Thinking of expanding your presence in China? What you need to know…

Posted on May 23, 2014 in Facebook, Facebook Marketing Services, Google Plus, Instagram, Social Media, Social Media Management, Social Media Marketing Services, Twitter

Bridge across the WorldSo, thinks have been going well and you have decided it might be time to reach out to the largest country in the world with a social media campaign. Social media in China is not the same as it is in America or much of the Western world. The mindset is different and the agendas tend to be different. Jut a few things to keep in mind when looking at China.

  • There are over 1.3 billion people in China and nearly 700 million of them are wired and online. The country seems evenly split between those living in the cities and those living in more rural area. The cities, however, is where you want to be. Most of the educated are there along with most of the jobs and the young people.
  • Over 600 million of them are attached to social media sites and are quite active. The Chinese, however, are highly mobile. Nearly everyone in China, including the rural peasantry owns a cell phone or a smart phone. The buzz lately has been to pay attention to mobile and if you are headed to China, you had better be totally optimized for mobile.
  • There is almost an even split between male and female with the male population slightly larger at 51%.
  • The largest wired centers in the country are Beijing and Shanghai. Instant messaging is huge in China and estimates are that there are over 500 million who are regular IMers.
  • Qzone is China’s leading social media site and claims to have slightly over 600 million regular users. Just behind them, however is Wechat with around 350 million users. Anywhere you look, Chinese social media has enormous numbers.
  • Text and voice messaging is huge in China with over 90% of the population engaged in these activities.
  • Again, paying attention to mobile, over 80% of the population uses their mobile smart phone to access the web. Desktops are second with slightly over 70% using them to get online and stay in touch with their social media sites.
  • Finally, online shopping and group buying account for nearly 95% of all online Chinese activity. It is estimated that online buying by the Chinese pumped in over $300 million into American coffers last year.