U.S. Businesses Need Face On These Top 5 Chinese Social Media Places

By guest blogger, Weidong “Jim” Zhang

Because one in five people in the world are Chinese, it’s likely that the Chinese market will one day soon (if it’s not already) affect your business. Many U.S. based businesses have realized that China isn’t just the world’s top exporter, but is now developing into what many experts predict will be the world’s largest consumer market. For those businesses who are interested in being proactive in securing their place in the Chinese market place, the first step is using the Internet to reach Chinese audiences and customers.

According to the the Data Center of China Internet (DCCI) 2010 report, China’s current “netizen” count has reached the 450 million mark by the end of 2010. Experts now predict that within the next 3-5 years, Chinese netizens will account for 50 % of Chinese population.

Social media is one of the best ways to reach out to China’s netizens. But, since many of the U.S. social medias have been blocked in China, it’s best for your company to set up an  account on Chinese social networks. Here is a list of the hottest social media platforms in China:

Tencent QQ (Instant messaging)

QQ is China’s number one social media platform. After 12 years, QQ owns a series of popular social networks service.  e.g. QQ Zone ,QQ Live, QQ Pengyou (Friends Social Networks ),  and QQ Microblog…

Sina Weibo (Chinese Twitter) No.1 Chinese Social Media star

China’s most popular microblog Sina Weibo (Nasdaq:SINA) was launched in August 2009,  owned users reached 50 million by the end of October 2010 and that it expected the number to reach 150 million by the end of 2011. “Weibo” means “microblog.”

In the Chinese mind, Sina Weibo is the social media which has been fully approved and embraced by PRC regulators. It has 25-30 million  “tweets” per day. It peaked at 12,374 per second on Chinese New Year’s Day. It also owns 60,000 verified accounts under the “real name” system. Many Chinese provincial governments and departments have set up accounts too–According to Sina’s previously statistics report, more than 139 government departments and 56 transportation departments have signed Sina Weibo accounts. More than 5,000 enterprises and 2,700 media organizations have joined the social media market. Are you still waiting?

Kaixin001.com (Chinese Facbook No.2 )

Although, Kanxin01 has is considered as Chinese Facbook No.2, it is worth it to pay attention to this social media website. Comparing the most popular Renren.com (considered Chinese Facebook No. 1 ) which has more student users, Kaixin001 is focused on professionals and white-color workers who are living within big and mid-sized cities. Based on that and the fact that Kanxin001 fans have much more purchase power. (e.g. Adidas, Visa, FedEx, Dell, KPMG, and Ebay…), more company users prefer to use Kanxin001 as a platform.

Youku.com (Chinese Youtube)

“Youku” is made up of the English word “you,” plus the Chinese “ku,” which together means “you are cool.” That campaign definitely attracts many younger fans to watch videos online. Hundreds of hundreds of  TV series and movies keep their fans can’t stop surfing on their sites.

Douban.com ( Online Network Community)

Touban is a rich-features platform. It includes movies, books, music, cultural and online radio elements. Douban fans can read and write reviews for their favorite movies, books, and music. They also can look for like-minded friends, which makes this community more stable and bigger. Touban has notes, groups, photos,videos, and board on their main page just like Facebook.

For those interested in using Chinese social media to enter the vast Chinese consumer market, FastPivot can help you establish and manage your virtual presence on China’s top five social media programs. Contact us today to set up a meeting.

Mr. Zhang is a Chinese social media enthusiast, currently completing his MBA in the U.S. (expected spring 2011). He has years of experience assisting internationals with various business service needs.