Tips to Use Influencers in China

Tips to Use Influencers in China

More and more corporates and brands now consider the Chinese consumers as the most lucrative market in the world. According to an estimate, a total of 30% of all the world’s goods are being consumed by the Chinese. This figure suggests that by the year 2020, the Chinese consumers will be taking more than 50% of the world’s luxury goods. These require specific digital tools to for promotion in China. Thus, many Western brands are now focusing on selling their goods to the Chinese consumers by realizing why Key Opinion Leaders are important.

How Celebrities Act as the Best KOLs

The importance of KOLs is now highly being utilized by the UK based market. The fact that Fan Bingbing, a Chinese superstar, is the brand ambassador of many foreign brands in China shows how Bingbing is the brand ambassador of a diverse range of brands in China, including L’Oreal, Chopar, Gucci and Louis Vuitton.

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Xin Zhou, another popular Chinese celebrity, is more or less equally valuable as Bingbing. She represents Chanel in China, and has yielded in a lot of sales for them.

The Role of E-Celebs

While models, performers and actors make great Key Opinion Leaders, there is a new wave of celebrities which have emerged through the immense popularity of social media in China. China has its own social media networks which are immensely popular over there. The social media has given birth to its own stars which are now called as the E-Celebs. These stars are equally popular as any other traditional celebrity in China, and many international brands are now investing in them as their brand ambassadors. Find out the 7 most influencing Chinese Social Celebrities (KOL).

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One E-celeb who is immensely popular is Gogobi, a fashion blogger on Weibo. He is such a sensation in China that his passion of blogging has become a full time career for him. He writes for various fashion magazines and is an official brand ambassador of Louis Vuitton in China.

So, How Can We Actually use Influencers in China?

So, if you are trying to break into the Chines market then you should definitely use the power of the influencers for promoting your brand. Whether you are an established brand or even a new stat up, you can definitely use KOL for promoting your brand. However, be careful, there are some terrible mistakes made on Chinese social media.

1.     Be Careful Whom to Choose as Your KOL

Not every celebrity can be your KOL. There are many factors to consider before making this decision. The most important factor is to consider the fact whether the particular celebrity goes with your brand identity or not. So, if you represent a hipster style, it is not suggested to go for a celebrity who is famous for his geeky looks.

2.     The Number of Followers Cannot be Trusted When Selecting an Influencer

There was a time when a star’s popularity on the social media was determined through the number of followers on his social media account. However, there is a rising trend of having paid followers on not just the Chinese but the Western social media as well. The main factor to consider is how much user engagement is present on any celebrity’s account. If the followers are active and the celebrity does get engaged with his fans, then he can be a god choice for being your brand’s influencer in China. Estee Lauder’s online strategy is a successful case regarding this.

3.     You Should Get a Clear Return on the Investment

So, once you have got your E-celeb as your KOL, now the job is to make sure that you are getting a fair turnout from your investment. Every post which your ambassador makes should come with a good ROI. Your ROI is determined by the number of likes, shares and engagement present on the post.

4.     Make Sure That Your KOL is Popular Enough

The thing with the celebrities is that the level of their popularity keeps on changing from time to time. If a KOL is extremely famous, his or her popularity may decrease after 6 months or even a year. So you should keep this thing in mind as well when appointing someone as a brand ambassador. So, the best practice is to get help from an independent agency which can help you in determining the consistency of a celebrity’s popularity over a certain period.

5.     High Endorsing KOLs May Not be the Best

While it seems ideal to get a KOL who represents a lot of brand and is popular among people, it is practically not a good practice. The main reason is that their fans start looking at them as brand representing machines, whose sole purpose is to promote different brands without caring about their quality and authenticity.

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