Are you looking to expand your market in China? Do you also see the huge potential in raising your brand awareness in China but feel lost when trying to choose the right platforms to spread out your business? “When in Rome, do as the Romans do”. In order to draw the attention of the Chinese majority, you need to think like a native and go where the natives are most active at and Chinese social media are the best are the best tools you can use to reach new customers, in a market that has its own codes.
WeChat, the Swiss-army knife.
When it comes to Chinese commercials and markets, you must be familiar with Tencent, the company who has set its foot in basically all aspects of people’s lives; and as its most successful messaging app, WeChat has also made a space for both individuals and companies who are looking to advertise their businesses.
WeChat is known as the Swiss-army knife made in China simply because it is well designed to solve all your problems in one place, and that also makes it a perfect targeting platform for you to attract attention and views from the mass majority of China.
Creating your own official WeChat account would be the first step to do. The integrated WeChat account page functions as a website where you can list your products, set up your customer service and even link purchases to your account, from which you can withdraw the earnings to your bank account.
The best part about WeChat is that it is completely free. You can make a nice layout of your post and send it on Moments, which is more like a Facebook page where people share their news and stories, and if you plan to use it to develop your audience in China, have in mind that there are WeChat trainings and seminars to understand how to use the app for business purposes.
Weibo, the twitter-like app.
If WeChat is the most successful messaging app of all, then Weibo is the ancestor of all social media in China. Weibo is the first platform where people can use tags and links to share and recommend things with others.
Nowadays, brands and public personalities from the West are also using the app to reach Chinese audiences, such as Boris Johnson, who recently created an account with messages in Chinese.
Unlike WeChat, Weibo doesn’t have limitations on sharing posts publicly, which means when you put a post on Weibo, everyone will be able to search it and see it even if they are not your followers. This gives you an advantage of attracting public attention without putting much efforts on getting followers.
And you can even use tags that the mass majority frequently use to get relevancy in others’ posts in order to achieve more exposure.
Weibo doesn’t have a payment setting like WeChat, which can be inconvenient but on the other hand, you can easily place a link to your own website where people can make purchases.
The advantage is that there is not much restrictions regarding posts, which means you can freely arrange your Weibo commercial ads without worrying about violating the rules and getting blocked.
Youku, the YouTube-like platform.
China has different messaging apps and posting platforms, but not only, you may wonder how brands work on video marketing in China, taking into consideration that, due to the country policy, YouTube is not an option there. Youku however, is a Youtube-like platform that is widely used by Chinese netizens and brands that are looking to find new clients.
There are two ways of spreading your business on Youku.
- Place your ads in popular videos: Whenever you click on a video to watch, you will have to watch 60s long of ads before the real video plays. This is where you can make arrangements with Youku and squeeze your ads in those 60s to get more exposure.
- Make your own videos: Same as YouTube, you can also set up your own channel on Youku, and make videos regarding your business and products on a regular basis. This method is less costly and effeitive as well since you do need to find a way to increase your popularity and obtain more views and forwards.
Despite whichever method you use to do your propagandas, Youku does offer you a chance to display your business and products in a more visual way.
The above are the most common platforms that you can go and make your propagandas in your own way with a free/low cost. Which people seem to be overly obsessed with social media nowadays, you can take full advantage of this trend, and plant your roots in this mass market. After all, the consuming market in China is definitely a place that you don’t want to miss out!