HOW TO FIND SUITABLE KEY OPINION LEADERS (KOLS) FOR BRAND PROMOTION?
There are various ways in which the brands can promote their products among Chinese consumers. They can leverage different features that e-commerce platforms have to offer. Besides, they can also avail various promotion and advertisement services available. However, none of them are as effective as using a Key Opinion Leader (KOL) for influencing the purchase decision of the Chines consumers. As a matter of fact, KOL marketing is more effective for brands than high-paying celebrity marketing.
Who Is A Key Opinion Leader Social Media?
A Key Opinion Leader Social Media is the one who has hundreds and thousands of active followers on his/her social media accounts. He/she has the ability to influence the followers in buying a certain product or service he/she promotes or advertises through his/her social media account. Their social media posts and stories can affect the decision-making ability of their followers significantly. In other words, brands can pay them to put up posts about their products and services that could positively affect the status as well as the sales of the brands.
KOL Marketing is the best strategic move for any brand to get started in China and see success in a very short time with right KOL strategy in place. Even though a Key Opinion Leader (KOL) is most effective for the fashion and luxury brands, there are KOLs available in all the different sectors of business. So, whether you are a fashion brand, a healthy brand, or a tech brand, you need to find a suitable KOL for your business and form a perfect strategy for KOL marketing China. Choosing the right KOL is crucial as the success of the brand depends on him/her. Therefore, we have provided some of the key tips to help you make the decision better.
Key tips for choosing the right KOL
Understand Your Customers — Before setting out to find the right KOL, you should have a complete idea about your prospective buyers. Among the Chinese consumers, you should be able to differentiate who your potential customers are and who are not. This is important because you will shortlist those KOLs who followers are likely to be your prospective buyers. There are so many different types of KOLs available with a different set of followers. You have to choose those who are catering to your kind of consumers.
Specific KOLs — Apart from looking out KOLs who are very popular in your niche, you should choose different KOLs for the marketing of different products. Therefore, you have to judge the KOLs based on the products where he/she is likely to find more success. This can be determined by his/her posts and response of the followers in those posts having similar products like yours. Moreover, the selection can be based on the age group like Gen Next, Gen Z, Gen X. If you have a lifestyle product, the youth are likely to buy them more. If you have a toy product, the kids are likely to buy them more. Accordingly, you have to choose a KOL on the kind of followers he/she has.
KOL Skills — You should focus on hiring a KOL who understands your business, product, and most importantly, KOL marketing China. He/she should have a complete idea about how to pitch a product to the followers without actually looking like he/she is getting paid for it. It should be natural, and the pitch needs to be skillful enough to get an instant reaction from the followers. Similarly, the KOL should be aware of the current market scenario and of KOL strategy that may backfire and damage the brand reputation.
Conclusion
KOL marketing is the best way to reach out to targeted customers in China. However, it is equally important to choose the right KOLs and form the right strategy for marketing to be successful in influencing potential customers in buying a product. Once a brand has these aspects to perfection, there is no stopping it from growing exponentially.
