Chinese social networks are of great importance for any company or brand interested in efficiently penetrating the Chinese market. Furthermore, many of them have their similarities and equivalents in the West, as is the case of Weibo, a social network that we will deal with in this article.
Chinese social networks are of great importance for any company or brand interested in efficiently penetrating the Chinese market.
In this article, we will give all the details about Weibo, in addition to seeing the Differences between X in China and the West. After that, we will give some tips for promoting a brand on Weibo, just before seeing how to create an account and some of the most frequently asked questions about this social network.
First of all, if you are interested in promoting your brand through Weibo or learning about other existing strategies, do not hesitate to contact WeNomad, a marketing agency in China that promotes the presence of foreign companies in the most profitable market on the planet, the Chinese market.
If you are interested in promoting your brand through Weibo or learning about other existing strategies, do not hesitate to contact WeNomad
1. What is Weibo?
Weibo is known as Weibo, and its literal translation is microblog, which suggests that it is an open platform that serves to exchange content, create communities with similar interests, and to increase visibility, whose main characteristic is its differentiation from the competition.
Weibo was founded in 2009 after the censorship that occurred in China, while in 2013, it began to be bought by the giant Alibaba Group, according to ABC report. Furthermore, thanks to their little resemblance to the competition, they have been able to provide many Possibilities for brands to promote themselves effectively.
Weibo is a platform that serves to exchange content, create communities with similar interests, and increase visibility.
Now that we know some of the essential features and data of the Chinese version of X/Twitter, we can talk about its main functions and the characteristics of its users.
Functions of Weibo
In this important social network, consumers can do many things. For example, “classic” social activities on this social network include the exchange of publications, images, videos, external links, files, and instant messaging.
They can also search for information or advice through hashtags (#), create microblogs and polls, and follow specific topics. In addition, it supports games and promotions for purchases on e-commerce platforms.
Importantly, like most Chinese social networks, Weibo has multiple uses and focuses on a wide range of topics. Among the most notable features of Weibo, the following stand out:
- Share content with other people who use the platform.
- Promotion of products through publications.
- Form new communities.
- Write and share articles that have less than two thousand words.
- Communication with other people.
- Place posts for interactive purposes such as surveys and voting.
- Follow the hashtags related to your favorite topics.
- Publish advertising campaigns in order to increase the reach of publications.
Like most Chinese social networks, X in China or Weibo has multiple uses and focuses on a wide range of topics.
Weibo users
According to the annual report of Forbes, Weibo is a Chinese social network used by around 30% of Chinese Internet users, with more than 500 million active users per month, which represents a great opportunity for all those brands that intend to penetrate the Chinese market.
On the other hand, according to Third, more than 56% of them are men, and 43% are women. Furthermore, 80% of people are under 30 years old, while 12% are between 31 and 40 years old, which demonstrates the great role of Generation Z in this social network.
Weibo is a Chinese social network used by around 30% of Chinese Internet users, with more than 500 million monthly active users.
2. Differences between Weibo in China and X in the West
Although Weibo and Western X have very similar functions, they have important differences, so it is essential to know and detect them. Apart from a few celebrities, the rest of “weibos” (accounts) are not public as in the western version.
On the other hand, the Weibo DMs require more characters than those of Westerners, in addition to not being able to include a link in your own Weibo account profile that redirects users to another web page.
As for spam, we can find much more in the Weibo. However, brand advertisements have greater effectiveness on Weibo than on Western X, since the conversions can take place between the app itself.
Brand ads are much more effective on Weibo than on Western X
3. Ways to promote your brand on Weibo
Given that Weibo is one of the social networks of the great Asian country where we can find the most users and where we can best have recognition and reach in the Chinese market, it is essential that we know the options that a foreign company has to promote its products and services on this platform.
Advertising
Running advertisements and advertising campaigns are one way to promote your brand on Weibo. The advertising options of this social network include photos, images, graphics, promotions in the search engine or search bar of Weibo, landing pages and landing page ads. They are selected based on the needs and available budget.
The ads on mobile app homepage or on the website’s search page, as well as promotion on the social network’s own home page, are another popular option. As a result, visitors can click on the suggested keywords.
Collaboration with influencers
Key opinion leaders (KOLs) are the influencers in China who have a great impact on Weibo users, so their promotions are very effective. In China, they are known as social media specialists, so their suggestions are always credible and authentic.
KOLs can participate in a variety of promotional activities, such as product testing, promotional code distribution, short videos, events, and live broadcasts, so collaborating with influencers on Weibo can be one of the best options to penetrate the Chinese market.
Key opinion leaders (KOLs) are the influencers in China who have a great impact on Weibo users
Make your own content
The most popular trends and topics of recent days are found on this social network to attract users and, as a result, it’s common to see brands and influencers talking about it. Therefore, it is essential that your community manager stay up to date with the most popular topics on Weibo.
The use of multimedia content has increased significantly, especially with the short video trend, which invites KOLs and celebrities to participate for greater exposure. Also, since that post will have a better chance of being seen because it belongs to a particular topic, hashtags can be a good strategy.
For all brands it is essential that their community manager is up to date with the most popular topics on Weibo
4. Create an official account on Weibo
Now that we know everything important about Weibo in China, we can move on to see the last important step: knowing how to register your brand as an official account on this social network. For it, you should take into account the following steps:
- Go to the official Weibo page and click on the “Register a new account”.
- Complete all sections and questions and submit the form. After a few minutes, you will receive an email with a link; click on said link.
- Contact the VIP customer service to be able to verify your email using the address vhelper@vip.sina.com. The requirements to make your account official are:
- Letter of third party authorization and letter from application.
- Provide the contact information of your company’s entire operations team.
- Document of the trademark registration with a copy translated into Mandarin.
- Prepare all documents necessary previously mentioned to send them.
- The verification fee will cost 1,000 USD annually.
5. Conclusions
As has been shown, Weibo is crucial for any company’s marketing strategies trying to enter the Chinese market, so it is essential to understand its characteristics, functions and all its important peculiarities that make this social network a great tool.
Thus, if you are interested in entering effectively Weibo in China or want to carry out a good marketing strategy in mainland China, do not hesitate to contact WeNomad, an agency that promotes foreign companies in the Asian country through its extensive experience and knowledge of the Chinese market.
Weibo is crucial to the marketing strategies of any company trying to enter the Chinese market
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Weibo
What is the name of Weibo?
Weibo is known as Weibo, which, although it is not Twitter because it is censored there, is like its equivalent.
What is the Chinese version of X/Twitter?
The Chinese version of X or Twitter is Weibo, a social network of great importance for all those interested in effectively penetrating the Chinese market.
What is Weibo for?
Weibo is used to publish and view articles, interact with other followers, follow brands or follow other users, and it’s a marketplace for products and services.
How to do marketing on Weibo?
When it comes to marketing on Weibo, foreign brands have several options: collaborating with influencers, making their own content, or through advertising agencies like WeNomad.