Top 5 Social Media Platforms Favoured By Chinese Corporations

China is host to the world’s largest social media audience, with over 850 million people online in 2021, more than double the number of netizens in the United States. The social media market in China is constantly changing and evolving. It is not unusual to observe the emergence of many new players every year, adding their unique touch to the landscape, and catering to the needs of users and businesses alike.

In order to keep up with these changes, businesses have had to update and manage their marketing strategies regularly. Are you up-to-date with what’s “in” and what’s not? Here is a list of the top social media platforms that Chinese businesses and corporations rely on to reach their target audience and boost sales.

WeChat

It started as a messaging app but has grown into a monster of a social media app. WeChat now allows users to play games, make payment, shop online, transfer funds, scroll through the latest news via a Facebook-like feed, and book appointments.

There are 1.2 billion active users exchanging 38 billion WeChat messages every day and the average user spends over an hour on the app daily. While WeChat is not the go-to platform to have your content go viral, it is effective in engaging your target audience on a more personal basis by publishing marketing content and news.

Sina Weibo

Similar to Facebook, Sina Weibo is a microblogging platform where users can connect with celebrities, friends by sharing videos, pictures, text, and livestreams. The environment in Weibo is conducive to making your content viral, and when you do, you can potentially reach the 525 million active users, 82% of whom shop online regularly.

Weibo is the perfect platform for businesses that want to promote their product or service, and also for those that seek feedback from users, as it is an open environment where everyone’s comments and posts are visible.

Youku

A video hosting platform, Youku is one of the top video streaming platforms in China. There are 500 million active users on a monthly basis, and over 40 million daily users. The average video views have hit just a little over 1 billion.

The ways that businesses can promote their products and services on Youku are:

Through advertising via digital ads. You can choose to have your ad displayed before, during or after a video is played. Based on the type of ad you are advertising, Youku will display it in accordance with a specific target audience.

Exposure to your corporate website. Through the use of advertisements that is displayed when users watch a video, exposure to your website can be increased, which will drive traffic to your website, and also help with improving your brand visibility.

Douyin

The hottest short video platform in the web right now, Douyin has over 600 million active users daily and this number has increase by over 200% in the last couple of years. More than 55% of Douyin/TikTok users are in China.

The short videos that are created and shared on Douyin are optimal for engagement with your target audience and to go viral. In short, it is easier for Douyin videos to go viral than it is for any other form of videos. The ease with which users can share and recreate the short videos with their following is what drives the virality of them.

QQ

Launched in 1999, QQ is a popular social media platform in China, but is generally unheard of elsewhere. It is a message app that is second only to WeChat and has over 660 million monthly users and sees 13.6 billion messages exchanged daily.

Despite its relative obscure presence, QQ is a social media platform that businesses should definitely consider for their marketing strategy. Statistics have shown that QQ’s appeal is to youngsters in the 2nd and 3rd tier cities in China. The potential of this group is high, and their purchasing power is growing, along with their willingness to try out new things. Therefore, businesses can use QQ to target this group of young, potential consumers.