Although influencer marketing is a powerful tool to increase both on and offline sales, the traditional way of posting photos is getting old and repetitive. In order to excite your audience and gather all the attention, we suggest 5 innovative ways to carry out KOL marketing in Asia!
1 – Explore beyond the KOLs’ usual content and leverage their storytelling potentials
Although brands choose influencers based on multiple criteria, they tend to pick profiles that are more relevant to the brand’s product or services. However, brands are starting to focus on each influencers background and personalities, regardless of their unapparent connection to the product. The goal? To create more unique content and uncommon storytelling. All brands know how important it is to create strong storytelling since it helps to connect with customers and make them more likely to purchase.
MediLASE saw the devotion and commitment of Hong Kong KOLs Utah Lee and Emi Wong towards fitness, and connected this to the company’s mission in providing the best service.
2 – Surprise your audience with an innovative twist
Creativity is also core to a successful campaign. Hence, marketers will prefer influencers that know how to create a bonding experience between the brand and the audience with an unexpected angle. Surrealhk‘s ability to integrate the concept of time with the fast-paced lifestyle of the city gained followers’ appreciation such as ” thanks for adding that special angle to Hong Kong”.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BijZJPnFI83/?utm_source=ig_web_options_share_sheet
3 – Include O2O elements in your influencer marketing campaigns
Using influencers for an O2O (Online to offline) campaign can help to drive the public towards your physical location. If you are running an event offline, consider bringing influencers to the event. This helps to capture the moments live and let the content stay online indefinitely. The online audience is looking for behind the scenes testimonials, and how they may get involved. This type of campaign is an efficient way to introduce and increase the credibility of the products.
M.A.C. renovated its Shanghai store and included interactive LED screens that display KOL testimonials from Little Red Book.
Source: Jing Daily
4 – Allow KOLs to take over the creative direction from the get-go
Typically, brands work on the creative direction for each campaign and send them over to the KOL. However, depending on the influencer’s profile, some brands are willing to take risks by letting the KOL take over the overall creative direction.
Stuart Weitzman invited Zola Zhang to be the style director and coordinate its fashion show for 3 cities in China, by designing 30 outfits to match the luxury brands’ shoes. After the show ended, Zola then shared on her WeChat official account the whole experience, garnering 100K+ reads.
Source:@sisterinlaw
5 – Utilize the influencers’ expertise for product conception
Some brands also bring collaboration to the next step by involving KOLs when designing and crafting new products. This helps to create a consistent experience for fans. This type of influencer marketing is frequently seen in Asia, especially with Chinese influencers such as Tao Liang. He is a Chinese influencer who accumulated millions of followers for his unique insights and taste for luxury handbags. He then collaborated with famous luxury brands such as Montblanc, Longchamp, Givenchy, etc. to create limited editions bags–featuring his Weibo handle Mr. Bags.
Source: Mr.Bag’s Weibo
And most importantly, think out of the box!
If you are interested in implementing KOL marketing in Asia, contact us now!
