In this installment of #Knowyourmiv, we’ll be expanding our horizons and looking at the top ten Chinese Influencers you should know. Western fashion, luxury, and beauty brands are becoming ever more apparent within the Chinese market, and Chinese Influencers (also known as Key Opinion Leaders, or KOLs) are growing in popularity and brands are taking notice of their value.
China's beauty industry is worth $38.6B, and is the second largest in the world behind the US, which is valued at around $56 billion. China is on its way to become the largest beauty market by 2023, and so brands are aiming to capitalize on the growing industry and their key supporters, Chinese beauty Influencers.
There are many Social Media platforms in China that have their own top Influencers and content, many of which have not yet been explored properly by brands based in other markets. But they hold great potential as users of these platforms tend to be incredibly devoted to their favorite KOLs and the opinions of these Influencers, revealing the sheer power of these KOLs in comparison to their western counterparts.
This article is the first of a ranking series where we’ll be spotlighting top Influencers and KOLs involved in the Beauty, Fashion, and Luxury sectors and their performance across a variety of Chinese social platforms. To demonstrate the vast potential of brand collaborations and mentions by these KOLs, we’ve compiled a list below of the top Chinese Voices in the beauty sector according to their Media Impact Value™ (MIV®) generated between January to June 2021.
In this article you’ll learn…
1. 李佳琦Austin (Austin Li Jiaqi)
Number one on the list is Austin Li Jiaqi (李佳琦Austin), also known by his nickname ‘the Lipstick King’.
Austin is a major player within the Chinese social sphere, with a presence on many different platforms including Xiaohongshu (RED), Weibo, Douyin (Chinese TikTok) and WeChat. He has also collaborated with many major beauty brands like Guerlain, YSL Beauty, Dior Beauty, Estée Lauder, and more.
Austin's followers hang onto his every word especially his brand reviews, which he broadcasts to a following of 7 million on Weibo and 35 million on Douyin. Whether Austin hands out praise or gives a critique of a product, his following trusts his opinion and follows suit, which is why KOL collaborations with brands can be incredibly beneficial.
2. 豆豆_Babe (Doudou_Babe)
The second Influencer to keep an eye on is 豆豆_Babe (Doudou_Babe).
A well-known beauty KOL who has often worked with big brands such as Lancôme, Charlotte Tilbury, YSL Beauty, and Chanel Beauty.
The Douyin post above generated $148.6K in MIV® alone.
This RED post she made, promoting Estée Lauder products, amassed $45.5K MIV®.
3. 原来是西门大嫂 (Ximen)
Ximen is a top WeChat KOL who has also established a strong presence on Weibo. She is known for collaborating with top brands like Tom Ford Beauty, Guerlain, Dior Beauty, and Estée Lauder.
Social posts on both platforms have generated great Media Impact Value™ for the brands she mentions.
This WeChat post with Estée Lauder generated $14.8K in MIV®.
And for Guerlain on Weibo, her Social Media post made $19.2K in Media Impact Value™.
4. 深夜徐老师 (Late Night Teacher Xu)
深夜徐老师 (Late Night Teacher Xu) can be found on WeChat, Weibo, and Bilibili. She is one of China’s top Influencers, and is amongst the highest rated on Weibo in terms of generating MIV® results.
The creator’s top post can be found on the platforms Weibo, RED, and WeChat. The top post from April which generated $141K MIV® was posted on Weibo and featured major beauty brand Clarins.
(https://www.weibo.com/1770418834/K9H0W8I1t?type=comment)
深夜徐老师 has collaborated with more top beauty brands including Dior Beauty, La Mer, and Chanel Beauty.
5. 雪梨Cherie
Noteworthy Influencer Cheri (whose real name is 朱宸慧) commands attention for generating high MIV®. Cherie is a successful businesswoman and mother, creating her own cosmetics line Fab2Cherie and promoting it on Social Media channels like Weibo, but has also worked with other brands like KÉRASTASE.
The Influencer’s strong Social Media presence and following makes her one of the highest ranking on Weibo, achieving $1.58M in total MIV® this year.
6. 薇娅viya (Wei Ya viyaaa)
薇娅viya has been seen collaborating with a long list of beauty brands such as Givenchy Beauty, Lancôme, Sisley, Tom Ford, and SkinCeuticals.
This Weibo post from January this year has achieved a Media Impact Value™ of $57.1K and the post below, featuring Estée Laude and La Mer has a MIV® of $98.6K.
7. MK凉凉
Ranking high on our list of WeChat Influencers, MK凉凉 has an average rating of $10.7K in MIV® on the platform. The Influencer is often seen collaborating with the brands Clarins, Chanel Beauty, Guerlain, La Mer, Estée Lauder, and Givenchy Beauty through her accounts on WeChat, Bilibili, and Weibo.
The post above from Weibo featured a variety of beauty products and brands, including Estée Lauder, Givenchy Beauty, and Chanel Beauty. The post made $20.6K in Media Impact Value™.
8. 毛小星Ryan (Mao Xiaoxing Ryan)
Through his six posts for Estée Lauder, this Influencer generated a total of $101K in Media Impact Value™ during the month of April.
One of the six posts placed by 毛小星Ryan, which additionally included the brands YSL Beauty, Clinique, and Clarins, was posted on Weibo.
9. 喵爷-吴淼 (Miao Ye-Wu Miao)
Dior Beauty, La Mer, YSL Beauty, and Clarins are just some of the major beauty brands that have paired up with this Influencer. 喵爷-吴淼’s Weibo account serves as his primary platform where he shares reviews of products from different brands. This single post, featuring Dior Beauty, generated a total of $14.7K in MIV®.
Through a grand total of 76 Social Media posts on Weibo alone, he’s been able to amass an incredible $1,070,947 in Media Impact Value™.
As the creator can also be found on RED, featuring his post below where he included products from Chanel Beauty and Clarins. This Social Media post generated $4.1K in MIV®.
10. 莓子哥哥 (Brother Berry)
Last but not least on our list, 莓子哥哥! Most of the top posts from the creator can be found on Douyin where she features products from Clarins, Estée Lauder, Lancôme, and Shu Uemura. One of the top posts from the platform featuring beauty brands was the post below, generating $145K in MIV®.
This concludes our list of the top ten Chinese Influencers for #KnowYourMIV! What can be determined from this list of KOLs and their brand collaborations, is that global brands are trying to cast a wide net and utilize an array of KOL relationships.
By working with different Influencers across an array of platforms, brands can be sure to capture the attention of a vast numbers of loyal followers, as the opinions and reviews from these creators generally carry more weight than their western equivalents. A strong KOL relationship and a positive review can skyrocket any beauty brand's latest product and help maintain China's trajectory towards dominating the beauty market within the next two years.
To see which luxury brands are performing best in different markets from China to Europe, and America, download our Top 20 Power Players report.
By Gina GulbertiVICE PRESIDENT OF MARKETING
Gina is passionate about storytelling, creativity, and digital strategies. As Vice President of Marketing, she leads a rockstars team from the sunny city of Madrid! Being a crazy savvy marketer, in 2020 Gina co-founded the global community of b2bmarketers.com and currently combines all this activity, teaching Inbound Marketing in different business schools.
