Tips of China Social Media Marketing

In recent years, digital media users outpaced those of traditional media in China. Social media has fundamentally changed the way Chinese people live as well as the mode of marketing. Hence, if you want to use online marketing to accelerate your expansion in China market, social media marketing is a must.

Several years ago, when Weibo was launched, there’s a saying “Consult Baidu on domestic affairs; consult Google on foreign affairs”. Everything has changed along with the booming of social media in China.

People go to micro-blog to check what’s popular today and what their friends are doing. They review comments before making decision for any purchase and visit some special forums to meet people of the same interests. To summarize the change, Chinese audience search information from social media and tend to believe what they see on the Internet.

Business Value of Social Media Marketing in China

Due to the huge user base and social media’s critical influence on consumer purchasing behavior in China, most companies are planning to increase the budget for social media marketing. Therefore, social media marketing can now target more Chinese audience.

What’s more, Chinese audience are more likely to spread the information they get from social media. This information which spreads for the second time is usually highly persuasive because it’s the news from somebody they know.

How to Use Social Media Marketing in China?

1. Accurate position of China marketing strategy

When starting social media in China, your first step should be to develop a creative China marketing strategy that will define the key sites as well as your target Chinese audience. Once you have decided elements like who, what, where, when, why and how, then you need to do some serious researches on Chinese culture, translations and etiquette. If you take a look at all the successful brands in China social media marketing, you will see that all of them are stick to their own position and the specific brand feature. For example, Durex appears as a funny friend who always brings spicy jokes; Pepsi always communicates in a dynamic and fashionable way.

2. Choose the right social media platform

Social media platforms in China mirror many Western social platforms like Facebook and Twitter, but even so, they’re not quite the same in terms of interface design and functions. Though they have some similarities, you should still try to dig deeper about the major social media platforms in China. By understanding how they work, you could better use this platform to target Chinese audience.

3. Responsive to sudden changes

Social media in China market is so changeable that the way, the topic, the Chinese audience, even the regulations you know today can be totally changed overnight. To catch the attention from your target as much as possible, you have to pay close attention to where people’s attention goes.

4. Avoid troubles

Social media make it possible to spread information fast in China, and meanwhile it also allows the spreading of rumors. Brands need to note that this is actually the most harmful thing to your brand on social media. To prevent such problems, companies need to conduct a regular monitoring and prepare response plans, plus a professional team working on the PR crisis.