In recent years, Key Opinion Leader (KOL) has become an important strategy in digital marketing. This strategy is very effective because it can increase brand awareness and encourage more sales. You must have bought a product or used a service on the recommendation of someone, be it, friends or family. Word marketing is indeed quite effective in influencing someone to take action because the opinion comes from someone who is trusted.
Today, many businesses are leveraging the KOL strategy to influence more people with a wider reach. What exactly are Key Opinion Leaders? What are the benefits of KOL marketing? How to choose the right KOL?
What is KOL?
KOL stands for Key Opinion Leader. A key opinion leader is someone who has great knowledge and experience in a particular field and whose opinions are very important for the industry or the public. Its role in a product is to prove that the brand has a very good product and is approved by the experts.
With the existence of KOL in a brand, it can attract the attention of consumers to believe and buy products from that brand. In the world of marketing, the Key Opinion Leader position is very important. Even this type of marketing continues to grow so that many businesses compete with each other to get the best Key Opinion Leader.
In China, recommendations from KOL are so important that you can influence 83% of consumers. So, the role of the Key Opinion Leader is very strong in influencing consumer purchasing decisions and even attracting more consumers, and developing the business to another level. Because of their great influence, they are considered to have a greater influence than the mass media.
KOL Benefits for Brands
Using key opinion leaders for a marketing strategy can provide various benefits. Some of the benefits of KOL for brands include:
1.Help Promote Products or Brands
When a KOL does social media marketing on his account, it means he is helping the process of promoting your brand. With the number of followers you have, the chances of your business is known by many people will be even greater. Those who are interested will open your business account to find out more about the products being sold. Furthermore, there may be a transaction process in your business.
2.Increase Brand Credibility
KOL is not just a person who is known by many people, but he has experience in one field. By using KOL in marketing, your brand’s credibility can experience positive changes. Prospective consumers who see promotions from your KOL can certainly be easier to believe and be influenced by recommendations to finally choose your brand compared to competitors.
3. Increase the Number of Customers
When the credibility of your brand increases, the number of customers will also increase. Apart from the marketing carried out by KOL on its social media, an increase in the number of customers can also be obtained from the positive reviews submitted by customers to the people around them. Thus, your new customers can come from anywhere.
Tips for Choosing the Right KOL
| No | Tips for Choosing the Right KOL | Description |
| 1 | Relevance | Find out how relevant the KOL figure is for the target market. If the business is in the cosmetic field, the most relevant choice for KOL is a dermatologist or beauty specialist |
| 2 | Reach | The power of a Key Opinion Leader’s influence in the public can help you reach your audience more effectively |
| 3 | Engagement | Must choose the right figure with the number of fans or followers who are not only large but also active. The resulting engagement will also increase business sales |
| 4 | Influence | Key opinion is more than just an influencer or social media celebrity but can also provide advice and a kind of consultation in using the product to the audience |
4.Reaching the Right Target Market
KOL can choose a more homogeneous and specific audience group. By collaborating with KOL, the marketing message you want to convey can be reached by the right target market according to your business niche. For example, if you sell food products, then use KOL services from people who are experts in the culinary field such as chefs or food bloggers who are well known by many people.
5.Increase Engagement
Because KOL can reach the target audience correctly, you will get more engagement. The message conveyed can be reached by customers who are interested in your business niche. Thus, an effective KOL can help increase customer engagement in your business.
However, you must remember that when you have someone to be your business KOL then use an active KOL in communicating with the audience group. If not, then there is very little chance of being able to increase engagement properly.
6.Drive More Sales
KOL also can influence a person. KOL can help introduce a company’s product or service so that more new consumers know about it. This will ultimately build consumer confidence and encourage more sales.
In addition, it must be remembered that most consumers trust word marketing more than paid advertising. If the word-of-mouth marketing strategy is delivered by an expert in the field, it will certainly make more people believe it.
FAQ
What is KOL Marketing?
-KOL campaign is one of the marketing methods in the digital era that focuses on utilizing the number of fans on social media to communicate marketing messages from your business.
What is the difference between a KOL and a Key Opinion Leader (KOL)?
-A KOL is not always an active influencer on social media. Meanwhile, influencers are very active in managing the content on their social media, having the possibility of having many fans from various regions or having fans in various parts of the world.