Perhaps this is obvious for those familiar with the Key Opinion Leader phenomenon, but it deserves some careful consideration.

Today’s consumers are deluged with marketing from all corners in our digitally dominated world. Advertisements, some of which are cleverly disguised, appear alongside our news, our entertainment, our social interaction and even our work. The age old solution for those wanting to cut through the clutter of conflicting messages has always been to consult an expert when making a decision.

But what is an expert in today’s digital world? As our institutions become increasingly digitized, it is perhaps inevitable that the public’s concept of an expert becomes—for better or worse—digital, too.

KOLs, to whom consumers today often turn to in decision making, may be (or seem to be) actual subject matter experts. This is particularly true when consumers are making intellectual purchasing decisions. An expert KOL can be a source of useful data when making fact-based or information-based buys.

Very often, however, KOLs can be the equivalent of the popular kid in high school—the one everyone wants to be like. Their followers want to wear the same clothes, drive the same cars, have the same hairstyles, buy the same products and eat the same food. Clearly this is the case when making emotional purchasing decisions, and we all know emotion-driven purchasing is the case in more transactions than we may care to admit.

This phenomenon has affected marketing worldwide, but it is especially in-play with the digitally connected market in China, where middle class consumerism is in hyperdrive.

The Chinese market is, of course, huge. Millions of new consumers are seeking to stake out their own identities and latching onto KOLs to help them do it. In a pool this big, KOLs can appeal to relatively small niche markets and demographics that still deliver appealing numbers to advertisers.

Of course, with a market this big in this much flux, having the right KOL delivering the right message on the right platform to reach your target audience is key.

That’s where Avela Consulting comes in. While based in Houston, we have maintained an office in Shanghai since 2002 and have built a network of proven partners who are experts in reaching target audiences in China.

Of course, China’s KOL industry is extremely competitive and advertisers must be wary. While a KOL’s appearance, personality and platform must synch with target audiences, their fees vary making some better bargains than others. In addition, fake social media followers are a problem in China and elsewhere. Avela provides due diligence with small data and large data dives backing up informed strategies for foreign businesses entering the China Market.