The Chinese social media landscape is vast and varied, offering a plethora of opportunities for brands to connect with their target audiences. This article, based on our whitepaper excerpts, will guide you through the process of selecting the most suitable social media platforms for your brand's marketing objectives in China.
MAJOR SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS IN CHINA
In the dynamic world of Chinese social media, brands are faced with the challenge of choosing the right platforms to achieve their marketing goals. Here's a breakdown of the major platforms and their unique characteristics:
WeChat Official Account
With 1.1 billion monthly active users (MAU), WeChat Official Account is a go-to for brands seeking to engage with a predominantly young audience. It's perfect for long and in-depth articles, offering internal and external e-commerce links.
WeChat Channel
WeChat Channel, with 0.4 billion daily active users (DAU), offers a balanced demographic and is particularly popular among female consumers in first to third-tier cities. It's known for short videos, live-streams, and a channel store, making it an excellent platform for sales conversion.
RED (Xiaohongshu)
RED, or Xiaohongshu, has 300 million MAU, predominantly female and post-90s users. It's a platform for lifestyle sharing, with a focus on short and lifestyle-oriented content. RED's e-commerce features include the Red store and live-commerce, where consumers are drawn to the influencer's lifestyle and product quality.
Douyin (Chinese TikTok)
Douyin, with 810 million DAU, is popular among a younger demographic, with a slight male majority. It's the platform for short videos and live-streams, attracting consumers with value for money and sales-oriented content.
Bilibili
Bilibili caters to a younger audience, with 96.5 million DAU, predominantly Gen-Z users. It's known for its medium to long videos, including UGC, PGC, OGC, and OGVs, as well as live-streams. E-commerce on Bilibili is facilitated through external links to other e-commerce platforms and a self-operated membership mall for ACG derivatives.
HOW DO BRANDS CHOOSE THE MOST SUITABLE PLATFORM?
1. Choose By Product Categories
The following table serves as a strategic guide for brands to identify which platforms are most suitable for their product offerings, ensuring that marketing efforts are concentrated on the right channels for maximum impact.
WeChat Official Account
Ideal for lifestyle products that want to engage in storytelling.
It's suitable for a wide range of product categories including Beauty, Fashion, Travel, and Home & Living.
WeChat Channel
Usually used to promote daily essential products.
It's suitable for Beauty, Fashion, Luxury, Home & Living, Pets, F&B, Tech, and Wellness & Health.
RED
Best for lifestyle products with appealing appearance.
Suitable for product categories such as Beauty, Fashion, Luxury, Home & Living, Mom & Baby, Pets, and Travel.
Douyin
Focuses on value for money and swift purchasing decisions, attracting consumers looking for cost-effective options.
Suitable for a wide range of products with high value for money.
Bilibili
Ideal for Gen-Z targeting and niche circle products, and also high-tech products.
Appropriate for Tech, Cars, Wellness & Health, Pets, F&B, Fashion, Luxury, and Home & Living product categories.
2. Choose By Marketing Objectives
Brand Building & Communications
When establishing a brand's identity and communicating its message to the audience, choose platforms that allow for detailed content creation and have a feature set that supports storytelling and brand engagement, such as WeChat Official Account, RED and Bilibili.
Product Seeding
Product seeding is about introducing new products to the market and creating awareness. WeChat Channel, RED, Douyin and Bilibili are platforms that can be leveraged for product seeding. These platforms offer features that support influencer marketing, content sharing, and community building, which are effective for spreading the word about new products.
Sales Conversion
This objective is aimed at driving sales and converting potential customers into buyers. WeChat Channel, RED, Douyin and Bilibili now have the ability to drive sales conversion inside or outside the platform through influencer contents and live-streams.
3. Choose By Brand Stages
Launching
Content Strategy
● In-depth mid-length content for long-tail exposure
● Brand lifestyle & philosophy demonstration
Platform to choose
● WeChat Official Account
● Bilibili
Growth
Content Strategy
● Public communications with a wide range of scenarios, market education & product seeding
Platform to choose
● RED
● Bilibili
● Douyin
● WeChat Channel
Commercialization
Content Strategy
● Product selling & brand service fulfilling
Platform to choose
● RED
● Douyin
● WeChat Channel
CHINA SOCIAL MEDIA TIPS BY DOUBLE V CONSULTING
01
Choose the most suitable platforms based on your brand image, product category, marketing purposes, and budget
02
Stay up-to-date with the latest platform policies, features and trends
03
Each social and e-commerce platform plays an important role in consumers’ decision making process. Build an integrated marketing strategy with consistency across different platforms.
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