Top 24 Chinese Social Media Apps, Platforms in 2023
Have you ever wondered which Chinese social media sites are the most popular? Here is our Top 24 Chinese Social Media Sites for the year 2022!
* Here is an update of last year’s article with the new popular social media sites and apps in China. We will also look at demographics and the role of social media in China.
Every second 486 Wechat articles are published in China, 166 rooms booked on Qunar, 115,740 Q&A’s on Zhihu, and 3,472 orders placed on E’leme, and over 62% of people open the WeChat app more than 10 times a day. The role of social media in China is huge as it not only entertains but also influences food, life, and fashion choices, provides makeup and homestyle reviews, and advises on holiday spots: therefore consuming a large amount of the work time of white-collar citizens.
Which Platforms do People in China Spend their Time and Money on?
WeChat continues to dominate the social media sphere in China, with its huge userbase of over a billion people, and integration into the basic functions of daily life. For corporates, it is simply essential.
Meanwhile, Sina Weibo continues to be a heavy hitter, engaged with actively by more than half of Chinese social media users. Traditional stalwart Baidu Tieba maintains its relevance among half of all social media users, while upstart Xiaohongshu continues its meteoric rise to prominence, commanding almost 27% share.
A Typical Daily User’s Journey in China
The first thing most of us do when we wake up is to check our phones. The infographic below shows the top social media platforms engaged with, at what time, for what purpose.
People tend to check messages and social first, on WeChat and Weibo, then listen to music on QQ Music or Netease while getting ready. They’ll use WeChat or Alipay’s payment system to buy breakfast, order a taxi via Didi, and perhaps use the Starbucks app to pick up a coffee. On desktop PCs, QQ and WeChat are used to chat with colleagues, and on mobile, Eleme is used to order lunch.
With lunch and dinner, people often watch TV or short videos on platforms iQiyi and Youku and check their finances on Alipay. In the evening, it’s time to browse WeChat moments, do some shopping on Taobao or JD.com, or see a movie, booked through Maoyan.
Interesting fact:
Due to previous production and fake import scandals (sometimes with lethal outcomes), consumers are not so trusting of official advertisements in China anymore. Instead, they prefer to follow what other consumers are saying and doing.
As a result, the idea of providing online advice and recommendations to others has now become a well-paid-for service. As a result of this new type of marketing – Key Opinion Leader marketing (also known as KOL marketing), China is now one of the most popular places for brands to use this type of interactive service.
Chinese Top Social Media Sites and Apps in 2023
With a population of over 1.4 billion people, China is still one of the most “connected” countries in the world, with 79% of its population being active social media users (vs. 71% last year) and spending on average 5-6 hours on the internet per day. 89% of its population watch videos, 71% watch streams, 53% play live-streamed video games, and 74% shop online using their mobile phones.
With this in mind, it comes as no surprise to know that the Chinese Social Media Ecosystem is highly segmented and each platform or app has its own place under the “sun”. Whilst E-commerce plays an important role in the economy and fills a large part of the digital ecosystem, video is now the second-largest segment based on the number of apps and video platforms regualrly used.
Which Social Media Platform Has the Largest User Base?
WeChat – China’s top 1 app, Chinese Instagram, Chinese Whatapp, and Chinese Online banking – all in one!
Q: What type of media is Wechat?
A: Wechat is a messenger, photo and video timeline sharing, online bank, networking platforms.
Q: How many registered users does WeChat have?
A: Wechat has over 1 billion registrered users.
Q: Who are the users of WeChat?
A: 78% of people in China aged 16-64.
The messenger / super-app. It’s no exaggeration to say that WeChat simply facilitates life in China. Interestingly, 98.5% of smartphone users aged 50-80 use WeChat, and 61% of users older than 60 use more than half of their total mobile data usage on WeChat. This is significantly lower for the younger population, who dedicate only around 14% of their mobile data to the platform. Moreover, users and viewers of Official Accounts are majority above 30 years old.
Main abilities and functions of WeChat
WeChat is used to send voice messages, videos, pictures and texts over the Internet. It supports multi-group chats and users can use WeChat and friends to send fun communications such as SMS, MMS, GIF, Video calls, etc. The WeChat software itself is free of charge, but the Internet traffic charges generated by WeChat are instead charged by the network operator.
