What is the difference between an influencer and a KOL (Key Opinion Leader) in India?

KOL vs Influencer — practical distinction for Indian brands: Influencer: anyone with a social following who promotes products. Broad audience. May not have professional expertise in the category they promote. KOL (Key Opinion Leader): subject-matter expert with an audience — dermatologist, doctor, nutritionist, certified trainer, scientist. Their influence is expertise-driven, not personality-driven. Why the distinction matters for beauty/skincare: a dermatologist with 30k followers recommending your product has more purchase-intent power than a general beauty creator with 300k followers — for a skincare brand. The audience trusts the credential, not just the personality. KOL strategy: longer brief review process (they will check your claims), higher rate per follower, content has a longer shelf life (people reshare expert content for months), content can be used in ads as "endorsed by a dermatologist" framing.