How China’s online opinion leaders – or KOLs – convert fans to sales, creating a nearly US$9 billion industry
- More than 70 per cent of Chinese Gen Z consumers prefer buying products directly via social media
- In 2016, China’s KOL economy was valued at about 58 billion yuan (US$8.6 billion)
The Kardashians may have been able to create a US entertainment phenomenon by revealing their luxurious lifestyle through a long running reality TV series, but Chinese key opinion leaders (KOLs) have been able to convert fans and generate sales on a level their western peers can only dream of.
While western influencers are mostly video bloggers on Instagram or YouTube, Chinese KOLs can be columnists, socialites, photobloggers, or short video creators – and they have multiple channels through which they can become famous, including social media platforms WeChat and Weibo, social networking service Douban and video platform Douyin – known as TikTok in the west.
Becky Li, with more than 7.5 million combined followers on WeChat and Weibo, is one of China’s top fashion bloggers in China, able to convert followers to sales through posts on her WeChat public account.
In 2014 Li quit her job as a reporter for a local Chinese newspaper to become a full time blogger on WeChat. Three years ago she partnered with American fashion brand Rebecca Minkoff for a limited edition purse with the label of “Miss Fantasy.”
A year later she collaborated with iconic British car brand Mini to promote a limited edition vehicle through WeChat, and her followers snapped up 100 cars in five minutes. Last year, she was invited to attend the world’s biggest fashion events in Paris, Milan and New York.
For the Lunar New Year in February, WeChat Pay hired Li to be “chief experience officer” for its overseas payment service.
