Home Technology Decoding Chinese Social Media: A Guide to Navigating the Digital Landscape

Decoding Chinese Social Media: A Guide to Navigating the Digital Landscape

by Tom Pattinson
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App icons of Chinese social media platforms Tencent's WeChat and ByteDance's Douyin and Jinri Toutiao are seen on a smartphone screen

The Chinese social media landscape can be daunting. With a unique blend of diversity and integration, platforms like WeChat and Douyin are reshaping how consumers engage and transact. In this rapidly-evolving landscape, a new guide by the China-Britain Business Council and Sinorbis aims to demystify these powerful channels

The Chinese social media landscape can be a tough one to understand. It is both more diverse and more integrated than its Western counterparts. Platforms such as WeChat provide a multitude of services, effectively combining the functions of several widely used Western channels into one. At the same time, livestreaming on platforms such as Douyin has emerged as the fastest-growing e-commerce sales channel in China.

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While laptop-savvy Western consumers were browsing websites in the 1990s and 2000s to chat, surf, and shop, China skipped the home PC and laptop era, leapfrogging straight to smartphones to access the internet. As a result, traditional websites never gained traction in China; instead, social media platforms surged. Designed with a mobile-first approach from the outset, this foundational difference has shaped marketing strategies in China, emphasising mobile driven, social media content.

With all Western social media platforms blocked in China, domestic competitors not only launched local alternatives but also rapidly outstripped their Western counterparts. Now, as anyone who has visited China in recent years knows, nearly every transaction, purchase, or booking is made via a smartphone app – most commonly through a handful of social media platforms.

The pace of change in this landscape is astounding. Trends rise and fall, new platforms emerge, and the popularity of certain channels varies greatly depending on the demographics and geography of the country. Today, 24.2% of China’s 1.06 billion social media users turn to these platforms to find products, 22.2% to discover content from their favourite brands, and 21.6% for work-related networking or research.

The Chinese social media landscape is vastly different from that of the West. Key opinion leaders (KOLs) play a pivotal role, selling products on behalf of brands and wielding far more influence – and revenue potential – than influencers on Instagram or TikTok. Meanwhile, social commerce – a concept still in its infancy in the West – has been the norm in China for over a decade.

There is much to learn about the complex Chinese social media landscape, but thankfully, the China-Britain Business Council has teamed up with software platform Sinorbis to produce a definitive guide to China’s social media landscape for 2024.

“We wanted to provide a clear roadmap for those unfamiliar with platforms like WeChat, Little Red Book, Douyin, and others that are uniquely influential in China,” explains Nicolas Chu, CEO and Founder of Sinorbis. “This guide is the culmination of in-depth research, industry insights, and firsthand experiences that span across the varied digital touchpoints in China,” he says.

Sinorbis is a unique player in the Chinese marketing ecosystem because of its software platform that enables companies to manage their digital presence in China and more widely across Asia without needing a physical presence in China. The company empowers international marketing teams to effectively engage their audiences in Asia, saving both time and money while adhering to local regulations.

Chu’s firsthand experience of creating, managing and analysing digital content in China while launching various products and businesses inspired the model. The lack of accessible software for Western cross-border businesses to penetrate the Chinese market highlighted this need.

Sinorbis enables brands to create China-ready websites and landing pages, offering easy-to-use templates and drag-and-drop tools for creating content for web and social media, ensuring it’s optimised for China’s unique digital ecosystem. The Sinorbis Digital Experience Platform allows businesses to publish, engage, and measure their digital activities within China.

The platform facilitates omnichannel messaging with automatic translation tools and social media management and analytics – all from a single backend platform, creating a one-stop shop for an organisation’s marketing needs across Asia.

Sinorbis operates on a subscription model and has collaborated with companies ranging from major global enterprises to SMEs across various sectors, including consumer goods, education and travel. Any company prioritising China would benefit from this software.

The report, set for release on 14 November 2024, dives into the various channels available in China and includes case studies of successful campaigns. To coincide with the launch, Sinorbis and the CBBC are hosting a webinar titled “Navigating China’s Social Media Maze: Tactics and Channel Insights for Effective Digital Marketing.” Attendees will learn key insights from the guide, exploring platforms like WeChat, Little Red Book, Douyin, and more. They will also hear from experts who will share practical strategies for maximizing the effectiveness of China’s leading social media channels throughout the entire marketing funnel.

Click here to register for the event

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