With the explosion from social media platforms to e-commerce platforms, Influencer Marketing has become a very powerful tool for businesses to maximize their revenue. In recent years, with the emergence of countless influencers, accessing this marketing model has become even easier.
KOL and KOC are concepts that have been around for a long time, but only some clearly understand their meaning and differences. Let’s find out with Ecomobi about KOL and KOC now!
What are KOL and KOC?
KOL (or Key Opinion Leader) is a famous person who has expertise in a certain field and is trusted by everyone. KOLs can be celebrities, superstars or famous social media influencers that have established themselves, that are paid to promote a product or service on their personal page. Due to their great influence, KOL will be more suitable when used widely in popular media.
Once a KOL gives his or her thoughts about a certain product or service, this is most likely part of a promotional campaign. The promoted product or service will be easily accepted quickly from their reputation.
KOC (or Key Opinion Consumer) are consumers with great influence in the market. Their job is to test products and services and provide comments and reviews.
KOC includes individuals and groups of users who test products/services on the market and then provide their own objective and professional assessments to influence the purchasing decisions of those people. followers. KOC operates through reviews, comments, and shares on social media platforms, blogs, and popular media channels today. KOC is used by brands and businesses to promote products and increase customer trust in their brands.
In recent years, KOC has grown strongly in the Asian market and has been included in their advertising strategies by some Western countries.
The difference between KOL and KOC
Function
KOL will be responsible for ensuring brand coverage of products and services in the market. For KOC, the task is somewhat heavier, intending to make customers realize the value of products and services. Evaluations from KOC are objective and neutral, to provide the most accurate view. While KOLs are often paid a certain fee for each promotional campaign, KOCs are not. In return, KOC will receive income from product introductions, thereby receiving commissions.
Expertise
KOLs must have extensive expertise in their field to build trust and guide users. This depth of knowledge not only lends credibility to their opinions but also enables them to provide valuable insights and guidance to their followers. Meanwhile, KOCs do not need to have extensive professional knowledge, they just stand as consumers to experience the product/service, and then make an objective assessment to convince others.
Proactivity
Usually, KOLs will not actively look for jobs. Normally, brands will proactively contact and offer advertising invitations for products/services, and then KOLs will be paid with the agreed amount. On the other hand, KOCs themselves choose the products/services they want to experience and give their own reviews and feelings objectively. KOC also proactively searches and contacts brands to request cooperation to review their products/services, done authentically, not based on scripts like KOLs.
Professionalism
KOLs often have a very professional working style, from content planning to personal image management. They often have a support team, clear contracts, and standard working procedures to ensure efficiency and reputation. KOCs usually share real-life experiences from a consumer’s perspective, without too many brand or contract constraints, and often without a professional support team.
Benefits of KOL and KOC
Benefits of KOL
There are many advantages KOLs can bring to brands and businesses. First of all, KOLs help build and enhance brand reputation thanks to their reliability and influence in the community. When KOLs introduce or use products, followers often trust them and tend to use them, helping to increase marketing effectiveness and boost sales. If this KOL is highly influential and has built strong trust from followers, as soon as the product is introduced, many fans may rush to buy that product, leading to a situation where The product quickly goes out of stock on retail shelves and online. This demonstrates the power of KOLs in creating market demand and directly impacting sales.
Benefits of KOC
Even though KOCs do not have as many followers as KOLs, they can still bring tremendous benefits to brands and businesses. First of all, using KOCs can help enhance customer trust in the brand because KOC helps increase customer trust in brands through honest sharing about products/services, helping others get a true and trustworthy view of them, thereby helping them make smarter purchasing decisions.
KOC can also help create a widespread spread of information about the brand’s products/services through sharing on media platforms, blogs, websites, etc. These shares can reach the public. a large number of potential customers, helping the business’s brand, products/services become better known.
Another thing is that KOC can influence customers’ purchasing decisions through sharing experiences of using the brand’s products and services. These shares can help customers get a true, reliable view of that product/service, thereby helping them make more accurate and correct purchasing decisions.
