10 KOL Marketing Trends in China for 2020
10 KOL Marketing Trends in China for 2020
With 2019 coming to an end, brands and marketers should look into 2020 and develop plans to get out of the curve. Here are the top ten KOL marketing trends we will focus on in China in the coming year.
1. Influencer marketing will be more popular—and more effective
KOL won’t go anywhere next year. The basic principles of establishing effective relationships with Chinese consumers (authenticity, integrity, trust, value-added) will remain unchanged in 2020. Perhaps these attributes will become more relevant: Generation Z of China is maturing, and there are signs that they have matured to be at least as authentic as their elders. They also tend to look for people who have affinity with them rather than brands to provide authentic content. This means that we can expect that influencers from celebrities to micro KOLs are still an important channel for Chinese brand and product information transmission. Of course, what is changing is how influencer marketing is done. One of the main trends in 2020 will be the convergence of real-time streaming and e-commerce. Look at the recent launch of Yizhibo’s Taobao integration for Weibo and Weibo and Alibaba’s investment in Bilibili, these things are coming. It is also becoming more common to see KOL acting alone and operating his own e-commerce store outside of the main platform. When Ruhnn applied for an IPO before Nasdaq’s debut in March 2019, the KOL incubator claimed that it had more than 130 influencers on its books and that they ran a total of 91 e-commerce platforms. Although several lawsuits have since been filed accusing the agency of failing to disclose these two significant drops in the initial public offering, the proposal argues that previously reliance on China’s major e-commerce platforms has become an overall trend.
2. Micro-KOLs are on the rise
While it’s always tempting to court the KOLs with the biggest followings for collaborations and endorsements, 2020 will see more brands recognizing the value of micro-KOLs. These lower-tier influencers have smaller followings, but hold two appealing advantages to brands. Micro-KOLs are more able to respond to messages from followers and as a result, they can communicate greater authenticity and seem more “real.” The end result is a closer bond with followers, who are in turn more likely to trust and act on the KOL’s recommendations and endorsements. Additionally, micro-influencers tend to be followed by fewer fake accounts than the more prominent KOLs. Brands will allocate less cash budget for collaborations with micro-KOLs, instead of exploring more creative and low-cost ways to engage these influencers. One strategy brands are pursuing is to cultivate followership among smaller KOLs, insider groups who they hope can become advocates for the brand through the inevitable ups and downs—think of Apple fanboys or the kind of loyalty brands like Nike have i ???????
3. Influencer brands will win big
As more and more KOLs launch their own brands, the trends pioneered by Zhang Dayi and Becky Li are becoming the norm. Convenient access to manufacturing centers lowers the barrier to entry for Chinese KOLs into the market, and creating your own products is a logical extension of your personal brand based on recognized authenticity and integrity. Fans have been enthusiastic in supporting what they believe in KOL. Beauty influencer Benny (also known as Dong Zichu) caused a sensation under his male beauty brand Croxx during the “Double Eleven” sale last year, so keep an eye out for KOL’s success stories. 2019 is the day to watch next year.
4. Private traffic: From KOLs to KOCs
Key Opinion Customers (KOC) is an emerging focus of marketer strategies. Think of your KOC as a communicator of your brand. They have purchased your product, and even better, they tell your friends and family to do the same. One thing you can be sure of is that the concept of “private foot traffic” will be everywhere in 2020. Private foot traffic refers to sales obtained through channels and consumers, which were originally unrelated to the brand, but with the help of Kuwait Petroleum. For example, a WeChat group is a type of private traffic. More and more companies, such as beauty brand Perfect Diary, are creating KOC in WeChat group to share brand news and then watch these super fans spread news and promotions through their own private channels.
