To help students gain career orientation and knowledge in the Marketing field, the External Relations Department cooperated with LAZADA Vietnam E-Commerce Co., Ltd. to organize the talkshow “DECIPHERING THE “TERMS” OF AFFILIATE CAREER – KOC, KOL MANAGEMENT”. This program, part of the 2022 HUFLIT Career Talks series organized by the External Relations Department, attracted more than 500 students.
In recent years, people’s trends and behaviors in daily life have gradually changed. Their habits, jobs, and free time have also decreased, making it impossible for them to watch a video with a length of about 30 minutes or more. Short-form video production platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and Facebook were born and took the throne to meet human needs, accompanied by the terms KOL and KOC becoming increasingly popular. For brands to effectively exploit and work with KOLs and KOCs, the profession of KOL Affiliate Management was born with the purpose of creating a bridge for both sides to develop together.
Currently, the profession of KOL Affiliate Management has begun to develop in the Vietnamese market. Realizing this potential and career opportunity for HUFLIT students, the External Relations Department combined with LAZADA Vietnam to organize the talkshow “Deciphering the Terms of Affiliate Career – KOC, KOL Management”. With the participation of 4 guest speakers, it brought students a new perspective, equipment, and knowledge that they need to cultivate when working in the position of a “KOL Affiliate Management”.
KOL AFFILIATE MANAGEMENT – An indispensable part of Affiliate Marketing
Ms. Dung – LAZADA KOL Affiliate Lead, speaker of the talkshow, condensed the definition of Affiliate Marketing into just 3 words “Cost Per Sale”. This means the cost is based on each successfully sold order. When you decide to buy and pay through the affiliate link created by content creators, KOLs, and KOCs, the brand will earn a profit from you and deduct a portion of that money to pay the person who placed the link to the platform.
Affiliate KOL is a potential target group that many brands aim for, to promote and bring value to them. To be able to take over and work effectively between the two sides, a KOL Affiliate Management will perform tasks likened to a companion to KOLs and KOCs.
According to Ms. Dung, when working in this position, a prerequisite is that you must regularly use social media platforms, especially TikTok. As a KOL Affiliate Management, you will be likened to a headhunter hunting for potential candidates suitable for the company’s product category, who already have a certain influence and a large following on social media. Besides, you need to have a multidimensional perspective, an understanding of people through their fashion style and the content they create, thereby filtering, considering, and making choices.
After filtering and finding suitable candidates, you will have discussion and working sessions with KOCs and KOLs. Train them to know more about knowledge related to the product category, the company, build personal branding, and give advice and feedback to help them develop further.
An indispensable part is that you must become a “best friend” to KOLs and KOCs because the nature of the job requires you to work human-to-human, so retaining important personnel is a key factor.
Key factors to become a KOL AFFILIATE MANAGEMENT
For the KOL Affiliate Management profession, what is the most important factor young people need to equip themselves with before diving into this career? The nature of the job requires you to work human-to-human, so making yourself do the right things according to the direction you have set is very important. If you do not follow the right direction, how can you direct the development for KOLs and KOCs? Besides, during the working process, we usually have conflicts between the two sides, what you need to do is to think about the problem in a positive direction, avoiding misunderstandings between the two sides leading to negligible negative impacts.
Ms. Tien – an Alumni of the Faculty of International Relations at HUFLIT shared further that maintaining a positive mindset is a very crucial factor in this profession. Often, when you work with KOLs or KOCs who have different viewpoints and perspectives from ours, conflicts are bound to happen. To maintain and develop a win-win relationship, you need to achieve harmony between both parties, especially in your way of thinking. In addition, the job requires you to have an iron will to withstand unexpected incidents; equipping yourself with a positive perspective on issues will help you bounce back after failures.
Being introverted is not a barrier to becoming a KOL AFFILIATE MANAGEMENT
Many questions have been raised: “Is this profession meant for introverts, given that the nature of the job requires you to work extensively with people?” According to Ms. Ngoc, who identifies as an introvert and has been working at LAZADA for 6 years, who you are and what your personality is like do not matter. What matters is what you want for yourself and what your career orientation and goals are. We often misunderstand introverts as people who communicate little and always want to be alone; this is truly an incorrect view because every personality has its own distinct characteristics. To be fair, personality only partially affects work and career; the vast majority depends on attitude and skills. Therefore, dare to dream, dare to think, dare to do, and do not let prejudices or outside opinions force you into a certain mold.
Studying a non-related major can still lead to becoming a KOL AFFILIATE MANAGEMENT
Regarding this profession, many students often wonder whether a non-major student can do it. Mr. Kiet, in his position as someone who studied IT and has been working in KOL Affiliate for a period of time, shared that non-major students usually face disadvantages in terms of knowledge, skills, and experience compared to those who majored in the field. Each non-major student needs to have a specific plan, long-term development orientation, and three to four times more effort than others. The labor market has been shifting strongly lately, and layoffs at major corporations are happening fiercely. So what do non-major students need to do to avoid being on the layoff list? That is to make an effort and make yourself an indispensable part of a business.
It can be said that KOL Affiliate Management is a profession for everyone; anyone can do it regardless of whether you are an introvert, an extrovert, or a non-major student… What you need to do is equip yourself with the skills and knowledge to meet the requirements of the job. In addition, students should always strive, continuously cultivate knowledge, and develop themselves to become more valuable in today’s increasingly fierce labor market.
Corporate Relations Department – External Relations Office HUFLIT
828 Su Van Hanh, Ward 13, District 10, HCMC
Email: qhdn@huflit.edu.vn
Web: https://jobhub.huflit.edu.vn
Hotline: (028)38632052 – extension 111
Nguyen Van Thanh Tai
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