Finally, KOC can help reduce a business’s advertising costs if their shares are spread on social media platforms, and blogs,… and they are free. Therefore, using KOC can be a cost-saving solution in a business’s Marketing strategy.
When to use KOL and KOC?
When to use KOL?
- Increase awareness for the brand and product: Businesses should use KOLs when they aim to boost visibility and recognition for their brand or product. By leveraging the KOL’s influence and large following, companies can reach a wider audience, and introduce their offerings to a large group of potential customers.
- Brand Ambassador: Appointing a KOL as a brand ambassador is a strategic move when a business wants a consistent and long-term partnership to promote its values and products. A KOL as a brand ambassador continuously represents the brand across various platforms, reinforcing brand identity, building trust with their followers, and ensuring that the brand remains top-of-mind for consumers over time. This role is ideal for sustaining engagement and loyalty among the target audience.
When to use KOC?
- Increase Revenue Short Term: KOCs are ideal for generating quick sales spikes by creating trust through real reviews, a product can quickly achieve large sales within an immediate period. With the booming of social media, these reviews by KOCs can potentially get 1 million views, which can boost sales significantly.
- Increase conversions: KOCs excel at turning potential leads into actual customers. Their ability to connect with audiences on a personal level enhances the credibility of the products they endorse. With the connection, customers will feel more trusted in the Influencers, which leads to trust in the brands.
5 factors you need to become a KOL and KOC
Understand your strengths
To become an influencer, the first thing you need to do is to identify the fields you are interested in and have a deep understanding of them. Nowadays there are unlimited fields that people can do. You can choose from fashion, technology, beauty, or sport, as long as you love it and have a sufficient amount of knowledge about that category.
You should leverage your unique skills, such as deep product knowledge, a creative presentation style, or a strong connection to a specific community, to make a difference.
Expertise
It is crucial to possess extensive knowledge about the topics you cover as a KOL and KOC, as it will help you become a trustworthy source of information, thereby increasing your influence and trust of your followers. Stay up to date with the latest trends and developments in your field to maintain relevance and credibility.
For example, if your channels mainly promote cosmetic products, you will also need to find out carefully about the source, origin, whether this product is safe, of good quality, etc. Because when customers trust and buy the product you advertise, it is not good. As you say, your image and reputation will be seriously affected.
Since you are an influential person to the majority of your followers. That’s why your opinions, information, or opinions need to be highly accurate. This requires you to always improve your knowledge so as not to “mistake” in your activities.
Continuous learning
The digital landscape is always changing, so you need to keep learning to stay ahead. This can include embracing new tools, platforms, and strategies that enhance content and engagement. Working as a KOL and KOC means you will have to update with changes constantly.
At any time, in the field you are working in, there will be new trends and new content aspects that you can grasp. Besides, you can also be proactively creative to create appeal and attraction in your content. Because the audience always loves such new things!
Build relationships with audiences
This is true when you want to develop towards a professional KOL and KOC. Networking and relationships are extremely essential for your work. Collaboration can help you go faster and bring certain benefits.
For example, when combining to create content with another KOL and KOC, you will have the opportunity to experience many fields as well as reach a broader audience of new audiences. To achieve that, one of the first requirements is that you need to build your brand as well as prove to people that this is a mutually beneficial collaboration.
To build a loyal community, you need to regularly interact with your followers, respond to comments, participate in conversations, and show appreciation for their support.
Be patience
Success doesn’t come instantly; it requires a long-term commitment to creating quality content, building an audience, and refining strategy over time. Be ready to face challenges and difficulties, patience and perseverance are the keys to overcoming obstacles and achieving your long-term goals.
Conclusion
In summary, while KOLs offer broad brand visibility through their established expertise and celebrity status, KOCs provide authentic, grassroots influence that drives trust and conversion. By strategically utilizing both KOLs and KOCs, brands can maximize their reach and impact, ultimately achieving greater success in their marketing efforts. Many KOLs and KOCs have succeeded with Ecomobi, let’s work together to unlock new opportunities and reach your fullest potential.
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