16 February 2022
According to data from Tianyancha, from 2011 to 2020, the number of beauty and skincare brands in China continued to grow, showing a significant increase from 2018. By 2020, that number reached 2.5 million.
In such a competitive market, it is more crucial than ever for brands to identify, develop and adapt the most effective campaign strategies to increase brand exposure, build trust with target audiences and boost market penetration. Now more than ever, it is essential for brands to cultivate loyal consumer communities.
In 2021, short videos were the most effective means of building trust and increasing consumption in China. Across industries, KOLs and KOCs leverage short video content to introduce new products to their followers.
Short videos are a more intimate form of influencer content and enables both KOLs and KOCs to build a stronger rapport with general consumers.
Let’s see how a successful KOL+KOC campaign is developed. For this example, we’ll look at a hypothetical campaign for a beauty brand.
When planning a KOL+KOC campaign for a new lipstick line, the brand will first need to identify its target audience which is usually determined by brand identity and product characteristics. For example, a lipstick brand that markets its products as “convenient” and ‘hassle-free’ are probably more likely to target consumers who are all about fast, easy makeup.
To reach audiences in this industry subset, the brand will select KOLs and KOCs that deliver related content to their followers across different social platforms. With an exclusive 4 million-strong influencer community, the PJdaren platform enables brands to select the right influencers for each activation.
Next, the beauty brand will collect campaign data on KOL+KOC content performance. The brand will want to understand how its KOL+KOC content aligns with its identity and DNA, how many engagements the campaign has accumulated and how general consumers are responding to its products, all of which ultimately factor into the brand’s ROI analysis.
Furthermore, the brand will be keen to review the impact of the campaign’s performance on metrics such as unique flagship store visits, e-commerce keyword search increases, sales lift and more.
This is where real-time campaign data comes into play. By evaluating campaign statistics as they come in, the brand can clearly visualise KOL+KOC distribution and understand content metrics across China social platforms, such as interaction, search volume and engagements.
The brand will then continue to track and monitor live campaign metrics and adjust the campaign as needed to adapt to the dynamic landscape of social media. This helps ensure that the needs of the brand and the campaign’s influencer content are on the same page, enhancing the efficacy and influence of the brand’s combination KOL+KOC strategy.
Let’s take a look at how this plays out in reality. Korean skincare brand Sulwhasoo launched its “Concentrated Ginseng Rescue Ampoule” line of active beauty ginsenoside serums. For this activation, PJdaren developed a combination KOL+KOC strategy to inspire interest and conversations among skincare users on Douyin and Xiaohongshu, generate awareness and anticipation of the serum line among Sulwhasoo’s target audience and deliver the brand message and core values to general consumers at large.
For this campaign’s combination KOL+KOC strategy, PJdaren recommended 6 top-tier KOLs, 24 mid-tier KOLs, 35 micro-KOLs and 400 KOCs from PJdaren’s exclusive influencer community. Sulwhasoo and PJdaren teams worked together to plan and implement the content direction for this campaign.
During the campaign, Sulwhasoo used the PJdaren platform to monitor KOL+KOC post activity, track and measure influencer data in real time and generate on-demand reports to analyse campaign performance.
In the end, Sulwhasoo’s campaign recorded 23.1 million impressions and 695k+ engagements.
Successful China influencer marketing campaigns necessitate a combination KOL+KOC strategy. In addition, informed influencer selection and real-time performance tracking is crucial to maximising the efficacy of any KOL+KOC/influencer activation. Furthermore, a campaign’s efficacy also depends on tactical campaign messages. The PJdaren platform does all of these things so you don’t have to, taking the pain out of campaigns, one brand at a time. If this sounds like music to your ears, contact us to learn more about our platform, services and community.
About 评价达人 – PJdaren:
Since 2016, PJdaren has helped some of the world’s largest brands build trust, collect insights and drive sales in China by engaging Key Opinion Consumers (KOCs) and Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) through our state-of-the-art influencer marketing platform.
Our software and services connect brands with our over 4 million-strong KOC and KOL community. We facilitate targeted, authentic conversations and content, enabling brands to capture the market with measurable results.