WeChat supports mini programmes built separatley by brands and companies. Similar to the other apps they aim to sell, engage or entertain. Inbuilt apps on WeChat include movie tickets, utility payments, mobile top-ups, and much more.
Adding WeChat friends and where your friends come from
Some of the most common ways to add WeChat friends is by searching via phone number, scanning a friend/business’ WeChat QR code, adding from the QQ friends list or a mobile phone contact list, or by shaking your phone and using the “find people nearby” function.
Some of the most common messaging features are instant voice messages, video chats, Wechat calls and the walkie-talkie feature.
Your own photo/video timeline or moments
Wechat has given every user a “wall”, which is a space where you share the “moments” of your life via photos, videos, posts, music etc. However, only confirmed friends can see it which makes wechat a much more private platform.
Business functions
Wechat is widely used for business promotion because it allows you to create business accounts and add followers or future followers to the account. Many accounts have a special purpose such as deals, sign-ups, blogs, etc. whilst other accounts display general company info with a live blog.
WeChat’s mini-apps allow people to use partner services, such as calling a taxi, booking hospital appointments and paying bills.
WeChat pay. The reason Wechat has gdone so well in China is due to its easy payment system. By simply scanning a WeChat QR code, you can pay for items via your WeChat wallet (attached bank account).
Read our 30 tools for marketing on WeChat guide!
Douyin
Q: What type of media is Douyin?
A: Douyin is a short videos sharing platform.
Q: How many registered users does Douyin have?
A: Douyin has over 1 billion registered users.
Q: Who are the users of Douyin?
A: 48.7 percent of Douyin’s users aged below 30 years in China. Majority of them are female.
Known internationally as Tik Tok, Douyin is the king of short videos. Its more than one billion users are majority female, and from third, fourth and fifth-tier cities.
Today Douyin has also become one of the most popular social media e-commerce platforms, attracting millions of KOLs and customers. Intertaining shopping experience reminds us of Telemarketing so popular in the 90s. With a new spin and a dash of glamour, this new business model is boosting sales of many smaller brands, who aim to reach a middle class customer in China.
Advertising on Douyin is also a great way to make brand popular in China. Providing very competitive rates, Bytedance is keen to attract more international brand to the platform in China.
Want to learn more about Advertising on Douyin? Shoot us a line!
Chinese Messenger APPs
Tencent‘s Qzone, QQ – The Chinese version of Messenger
Q: What type of media is QQ?
A: QQ is one of the most popular messengers in China.
Q: How many monthly active users does QQ have?
A: QQ has over 753 million monthly active users.
Despite Wechat’s rise, its predecessor, QQ Messenger, retains over 750 million monthly active users. It is more often used on desktops, as it has integration with email and file management, and has a certain nostalgic appeal to those who were online messaging before WeChat came along.
Creator of Wechat, QQ zone, QQ Messenger, and dozens of sub-branded products, Tencent is one of the first innovators of Chinese software development.
Today, Tengxun.com is a popular search engine (connected to WeChat) and QQ mail is one of the most used emailing services for personal and industrial use. QQ music and v.qq are the two entertainment platforms, QQ zone is one of the core platforms of Tencent Group where all the members of the QQ group feel comfortable.
Weibo – Facebook of China
Q: What type of media is Weibo?
A: Weibo is a blogging platform.
Q: How many monthly active users does Weibo have?
A: Weibo has over 511 million monthly active users.
Q: Who are the users of Weibo?
A: 48% of Weibo users are aged between 30-39 years old. Gender ratio: Male: 18.3%, female: 81.7%.
The huge variety of social functions have seen Weibo evolve into a multi-use platform that has no real analogs in Western social media. Think of almost any social media function – Weibo has it. Among its hundreds of millions of users, the post-1990 generation accounts for 48%, and the post-2000 generation accounts for 30%.
Weibo, the abbreviation of MicroBlog, is a blogging platform used for social networking and sharing short real-time messages. Referred to as the Twitter of China, Weibo is a complex platform with various types of native adverting, semi-targeted boosts and even a live stream option.
Main abilities and functions of Weibo
- Originally a text limited to only 140 characters per post, Weibo has now increased its character limit and encourages longer posts. The idea is to post thoughts or updates to your online followers (similar to Facebook).
