Sales Generated By KOL Marketing Are Expected To Reach $27.4 Billion In 2022

Not every marketer will choose to cooperate with KOL (key opinion leader), but most of them have taken the initiative to enter this new marketing track.

Data from eMarketer, an American market research company, shows that in the past 2020, 62.3% of marketers in American companies with more than 100 employees adopted KOL marketing methods, and it is expected that by 2021, more than 60% of marketers will choose marketing that cooperates with KOLs. The proportion of personnel will reach 67.9%. Almost all marketers will invest in social media marketing, and this proportion has exceeded 91% since the beginning of 2019, and will continue to rise.

Although some marketers, such as travel marketers, have cut their spending on KOL marketing during the epidemic, their interest in working with KOLs has actually increased. And the budget appears to be ready. In a July 2020 study by Kantar Media, senior marketers expected the budget allocated to KOL marketing to increase by 48% by 2021.

KOL marketing methods have their pitfalls. If the KOL partner selected by the brand breaks out in a scandal during the cooperation, the brand image and product sales will often suffer accordingly. Therefore, for the brand, choosing the right KOL may be an important task. Tricky but crucial task. However, considering the development trend of social commerce and live streaming in 2021, the importance of KOL marketing will continue to rise.

The conversion rate of KOL marketing is also quite impressive. According to a 2020 research report by the promotion platform Valassis, 51% of consumers have purchased products or services recommended by KOLs. According to a report released last August by marketing news provider Content Commerce Insider, total merchandise sales generated through KOL marketing were $11.1 billion in 2019, and they predict that this number will grow to $27.4 billion by 2022.

It is worth noting that the overall interaction rate of small KOLs is higher than that of large KOLs. Data from Creator IQ shows that no matter which platform they are on, the average interaction rate of small KOLs is higher than that of large KOLs. Moreover, among all platforms, Youtube has the highest interaction rate, followed by Instagram, and finally Facebook. And about 78% of marketers said they want to cooperate with small KOLs with 5,000 to 10,000 followers on platforms such as Instagram.