How to put an Amazon affiliate link on a Facebook Reel

There are two ways to put an Amazon affiliate link on a Facebook Reel that work today: in the caption, or in a Messenger DM to people who ask for it. A third way, the first comment, is the one everybody wants. We can't do it yet. More on that below.

This is written for TikTok Shop creators reposting to a Facebook Page, but the caption part applies to anyone.

Before the link: two Amazon rules

Your link needs your Amazon Associates tracking ID on it (it looks like yourname-20), or the sale isn't credited to you. And Amazon requires every profile that carries your links to be listed in your Associates account, under Websites and Mobile Apps. Add your Facebook Page there. It takes a minute, and Amazon has suspended accounts over links that showed up on profiles that weren't listed.

You also have to disclose. Amazon and the FTC both require it on a post with an affiliate link.

The caption

A Facebook caption can hold a link. Paste your tagged Amazon link into the caption, add a disclosure such as #ad, and publish. Done.

By hand, the work is in getting the link. Find the product on Amazon, make sure it's the same product and not a look-alike, and build the link with your tracking ID. For one Reel that's nothing. For five Reels a day it adds up, and it's easy to paste yesterday's link on today's video.

In EverySqueeze this is one switch. Settings, then Accounts & platforms, then Facebook has a Links group with "Amazon link in the caption". Turn it on and every Facebook post gets a plain amazon.com link with your tracking ID already on it. We use a plain Amazon link on purpose, not a shortened one. If you're in Facebook's affiliate program, Facebook can show that link on the video itself as a product link.

The link only goes on when we're sure of the product. That means you picked or confirmed it, or the match is strong, or it's the same Amazon listing in a different colour or size. If we're not sure, the app asks before it posts. Automatic posts follow whichever rule you set in Settings: wait for you, post without a link, or use our best match.

Two details that surprise people. If you type a link into the caption yourself, EverySqueeze takes it out before posting, so the post never carries two links or an untagged one. And the Facebook caption template doesn't add a disclosure for you. Put your own in the caption text.

The DM

Some creators would rather not put a link in the caption at all. The other route is to have viewers comment a word and get the link sent to them.

On Facebook, EverySqueeze does this with Auto DM. You pick trigger words (the three suggested ones are link, shop and info, and you can add a few of your own). When someone comments one of them on your post, they get the product link by Messenger. Only the person who asked gets it. It's never a bulk send.

You write the greeting and the message, and every DM ends with a disclosure you choose from three: #ad, (paid link), or (I may earn a commission).

Auto DM starts off. Nothing is sent to anyone until you flip the switch yourself, on the Auto DM tab in the Facebook settings. If you don't see that tab, it isn't available for your account yet.

When Auto DM is on, your Facebook captions can open with a line telling people what to comment. Something like: Comment LINK and I'll send you the link. It uses your first trigger word, and you can reword it or turn it off. It's skipped when there's no product link to send, so nobody comments and gets nothing back.

You can run both at once, the caption link and Auto DM. Plenty of people do.

The first comment

This is the one we get asked about most, and the answer is no, not yet.

Posting a comment on your behalf needs a permission Meta hasn't approved for EverySqueeze. Until it does, no first comment goes out, on Facebook or on Instagram. In Settings it shows as "Coming soon". We're not going to guess at a date.

You can still do it by hand: publish the Reel, then comment on it yourself with your link. It works. It's also one more thing to remember on every post.

Does a link in the caption change how many people see the Reel?

We don't know, and we're wary of anyone who says they do. We haven't seen evidence either way that we'd put our name on, so we won't tell you a caption link helps or that it costs you anything. If you care, try both on your own Page for a few weeks and compare.

Your own link, not Amazon

Not everything is on Amazon. For a video where you'd rather send people to the brand's site, you can set your own link on that video in EverySqueeze and it goes in the Facebook caption and the Auto DM in place of the Amazon one. It has to be an https link.