Have you heard about KOL Marketing strategy? Do you know what terms the acronym KOL correspond to? Would you like to know how this strategy can help you give credibility to your brand?
If you want to answer this and many other questions about this marketing strategy, don’t miss out on everything I tell you in this article.
So, without further ado, let’s get started!
Table of Contents
To understand what the KOL Marketing strategy consists of, first of all it is important to know what the acronym KOL corresponds to.
The term KOL is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is the acronym for Key Opinion Leader. In Spanish, it translates as LOC or Key Opinion Leader.
But what exactly is a KOL in Marketing?
We can say that a key opinion leader is an expert in a certain subject whose opinion is highly valued in a certain area of knowledge. And, as a consequence of his good reputation in that field, he is listened to and his opinion is valued by a wide audience.
Therefore, now we can say that the KOL Marketing strategy is based on the use of key opinion leaders to connect with the audience and give credibility to the brand, which in most cases, requires a specific demographic objective or a certain segment.
This allows the company to allocate a specific budget line to reach its specific target audience, in an authentic and powerful way, through an authority figure in a certain field.
And as a result, thanks to their reputed opinion in their specific field, their actions or opinions about a certain product or brand are capable of influencing the consumer purchasing process. In short, the KOL Marketing strategy adapts perfectly to the new relationship model between brands and their customers
It is quite common to consider both figures equally. But, as I will try to explain to you below, although there may be key opinion leaders who are influencers and influencers who are key opinion leaders, not in all cases both roles overlap
Therefore, to understand their differences, it is essential to know whether it is more appropriate for your brand to establish a KOL Marketing strategy or an Influencer Marketing strategy.
The main differences between a KOL and an Influencer are the following:
An influencer’s audience is basically in the different social media in which they have a presence. It is usually present on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Therefore, your credibility comes from your social profile, your content and your perceived authenticity.
On the contrary, a KOL may have a presence on social networks but these are not their main communication channel. His credibility comes from his professional experience, his knowledge and the time dedicated to deepening his knowledge of a certain topic.
An influencer attracts the average consumer. That is, they do not have a specific and concrete audience. Your audience can be very varied. What interests his followers is his attitude, his personality and his lifestyle. In most cases, your audience identifies with the influencer but does not belong to their same demographic segment.
On the other hand, KOLs attract a very particular and specific demographic group. Your audience values your opinion because of your experience and knowledge on a certain subject. His followers look to him for more specific advice and knowledge.
An influencer is usually a famous and well-known person. His audience is usually made up of fans or people who love what he does or says. Normally, these are singers, actors or athletes whose followers want to know everything they do and want, to the best of their ability, to imitate their performances.
While a KOL is usually a professional of recognized prestige in a certain area. His audience is made up of people who like to listen to him because they trust and respect his wisdom and knowledge. Generally, key opinion leaders are doctors, economists, engineers, marketers, dentists, etc. Therefore, your opinion is highly valued by your audience.
An influencer can help enormously to give visibility and credibility to mass consumption brands whose target audience is an average consumer.
On the other hand, a KOL can be very appropriate at the launch stage of a certain campaign to provide credibility to it. As well as, for very specific products or services that require the user to be very convinced before making the purchase decision.
There are six great benefits that KOL Marketing can bring to your corporate brand strategy:
Key opinion leaders can be one of the most effective options for reaching just the right audience or your niche. If you manage to choose the most suitable KOL for your target audience, you ensure that the people you are interested in see it and end up becoming customers.
The KOL Marketing strategy can help you build relationships of trust and credibility with the public. Keep in mind, key opinion leaders are respected people. Therefore, any message from your brand said by them helps improve user confidence in your product or services.
Many times companies spend high budgets with massive campaigns to reach their target customers. On the other hand, through the KOL Marketing strategy it is a more effective way to improve reach and positioning , reaching a more specific and ideal audience for a lower cost .
A brand, through its integrated marketing strategy, both through traditional and digital media, continually generates valuable content for its audience. But the content generated by a KOL provides an extra value of credibility, since the benefits of the brand are not said by the brand itself but rather by someone outside the brand and, furthermore, someone considered an expert in the field.
Nowadays, and as a consequence of the enormous competition in all sectors, both customer satisfaction and loyalty and building long-term relationships with them are vital for a brand. Through the KOL Marketing strategy you can enhance that connection and the beginning of a powerful relationship with the public.
KOLs or key opinion leaders can directly help the company’s sales. Any communication orchestrated by them about a certain product or brand generates an immediate boost in sales.
When establishing the KOL Marketing strategy, you need to follow the following steps:
The key principle of any marketing strategy is to be clear about where we want to go. It is essential to identify the goals that we want to achieve with said strategy at all times.
