Phạm TúIn today’s advertising landscape, KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders) play a crucial role in brand campaigns. These figures, including singers, actors, experts, and others, wield significant influence over their followers.
While the effectiveness of KOL marketing is undeniable, the rapid growth of the economy and fierce competition in e-commerce have given rise to a new form of influence, touted as even more productive in building brand image: KOCs (Key Opinion Consumers).
1. Key Opinion Consumer
This concept builds upon the foundation of KOL activity, providing insights and perspectives on products to guide consumer behavior. However, instead of originating from key leaders with broad influence, these insights come from key consumers – those who are among the first to use a product and generate deeper impact.
While KOLs ensure brand reach, KOCs are responsible for providing authentic product reviews. KOC opinions represent the general perception of everyday consumers towards a product. Their primary value lies in their relatability and trustworthiness.
KOCs are product testers who offer honest opinions and recommendations. They excel at summarizing consumer feedback. In large markets like China, the US, and Europe, where consumers are bombarded with various forms of advertising daily, this raw and authentic approach is incredibly appealing and influential in purchasing decisions.
2. Two Key Differences Between KOCs and KOLs
- Proactiveness: Brands actively select and contact KOLs, engaging them through monetary compensation or incentives to promote products and services. KOCs, on the other hand, are consumers first. They initiate the process of trying and reviewing products that genuinely interest them, without being influenced by external benefits.
- Audience Size: KOLs are categorized based on their follower count, such as Nano KOLs (5,000 – 10,000 followers) and celebrities (millions of followers). For KOCs, audience size is not a primary criterion. Brands leverage KOCs to gauge satisfaction levels and market reactions to products.
- Authenticity: KOC reviews hold more credibility with audiences because product testing and evaluation are their forte. In contrast, KOL followers are aware of the paid collaborations between brands and influencers, making their authenticity less potent compared to KOCs.
3. Two Main Reasons to Adopt KOC Marketing
- KOCs are the perfect blend of KOL and CRM: CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is a vital marketing strategy for any company, helping to maintain and improve customer relationships and drive sales. KOLs, on the other hand, are channels that create a positive impact on brand image through their relationships with followers. KOC opinions, coming directly from consumers, combine the benefits of CRM and KOL. Marketers need to identify potential profiles, authenticity, and creativity within their consumer base and turn them into KOCs.
- Consumer reviews strongly impact potential customers: Over 70% of consumers agree that online reviews play a major role in their decision-making process. Incorporating KOCs into marketing strategies benefits businesses by increasing brand credibility.
Steps to activate a KOC campaign:
- Connect with customers and create an environment where they can review products. This allows brands to increase interaction with their audience and build a community around the brand.
- After connecting, gather reviews to identify potential KOCs. Those who love sharing their experiences on social media and possess diverse content creation skills (combining images, videos, etc.) are ideal KOCs.
- Approach these KOCs, discuss your brand and products, and gather their feedback.
While KOCs may be the latest trend in Influencer Marketing, achieving maximum effectiveness requires marketers to diversify their strategies. Whether utilizing KOLs or KOCs, the winning formula always lies in the right combination of influencers, target audience, positive brand messaging, and distribution channels.
