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Key Steps to Strengthen the Impact of Weibo in B2B Marketing

January 25, 2024

In the dynamic landscape of digital marketing, Weibo stands out as a powerful platform that extends its reach beyond personal connections to provide immense opportunities for B2B marketing. As a result, this social media giant has become an invaluable tool for businesses looking to establish a solid online presence and engage with a diverse audience.

Delve into key strategies for leveraging Weibo in B2B marketing, focusing on building your presence, participating in industry events, and unlocking the potential of Weibo Ads.

📱 Weibo & Twitter: Are They Comparable?

Building Your Weibo Presence

Establishing a robust presence on Weibo is the first step towards making a lasting impression in the B2B realm. Above all, begin by crafting a compelling profile that accurately reflects your business identity. Use a professional profile picture, a concise and informative bio, and ensure that your contact details are readily available.

Regularly share relevant content that resonates with your target audience. This could include industry insights, thought leadership articles, and updates about your products or services. The key is to strike a balance between promotional content and valuable information that your audience can benefit from.

Leverage hashtags strategically to increase the discoverability of your posts. For instance, research popular industry-related hashtags and incorporate them into your content. This not only expands your reach but also positions your business as a key player within your sector.

Participating in Popular Industrial Events and Campaigns

Firstly, Weibo is not just a platform for broadcasting; it’s a dynamic space for interaction. Actively participate in popular industrial events and campaigns to enhance your visibility and credibility within the B2B community.

Secondly, keep an eye on trending topics and discussions within your industry. Join relevant conversations by commenting on posts, sharing your expertise, and building connections with other businesses. This not only boosts your engagement but also positions your brand as a knowledgeable and approachable entity.

Thirdly, Collaborate with influencers and thought leaders in your industry. Influencer partnerships can significantly amplify your reach and lend authenticity to your brand. Identify influencers whose audience aligns with your target demographic and explore collaboration opportunities.

Weibo Ads Introduction and Successful Campaigns

Weibo Ads present a potent avenue for elevating your B2B marketing efforts. Craft compelling and visually appealing ad creatives that resonate with your target audience. Whether it’s promoting a new product, announcing an event, or showcasing industry insights, Weibo Ads allow you to tailor your message for maximum impact.

Segment your target audience based on demographics, interests, and behavior to ensure that your ads are reaching the right people. Moreover, Weibo provides robust targeting options that enable you to tailor your campaigns with precision.

Analyze the performance of your campaigns regularly

Weibo’s analytics tools offer valuable insights into the reach, engagement, and conversion metrics of your ads. Use this data to refine your future strategies and ensure that your B2B marketing efforts on Weibo are continually evolving.

In conclusion, Weibo has emerged as a game-changer in the realm of B2B marketing in China. By strategically building your presence, actively participating in industry conversations, and harnessing the power of Weibo Ads, you can unlock the full potential of this platform. As you navigate the intricacies of Weibo marketing, remember that consistency and authenticity are key. By staying true to your brand and actively engaging with your audience, you can position your business for sustained success in the competitive world of B2B marketing.

Weibo & Twitter: Are They Comparable?

May 26, 2022

Weibo is often called China’s answer to Twitter but is that actually true? Let’s dig into the specifics of both of the platforms and understand what Weibo is really about.

With over 140 million active users, Twitter is one of the most popular social media platforms in the United States, and the platform was acquired by Elon Musk for $44 billion, about a month ago. In China, Weibo is regarded as Twitter’s equivalent. There are a number of Chinese microblogging sites. The most popular of these is Sina Weibo.

Unlike Twitter, Sina Weibo, which debuted in 2009, was not the first in this space. However, it has increased its user base during the last three years.

