diff --git a/plugins/outputs/kinesis/kinesis.go b/plugins/outputs/kinesis/kinesis.go
index a30ab88018eff..8cbdea68292e9 100644
--- a/plugins/outputs/kinesis/kinesis.go
+++ b/plugins/outputs/kinesis/kinesis.go
@@ -1,10 +1,8 @@
 package kinesis
 
 import (
-	"fmt"
 	"log"
 	"os"
-	"sync/atomic"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go/aws"
@@ -13,6 +11,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/influxdata/telegraf"
 	internalaws "github.com/influxdata/telegraf/internal/config/aws"
 	"github.com/influxdata/telegraf/plugins/outputs"
+	"github.com/influxdata/telegraf/plugins/serializers"
 )
 
 type KinesisOutput struct {
@@ -26,9 +25,10 @@ type KinesisOutput struct {
 
 	StreamName   string `toml:"streamname"`
 	PartitionKey string `toml:"partitionkey"`
-	Format       string `toml:"format"`
 	Debug        bool   `toml:"debug"`
 	svc          *kinesis.Kinesis
+
+	serializer serializers.Serializer
 }
 
 var sampleConfig = `
@@ -54,9 +54,13 @@ var sampleConfig = `
   streamname = "StreamName"
   ## PartitionKey as used for sharding data.
   partitionkey = "PartitionKey"
-  ## format of the Data payload in the kinesis PutRecord, supported
-  ## String and Custom.
-  format = "string"
+
+  ## Data format to output.
+  ## Each data format has it's own unique set of configuration options, read
+  ## more about them here:
+  ## https://github.com/influxdata/telegraf/blob/master/docs/DATA_FORMATS_OUTPUT.md
+  data_format = "influx"
+
   ## debug will show upstream aws messages.
   debug = false
 `
@@ -125,16 +129,8 @@ func (k *KinesisOutput) Close() error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-func FormatMetric(k *KinesisOutput, point telegraf.Metric) (string, error) {
-	if k.Format == "string" {
-		return point.String(), nil
-	} else {
-		m := fmt.Sprintf("%+v,%+v,%+v",
-			point.Name(),
-			point.Tags(),
-			point.String())
-		return m, nil
-	}
+func (k *KinesisOutput) SetSerializer(serializer serializers.Serializer) {
+	k.serializer = serializer
 }
 
 func writekinesis(k *KinesisOutput, r []*kinesis.PutRecordsRequestEntry) time.Duration {
@@ -161,7 +157,7 @@ func writekinesis(k *KinesisOutput, r []*kinesis.PutRecordsRequestEntry) time.Du
 }
 
 func (k *KinesisOutput) Write(metrics []telegraf.Metric) error {
-	var sz uint32 = 0
+	var sz uint32
 
 	if len(metrics) == 0 {
 		return nil
@@ -169,23 +165,29 @@ func (k *KinesisOutput) Write(metrics []telegraf.Metric) error {
 
 	r := []*kinesis.PutRecordsRequestEntry{}
 
-	for _, p := range metrics {
-		atomic.AddUint32(&sz, 1)
+	for _, metric := range metrics {
+		sz++
+
+		values, err := k.serializer.Serialize(metric)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
 
-		metric, _ := FormatMetric(k, p)
 		d := kinesis.PutRecordsRequestEntry{
-			Data:         []byte(metric),
+			Data:         values,
 			PartitionKey: aws.String(k.PartitionKey),
 		}
+
 		r = append(r, &d)
 
 		if sz == 500 {
 			// Max Messages Per PutRecordRequest is 500
 			elapsed := writekinesis(k, r)
 			log.Printf("E! Wrote a %+v point batch to Kinesis in %+v.\n", sz, elapsed)
-			atomic.StoreUint32(&sz, 0)
+			sz = 0
 			r = nil
 		}
+
 	}
 
 	writekinesis(k, r)
diff --git a/plugins/outputs/kinesis/kinesis_test.go b/plugins/outputs/kinesis/kinesis_test.go
deleted file mode 100644
index de365fa997eae..0000000000000
--- a/plugins/outputs/kinesis/kinesis_test.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,39 +0,0 @@
-package kinesis
-
-import (
-	"github.com/influxdata/telegraf/testutil"
-	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
-	"testing"
-)
-
-func TestFormatMetric(t *testing.T) {
-	if testing.Short() {
-		t.Skip("Skipping integration test in short mode")
-	}
-
-	k := &KinesisOutput{
-		Format: "string",
-	}
-
-	p := testutil.MockMetrics()[0]
-
-	valid_string := "test1,tag1=value1 value=1 1257894000000000000\n"
-	func_string, err := FormatMetric(k, p)
-
-	if func_string != valid_string {
-		t.Error("Expected ", valid_string)
-	}
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-
-	k = &KinesisOutput{
-		Format: "custom",
-	}
-
-	valid_custom := "test1,map[tag1:value1],test1,tag1=value1 value=1 1257894000000000000\n"
-	func_custom, err := FormatMetric(k, p)
-
-	if func_custom != valid_custom {
-		t.Error("Expected ", valid_custom)
-	}
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-}