- Weibo is a tool for communication. With the ability to follow people or organizations of interest in order to view their updates. Others can also follow you, which is how to build up a fan base.
- To increase online attention, users can discuss trending topics and interact with others.
- Like Instagram, the @ symbol is used to mention others. Hashtags are also commonly used for searching topics (Weibo introduced this years before Instagram’s “follow the hashtag” add on).
- You can comment on and forward other people’s posts. For more privacy, you can chat through private messages.
- You can also use your phone to log into Weibo via the Weibo app when on the go.
- Weibo also has a lot of fun features, such as the acquisition of medals and adding applications (Weibo Square is the place to view them). Microblogging activites are also a lot of fun.
- Livestream
- Video Vlogs
Kuaishou
Q: What type of media is Kuaishou?
A: Kuaishou is a short videos sharing/ livestreaming platform.
Q: How many monthly active users does Kuaishou have?
A: Kuaishou has over 436 million montly active users.
A popular livestreaming app with 305 million daily active users, of whom about 50% are under 30. Kuaishou differentiates itself from Douyin by creating extended interactions between users and content generators.
BiliBili
Q: What type of media is Bilibili?
A: Bilibili is a video-sharing/livestreaming platform.
Q: How many monthly active users does Bilibili have?
A: Bilibili has over 170 million monthly active users.
Bilibili (Chinese name: 哔哩哔哩) started as a home for fans of anime has become a cultural community and platform that some are now calling ‘China’s YouTube’. Primarily a video-hosting site, it also features livestreams that are particularly popular among gamers, and is branching out into producing TV.
The ratio of male to female users on Bilibili is 57:43, and 78% of users are aged 18-35. Among this demographic, the proportion with a bachelor’s degree or above is 10 percent higher than that of the remaining 22% of users.
It looks like Bilibili is aiming to become China’s Youtube. With a big support to content creators in lively vlogging style, and it’s large audience, Bilibili is getting more and more popular.
Also, this platform is the most authentic, when it comes to performance, as there is no “fake follower” market developed yet.
Chinese Social Media Websites and Apps for E-commerce
Xiaohongshu or RED
Q: What type of media is Xiaohongshu?
A: Xiaohongshu is a shopping, product reviews, and e-commerce platform.
Q: How many registered users does Xiaohongshu have?
A: Xiaohongshu has 300 million registered users.
The new e-commerce kid on the block. Livestreams, short videos and independent accounts drive user purchases. Strongly entwined with personal social profiles, it hosts a 300-million strong userbase that is 7:3 female to male, majority aged between 18-35, with the 18-23 age band making put the largest contingent.
Xiaohongshu (also known as RED), is a Chinese social media site that is more of an online community. It is also a cross-border e-commerce business, a sharing platform, and a reputation database. The users of Xiao Hong Shu, are both consumers and sharers. Users can buy products on the app, and enjoy the benefits of cross-border businesses in China. Due to Xiaohongshu having the option to leave reviews, it has now become one of the most famous review marketing platforms in China’s digital age.
Xiaohongshu is a lifestyle platform and consumption decision portal for young people. Founded by Mao Wenchao and Qu Fang in Shanghai in 2013, Xiaohongshu’s objective is to encourage a good life. When using Xiaohongshu, users capture their lives with short videos, pictures and text.
From traditional commerce to the current internet industry, female social attributes encourage them to spend more, which is the main reason that Xiaohongshu targets women.
In terms of age distribution, users under the age of 35 account for above 80%. Among them, users under the age of 24 account for roughly 31%, whilst users between the age of 24–30 account for over 30 %.
In terms of spending power distribution, among the users of Xiaohongshu, medium and high consumers accounted for more. Whilst the proportion of low consumers has recently increased rapidly.
It is speculated that the original Xiaohongshu, which was an experience-sharing platform for Haitao (the overseas product market of Jingdong), has accumulated a lot of middle-to-high consumers with older Haitao target users.
The recent advertisement for Xiaohongshu with celebrity presence has attracted younger students with lower spending power. From the distribution of the provinces, it can be seen that the users of Xiaohongshu is more popular in developed coastal provinces, with Guangdong Province having the most users.
