Chinese Social Media
Chinese Social Media is a unique ecosystem of many innovative social media platforms, as the western world’s social platforms are blocked in China.
Contents
General Information
In China, platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube are not allowed.
Chinese people spend on average 5 hours and 50 minutes online, meaning they are on the Internet for one-third of their waking time daily. Of all this total, it is estimated that an average of 2 h 12 minutes represents the time spent on social media platforms (3-4 social applications/per day).
Chinese social platforms have become an excellent tool for reaching Chinese consumers. Businesses in China use Chinese versions of social apps as effective marketing channels to promote brands.
Most Popular Social Apps and platforms in China
The most popular Chinese social media platforms, some of which are Chinese versions of Western social apps:
- Sina Weibo - (Chinese Twitter)
- Wechat - social media, instant messaging, and mobile payment app
- DouYin (Tiktok) - social platform for short videos
- Kuaishou - a mobile app for short videos sharing
- Little Red Book (XiaoHongShu) - the social shopping platform Chinese users trust the most.
- Tencent QQ - instant messaging app
- Youku Tudou - the former version of China’s Youtube
- Bilibili - video sharing website
- Zhihu - (Quora version of China)
- Baidu Tieba - search engine
- Toutiao - is the hottest news & information & entertainment platform
- Meituan Dianping - similar to Yelp
- Douyu - live streaming platform, the Twitch of China
- Douban - a platform for lifestyle discussions
- Momo - similar with Tinder
- Maimai - LinkedIn of China
- Mafengwo - traveling platform
How can marketers use social networks in China for their businesses?
Chinese people have integrated social apps into their life even more than the rest of the world. This fact means there is space for business and that media marketers in China are not the only ones who can use Chinese social apps as effective marketing channels to promote brands.
When you decide to enter the Chinese market through their social media apps, you have to choose the right platform, mainly because not all Western platforms have an exact Chinese version.
Here is what you can do for successful media marketing:
- Identify your audience
Chinese consumers will be different from consumers in your country in different ways. Learn about Chinese culture and things like the average annual salary in China and their buying habits and preferences.
- Adapt your content
You must adapt your product to your audience: do market research, and choose the right platform.
References
1 Azoya, Top Chinese Social Media Platforms You Need to Know, https://www.azoyagroup.com/page/view/top-chinese-social-media-platform-you-need-to-know/
2 Dragon Social, The 10 Most Popular Social Media Sites, https://www.dragonsocial.net/blog/social-media-in-china/
3 Tenba Group, 9 Chinese Social Media Platforma You Need to Know about, https://tenbagroup.com/9-chinese-social-media-platforms-you-need-to-know-about/