When we talk about social media in China, the first thing you would probably think of is WeChat, a platform with 856 million monthly active users. What else is there other than WeChat and perhaps Weibo, the twitter simulated platform?
Besides the Ws, let us explore what Chinese users would appreciate on social media:
Mobile friendly, please
You are probably reading this article on your mobile, chances are your target audience is doing the same. Should you be linking your website or App to WeChat, small prints and complicated registration steps will drive them away. Make it simple and easy for your followers to navigate.
Reading habit
We used to think that Chinese like to read long text. In recent years, content flood on cyber space has changed readers’ habit. No longer will they have the time nor patience to read long articles. Many favor fragmented and condensed topics within one content rather than a long story, unless it is a novel. Perhaps it is about time to relook your content strategy.
Numbers game
Content targeting mass market could generate 100’000 readers per feed on WeChat. Such accounts usually have over millions of followers resulting to a 5% estimated response rate (non-official).
Niche and professional group could have above 30% engagement rate (a few hundred/thousands, depending on number of followers) since participants have very specific interest and engagement desire.
It is obvious that the higher number of readers, the better brand exposures. If your content is being confined within your own platform, it is time to consider expanding your content onto other social media platforms.
How’s your platform doing among competitors? Choose your benchmark carefully.
Weibo, the twitter simulated platform
Weibo hosts 297 Million active followers. It used to be The tool, until WeChat took off in 2012. Many consider Weibo an old tool, but your media buy agent continues to use Weibo to drive mass market campaign as the numbers are still appealing. With WeChat adjusted its adv. placement appearance similar to Facebook, Weibo might further loose adv. value. At the moment, Weibo is still a favourite digital adv. channel.
Live-streaming
First was Youku, tudou and now we have Live-streaming platforms. Tencent has several live-streaming platforms serving different broadcast objectives. In 2017, Live-streaming could be the major trend on cyber space. Check them out and explore the possibility of creating a live broadcast for your brand.
Gentle reminder
WeChat, Weibo and all social media platforms serve to communicate and engage your audience with the aim to turn them from fans to customers. No one wants to read your catalogue weekly unless you are sure your followers would appreciate it. It is tempting to ‘sell’ on your platform, do it intelligently. Hard selling, drives away your followers.
Simply to say, be a friend and not a salesman on social media platform.
Contributed by Sarah Chiang, International Business, Red Line