The platform has its own influencer marketing solution, where it acts as an agent platform for all KOL accounts to accept advertising on RED.
Read about marketing on Xiaohongshu in our amazing guide!
How to register a store on Xiaohongshu? Here is an answer!
Zhihu – the Chinese version of Quora
Q: What type of media is Zhihu?
A: Zhihu is a knowledge/encyclopedia.
Q: How many monthly active users does Zhihu have?
A: Zhihu has over 25 million monthly acive users.
Zhihu can be thought of as the Chinese social media version of Quora. Users ask and answer questions on virtually any topic. 80% of registered users have a bachelor’s degree or higher and 20% of users have overseas educational experience. Typically, its 200 million users are aged 25-40.
Recognized as the biggest Q&A platform in China, Zhihu was included in the TOP 30 most influential platforms of China in 2017. Soon after, Zhihu launched “Zhihu university” in 2018.
The course system includes Zhihu Live and the newly launched “Zhuhu Private Class” at the end of 2017. It includes both audio and video, a single course for fragmented learning and a series of longer courses that require more time and effort. The book-system includes e-books and audio books, as well as a “Know the Book Club” section, which was launched in early 2018 to help users disassemble and analyze books.
Zhihu is a much more serious platform than Quora and attracts industry professionals to share their opinions and advice. Unintellectual or childish questions are not well received on the platform and are often not published on Zhihu.
Programmers, managers, founders, CEOs, etc. are the top occupations of Zhihu users.
As seen in the graph below, the users of Zhihu are primarily located in first-tier Chinese cities. This reflects the analysis results that show Zhihu users tend to be more engaged in the Internet, finance and other industries.
To learn more about Zhihu as a marketing tool please refer to our article: All about Zhihu
Chinese Local Business Review and Social Networking Websites and APPs
Dianping – The Chinese version of Yelp
Q: What type of media is Dianping?
A: Dianping is a review/directory platform.
Q: How many annual active users does Dianping have?
A: There are 500 million annual active users on Dianping.
Dianping is like Yelp on steroids. Users find and rate restaurants, hotels, gyms, films and other lifestyle services. More than that, they can directly book and access discounts through the app. The social feature is front and centre, with several feeds displaying what people are enjoying nearby. Most of the 500 million users are between 16 and 40 years old, they’re mainly college students and urban white-collar workers. It was hit hard by the pandemic, but as China gets back to normal, will surely recover.
Released in 2003, and backed by Google and Tencent, Dazhong Dianping is the leading local life information and review platform in China. This popular App/Platform not only provides information services such as business information, consumer reviews and consumer preferences but it also provides Online-To-Offline trading services such as group buying, restaurant booking, takeout and electronic membership cards.
Want to know how to use it or how to list your business on Dianping? Learn more about Dianping in our previous article.
News and Knowledge Platforms in China
JinRi Toutiao （Today’s headlines) – Chinese UGC news
Q: What type of media is JinRi Toutiao?
A: JinRi Toutiao is a news delivery platform.
Q: How many monthly active users does JinRi Toutiao have?
A: JinRi Toutiao has over 270 million montly active users
JinRi Toutiao (Today’s Headlines) is a user-generated content and news delivery platform that is hugely popular among young Chinese users. 90% of Toutiao’s 700 million users are under 30 years old, and the average user spends 76 minutes on the site every day, resulting in 1.3 billion articles read every day.
JinRi Toutiao is dedicated to help enterprises, institutions, media and self-media get more exposure and attention. With over 700 million registered users and 120 million active users every day, who wouldn’t want to have a piece of this large online audience? However, the Toutiao account is difficult to apply for and is particularly easy to get banned.
Users high-quality content will get more exposure through the use of powerful intelligent recommendation algorithm, while the industry-leading weight elimination protection mechanism, will keep the original from infringement worries.
The platform can publish videos, questions and answers. Also marked in red, “Recommended” means that the platform supports this content.
Video-Sharing and Livestreaming Websites and Apps in China
Huya – game streaming heaven
Q: What type of media is Huya?
A: Huya is a gaming video /livestreaming platform.
Q: How many monthly active users does Huya have?
A: Huya has over 151 million monthly active users.
Huya is a game livestreaming platform that is hugely popular among users aged 24 and below, who account for 64.4% of the 200 million user total. The user stickiness and platform interaction remain at a very high level, with an average daily viewing time of 135 minutes.
