2020 Mid-level KOL Marketing Development Report

For brand owners, how to obtain effective traffic is a common concern of all practitioners.

For mid-level KOLs, "monetization" has always been a problem. It is difficult to cooperate with big brand advertisers, and the trial and error costs of other emerging brands are high. How to maintain a balance between commercialization and maintaining fans has become a real problem faced by these influencers.

In today's era where the traffic dividend is gradually disappearing, advertisers are more urgently in need of cooperating with more accurate and cost-effective KOLs. Compared with the top KOLs, what is the value of investing in mid-level KOLs? Are their characteristics more influential in different marketing scenarios?

Focusing on these practical problems and difficulties, Weiboyi joined hands with the School of Advertising of Communication University of China to jointly release the "Small Individuals, Big Potential: 2020 Mid- and Low-Level KOL Marketing Development Report" based on Weiboyi's social media big data.

The core contents of the report are shared as follows:

——Core Findings——

In 2019, advertisers began to accelerate their entry into short video KOL marketing. KOL became the standard for brand social media marketing and simultaneously presented three major marketing trends.

Combining relevant transaction data, Weibo found that mid-level KOLs have the following four characteristics.

——The current situation of short video KOL marketing——

KOL has become the standard for brand social media marketing

Keywords: Short videos are gaining popularity, KOL marketing value is highlighted, top KOLs have a high reinvestment rate, and mid-level KOLs are rising strongly

In the short video industry. In the first half of 2019, the number of monthly active users reached 821 million, a year-on-year increase of 32%. The average monthly usage time per person exceeded 22 hours, a year-on-year increase of 8.6%. Relevant data shows that short video KOL marketing has become the most recognized social marketing method by advertisers in 2019.

In terms of commercial value. Here are two sets of data: 52% of users will refer to KOL recommendation posts before purchasing, and 33% of users will make a purchase after seeing KOL recommendation posts. It can be found that KOL has become a key factor influencing consumers' minds with advantages such as high-quality content, fan influence, and professional capabilities in niche areas. This also directly reflects the growth in short video KOL intended orders created in the past year.

(Data from Weibo Trading Platform)

In terms of delivery preference. Advertisers in popular industries such as beauty and daily chemicals, 3C digital products, and food and beverages prefer social media advertising, with the two Weibo platforms as the main advertising platforms. The advertising value of Douyin and Xiaohongshu platforms is gradually emerging. At the same time, the marketing value of short video KOLs continues to shift to vertical fields, covering deeper and wider circles of users. To a certain extent, vertical KOLs have established their own traffic circles. In terms of the number of orders received, the top KOLs are about twice as many as the mid- and lower-level KOLs.

——The potential energy of mid-level KOLs is fully released——

Keywords: circle influence, increased interaction rate, strong breakthrough with high cost performance, mandatory rate and cooperation degree, more accurate content quality

For mid-level KOLs, we use the seven dimensions shown in the above figure as the basic indicators for analysis and evaluation. The core advantages and competitiveness of the mid-waist are summarized as follows.

1. The influence of reaching circles.

The consumer circles reached by mid-level KOLs are more diverse. In terms of fans’ gender and age, the mid-level outreach is more balanced. In terms of urban distribution, the mid- and lower-tier cities have good penetration in the new first-tier cities. In terms of the distribution of consumption levels of fans of various types of accounts, the performance of low- and medium-consumption audiences is more obvious in mid- and low-tier accounts.

(Data from Weibo Trading Platform)

At the same time, the content of mid-level KOLs is more targeted in vertical fields. However, because the fans of the top accounts are relatively widely distributed, the audience concentration of their fans' interest in this field is diluted to a certain extent. The TGI (Target Group Index) data in the figure below shows that the average of mid-tier accounts is nearly 30% higher than that of top accounts, and 34% higher than that of bottom accounts.

2. High authenticity and credibility

The fans and traffic of mid-level KOLs are relatively more real. Regarding the data of accounts on the Weibo and WeChat platforms, we selected data from January to August 2019 for analysis. We found that, on the one hand, the mid-level accounts had the lowest data abnormality performance on these two platforms. On the other hand, compared with the top KOLs, the quality and conversion rate of fans of the niche but highly accurate mid-level KOLs are relatively good, and the delivery effect is outstanding.

3. User Engagement

We selected the data performance of WeChat, Kuaishou and Bilibili from January to August this year. In general, in terms of reading data, the top accounts have the highest reading data among the three; while mid-level KOLs pay more attention to fan interaction, which is more suitable for educating fans about brand concepts and generating resonance among them.

4. Content relevance

In this part, we also conducted a comparative analysis of fan comments on the content posted by top and mid-level accounts. It can be found that in the content of interaction among fans of the top accounts, the relevance of mentioning KOL individuals is relatively high, accounting for 49%, while the fans in the middle and lower levels pay more attention to the introduced products themselves, which is nearly 1.5 times higher than that of the top accounts.

5. Emotional guidance ability

A large part of the value of social media marketing lies in emotional guidance, and this trust can directly lead to product conversion. The figure below shows the performance of social indicators of the two types of accounts. By comparison, it can be found that the marketing index, that is, the coverage volume, of the top accounts is higher, while in terms of emotional index and actual purchase intention, the mid- and lower-level accounts perform better.

6. Cost-effectiveness of advertising

In terms of the actual execution price, the order price of the top accounts is 2.2 times that of the mid- and lower-tier accounts, and the price ratios on each platform are relatively stable. Judging from the completed orders, the ROI value of the mid-waist segment has been growing steadily. From Q3 2018 to Q2 2019, it increased by 87.5% , which is a very strong performance.

