Emerging Chinese Social Media Platforms in 2019 - LAT Multilingual

Emerging Chinese
Social Media
Platforms in 2019

Content
          • Tiktok (douyin)

          • Xiaohongshu(RED)

          • Zhihu

          • Mafengwo

TikTok (Douyin)

Top Short-video sharing media app in China
• Founded in : 2016

• Monthly Active Users: 500M (July 2018, ranked 12th globally)

• Western Counterpart: Musical.ly (already shut down),
  Instagram (Video version)

• Target Audience: Young people who like creative, funny and
  cool Internet content, living in tier 1 and tier 2 cities

                                                                 Source: https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-demographics-of-Tik-Tok-app-users

TikTok (Douyin)                                         User Demographics

                                                      Age group   Proportion

                                                       Under 19      20%

                                                       20 – 24       32.8%

                                                       25 – 29       27.9%

                                                       30 – 34       13.5%

                                                       35 – 39       4.2%

                                                       Above 39      1.6%

TikTok provides a platform for users to produce,    It is now considered to be one of the trendiest platforms in
watch, and share funny and creative videos          China. Businesses can use this platform to post advertisements
through special effects and filters. These 15-      and create content. Brands are expected to get more and more
second clips can easily attract attention and get   experienced at creating short videos in 2019 (most likely with
users addicted, keeping them refreshing for new     the help of some KOLS)
videos.

Case Study: TikTok & Ctrip

Case Description:
Ctrip, China’s leading online travel agency, partnered with Tiktok to initiate
a hashtag challenge during National Day holidays, which consists of a
week of heavy travel. Ctrip encouraged users to share their creative
traveling experience with Ctrip’s sticker and tagged cities.

Impact:
Not only did Ctrip harvested more than 4 billion views within just a week,
the company also collected the top traveling city data for further marketing
purpose.

Xiaohongshu (RED)

Cross-boarder E-commerce & Social Media
Platform
• Founded in : 2013

• Monthly Active Users: Around 30M (2018）

• Target Audience: Mostly females living in tier 1 and tier 2 cites, 18-30
  years old, have experience travelling abroad, like shopping and
  sharing pictures of their merchandise

Xiaohongshu (RED)
On this platform, users can post reviews, join in on discussions, and
post their own content. Content tends to focus on product photos and
shopping experiences, including shopping tips, deals, and
experiences from their trips abroad.

                                                     Aside from its social aspects, Xiaohongshu is an advanced e-
                                                     commerce platform. The homepage features items that have
                                                     received the most shares. This allows users to dictate which
                                                     items are featured on the home page and to direct trends.
                                                     KOLs on this platform can directly influence sales through the
                                                     content that they generate, making this a very attractive platform
                                                     for foreign luxury brands.

Zhihu
Question-and-answer website & Social Media
Platform
• Founded in : 2011

• Monthly Active Users: Around 35M (June 2018）

• Western Counterpart: Quora + Reddit

• Target Audience: Generally well-educated, wealthier than average,
  concentrated in tier-1 and tier-2 cities.

Zhihu users are highly engaged, with many posts accruing tens of thousands
of upvotes/downvotes and hundreds of comments.

While advertising in the traditional sense might not be very effective ,
providing users with useful content will almost certainly result in some
increased brand awareness. Businesses can answer questions that relate to
their industry and post links to their company website or contact form.
However, businesses must be careful not to come off as too sales-oriented
and self-promotional.

One way to ensure that the content you create on this platform is through
KOL promotion. While they might not consider themselves as KOLs in the
traditional sense, top contributors on Zhihu have managed to gain massive
followings on the platform. Collaborating with these top contributors can help
brands reach their target audience and impart a sense of trust to Zhihu

Mafengwo

One-stop site for Chinese travelers
• Founded in : 2010

• Monthly Active Users: 8.45M (May 2018）

• Target Audience: Chinese FIT (Free Independent Travellers)

Users can go through the latest travel information, glance
at Q&As and reviews, and book hotels, travel destinations
and local tours.

Mafengwo rose to popularity due to its social aspects: users can share information
about their trips and post content for other users to discuss and up/downvote. Today
Mafengwo hosts more than 1 million user-generated travel guides and has seen
massive amounts of engagement on its content.

Advertising is available on the platform, but as with almost any platform in China, KOL
promotion on Mafengwo can go a long way. Seasoned travel experts with large
followings on Mafengwo are often willing to collaborate with brands to promote their
businesses. This method can be incredibly effective for reaching the elusive FIT
demographic in China.

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