Over the past 3 years that we’ve been representing clients on Chinese social media, we have seen a number of changes take place in the Chinese digital marketing sphere. One of the most disruptive changes has been the domination of WeChat as social messaging app and social media channel.
In 2013 when we represented our first client on Chinese social media, we recommended using Sina Weibo, Kaixin, Douban, Youku, and maybe WeChat.
Now in 2016 we recommend WeChat, Sina Weibo, and Youku, with the largest effort going to acquiring fans and generating reads and leads on WeChat.
What happened to Sina Weibo?
Sina Weibo was the number one social media channel in China. Over the past few years it has suffered a few blows, such as the government cracking down on political influencers on Sina Weibo, an epidemic of fake accounts, spam, and the rise of WeChat. Nonetheless, there are still millions of Chinese using Sina Weibo. However, how they use Sina Weibo has changed. People now use the social media platform to read rather than to post. They read for entertainment, watch videos, and stay up to date with the latest gossip hot topics.
Where do Chinese post their personal content?
Chinese netizens now primarily use WeChat to post their personal content, including photos, sharing articles from news and brands, commenting on friends’ content, and participating in brand campaigns. Part of the appeal of WeChat over Sina Weibo for personal content is privacy; namely that only friends can see activity. For example, if Cathy is friends with Jackie and Sam, but Jackie is not friends with Sam, when Cathy posts a cute cat photo and both Jackie and Sam like the photo, neither of them will see each other’s activity, only Cathy can see that they both liked the photo. Likewise, Sam will never see Jackie’s content as long as they are not connected on WeChat.
WeChat also gives users the ability to restrict personal content with connections. Personal content is posted in a wall feed called Moments. Users can control which of their individual connections have access to their Moments.
What else can WeChat do that Sina Weibo cannot do?
The answer to this question by itself can result in a multitude of WeChat articles. Chinese WeChat users are able to book flights, hotels, taxis, order food, make payments and transfer money, among other things. Sina Weibo has yet to catch up to WeChat in all of these areas.
Should you use WeChat and/or Sina Weibo for your social media strategy?
This is a difficult question that potential international clients ask fairly often. The answer is, It Depends. It depends on the objective, budget, commitment to China, comfort with the agency, and product and/or service. Regardless of the final decision, both channels require ongoing maintenance and more than just a few months to determine effectiveness.
If you have any specific questions about WeChat, Sina Weibo or Chinese digital marketing, please feel free to send us a message by going to Contact Us.