Twitter Vs. Weibo: Features

Rich Media
Weibo: Sina Weibo allows users to insert extra material such as photographs, videos, music, emoticons, and polls. The site also allows you to see links from video streaming sites such as Youku Tudou, without leaving the site.
Twitter: Twitter, like Facebook, allows you to include video URLs in your tweets and reshare videos. It also allows you to download videos on occasion, but only at a very low level. Here, it might take a page from Weibo and implement a feature that allows users to view videos linked to tweets without leaving the platform, so increasing user retention.
Comment Threads
Weibo: Weibo has capitalized on its platform’s social validation feature by making its comment thread user-friendly. You can see comments properly sorted out under a tweet with a single click. You can also include your @username in the comment to remind the audience about your brand and company. In this way, Weibo supports corporations in raising brand awareness.
Twitter: Twitter, on the other hand, is still unorganized in that sector because you have to take the time out to browse and track who has responded to your tweets. The ones commenting on the tweets mix with other comments about different topics. The thread is sorted under one umbrella.
Trending Categorization
Weibo: Weibo’s hall of fame is a dedicated page that tells you what’s ‘trending,’ similar to Twitter’s except for this one. Weibo dominates the trending game because it divides its trends into categories such as sports, entertainment, finance, and travel, making it more user-specific.
Twitter: Since the hashtags that appear on a user’s feed are generally news or brand-related issues, Twitter has yet to categorize its trending hashtags based on user preferences.
Contests
Weibo: Weibo includes a function called ‘event,’ which is the virtual equivalent of a party, but in sections (as usual). The feature aggregates everyone’s ideas, increasing engagement by a factor of ten. The Weibo event allows you to participate in local events, prized events, forum events, and other great events highlighted at the top of the website, as well as spark Weibo messages (weebs).
Twitter: Twitter hasn’t yet reached this level of engagement, but it has managed to generate interest through contests and meet-and-greets with influencers. These sponsored contests have provided marketers with an exciting way to reach out to their consumers, but they could learn a thing or two from Weibo on how to organize it on a larger scale.
Number of Characters
Sina Weibo, like Twitter, has a character limit of 140 characters. Nonetheless, it makes a significant difference. A Chinese character, like an English word, has a meaning. A string of 140 characters might mean a lot of different things. In English, however, each word consists of many characters. The 140-character constraint restricts the expression of thoughts. As a result, you cannot use extended words to explain complex concepts on Twitter. According to the most recent Economist research, Chinese is great for microblogging.

Twitter Vs. Weibo: Revenue

Twitter: At first glance, Twitter’s business appears to be in good shape. Its revenue increased by 7% in 2020 due to the pandemic but increased by 45% year over year in the first nine months of 2021 as those challenges faded.

Twitter’s total monetizable daily active users (mDAUs) increased by 27% to 192 million in 2020. It had 211 million mDAUs at the end of the third quarter of 2021, up 13% from the previous year. This expansion was driven by its expansion in other markets, particularly Japan.

However, Twitter became unprofitable in 2020 and continues to lose money in the first nine months of 2021. A substantial chunk of the losses was due to tax and legal charges, but they were also exacerbated by a 30% rise in staff this year.

Twitter also anticipates that the forthcoming sale of MoPub will cut revenue by $200-$250 million next year, making it more difficult to meet its target of producing more than $7.5 billion in annual revenue by 2023.

Weibo: Weibo’s income declined 4% in 2020 due to the pandemic, which lowered ad sales. Its live streaming business has also slowed. However, Weibo’s income increased 39% year on year in the first nine months of 2021 as those businesses recovered. Analysts anticipate a 37% increase in sales for the full year.

Weibo’s total monthly active users (MAUs) increased by less than 1% year on year to 521 million at the end of 2020. However, it concluded the third quarter of 2021 with 573 million MAUs, a 12% increase from the previous year.

Weibo, unlike Twitter, has been consistently profitable under generally accepted accounting rules (GAAP). Its net income fell 37% in 2020 but increased 10% year on year in the first nine months of 2021 as pandemic-related challenges faded. Analysts predict that its net income will grow faster in the fourth quarter and by 54% for the year.

They predict Weibo’s revenue and earnings to climb 12% and 29%, respectively, in the coming year, which is still outstanding growth for a stock that trades at only ten times forward earnings

Weibo Twitter

Conclusion

If you’re a business looking to expand globally, or considering entering the Chinese market for the first time, this article should be a good guide. Both Twitter and Weibo have their advantages and disadvantages, so there’s no one-size-fits-all solution here; instead, it’s a matter of researching your target audience and deciding which platform is best to your needs. It may even make sense to maintain a presence on both—if nothing else, that will allow you to reach customers at both ends of the spectrum.