Huya is set to merge with DouYu, another game live streaming giant, which, Variety reports, might result in capturing 80% of the Chinese market.
It is home to the KOLs and fans of the gaming industry. It provides live broadcasts of popular games, e-game competitions, and Game star/KOL broadcasts.
The team of Huya invests its main resources to provide users with a clear, fast and smooth live viewing experience. Users can interact with the host in real-time, in the form of texting and socializing with their gaming idols.
Douyu
Q: What type of media is Douyu?
A: Douyu is a gaming livestreaming platform.
Q: How many monthly active users does Douyu have?
A: Douyu has over 165 million monthly active users.
Gaming livestreaming platform that is soon to merge with Huya (see above). The new merged company will inherent Douyu’s 150-million strong userbase of main Gen-Z males. Interestingly, more than half of the users are migrant workers living in first-tier cities.
Yizhibo
Q: What type of media is Yizhibo?
A: Yizhibo is a livestreaming platform.
Q: How many daily active users does Yizhibo have?
A: Yizhibo has over 7 million active users.
Q: Who are the users of Yizhibo?
A: Female: over 63%, male: over 36, over 50% of the users are under 24 years old.
A livestreaming platform that caters mostly to millennials, on which users create an avatar to interact with one another. Most users are young women, but there is still a large male contingent. The income bracket of the users tends to be above the national average. Roughly a third of all internet users in China hold accounts.
Main abilities and functions of Yizhibo
Officially launched On 13th May 2016, Yizhibo teamed up with Weibo as a Chinese live-streaming app and a strategic partner to support the live broadcast function of Weibo.
YIzhibo has more or less the same functions as Yinke. Selecting an Avatar on YIzhibo is crucial, as it may affect how many people join the live “room”, therefore it’s in the users’ interest to spend some time perfecting their Avatar!
Taobao’s/Tmall’s Weitao
Q: What type of media is Weitao?
A: Weitao is a blogging/livestreaming platform.
Q: How many monthly active users does Weitao have?
A: Weitao has about 60 million monthly active users.
Weitao is Taobao and Tmall’s inbuilt social media platform. It focuses on hosting KOL and Taobao merchant videos and livestreams. Unlike Xiaohongshu, it features direct links from videos to the Taobao listings for the products featured.
Taobao is the 4th most popular app in China. It provides comfortable living with instant shopping and instant delivery service. Making tremendous sales volumes on self-created shopping festivals such as Double 11, Singles Day, Double 12, 618 (June 18th) and more, the Taobao platform is still the number one shopping site in China.
The core of Weitao is to create a user-centric Taobao experience instead of sharing traffic with other third-party review and recommendation services. Every user has his or her own account, areas of interest, access to information and services through subscription, and the interaction between operators and fans can be generated around that account.
There are 3 types of accounts that can be created on Weitao: Influencer Account, Store Account or Brand station.
Today, Weitao is one of the most important tools for celebrities and KOL to effectively communicate with their audiences.
Other than celebrities and top KOL, Weitao is a great tool for brands, retailers and small content creators to engage with their audience and generate sales.
To learn more about Taobao, please see our article.
Oasis
Q: What type of media is Oasis?
A: Oasis is a photo-sharing/ social network platform, and it is Weibo’s answer to Instagram.
Q: Who are the users of Oasis?
A: About 70% of Oasis users are younger than 29, and it is used by female mostly.
Oasis is Sina Weibo’s answer to Instagram. It is heavily focused on sharing images, geolocating and building followings. Still relatively new, but one to keep an eye on. Nearly 70% of users are younger than 29 years old, and female users outnumber male users.
Chinese E-commerce Websites and Apps
VIP.com or WeiPingHui
Q: What type of media is Vip.com?
A: Vip.com is an e-commerce platform.
Q: How many monthly active users does Vip.com have?
A: Vip.com has 29.7 million monthly active users.
Often overlooked, but certainly one of the top Chinese social media sites, VIP.com is an e-commerce site that caters mostly to women in third or fourth-tier cities. It has over 83.9 million registered members.