Some of the most common objectives are to increase reach, improve brand awareness, grow the number of followers on social networks or sell more product.
Keep in mind that your strategy will be different depending on the objective you want to achieve. Therefore, it is important to define what is expected from the association with KOLs. As well as the direct and indirect benefits for the product in question.
Once you are clear about where you want to go, the next thing is to plan how you are going to achieve that goal.
In the case of the KOL Marketing strategy, you will have to look for the ideal possible opinion leaders. That is, those that fit the target segment of your business and that may be the most effective in achieving the set objectives.
Additionally, the company must clearly establish what is expected of each key opinion leader to support the project and what compensation he or she will receive from the company.
In order to identify the most appropriate key opinion leaders, it is necessary to previously choose a relevance criterion. And then, accurate and reliable information is collected from each KOL.
When choosing the most suitable opinion leader for the company’s KOL Marketing strategy, it is necessary to establish the following criteria:
Once the collaboration agreement has been reached with the key opinion leaders, it is essential to provide them with detailed information about the campaign. They have to know what they can and cannot say about the product that is the object of the action.
Also, a plan for implementing objectives and measuring results must be signed. It is necessary for the KOL to be clear about what is expected of him in terms of activities so that there are no misunderstandings and the partnership is beneficial for both parties. Both must meet their expectations for the collaboration to be a success.
Some of the activities contemplated in KOL Marketing can be:
The last step, and no less important, is to analyze the degree of achievement of the objectives set at the beginning of the KOL Marketing strategy.
It is essential to measure Analyze campaign success results to know which actions are working correctly and which others need to be modified or made adjustments to correct deviations and improve results.
To achieve good results with your KOL Marketing strategy, you need to take into account the following useful tips:
Study in detail how other KOL Marketing strategies have worked, both from competitors and from the brand itself, if there have been any.
Learning from what has worked and past mistakes are the best way to improve future actions.
With this, what I want to tell you is that, when choosing a key opinion leader for your brand, do not base it on their number of followers or their degree of notoriety.
The important thing is that the style and message of the chosen KOL adapts perfectly to your brand and your message.
On the one hand, try working with different types of key opinion leaders to see what works best for you with each of them.
And on the other hand, experiment in the KOL Marketing strategy with different forms of content, different media, etc.
The important thing is that the partnership is beneficial for both parties. Both the company and the key opinion leader must feel mutually identified.
Keep in mind that fruitful and valuable relationships are only built from admiration and mutual respect.
Another fundamental aspect is that the KOL Marketing strategy is not too restrictive in terms of the way that the key opinion leader has to represent your brand.
They are well-prepared people who know how to do their jobs. Therefore, it is vital that key opinion leaders in their actions contribute their “grain of sand” and add touches of their personality to give it credibility.
As we have seen throughout this article, the KOL Marketing strategy can be an effective option to reach certain market segments. But if you do not work with a well-thought-out strategy, certain setbacks can ruin all your work. Therefore, it is important that you are clear about the main setbacks that you should avoid when planning your KOL strategy.
Not only is it vital to be very clear about what the main objective of the campaign is, but it is also essential that it be realistic and achievable.
Depending on your product life cycle, your goal can range from achieving greater awareness to increasing brand interactions or increasing sales. But, whatever your goal is, it is essential that it be quantified.
Another big problem with KOL Marketing strategy is a poorly constructed campaign summary. And it goes without saying that fluid communication between the brand and the key opinion leader is essential for the success of the campaign.
Therefore, the company must provide detailed information on the KOL’s needs. Otherwise, it will be very difficult to achieve the desired goal.
Another fairly common mistake is the incorrect choice of the KOL. Your choice is vital not only taking into account your degree of influence. You must also take into account their credibility, experience and their commitment to the brand.
The KOL Marketing strategy may be at risk if serious and in-depth research is not done prior to choosing the most appropriate key opinion leader.
It is quite common for the brand to want to control in detail any performance of the key opinion leader it has hired, from the content created to the moment of publication. This very negatively influences the credibility of the KOL and the success of the campaign.
As you already know, a key opinion leader has deep knowledge and knows how to communicate with their audience. Therefore, the brand must give you room to maneuver to be convincing and motivating. Otherwise it won’t look authentic.
As we have seen throughout the entire article, the KOL Marketing strategy is not exclusive to large brands and companies with large resources. With creativity and motivation, small businesses can also incorporate their own KOL strategy into their marketing plan.
It is clear that the KOL Marketing strategy can be incredibly useful for brands that are just starting out or for those that want to establish themselves and gain strength in their sector.
If worked properly, the KOL Marketing strategy can be tremendously beneficial not only for the brand, but also for the KOL and for the consumer.
So, if at any time you have had doubts about whether to implement this strategy or not, from now on you will be clear about its enormous advantages.
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