How to Work with Chinese KOLs on Tourism Marketing

KOLs – or key opinion leaders – are often identified as an essential component of marketing to China. It is very important to find out how to work with Chinese KOLs for Tourism Marketing in China.

Travel decisions are weightier than other consumer expenditures. The safety of a destination is a leading consideration for both free independent travellers (FITs) and package tour groups from China. The latter are particularly price-sensitive and value using their available time effectively. Brands big and small should post about the KOL with whom they work. Not just a quick shout-out, but promotion across all relevant platforms that makes the KOL feel valued and gives them a larger footprint.

By working with a KOL for marketing in China, you get insight into specific groups from the individuals who understand them best. This creates a much more effective and targeted strategy for strengthening your presence with the right audience.

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Start by asking what the KOLs’ followers want and what travel services they’d like to see. 

Work with them to create new offerings that target markets other brands haven’t penetrated. Deeply insightful market research doesn’t need to cost a fortune if you have a strong relationship with a KOL. Then you should provide the KOL with exclusive images and videos that are worth posting. This strategy is especially useful if the KOL will not be traveling. Give him or her as much support as you would an in-house employee to produce content. After all, they are taking the role of an employee.

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How to Work with Chinese KOLs for Tourism Marketing-Focus on engagement.

Rather than just looking for the bloggers or celebrities with the most number of followers, focus instead on engagement. Some of the most influential KOLs post about quite niche topics, such as wine or handbags. But this means that they will be followed by a highly engaged and loyal audience. And by this can generate more profound effects. “Some brands understand the power of KOLs’ word of mouth. 

How to Work with Chinese KOLs for Tourism Marketing-Choose your channel. 

The social media channel that a KOL uses can impact the effect they have and how easy it is for followers to connect to you. With WeChat, many KOLs will be reluctant to add in a brand’s QR code. The reason is they want to maintain their independent image. With Weibo, travel KOLs can more easily mention/@ the brand, ensuring more visibility for the brand’s account and an increase in number of followers. However, Weibo has been capitalizing on the popularity of KOLs and has begun to ask brands to pay a fee to run KOL campaigns where there is an obvious call to action to mention a brand, thus increasing the user base.

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Deep Dital China provides marketing services with two categories of travel KOL: The first is an individual or couple who publish engaging travel content and are best for increasing exposure. The second are either individuals or media channels with official accounts on social medias, through which you can publish paid content to promote specific deals or increase follower numbers. These are often accounts that specialize in recommending travel deals and discounts. They will have fewer followers than the exposure-style KOLs, but a very loyal following that can deliver quantifiable results in a short period of time.

If you are interested in KOL marketing in China, please contact us for further information.