Founded in August 2008, VIP is one of the Top social media apps in China. It is a discounted fashion and lifestyle e-commerce platform. With the idea of “discounted & limited time to purchase and the guarantee of authenticity”. VIP is claiming to be the third-largest e-commerce platform with total net revenue of 84.5 billion RMB.
Foreign and local brands join Vip.com in order to provide a more exclusive shopping experience for their customers.
On 13th November 2019, Vip.com released its financial report for the third quarter of 2019 as of 30th September, with total net revenue of RMB 19.6 billion (approximately $ 2.7 billion), an increase of 10 from 17.8 billion in the same period last year. Whilst the gross merchandise (GMV) was 31.7 billion yuan, which shows an increase of 17% from 27.2 billion yuan in the same period last year.
*** There are tons of e-commerce platforms in China, so we decided to create a few separated posts devoted to this topic. Here are some of the most useful:
Chinese e-commerce platforms: registrations costs
5 wonderful e-commerce solutions besides Tmall
Guide to e-commerce cross-border platforms in China
Youzan
Q: What is Youzan?
A: Youzan is a WeChat store .
Q: How many people use Youzan?
A: Over 500 million.
One of the largest providers of WeChat stores in China. It is a key gateway to Chinese social media. It’s mainly focused on retail technology SaaS services, helping merchants to open online stores, social marketing, improve retention and repurchase, and expand omni-channel new retail business. Its users number more than 500-million and it engages offline stores that are not yet internet-integrated.
Group Buying and Second-Hand Websites and Apps in China
Pingduoduo – the cheaper Taobao
Q: What type of media is Pingduoduo?
A: Pingduoduo is a group buying platform.
Q: How many monthly active users does Pingduoduo have?
A: Pingduoduo over 720 million monthly active users.
Q: What is the angle of Pingduoduo?
A: Users can buy discounted products and goods by forming groups with friends, family members, and so on.
As of 2021, e-commerce giant Pinduoduo boasts more active users than JD, 90% of whom were born after the year 2000. 60% of its strong userbase are from third and fourth-tier cities.
Established in September 2015 by Shanghai XunMeng Technology, before going public in the US in 2016, Pingduoduo became last year’s second most downloaded app in China. Pingduoduo is a third-party social e-commerce platform focusing on C2B conglomeration.
In 2021 Pingduoduo has become the third-biggest Chinese e-commerce company. According to Bloomberg, the estimated market value of Pinduoduo is reported to be 32.014 billion USD – exceeding the market value of JD.com!
In 2023, Pinduoduo ’s annual average consumption will reach 3823 yuan, surpassing the high customer price that JD currently represents. UBS analysts pointed out that China’s ever-growing e-commerce market volume is enough for Alibaba and Pinduoduo to coexist in the next period of time. UBS also believes that the C2M practiced by Pinduoduo based on the new e-commerce model represents the future development direction of e-commerce. However, it is also important to recognize that Pinduoduo is still in its infancy and cannot be guaranteed to be successful.
Xianyu
Q: What type of media is Xianyu?
A: Xianyu is an online second-hand purchasing platform.
Taobao’s second-hand platform, similar to eBay but without bidding. More than 60 percent of its 200-million users were born in the 1990s, and nearly 70 percent are female. You can find this app by following this link: https://2.taobao.com/
Meituan
Q: What type of media is Meiduan?
A: Meituan is a review/directory app.
Q: How many people use Meiduan?
A: There are 500 million registered on Meituan.
Meituan is essentially the same as Dianping (see above), is operated by the same company, and shares its listings data. The major differences are a brand-integrated food delivery service, and bike-sharing service. Its 500-million strong userbase are generally young and have above-average incomes.
Douban
Q: What type of media is Douban?
A: Douban is an interest-based social networking platform.
Douban was primarily set up as a film database, with accompanying forums for discussions around film. Now, the forums have evolved to encompass discussions around all manner of life, and the site might more accurately be compared to Reddit than IMDb.
Its more-than-200-million users are generally middle-class, university-educated city dwellers.
Founded in 2005, Douban is a forum dedicated to books, movies, music, podcasts (Douban FM) and now pets!
With 227.49 million monthly active users as of April 2019, Douban is one of the best platforms for word-of-mouth marketing when it comes to entertainment.
Douban has recently added a group function, where people can join into groups if they have common interests! People rely on this platform’s ranking to choose to watch a tv show or a movie.
