4 Things you should know about ‘KOL marketing’ in China

‘KOL marketing’ is not a traditional phrase in the book of digital marketing, but it is one of the best working methods to promote retail brands and products in the competitive China E-commerce market.

by Azoya

‘KOL marketing’ is not a traditional phrase in the book of digital marketing, but it is working well in the China e-commerce market as a cost-effective channel.

‘KOL marketing’ is not a traditional phrase in the book of digital marketing, but it is one of the best working methods to promote retail brands and products in the competitive China E-commerce market. KOL is the abbreviation of key opinion leaders, who are a group of active social media influencers with lot of online followers.

These social-savvy Chinese have high-level engagement with audiences. Their solid understanding of behavior and preferences of followers gives them the potential to create viral content – one of the reasons making them a key force in digital marketing arena that should not be underestimated.

Here are the 4 things about KOL marketing in China that you should know about.

#1 WHERE TO FIND THEM?

Influencers usually have their own social media existence and pay close attention to comments and messages about marketing opportunities. Retailers can reach out to them directly on social media, and there are other ways to approach to them. For example, retailers can find them through affiliate or agencies. KOL companies have long term cooperation with KOLs and retailers can choose to work with KOL companies in the sense of B2B service instead of signing their own KOLs. This mitigate risks and helps better to analyze ROI.

Affiliates are an alliance of influencers that receive orders from advertisers to promote campaigns and products. Different affiliates specialize in different categories. For example, there are ‘Haitao Affiliates’ that focus on overseas shopping. Member influencers of these affiliates are equipped with extensive knowledge on overseas shopping.

#2 HOW TO WORK WITH KOLS?

The unofficial contract with influencers can be based on commission (cost per sales) or the free trial of products. In these two ways, retailers can evaluate the performance of each campaign by looking at final sales figures after a week or two. Upon campaign brief, influencers publish content produced in their own languages.

The contents would usually start with a short story to create a discussion topic, following a transition to products recommendation. In the case of cosmetics influencers, they would usually tailor the content to add emotional touch on feminine topics. After setting up the scenario, the content would then turn to retailers’ brand stories and product information to generate page visits of E-commerce websites.

Understanding what influencers need from the retailers and brand would help to create better KOL campaigns. Influencers with 50k to 100k of followers are cost-effective targets for KOL campaigns for several reasons.

Firstly, they are relatively small, and they are looking for growth of their own follower base, which also translates as interest in good topics at a reasonable commission.

Secondly, these influencers are engaging with followers more frequently and they have a better understanding of the shopping behavior of their followers.

Thirdly, for commissions-based influencers, more buyers would bring them bigger rewards. These influencers are usually more passionate and pro-active.

The ‘Walk into ANZ’ campaign organized by a few Australian and New Zealand online pharmacies had invited Chinese influencers to visit local pharmacies. The influencers enjoyed the free trip, and pharmacies were satisfied with the result. In a few days, live streaming had amassed 600,000 audiences. Sales of Amcal had increased by 135% after the campaign. Another interesting fact is that participating influencers had also witnessed increased followers after the campaign, which is a win-win situation for both retailers and influencers.

#3 ARE THEY ALWAYS RELIABLE?

Influencers are more effective to promote categories such as beauty products, cosmetics, mom and baby products, and fashion. They are really good at making unpopular products ‘dark horses’. And once a product become very popular, there’s less need for influencers promotion but to improve supply chain to make sure this product is always in stock.

Unlike celebrities, the lifetime of an influencer is uncertain. Influencers have limited loyal followers: most of their followers are emotionally attached. Their popularity on the internet could be transient, and once people forget about the influencers, they are no longer good marketing channels. To avoid the pitfall, retailers should pay attention to recent engagement activities, shares, and views of the influencers.

#4 WHO ARE BUYING FROM INFLUENCERS?

It varies. According to the iResearch report, three-quarters of Chinese consumers shopping for overseas products are mostly aged between 26 to 40, and these consumers are often the audience of influencers. Generally, the post-90s are major buyers of influencers. The youth generation has growing consumption power, and they are also establishing their own purchase behavior.

Chinese online influencers have become symbols of countless ‘virtual communities’ that consist followers with similar lifestyles, tastes, shopping behavior, consumption power, emotions etc. What’s most important, Chinese influencers understand the need of their followers. Followers trust the picks from influencers because they belong to the same ‘virtual community’. They believe that these products are tested by the influencers and works well.

Another trend that’s going on in China is that people tend to buy best sellers, popular merchandise, and products recommended by their peers and acquaintance. China is going through rapid consumption upgrade, and with 220 million people, China has the biggest middle class in the world. There is an influx of countless products to market, and consumers are confused. This creates opportunities for online influencers as they have the direct connection with lots of consumers. By picking and recommending products to followers, they are promoters of new lifestyles.


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