If you’re serious about building your Western marketing brand in China, you’ll already be investing in Key Opinion Leader (KOL) relationships as a key marketing channel for your business.

Key Opinion Leaders, or KOLs, are the Chinese equivalent of Western influencers. However, the sway and respect that they hold amongst their followers tends to be far more profound and impactful than with Western equivalents.

Chinese customers greatly value their chosen KOLs and will take their recommendations on board when making purchasing decisions. The relationship can be far more influential and impactful than we see with influencers in the West.

So what does this mean for Western brands?

Firstly, although the initial priority will be to select KOLs that closely align with your brand and target market, it’s essential to then invest in the relationship with your chosen opinion leader to maximise its value. As with all things in business, good communication and efforts towards mutually beneficial relationship building will pay off for longer-term benefits.

How to Maximise the KOL Relationship

These tips will help you to maximise the KOL relationship as part of your broader Chinese digital marketing strategy:

1. Know how important KOLs are to your marketing

KOLs are hugely important to your Chinese digital marketing success, and a strong relationship can help you build trust, credibility and recognition within your target marketplace. By respecting the role of KOLs and seeking to really understand their power in China, you will be well placed to invest in this powerful relationship and vital channel within your broader Chinese digital marketing strategy.

2. Work with the right KOLs

There are thousands of KOLs in China, but it’s essential to find the right ones for your brand. This could mean working with influencer agencies in China, scouring social media yourself or using online resources, professional networks and other more targeted searches, depending on your industry and target market.

You’ll need to engage systematically with potential KOLs by understanding their follower audience, speciality area, interests and availability. Remember that the most well-known KOL with the biggest follower base might not actually be the most valuable for your particular brand, as sometimes the more niche influencers have better conversion rates for brands, depending on the closeness of their follower base and their power as influencers.

Look closely at the work and track record of potential influencers and engage with them to get a sense of their ideas, creativity, commitment and willingness to collaborate with your brand.

3. Build meaningful connections

Invest in your KOLs and provide data on the campaigns and sponsorship arrangements you have run with them, so they can understand how effective their work is proving to be. KOLs are professionals with specialist tasks, and data-driven feedback will help them to develop professionally and adjust their approaches too to unlock even greater value for your business.

This is a win-win, as a successful KOL can charge more, but only by delivering even higher results and more impressive campaign ROI figures to their clients. The more meaningful you can be with information exchanging, feedback, discussions, idea planning and overall engagement, the better your results are likely to be over time.

4. Listen to your KOL’s expertise

Chinese KOLs are the experts in their field, so show that you are interested in their knowledge and value it. Listen to their insights, perspectives and concerns, and act on what they tell you. Remember that KOLs are social media influencing professionals and have close relationships with their followers.

They will have a vested interest in nurturing and following their follower base and will only work on sponsorship, partnership and advertising arrangements with brands that they feel will be good for their followers and that they are happy to recommend. Your KOL may well have ideas for posts, videos, competitions and styles of campaigns that could work particularly well for your brand and its audience, whether that’s a product showcase, advertorial, storytelling opportunity or explainer video.

They will know their followers and what they value. After all, their own influencer success and income are on the line! So the more proactive you can be with information exchanging, expertise sharing and discussion about your mutually aligned goals, the better the results of your partnership are likely to be.

5. Focus on long-term goals

If you nurture good KOL relationships, you will unlock mutually beneficial advantages that can grow over time. Show respect to your KOLs and demonstrate that you value the relationship and they will be far more inclined to build long-term benefits over time by really investing in your brand and the professional relationship.

KOLs form in-depth relationships with their followers and can be incredibly successful when it comes to promotions, sponsorship, sales, and marketing, so long-term partnerships can unlock excellent results for conversions and the building of brand loyalty.

6. Work with a Chinese digital marketing agency

It can be challenging to build a strong relationship with a KOL in China because of the language, culture and business differences, but a Chinese digital marketing agency can help you overcome these obstacles and fast-track your KOL success.

At Market Me China, we already have excellent connections with KOLs in various fields, as well as access to successful KOLs across different industries, allowing our clients to pinpoint the right influencers for their brands and to rapidly nurture profitable new sponsorship arrangements that unlock measurable results. Our team can help to manage these relationships and maximise their benefits.

In Conclusion

It will take time, consistent effort, and great communication to build strong KOL relationships. However, the benefits of doing so can be excellent and greatly improve the bottom line of your Chinese digital marketing efforts in China.

Find out more

Keen to move ahead with a profitable KOL arrangement? Please contact Market Me China today to find out more! Our team of native Chinese marketers can help you develop excellent KOL relationships as part of a broader Chinese digital marketing strategy.

We are an effective team of digital marketing professionals with native Chinese language skills and an excellent track record. Please contact us for a chat and to discuss your needs, and we will be delighted to assist.