Social media platforms are your gateway to KOL marketing. According to Accenture, 70% of Chinese born after 1995 prefer to buy products directly through social media over other channels. In other parts of the world, this is just 44%. Additionally, McKinsey China said his 50% of mainland digital consumers use social channels to research products or get recommendations.

When it comes to social commerce, taking full advantage of all the features that China’s popular platform has to offer is the way to make an impact with your KOL campaigns. Depending on the sector, certain apps perform better with his KOL and generate more Media Impact Value™ (MIV®) than others.

For example, on Xiaohongshu, top beauty brands had 42% more distribution than top fashion brands, while the latter had 58% more distribution on Weibo. Take Tom Ford Beauty for example, their MIV® distribution had his MIV® share of 67% on platform Xiaohongshu and 24% on Weibo, while Burberry Fashion had 55% on his Weibo. , was 20% in Xiaohongshu. Beauty naturally resonates strongly on platforms like Xiaohongshu by providing more space for educational content such as beauty tricks, styles, trends, and even product reviews.

The official account page of Burberry and Tom Ford Beauty in Xiaohongshu.Photo: screenshot

Interestingly (though not shockingly), domestic players tend to be different. The beauty company confirmed that he has 69% more MIV® shares in Douyin than in the fashion industry. For example, Perfect His Diary got him 96% more in his MIV® distribution on the app than his Li-Ning, the sportswear giant. Meanwhile, the fashion house saw a 68% increase in the distribution of his MIV® on Weibo. Local clothing brand Shushu/Tong had him 49% more in his MIV® than Into You in the same beauty department. Short-form video platforms such as Douyin have also proven to resonate with beauty, as KOLs and creators are now free to choose the type of content they share, and that content is digestible for viewers. Douyin is a leader in its field, and domestic companies using Douyin understand its power.

Taking it one step further and analyzing campaigns featuring KOLs, these generate 85% more MIV® than the top fashion outfits. Look at Lancôme, which produced 152% more MIV® than Chanel fashion. Interestingly, this gap was even wider among domestic companies. Globally, Chinese beauty establishments produced nearly nine times more his MIV® than the fashion industry, and Florasis’s MIV® was 20 times more than his Icicle. This goes hand in hand with the strength of beauty brands in the country today, and Oushiman (OSM) exemplifies this well. The group generated $13.3 million (RMB 92.1 million) in his MIV® in Q1 2022 versus $1.4 million (RMB 9.7 million) in Q2 2022, in just one year. It showed an amazing growth rate of 848%. By comparison, Chinese fashion lines have not received the same treatment as the market is still dominated by Western competitors.

Finding the right platform and the right KOLs for your campaign can be a long and difficult road. This makes it even more important to keep your campaign goals in mind. Keep your vision clear whether it’s driving sales, building awareness, or building your brand image.

This is an editorial article that reflects the views of the author and does not necessarily represent the views of Jing Daily.

Kim Leitzes is MD for APAC at Launchmetrics.