In the Asian economic scene, there is no bigger superpower than China. This country has a dynamic and expanding economy that is able to grow and thrive in a global setting because those who are in the industry are willing to grow, learn, and adapt with the changing times.
One of the biggest reasons why China is such an economic superpower in Asia is the fact that many business owners are able to keep up with the trends of social media, and to be able to utilize that in expanding and growing their businesses. Social media has become such an important tool in the Chinese business scene, allowing for marketing and advertising, customer services, and other business-related functions.
You can do the math: nearly half of China’s 513 million population are social media users, and the main choice of social media in China applications that are made by local developers. Since they are made by local developers, it’s easier for the Chinese population to understand and use the interface of these apps. Another huge reason why China relies mainly on these apps is because the government virtually bans foreign investors from entering the Chinese social media scene with foreign apps. However, some consumers get though this loophole by using VPN services, allowing them access to larger social media sites, such as Facebook. On the whole, however, Chinese social media users prefer not to bother, and use what is available to them.
So imagine that kind of situation: you have almost 275 million users who are focused on using available social media apps, and all the available business and potential customer bases can be found in these apps. It’s almost a self-contained market!
That being said, here are 5 Chinese social media sites that rank at the top of the social media mountain, and are worthy of attention for those who are looking to break into the Chinese social media market:
- Sina Weibo When you look at the functions and user capabilities of this app, one can effectively call it the “Twitter” of China, but this app offers features that Twitter has only starting offering more recently, such as the ability to share images and video.Sine Weibo actually has twice the users that Twitter does, and this is amazing considering that it’s mainly a China-based app. Today, it’s the most popular Chinese social media app, and it’s a top hub for consumer-based activity. It’s also the main choice of app for Chinese celebrities who want to interact with their fans. However, even Western-based celebrities use this app to interact with their Chinese fans. For example, Tom Cruise has over 4 million followers on Sina Weibo.
- TencentWhile Tencent is thought to be a social media platform that encompasses all the needs of a social media user, its main function is as an instant messenger using the QQ platform. However, the QQ platform also allows a user to use the other functions, such as image and video sharing, posting messages and status updates, and other functions that a social media site allows.While Tencent does have its own social networking site, Pengyou, it has a lower number of active users compared to other Chinese social media sites. However, since it incorporates many different websites in one platform, Tencent has the highest number of registered users.
- Douban
An app that boasts around 80 MILLION active users per month, Douban is an open forum-type of platform that is mainly used for book, movie, and music reviews. It’s very attractive for users because even unregistered users can use up to 80% of the programs offered in the app.
- Renren Considering what kind of functionality that Renren offers, one can call it the “Facebook” of China. It allows users to connect with friends, update their statuses, share music, videos, and links, and many of the other features that Facebook has. Interestingly, Renren was in competition with another company called Kaixin for this market, and won by popular vote. With 147 million registered users and 31 million active users per month, Renren is poised to take over as the social networking platform for the college-educated population in China.
- WeChat
The premiere instant messaging app in China, WeChat is easy to use, has fantastic user interface, and is used by millions of Chinese users. WeChat is a mobile chat and voice app that allows users to discover other users using a capability called “friend discovery”, which points out other WeChat users in the area. Although not initially a typical social network, Wechat has continually added more social networking features to its product, including a photo-sharing platform and an LBS component. Currently, it has more than 100 million users.
If one were to consider the sheer size and focus of the Chinese market in terms of active and potential users, one can safely say that Chinese social media will be very effective for any business looking to make a break in China.