5. Experiential KOL marketing is the next big thing
One of the KOL marketing trends in China marketers can’t miss is experiential marketing. As brands look more to KOCs to champion their products, the question of customer retention takes on huge importance. Brands spend so much money to acquire each of these individual customers—the next challenge is retaining them as loyal supporters for the long-term. One solution we’re going to see a lot more of is brands creating unique, often personalized encounters giving fans a distinct sense of what the brand stands for. These experiences might be impressive to newcomers to the brand, but more importantly, the intention is to leave existing fans with an indelible impression that will secure their continued loyalty. Hermes demonstrated how this is done with a pop-up record store the brand hosted in Beijing’s Sanlitun shopping district in late 2018. The experience combined online and offline elements. Registration was conducted through a WeChat mini-program that gave fans the chance to create mixes of different styles of music, providing an early taste of the musical theme. At the pop-up itself, customers could listen to records featuring music from the label’s fashion shows, while the album sleeves featured designs from the brand’s scarves. A photo booth rounded out the experience, giving fans the chance to take home a selfie printed on a vinyl record. Done right, creative experiential marketing initiatives will help brands to foster enduring KOC communities that will turbocharge their private traffic sales.
6. Video content will grow in importance
Social media in China right now is all about video, but what that means is constantly evolving. Platforms will continue to tweak formats and roll out new features. Creators, including KOLs, will experiment with different styles of content across platforms like Xiaohongshu, Bilibili, and Kuaishou, as well as “traditional” platforms like Weibo and WeChat. Users’ consumption habits will change accordingly. Douyin’s trial of in-video search has the potential to be revolutionary, bringing product placement to the fore and creating new opportunities for cross-category collaboration between brands and KOLs.
7. Brands will be more choosy with their KOLs
We see brands taking a more discerning approach to choosing the KOLs they work with. At this stage, many brands’ horror stories were burned by the painful experience of KOL divas, or paid high agency fees for activities that brought suspicious value to the brand. Brands have become savvy about what tangible results they want from their collaboration and how to screen potential KOL partners for success. This can take a form of reviewing KOL’s past history to prove that it is unreliable or inclined to engage in a flame war. Some brands have created metrics and algorithms to evaluate KOL, such as the content engagement score for beauty brand Hedone.
8. Live-streaming will still be popular
Live broadcast is one of KOL’s marketing trends. E-commerce real-time streaming has exploded in 2019 and has been highly rewarded for its leading index, so we expect more KOLs to switch to e-commerce real-time streaming in 2020. Just last month, she set a single-day sales record with a record 353 million yuan. Real-time streaming has also become an important feature of Alibaba’s double eleven sales. This year’s November 11 event is expected to have approximately 2,000 KOLs displaying products via e-commerce integrated real-time streaming. The event will start on November 10th with Alibaba’s “Watch Now, Buy Now” show, a live fashion show where viewers can take the opportunity to immediately purchase the look they like. Even Fan Bingbing, who resumed her acting career, encountered obstacles. She even turned to live broadcasting and recently auctioned her Fan Beauty series masks worth 10 million yuan in just four minutes. In short, if young Chinese consumers value authenticity and the true connection with influencers they trust, then live streaming would be the ideal way to create that bond.
9. KOLs will play a greater role in R&D and product marketing development programs
If you are relying on KOL’s approval to help you sell your products in China, and you have no choice in the face of reality, then if KOL likes your product, it will help. So why not loop KOL into your product development process? If your brand already has a beneficial relationship with a KOL, consider expanding your partnership to leverage the creative input of your influencers. To date, some of the most successful examples of this are Becky Li’s collaboration with accessory brand Rebecca Minkoff, and Mr. Bags’ collaboration with Givenchy A special edition handbag. In both cases, the combination of exclusivity, KOL’s personal style, expert localization input to design elements, and close ties with followers resulted in the product being sold out almost immediately.
10. Brands are turning to third-party KOL experts for help
The brand and marketing department is ready and may not have the resources or experience to deal with the trapped world of KOL marketing. That’s why we are seeing more and more brands seeking help from third-party experts like PARKLU in every step from recommending KOL partner and campaign strategies to measuring results. Third-party agents specializing in KOL marketing know the environment and personality that populate it. We are always in trouble and can find value from scams, so if your brand can use firm hands when conducting an influential marketing campaign, consider Please feel free to contact us to help you grow your business.
Resource from : https://www.digitalmarketing-conference.com/10-kol-marketing-trends-in-china-for-2020/