KOL marketing will not disappear, but it requires authentic voices rather than 24/7 paid shouting accounts.
Written by: Stacy Muur
Translated by: Luffy, Foresight News
I recently conducted an in-depth study on KOL marketing, speaking with some of the most renowned Web3 marketing agencies that run campaigns for major crypto protocols like Mantle, Sonic Labs, Aptos, and Solv Protocol.
What is the goal?
The aim of my research is to uncover how these agencies operate and their core KOL lists.
What are the criteria for selecting KOLs?
How large is their user base?
How do they assess audience quality?
How are tools like Kaito and Cookie DAO reshaping the KOL landscape in Web3?
Whether you are a KOL looking to join a top agency network or a Web3 team preparing for your next event, this is a must-read.
First, let's look at some data
KOL Network Scale
42.9% of agencies have over 1,000 KOL accounts
35.7% of agencies have 500–1,000 KOL accounts
Nearly 50% of agencies rely on only 50-100 core active KOLs for most campaigns
Only 10% of agencies actively collaborate with over 250 KOLs
What are the core criteria for selecting KOLs?
Number of followers? Generally less important → 2.93/5
Exposure per post and "smart followers"? More valued → 4.1/5
Content quality, research ability, and past experience? Key indicators → 4.7/5
All agencies check for fake engagement, with over half using tools like Kaito and Cookie3 to filter and evaluate KOLs.
What should Web3 teams consider when collaborating with KOLs?
In fact, Web3 marketing is severely limited in terms of tools.
X platform ads perform poorly. Many users have Premium memberships (ad-free), and those without subscriptions are often not your ideal customers.
Google ads face regulatory hurdles, preventing many projects from advertising legally in key regions.
Media coverage? Beneficial for trust/reputation, but ineffective for actual user acquisition.
So, what is left?
KOLs, along with Kaito and Cookie-driven campaigns.
Take Spark's campaign on Cookie as an example: 13,400 X accounts participated, most of which are micro KOLs with fewer than 1,000 followers. This is where true innovation lies—these accounts are too small for traditional paid promotion campaigns.
So… is this model better than traditional KOL marketing? There is debate.
Micro KOLs also have some issues:
They often form attention echo chambers, mutually following and retweeting each other → significant audience overlap. In smaller verticals, this behavior helps spread quality content. But in high-frequency farming activities (like yaps/snaps), it leads to overexposure, causing users to lose interest.
Nevertheless, Kaito and Cookie do provide entry opportunities for small accounts, making ambassador programs more decentralized and easier to manage.
Is decentralization in marketing important, or is efficiency more important? This is also debatable.
Let’s not forget the recent case of Loud!: Chatter ≠ strategy. Mindshare ≠ influence.
Traditional KOL marketing also has flaws
The harsh reality is: if your product lacks selling points, you will need to pay more. KOLs are just channels for voice—some are loud, some are humorous, some are professional, but none are miracle workers.
Now, if your product is indeed attractive, a new problem arises:
There is a severe shortage of KOLs that meet the following criteria:
Have a natural traffic audience
Understand technical principles
Can create resonant content
Accept sponsored collaborations
Many top KOLs do not accept paid posts. They either invest privately or charge five figures for a single tweet. This is why nearly 50% of agencies only deeply collaborate with 50-100 KOLs out of 1,000+ accounts, and 85% of paid KOLs produce zero effective results.
So, how does KOL marketing actually work?
Long-term repeated posting → more trust, more recognition, better conversion
KOL cross-interaction → ask them to reference each other's viewpoints rather than just retweeting brand announcements
Organic spread > hard promotion → the community can sniff out hard ads, give KOLs the freedom to express their thoughts authentically
Don’t buy ads, buy comments → authentic comments outweigh banner ads
Step outside the X platform → Telegram, Substack = lower noise, higher retention rates
My view on the future of Web3 marketing
Kaito and Cookie have brought micro KOLs into the mindshare game, providing marketers with new experimental mechanisms. Will this become an effective marketing lever or devolve into more noise? It remains to be seen.
KOL marketing will not disappear, but it requires authentic voices rather than 24/7 paid shouting accounts.
Lastly, I want to say: why are people still obsessed with the X platform? If you really want to achieve growth, stop ignoring Telegram and Substack.
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