Chinese Video Hosting Platforms and Apps
Youku – Youtube of China and a pop social media platform
Q: What type of media is Youku?
A: Youku is a video hosting service.
Q: How many registered users does Youku have?
A: Youku has over 580 million registered users.
Q: Who are the users on Youku?
A: 82% of Youku users are aged between 18-40.
The original ‘Youtube of China’, Youku maintains an irreplacable position as one of China’s top social media sites. More than two thirds of its 580 million users are university educated, and 82% are aged 18-40.
Main abilities and functions of Youku
Youku is a video platform run by the Youku Group of Alibaba. Currently, Youku is one of the major video platforms covering more than 580 million multi-screen terminals with a daily playback volume of 1.18 billion. They can be viewed on PC, TVs, and mobile phones. Youku covers memberships, games, payments, smart hardware, content production, and announcements.
Tencent Video
Q: What type of media is Tencent Video?
A: Tencent Video is a video hosting service.
Q: How many people use Tencent Video?
A: 900 million people use Tencent Video.
Another player in the video field, Tencent Video has just shy of 1.2 billion users. The focus here is not e-commerce, but content. It hosts TV shows, movies, sports and news shows. The majority of the userbase were born in the 1990s, with millennials and Gen-Zers accounting for 93.8% of all users.
Chinese Blogging Platforms and APPs
Baijiahao
Q: What type of media is Baijiahao?
A: Baijiahao is a blogging platform.
Q: How many monthly active users does Baijiahao have?
A: Baijiahao has over 720 million monthly active users.
Baidu’s take on WeMedia, a platform for aspiring bloggers and writers that is heavily supported by Baidu’s search algorithm. Most of its users are aged between 20 and29 years old, and male users account for 70% of the total.
Developed by the world’s largest Chinese search engine in the world. Baijiahao is there to encourage content creators to create high quality contents. Besides uploading articles, images and videos, users can also open their live stream to provide value. Contents published on the platform will be pushed to users on Baidu mobile search,Baidu Search on Desktop and Baidu mobile browser. Contents on the Baijiahao platform will also be listed on Baidu search to attract more users.
How to Start Using Chinese Social Media Sites and Chinese Social Media Apps for Your Business in 2021?
Your choice of social media channel will depend on the type of business you are running. But generally speaking, most people in China are listening to advice (RED, Weibo), reading entertaining and educational content (Wechat), and watching videos (Youku, Douyin, Yizhibo). Many young men and women spend their time on Taobao and Tmall in search of new or interesting products, whilst the older generation are searching for good deals.
Most platforms have shopping options, whilst almost all platforms are interactive. The landscape of Chinese social media is tremendous, which makes it very easy to get confused. So where should you start? Here are helpful some tips:
Don’t start a Chinese social media account just for the sake of having one
Brands often open accounts in hope that Chinese people will actively look for them – but they won’t. Similar to the West, Chinese people are fed up with excessive information. If your brand’s account doesn’t bring any value to the follower’s life e.g. memberships, games, access etc., you will struggle to increase your followers.
Don’t open an account if you don’t plan to bring value to customers
The most successful accounts on WeChat and other platforms are those that are interactive and not read. WeChat is a great gateway to a brand’s membership platform, with off-line location maps, and showroom’s displaying the latest collections.
Similar to Facebook and Linkedin, most Chinese social media sites and apps will bring down visibility on purpose so that brand’s spend more money on advertising. Even though there are some “creative” ways to reach out on “open” platform’s like Weibo, apps such as Wechat are “closed” as only friends can see updates.
Weibo also bans QR code promotions, unless businesses are able to find a way to get followers on WeChat with offline or online campaigns, otherwise targeted WeChat advertising is the best option.
Find the best Chinese social media sites and apps to support your e-commerce retail solution
Whether or not your brand has a wide follower base on Weibo or Douyin, it is still important to connect your e-commerce links to social media platforms.
If you have any questions or would like more information, please feel free get in touch.
HI-COM is a digital marketing agency dedicated to providing China-specific strategy, social media communication and e-commerce marketing services to businesses around the world. Working with more than 100 brands, HI-COM is the go-to partner of companies that want to enter China market! Contact us for your free consultation today!
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