Many Amazon influencers obsess over their position in the product carousel. Are they number one? Number three? Number five? Rob from Oink for Influencers argues that carousel position is one of the most overhyped and useless metrics in the entire program, and he has two compelling reasons why you should stop paying attention to it and focus your energy elsewhere.
Table of Contents
- The Position Question Everyone Asks
- Reason 1: Your Position Is Not What You Think It Is
- Reason 2: There Is Nothing You Can Do About It
- What Actually Matters: Are You in the Carousel at All?
- Focus on Growth Activities Instead
- Watch the Full Video
The Position Question Everyone Asks
Rob frequently gets asked whether the Oink for Influencers extension will show carousel position. The answer is no, and it is intentional. He first shared this perspective a year and a half ago and still stands by it today. Carousel position is one of the most distracting metrics an influencer can track, and he believes it actively hurts your productivity by pulling attention away from things that actually move the needle.
Reason 1: Your Position Is Not What You Think It Is
When you look at a product and see your video in position three, that is only what Amazon is showing you personally. Amazon changes visibility from person to person, platform to platform, and even account to account. If you look at the same product on a business account versus a personal account on the same computer, you will often see different carousel results or sometimes no carousel at all. The position you see is specific to your situation and what Amazon wants to show you. It is not the same for everyone. So knowing you are in position three does not actually mean you are in position three for all buyers.
Reason 2: There Is Nothing You Can Do About It
Even if your position were accurate across all viewers, what would you do with that information? If you are number five, are you going to re-edit your content and put it back through the review process, risking denial? If you are number one, you are certainly not going to touch it. There is no lever you can pull to move from position five to position three. You cannot convince Amazon to change your ranking. Any attempt to modify your existing content to improve position means risking removal from the carousel entirely. It is simply not an actionable metric.
What Actually Matters: Are You in the Carousel at All?
The only question that has real value is whether you are in the carousel at all. That is actionable information because if you have zero visibility on a product that is selling well, you know there is a problem. The Oink for Influencers extension offers a low performing videos function that identifies products where sales are happening but you are not getting any commissions. If you are getting nothing, you probably have no visibility, and that is worth knowing. But whether you are in position two or position four is irrelevant to your strategy.
Focus on Growth Activities Instead
Time spent worrying about carousel position is time not spent on growth activities. Rob encourages influencers to focus on finding new products to create content for rather than obsessing over the placement of videos already uploaded. If it is not broken and the product is still available and viable, leave it alone. Amazon shuffles content in and out of carousels regularly. If you are in a packed carousel, you will get your time eventually. Keep putting your best foot forward on new content, and let Amazon handle the rest. Your energy is far better spent on the things you can control.
Watch the Full Video
Watch the original video from Oink for Influencers on YouTube:
