amazon Inspire

Amazon Inspire is a feature within the Amazon shopping app that offers a personalized feed for customers to discover and shop for products. Similar to TikTok or Instagram Reels, the platform showcases vertical videos and photos of various products shared by brands, and Amazon Influencers. It provides an opportunity for me to create engaging content around my favorite products and potentially earn commissions through affiliate links.

Amazon Influencer Program

By joining the Amazon Influencer Program, I was able to unlock new opportunities for sharing my product recommendations with my followers. If you’re not familiar with the program, head over to my blog post here and find out how I make anywhere between $2,000-$5,000 per month.

Creating Engaging Vertical Video Content

There’s a huge push for vertical video content right now, so to help you understand the best practices of what type of content to make, I put together a few ideas:

Short-Form Video Formats

Based on my experience, these are some popular short-form video formats that work great for Amazon Inspire and other platforms:

• Tutorials: Demonstrate a skill or teach something new in a concise manner.
• Product Reviews & Unboxing: Share your honest opinions on products to help potential buyers make informed decisions.
• Explainer Videos: Create an easy-to-understand explainer video showing why you would choose one product over another.
• Behind-the-Scenes: Give viewers a peek into your creative process or how a product is made.

If you’re using YouTube for longer-form content, consider repurposing and editing some of your existing videos into shorter, vertical formats for Amazon Inspire and other platforms. Currently, I do this with an app called veed.io. It’s free to use and one of the best video editing software I’ve found.

Tips for Engaging Videos

To create engaging vertical videos, I suggest keeping the following tips in mind:

1. Grab attention immediately: Make the first few seconds of your video intriguing, as people tend to scroll quickly through content. The longer you keep someone engaged, the most likely you’ll make a sale.
2. Optimize for sound-off viewing: Use text overlays and closed captions to convey information, since many users watch videos with the sound off. (Veed.io can automatically add captions for you)
3. Experiment with editing: Try different transitions, effects, and speeds to keep viewers interested and maintain their attention.
4. Be relatable and authentic: Be yourself and connect with your audience by sharing your interests or showcasing your personality. Remember, people buy from people. So just be yourself and have fun with it!

Overall, one of the biggest challenges I face when creating vertical video content is capturing and maintaining the audience’s attention. Just remember: practice makes perfect and don’t be afraid to try new things!

Leveraging Brand Registry and Storefronts

As an Amazon seller, I’ve found it crucial to leverage the Brand Registry and create a customized Amazon Influencer Storefront. This way, my brand can optimize its online presence on this ever-popular platform. In this section, I’ll talk about the benefits of registering my brand and setting up an Influencer Storefront.

Setting up Amazon Influencer Storefront

Although I cover this in detail in my Amazon Influencer Program post, I thought I’d add a few tidbits here to help you with the Influencer program. By setting up an Amazon Influencer Storefront, I can further enhance my brand’s representation while partnering with influencers to promote my products. Creating my storefront involves the following steps:

1. Head over to the signup page, and complete the form.
2. Wait for your approval from Amazon (can take a few weeks), and then sign in.
3. Customize the store to match my brand’s personality, adding images, videos, and infographics that convey my brand story.
4. Review Amazon’s creative guidelines for stores to ensure your content complies with their requirements.
5. Upload your first 3 videos and wait for Amazon to approve your content for the Inspire shopping network.

That’s it! Be patient as Amazon often has a huge backlog of people waiting to join the program. Once you get in and get approved, you can start creating vertical content that will appear inside the Inspire app. I’ve found that vertical content is getting a much higher view count – but you need to make visually engaging content that keeps your shoppers watching.

Showcasing Products and Increasing ROI

When I create vertical video content for Amazon Inspire, my primary goal is to showcase products effectively and increase my return on investment (ROI). In order to achieve this, I focus on three key areas within my videos: shoppable video content, product reviews, and new releases.

Shoppable Video Content

I have found that incorporating shoppable elements within my video content grabs viewers’ attention and encourages them to make a purchase. For example, I might demonstrate a product in my video and include a clickable link or QR code that directs viewers to the product’s Amazon listing. This seamless integration between content and shopping experience helps increase sales and boost my ROI.

Product Reviews

One of the most effective ways for me to establish trust among my audience and persuade potential customers is by sharing honest product reviews of products I own and use regularly. I make sure to cover both the benefits and potential drawbacks of a product, making sure that my viewers receive a well-rounded and unbiased view of what they can expect when making a purchase.

