Influencer programmes often become difficult to manage for one simple reason: every creator is treated the same.
A celebrity with millions of followers, a respected esports player and a specialist creator with 20,000 highly engaged followers serve different functions. Giving them identical briefs and judging them by identical metrics wastes those differences.
A tiered approach gives each group a clear role.
Start With Roles, Not Follower Numbers
Follower counts are useful for estimating potential reach, but they should not define strategy by themselves.
The better question is what each creator can contribute.
A large personality may make a new title visible outside the existing gaming community. A tactical creator may persuade experienced players to try it. A smaller community personality may generate dozens of genuine conversations.
A scalable programme combines those strengths.
Tier One: Anchor KOLs
Anchor creators are the campaign's highly visible personalities.
They can be useful for major announcements, launch streams, event appearances and large collaborative productions.
Because they require a significant share of budget, brands should avoid hiring too many.
One or two well-selected anchor creators may provide more value than distributing budget across several famous names without a clear purpose.
Tier Two: Mid-Level Gaming Creators
Mid-tier creators often form the operational centre of a KOL programme.
They usually have enough reach to generate substantial awareness while still being closely associated with particular gaming categories or audiences.
These creators can produce livestreams, gameplay reviews, challenges, update content and tournament-related coverage across multiple campaign phases.
Longer relationships are particularly valuable at this level because creators become familiar with the game.
Tier Three: Micro and Community Creators
Smaller creators can provide depth.
They may cover one game obsessively, speak to a particular regional audience or specialise in esports analysis, cosplay, game lore or mobile gaming.
Their individual reach may be limited, but collectively they can create a sense that the game is being discussed throughout the community.
They also provide a pipeline of potential future mid-tier partners.
PUBG MOBILE's Next Star initiative demonstrates this approach to creator development: the programme was created specifically to support smaller influencers and says it has supported thousands of creators with resources.
Add Specialist KOLs When the Campaign Requires Them
Not every useful partner fits neatly into follower-based categories.
Esports players, casters, speedrunners, cosplayers and technical game analysts can offer credibility for specific activations.
A tournament launch may require competitive experts. A character release might work well with illustrators and cosplayers.
Tiering should therefore organise resources without eliminating flexibility.
Build One Programme with Different Responsibilities
A scalable Gaming KOL Strategy Thailand might allocate responsibilities across the tiers.
An anchor KOL launches a major campaign with a high-production video.
Several mid-tier creators run gameplay challenges and livestreams.
Micro creators produce guides, reactions and community-focused content.
Selected competitive personalities then provide deeper analysis.
The audience encounters the same campaign through several perspectives rather than seeing fifty copies of the same advertisement.
Publisher Programmes Are Moving Toward This Model
Riot's 2026 partner-programme approach specifically states that a huge audience is not required and that both established and up-and-coming creators are being considered.
Similarly, MOONTON has announced creator contests and long-term KOL activity as part of its 2026 Thailand plans, while Garena's local KOL operations include sourcing and managing creators through dedicated programmes.
The common theme is systematic creator management rather than isolated influencer bookings.
Create a Scoring Framework
Before recruiting creators, evaluate them using consistent criteria.
Possible factors include:
- Audience relevance.
- Average views rather than follower count alone.
- Engagement quality.
- Game or genre affinity.
- Content consistency.
- Brand safety.
- Creative quality.
- Previous sponsored-content performance.
- Cost relative to expected outcomes.
Scores do not replace human judgement, but they make selection easier to explain and repeat.
Measure Each Tier Differently
Anchor creators may be evaluated primarily on reach and campaign visibility.
Mid-tier partners may be measured through engagement, livestream performance and tracked player actions.
Micro creators can be assessed through cost efficiency, community interaction and content quality.
If every tier is judged solely by total views, smaller creators will always appear weaker even when they are doing exactly what the programme needs.
Allow Creators to Move Between Tiers
A tiered programme should not become a permanent hierarchy.
Review performance quarterly or after major campaign cycles. Creators who consistently outperform expectations can receive larger opportunities.
That creates motivation and helps the publisher identify emerging talent before competitors do.
Conclusion
Scaling KOL marketing does not mean hiring increasingly large numbers of influencers.
It means building a system.
Anchor KOLs create attention, mid-tier creators sustain communication, micro creators create community depth and specialists add credibility where it matters.
With clear roles, consistent selection and tier-specific measurement, gaming brands can expand creator marketing in Thailand without turning it into an unmanageable collection of paid posts.
