With a population of almost 1.4 billion, almost a billion mobile-phone users, more than 800 million people using the Internet and around 930 million actively using social media channels, there are channels you cannot afford not to be leveraging for your local marketing efforts. Here are five of them.
WeChat is the be-all and end-all of social media, messaging, mobile payment, and a wide range of other uses and services. Developed by Chinese giant Tencent, WeChat can synchronize with Facebook and Twitter, offering businesses even more exposure. You can create banners and moments (the WeChat name for posts) ads, build a WeChat store, create mini-programs to offer promotions, and/or engage with influencers to help promote your brand.
Weibo (which means microblog in Chinese), is one of the country’s biggest social channels used not only for personal interactions but also to get notifications on news and updates. To promote your brand, you should invest in content marketing, preferably in Weibo, posting videos, stories and articles that can be discussed in forums, for example, to give you more exposure.
Zhihu
Zhihu is a crowdsourcing platform similar to Quora where users post questions about virtually anything – from food, through celebrities, to technology topics. Frequented by independent consultants, IT professionals and entrepreneurs with a relatively high income, it is an excellent arena for targeting specific groups. One of the ways to take advantage of the Zhihu platform is content marketing. It offers a free SEO option, a voting mechanism that allows your content to last, and massive following of top contributors.
Jinri Toutiao
Meaning ‘today’s headlines’ in Chinese, Toutiao is a mobile news aggregator and content platform with some 240 million users. It uses machine learning and artificial intelligence software to serve content based on the unique interests and browsing history of the target audience. As the platform is based on content promotion, you can register an account and publish and push quality content. You can also use the platform’s Q&A channel to share experiences and interact with others, thus gaining even more exposure.
Last but certainly not least, QQ is one of the largest digital platforms in the world launched even before Facebook. Also owned by Tencent, it is an instant messaging service and portal that caters to social games, music, shopping, microblogging, and more. QQ caters to the younger, less sophisticated generation with strong purchasing power, who spends more time on entertainment and is willing to try new things.
In conclusion, there are many social media channels in China that can be leveraged for your marketing efforts.Â
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