After the Chinese government banned almost every social media platform in 2009, Weibo emerged as the alternative and gain immediate popularity among Chinese internet users. It is a micro blogging platform that works similar to Facebook and twitter. Launches as a social media platform in 2009 as Sina Weibo where users can follow each other, share images and videos with the followers and exchange messages, sina.com launched a separate version weibo.com in 2011. In 2013, Weibo became a name in its own without Sina and also produced applications for various platforms such as ios, android, windows, Symbian, blackberry, and Weibo desktops, which took it to more than 600 million users. This also makes Weibo a perfect platform for foreign businesses to reach the Chinese audience using social media. In other words, Weibo advertising is the most reliable and economical mean to promote business online in China.
Weibo might be confusing for the foreign businesses that have been using Google and Facebook for online promotions, but when used properly, it proves to be an easier and effective way for digital marketing in China. Weibo uses different factors to target the users and users see the ads as they like, comment or share from their accounts. In China, people react well to the online ads, therefore, when ads are reflected on the users’ timelines, there is a strong consideration for the brands that have been liked or shared by friends or other connections. When creating a profile at Weibo is the first step to begin marketing, the business should be ready to interact with the audience. While making online purchases people in China often prefer real-time conversation regarding the products.
Once the business creates an account on Weibo, the ads can be displayed like a Weibo post on the timeline of the followers where users can easily comment, like, and repost it. Similarly, there are other options also available to advertise on Weibo and are comparatively low budget than other social media platforms in China. There are four broad formats of Weibo advertising; Display ads, Fan Tunnel, Fan Headlines, and Weibo search engine promotion.
Display ads are the most traditional approach of advertising where the users are directed to the homepage of the business as soon as they click the advertisement. Despite of being conventional, it is still effective and available in both mobile and web versions. Display ads use selected keyword based on the search pattern of the users to target potential audience. Weibo display ads generally appear on the Weibo homepage and also on the accounts of the followers.
Fan Tunnel is the best way of Weibo advertising for the new businesses, which are not yet known, to reach the new followers. It appears in the form a headline at the top of the news feeds on the user’s account and the whole Weibo community is targeted instead of just the followers. All the users following particular news or fashion community are seen as potential customers. The cost of the fan tunnel is calculated as Cost Per Mille (CPM) and may be higher than display ads.
Fan Headlines functions similar to fan tunnel by appearing as a headline at the top of the news feed, but it targets the existing followers and their connections instead of the whole new community of the users. It is tagged as ‘Promoted’ or ‘Hot’ and focuses on increasing the re-sharing of the post by the followers among their friends and other connections with similar interests. Fan headline is also referred to as the complementary approach to the fan tunnel.
Weibo search engine promotion aims at increasing the visibility of the business page. Similar to the Google search bar, the Weibo search bar is also pre-loaded with the keywords based on the most searched words by the users and the trending topics. The cost of Weibo search engine promotion depends upon the popularity of the keywords used. The advantage of Weibo search engine promotion is that it attracts the quality and relevant traffic to one’s account.