From a cost perspective, combining the performance of the two key dimensions of reading and interaction on the Weibo and WeChat platforms, Weibo.com found that the top accounts have greater diffusion advantages, and are therefore more suitable for brand exposure, while the mid- and lower-level accounts have higher cost-effectiveness in interactive marketing due to their interactive performance.

Remark:

CPM stands for cost per thousand views. It is a paid advertisement for display. It is usually for display purpose and has better exposure effect.

CPE (cost per engagement), payment based on participation, interactive marketing has better effect.

7. Satisfaction with cooperation

Regarding the cooperation satisfaction that advertisers value very much, we have set two data dimensions, the account's order execution rate and the order-taking effect for evaluation. It can be found that the order execution rate of mid- and lower-tier accounts reached the highest 50% , while the corresponding data for the top and bottom accounts were 30% and 20% respectively, with a significant gap. In terms of the evaluation of order-taking effects, the mid- and low-end accounts all exceeded 4.7 in all three indicators, and in terms of the most important effect satisfaction, the mid- and low-end accounts took the lead.

Having summarized the advantages and features of the above 7 mid-tier accounts, we also provide accounts as cases to make more specific demonstrations, so as to help advertisers reach cognition.

The expert @菊椒男孩, who specializes in hilarious dialect commentary to fill the movie shortage, focuses on the field of film. Covering all platforms, the total number of fans exceeds 6 million, and the total online playback volume exceeds 1 billion. The account has established four advantages: matrix, vertical track, high-quality content, and traffic monetization.

On the other hand, a high account reinvestment rate is also a good indicator of quality, so the report lists the four mid-level accounts with the highest number of advertiser reinvestments on the Douyin platform in the past six months as a reference.

Chapter Summary

The core advantages and competitiveness of mid-level accounts are mainly reflected in four aspects:

——Brand launch strategy and case analysis——

Comprehensive marketing goals for targeted KOL placement

Keywords: brand marketing goals, KOL marketing matrix, ecological win-win, typical cases

In this part of the report, we analyzed the communication needs of Weibo advertisers in Q1, of which exposure demand accounted for 80%, 43% of the demand was for e-commerce traffic, and 18% was for selling goods. Furthermore, in terms of the overall delivery process, we also found that the identification and screening of high-quality KOL resources has become the most critical link. In this part, advertisers prefer the screening methods based on the data and content style provided by Weibo.

Based on the above delivery process and descriptions of each KOL type, and combined with actual customer service data and experience, Weibo shares two delivery strategies as follows.

1. “KOX” integrates seeding. KOL+KOC, the orderly combination of different accounts detonates the brand. This marketing model is suitable for marketing purposes after brand education has been done in the early stages and after new or niche brands are officially launched. Achieve marketing goals according to the six execution stages of "test", "bury", "dig", "broadcast", "explode" and "show".

2. KOL + community sedimentation, all conversion channels are opened up. This type of KOL marketing model is suitable for e-commerce promotions and a phased launch strategy for creating hot-selling products during promotions.

Weibo believes that in a healthy short video KOL ecosystem, KOLs, brands and users have a symbiotic and prosperous relationship. Brands scientifically evaluate the KOL matrix based on marketing goals, and KOLs convey brand emotions and stories through content production, achieving the goal of occupying consumers' minds. Only through the deep integration of the three parties can the maximum utilization of users’ time be achieved.

Regarding the above-mentioned delivery strategy model and execution process, the report organizes and shares 3 cases. They are:

1. Combining multi-level marketing and in-depth and extensive marketing of mid-level KOLs, Perfect Diary’s sales increased nearly 50 times in 8 months and achieved sales of 650 million in 2018;

Related reading: "In-depth Analysis | How did Perfect Diary achieve a 50-fold sales increase by relying on mid-level KOLs? 》

2. Based on the big data analysis of Weibo SNBT, through the four steps of marketing, namely, creating momentum, detonating, converting and continuing, the Fu Ruizi mask was linked with popular stars and mid-level KOLs, and finally sold out and became a hit;

3. Adhere to vertical and professional KOL delivery, and use bubble masks through full-platform, multi-point, and scenario-based matrix marketing.

——Short video KOL marketing is upgraded again——

The breakthrough and advancement of short video KOL marketing

Keywords: Mid-level KOLs are catching up, conditions for bringing goods are ripe, the era of brand co-creation, big data breakthrough

For mid-level KOLs, the bonus period of short videos is obvious at this stage. However, from the perspective of content positioning, operation and monetization, the top KOLs have already reached a considerable scale and have a solid position. Faced with powerful opponents, mid-level KOLs must find a unique positioning based on their own characteristics, thereby refining the track and developing new gameplay and monetization paths.

In terms of KOL monetization, Weibo believes that short videos and e-commerce will gradually merge, and the conditions for mid-level KOLs to bring in goods and convert them into sales are ripe. As the driving force of content, KOL will continue to play an extremely important role in product promotion, word-of-mouth building and e-commerce sales in the key "people, goods and places" link.

In terms of content, influencers need to combine short video platforms and e-commerce platforms to conduct three-way linkage to achieve brand co-creation. For further in-depth cooperation, brands can invite KOLs to participate in product development and packaging design to enhance the fit between the brand and the influencer.

——Technology makes new media communication easier——

Mid-level KOL marketing is entering a better era. As stated in the report, top KOLs achieve brand explosion, and mid-level KOLs achieve fermentation and reach. It has become a popular advertising strategy among advertisers. Brands use KOLs at multiple levels based on advertising goals to achieve "extreme cost-effective" brand social media marketing.

In 2020, with the help of big data, AI and smart selection technology, mid-level KOL and even short video KOL marketing will achieve a comprehensive breakthrough and upgrade. This is also an opportunity that every advertiser and influencer must seize.

Author: Micro Broadcast Easy

Source: Weibo