Both platforms are popular worldwide, and their differences open avenues for different types of businesses. For example, Chinese businesses would benefit from a Weibo account to attract Chinese customers and global firms should rather create a Twitter account to attract customers worldwide.

Though the features of Weibo outnumber those of Twitter, and revenue for the Chinese platform appears to be increasing, it is still too early to determine whether Twitter will be replaced (or at least complemented) by Weibo. However, with Weibo’s recent development and expansion, it is certainly a unique alternative to Twitter.

Read more about Weibo and its recent status here.

If you wish to know more about Weibo and other Chinese social media platforms, please contact our team. We use our knowledge and expertise to help businesses build meaningful partnerships and develop their network among Chinese customers. For additional information, please contact at contact@thewechatagency.com.

Weibo and it’s Status in 2021

September 20, 2021

Globally, the number of people using social networking sites is constantly rising without an end in sight. By the end of 2021, there will be over 3 billion people using social networks. And with over 2 billion monthly active users, Facebook is the most widely used social media site in the world.

Meanwhile, WeChat, China’s most popular social media network, has more than 1 billion monthly active users all on its own. This suggests that the app and other social media giants, in general, are used by nearly all Chinese citizens.

However, ever since China set up the Great Firewall of China and internet censorship, in 2008, western social media giants like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube can no longer be accessed in China. As a result, in 2009, Sina Corporation launched Sina Weibo, a microblogging site similar to Twitter and Instagram, to replace the social media giants.

Wangyi Weibo was launched in 2010 and claimed 260 million registered users by 2012. However, Wangyi Weibo vanished by the end of 2014.
Later, Tencent introduced Tencent Weibo in 2010, but it failed to attract a big following.
Following which, Sohu launched Sohu Weibo, but it never really took off.

Because of this, among all the ‘Twitter lookalikes’ that were launched after 2009, only Sina Weibo, has been around to tell the tale. With more than 300 million monthly active users since its launch, Weibo became China’s biggest social media platform after Tencent’s WeChat.

Despite the platform’s success since its launch, its supremacy is now being challenged by competitors like WeChat, Toutiao, Zhihu, Douyin, and others. But despite the fact that Weibo has lost some of its shine as China’s social media leader, it is still expanding rapidly, making Weibo marketing a vital tool for companies looking to expand into the country.

The following features on Weibo can help brands gain visibility in the China market:

Weibo Influencer campaigns
Weibo advertising
Weibo lottery
Cross-promotion
Organic growth

Despite its ups and downs, the platform is on the rise in 2021. Sina Weibo has 566 million monthly active users in the second quarter of 2021, an increase of 43 million from the previous year’s second-quarter total. The Chinese version of Twitter has quickly risen to prominence as China’s go-to micro-blogging destination.

In addition to text, Sina Weibo users can include photos, gifs, and videos in their posts. Weibo now allows users to post audio, video, and photo files, as well as animated gifs. Besides being able to follow friends and celebrities, users may also send and receive messages and search for information using keywords.

As for the Weibo user base, compared to WeChat, Weibo has a significantly younger base. Weibo users are quite young: 30% of them are under 20 years old and 48% are aged between 30-39 years old. This is a significant factor for the placement of your brand and products in the Chinese market. Weibo is also a very dynamic and animated site, and users expect businesses and KOLs to engage at a high level and respond quickly to their posts. Chinese users, particularly Gen Z users, frequently use Weibo to learn about new companies and promotions from major influencers in the industry.

In conclusion, compared to other social media platforms, Weibo has a powerful ability to connect with the younger Chinese audience. Thanks to its vast user base, user affective states and engagement rates,Weibo is still on the rise. As a result, if you are looking to grow your brand presence in China and your target audience consists vastly of Gen Z, then you need to use social media platforms like Weibo.