The use of KOLs (key opinion leaders or influencers) in marketing is getting more popular than ever. These KOLs have a significant number of followers, which makes it super easy to promote a brand or make something go viral. Since KOLs can bring instant awareness and sale, brands turn to KOLs as if it’s a must-have in their strategies. However, a poor choice or overuse of KOLs can make a marketing effort too promotional and unpersuasive.
If you are considering using KOLs in the Vietnamese market, here are a few things to consider:
1) Mind your objectives
It is important to decide which and how many KOLs to work with. If your marketing campaign needs a strong viral effect and wide spread, the option of choosing mid-range KOLs in large quantities is the most suitable. If you want sustainable credibility, you can opt for quality over quantity. Do not use KOLs with no clear marketing goals just because others are using KOLs too.
2) Create believable content
With the development of social media, brand names that a KOL endorse also appears on his or her personal profiles – where it’s supposed to have a keen sense of individuality. Posts with empty praising words are too often seen-and-ignored by internet users. The audience needs authentic product experience and useful information. Nowadays consumers are smart and starting to grow out of content that lacks the signature spark they love from their endeared KOLs.
3. Bear in mind that KOLs marketing is a double-edged sword
KOLs can get involved with scandals at any minute so make sure you have a backup plan handy for these unexpected situations. Also, be prepared for negative reactions on social media, keep a keen eye on the public response and be ready to cope with anything to come.
4. Maintain good relationships with KOLs
KOLs are just like any other consumers, they have their own favorite brands and products, they could naturally endorse these favorites to their audience. Therefore, always maintain good relationships with ones that are most suitable to your brand, both on and off contract, so that they’ll always speak kind words of you to everyone.
5. Monitor results
It isn’t a day’s work to measure the real effectiveness of using KOLs in your marketing campaign, it depends much on the objectives that you first set out to achieve as well as your choice of advertising tools.
If you run a branding campaign and need to spread information out widely, the number-one concern should be on the amount of interaction your KOLs bring, the reach and engagement. If the information is under a shared-link format, mind the number of direct clicks on the link or the number of likes to your post.
If you want a long-term result, comments and shares are numbers that speak. Whether to extend your contracts with KOLs then depends on the KOLs’ enthusiasm in engaging with their fans. The last thing you’d want is someone who leaves minimal or no replies to the comments of their interested fans.
To measure the success of your KOLs marketing campaign, set specific goals and specific KPIs. Keep track of these numbers and listen to the public opinion (negative and positive) to best utilize this marketing tactic.
By: Clāra Ly-Le, Managing Director of @EloQ Communications (formerly Vero IMC Vietnam).
For the translated article in Vietnamese, please click here. You can also follow our series on influencer marketing for more updates.
X-posted on EloQ’s Blog.