How can brands generate top ROI via KOL Marketing? Step 3.
Key Opinion Leader (KOL) marketing has become amust-have for most fashion, luxury, and beauty brands. Though their formats might be different, the goal is the same; to generate a good return on investment (ROI), and the higher the rate, the better.
It is often hard to measure the conversion rate or the ROI. If brands want to generate higher ROI, there are several steps that they can follow.
In this article you’ll learn:
Step 3: See the big pictureof the whole campaign
We are not only talking about a single KOL’s marketing technique, but a whole KOL campaign. This is for brands that have more budget, who not only work with one KOL to promote themselves. In bigger campaigns, there are 3 main options for brands to reachas many potential consumers as they can.
Option 1: Top – Mid – Small Tier KOLs
This is a pyramid strategy, and so when applying the formula, if brands’ budget is abundant, they can add celebrities on the top.
Proya’s exfoliating facemask is a model that brands can learn from. The campaign lasted for seven months, and the face mask first appeared in top live streamer Austin Li’s livestream,and it has been attached with the phrase “Recommended by Austin Li” ever since. With Austin’s background in the beauty industry, the product quickly earnedtrust from consumers. Being mentioned by Austin made it way easier for brands to approach other big KOLs and invite them to dothe same thing. The more promotion from top KOLs, the more potential consumers that Proya has covered.
Proya’s face mask is funto use, as it creates bubbles when you put it on, which is something eye-catching on social media. Together with the influence from Austin Li andother top KOLs, many middle and small tier KOLs and even KOCs were joining the trend voluntarily. The whole campaign created the atmosphere that the face mask was popular and it was trendy to use and post the experience online.
Option 2: Partner with a KOL
Instead of working with multiple KOLs, brands can choose to work with only one KOL. This can be risky, especially if the KOL has any scandal, it is likely to affect the brand’s reputation. The KOL should be anexpert in the field, and they need to be convincing for consumers. For example, Chinese underwear brand Ubras ranked as the TOP 1 both on the Double 11 in 2020and 618 Shopping Festival in 2021. The KOL that Ubras works with is top live streamer Viya, and this has left great impressions onconsumers. Why? Because Ubras keeps playing the clip where Viya was introducing the brand on multi channels, either on Douyin or the product page on its Tmall flagship store.
Option 3: Start with Smalltier KOLs or KOCs
This requires a lower budget for KOL marketing campaigns, and it’s suitable for startup brands. Small tier KOLs or KOCs(Key Opinion Consumer) ask for lower payment. They can also devote more time to create content for a post, and they are happy to follow brands’ instructions. In terms of the relationship with followers, small KOLs are more engaged ininteracting with fans personally. Sometimes followers trust a small KOL better than a big one.
Vanzen is a Chinese beauty brand that leverages this tactic well. In October 2020, the brand managed to sell over 640k bottles of foundation. According to Caasdata, by December 19, 2020, more than 1,000 accounts have posted related content of the product. Among the TOP 10 most liked videos, only one account have over 100k followers, others have around 10k followers.
The last step is comming up. Stay with us for more China KOL marketing strategies.
