How to Find the Right KOC: Sources, Vetting Checklist and Scoring

1. How to find the right KOC: start with the buyer, not the creator

The fastest way to find the right KOC is to describe the person you want to sell to before you open any app. Who are they, where do they live, what do they watch, what do they worry about before buying your product? That description becomes your search filter and your scoring rubric.

Write it as a one-paragraph creator profile. Example: "Women 22 to 32 in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City with oily or acne-prone skin, buying on TikTok Shop, who trust creators that show real texture and skin close-ups." Now every candidate can be checked against something concrete.

• Buyer: age range, city, income signals, buying platform
• Content they trust: tutorials, honest reviews, comparisons, daily vlogs
• Tone that fits the brand: playful, expert, calm, humorous
• Must-haves: language, on-camera presence, shooting setting
• Deal-breakers: content themes or behaviour you will not associate with

2. Where can you search for KOCs in Vietnam?

Search where buying happens and where your buyers scroll. In Vietnam that usually means TikTok first, then Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and the creator tools attached to commerce platforms.

Do not ignore your own customers. People who already post about your product without being paid are often the most convincing KOCs you will ever find, and they are easy to approach.

• TikTok search and hashtags for your category, product type and pain points
• Creators already selling similar products through TikTok Shop or Shopee affiliate
• Tagged and mentioned posts on your own and competitors' brand accounts
• Facebook groups and community pages in your niche
• Customer reviews with photos or videos on your marketplace listings
• Agency and in-house creator databases with past performance notes

TikTok Shop affiliate for KOC campaigns

3. How do you check audience fit?

Audience fit is the first filter because nothing else can fix it. A beautiful video seen by the wrong people sells nothing. Ask for screenshots of audience insights (age, gender, top locations) from the creator's analytics, and confirm that a meaningful share of viewers is in Vietnam and in your target cities.

Then read the comments. Are commenters asking where to buy, comparing prices, sharing their own skin type or kitchen problems? That is your buyer. If comments are mostly emojis, other creators or foreign accounts, the audience will not convert for you.

4. What are the signs of fake followers and fake engagement?

Fake reach is common enough that every shortlist needs a check. No single signal proves fraud, but several together should remove a creator from consideration or at least move them to a commission-only test.

Ask for analytics screenshots taken that day, or a short screen recording of the analytics page, rather than numbers typed into a message.

• Large follower count but recent videos with very low views
• Sudden jumps in followers with no viral post to explain them
• Engagement that is very high on likes but almost no meaningful comments
• Repeated generic comments from accounts with no posts or profile photos
• Audience mainly outside Vietnam for a creator who speaks only Vietnamese
• Views that are uneven in a pattern that does not match content quality

5. How do you judge content quality for a KOC?

For KOCs, quality means believable and clear, not cinematic. Watch at least five recent videos the way a buyer would. Does the hook make you stay? Can you see the product in use? Is the creator specific about what worked and what did not?

Also check whether their sponsored videos perform close to their organic ones. A creator whose views collapse every time they post an ad has an audience that has learned to skip their promotions.

• Strong first seconds and clear structure
• Product shown in real use, close-ups where relevant
• Specific, honest opinions instead of generic praise
• Good sound and lighting for the platform, not studio perfection
• Sponsored posts that still get comments and saves

UGC vs influencer content: when you need which

6. How do you screen KOCs for brand safety?

Brand safety screening protects you from associating with content or behaviour that harms the brand, and it is now partly a legal requirement. Article 23 of Vietnam's amended Law on Advertising (Law No. 75/2025/QH15) says parties in online advertising must not cooperate with accounts, channels or pages that the competent authority has publicly announced as violating the law. Check announcements from authorities before you confirm a booking.

Beyond the law, scroll back several months. Look for misleading health or beauty claims, offensive jokes, public disputes, past scandals and content that conflicts with your brand values. Article 19.5 of Decree No. 342/2025/ND-CP also gives advertisers the right to prioritise creators who have been trained on advertising law by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism or a competent authority, which is a useful tie-breaker.

• Not on any publicly announced list of violating accounts
• No history of exaggerated or medical-style claims for regulated products
• No recent controversies, hate speech or harassment
• Values and humour compatible with your brand
• Clear disclosure on past sponsored posts

7. Why do past collaborations matter?

Past collaborations tell you how a creator works and who they are already tied to. A KOC who promoted your direct competitor last week is a weak choice this week, both for credibility and for any exclusivity you plan to ask for.

Look at the last two or three months of sponsored content. Note the brands, the categories, how often they post ads versus organic content, and whether sponsored posts were disclosed. If you can, ask a brand or agency that worked with them about reliability: deadlines, revisions and communication.

8. How do you score a KOC shortlist?

Use one scoring sheet with fixed weights so decisions are consistent across team members and campaigns. The weights below are a starting point we use, not an industry standard; adjust them to your goal and keep them stable within a campaign.

Score each criterion from 1 to 5, multiply by its weight and add up. Anyone who fails a hard filter, such as brand safety, is removed regardless of score. Keep the sheet; after the campaign, add actual results so next time the weights reflect what really predicted performance in your category.

• Audience fit (30%): location, age, interests, comment quality
• Real reach (20%): median views of recent non-viral posts
• Content quality (20%): hook, clarity, honesty, product visibility
• Commerce ability (15%): past sales, links, livestream skill if needed
• Reliability (15%): response time, past deadlines, professionalism
• Hard filters (pass or fail): brand safety, competitor conflict, disclosure history

Build a KOC booking pipeline

9. How should you structure a KOC outreach message?

Good outreach is short, specific and easy to answer. Creators receive many vague messages; one that shows you watched their content and states the deal clearly gets read.

Example message: "Hi Linh, I'm Mai from DaisyLexi working with a Vietnamese skincare brand. Your 7-day acne patch diary was exactly the honest style we want. We are booking one TikTok review in November with product, a fixed fee and affiliate commission. Could you share your rate and recent audience insights by Friday? Happy to send the brief."

• Who you are and which brand, in one line
• Why them: name a specific video
• The offer: platform, format, timing, fee model
• What you need back: rate, insights, availability
• A deadline and the next step

Creator brief checklist

10. Should you test before booking KOCs at scale?

Yes. A small test with a handful of shortlisted creators shows which profiles, hooks and formats actually work for your product before you commit a full budget. Keep the brief and offer the same across the test group so the results are comparable.

Judge the test on what the campaign needs: engagement quality and saves for awareness, clicks and orders for TikTok Shop or Shopee. Rebook the winners, drop the rest, and use the winning videos as references in the next brief.

Creator campaign reporting

11. How do you keep a reusable KOC database?

Every campaign should leave you with a better creator list. Record each KOC you evaluated, the scores, the quotes, what you booked, what they delivered and how it performed. The second campaign becomes much faster because half the vetting is done.

This is the core of Roster, DaisyLexi's creator CRM: profiles, tags, rates, contact history and a booking pipeline in one place, so the knowledge does not live in one person's chat history.