As I discuss the features of the product, I often use bullet points to highlight specific aspects. For example:

• Durability
• Design
• Ease of use
• Functionality
• Comparison to the older model
• Price

I find this typically helps me create quality videos that are direct and to the point.

New Releases

I love adding new videos around new product releases. I feel like shoppers love seeing the new hot thing unboxed and reviewed. Additionally, it positions me as a knowledgeable and up-to-date source of information about the latest products in my niche.

To make my videos as engaging as possible I typically focus on providing a concise overview of what makes the new products unique, as well as their key selling points. This could include aspects such as:

Try and think outside of the box with your videos. If there are 5 videos that are unboxing, what can you do that provides something new and unique? Maybe a long-term review or ‘5 tips for xyz’.

Following Community Guidelines and Policies

It’s really important that you take the time to understand Amazon’s guidelines around creating video content for the Inspire / Amazon Influencer program. In this section, I’ll run you through what you need to know.

Compliance with Amazon Rules

As a content creator, you need to familiarize yourself with the Amazon Community Guidelines to keep the platform helpful, relevant, and appropriate. This means focusing on creating informative and engaging content without trying to solicit clicks.

Avoiding Violations

Most of these are pretty obvious, but it’s always good to keep them in mind:

• Uploading content that infringes on the copyrights of others (Don’t steal other people’s content)
• Spamming or posting disruptive advertisements
• Posting content that is offensive or hateful

Following these guidelines and avoiding violations is essential for maintaining a good standing within the Amazon Inspire community.

Monitoring Performance and Expanding Reach

To see how your videos are doing, you’ll need to check your Amazon Influencer dashboard or the Inspire app. Inside the dashboard, you’ll see each video, its view count, and the percentage of the video viewed.

Personally, I pay more attention to the view count than the percentage viewed. For example, I uploaded this video:

Which received 100+ views in under 24 hours. This is a very good indication that my audience likes the video. The video also received a number of thumbs up, which also tells me the video is helpful and engaging.

This video is roughly 2 minutes long, so I’m happy with a 22% view percentage. I’ll check in the next few days how many sales it’s generated.

Exploring Opportunities in Various Niches

As an Amazon Inspire content creator, I’ve discovered that vertical video content resonates with different audiences based on the niche. In this section, I will discuss three popular niches: Travel and Adventure, Lifestyle and Fashion, and Technology.

Travel and Adventure

Amazon Inspire provides an excellent platform for travel sellers and vendors to connect with potential customers through this type of content. It’s a great idea to make the content of locations you visit and the products that made your trip more enjoyable along the way.

Additionally, including expert tips and showcasing interesting activities strengthens the emotional connection with the audience and encourages them to explore the offerings of the respective brands.

Lifestyle and Fashion

In the Lifestyle and Fashion niche, vertical video content is all about striking visuals, creative flair, and showcasing the latest trends. This could involve demonstrating the benefits and features of a product, sharing styling tips, or conducting interviews with industry experts. Amazon Inspire is a great platform for lifestyle and fashion brands to gain exposure and captivate viewers with engaging content. Amazon also loves having fashion influencers on their platform so take the time to make high-quality content.

Technology

Technology is another niche that lends itself well to compelling vertical video content on Amazon Inspire. I aim to create content that explains the features and benefits of the latest gadgets and devices in an easy-to-understand manner.

This includes unboxing videos, product demonstrations, and long-term reviews. It’s important for sellers and vendors to establish themselves as trusted source of information to build credibility with potential customers.

Key Takeaways

• Amazon’s new Inspire app is an excellent way for influencers to create vertical shopping videos
• Reusing your existing YouTube or TikTok videos is a great option
• Use an app like VEED.io to create videos for free
• Travel, Fashion, and Technology is a great niche for vertical content
• Take the time to review Amazon’s policies
• Try and make the first 10 seconds of your video highly engaging to grab a viewer’s attention

Conclusion

The Amazon Inspire app is an excellent way to make passive income by making simple vertical videos. Make your videos simple, engaging, and fun, and show a product in a way that’s unique to your personality. Remember to reuse existing content you might have from YouTube Shorts, TikTok, and Instagram reels. The Amazon Inspire app is a great way to build a new following and sell products you love from the Amazon platform.