Weibo Marketing has grown into one of the most powerful platforms in China today. Although Weibo now dominates China s online social scene, it’s still growing at a rapid pace (see below) and for brands looking to get more exposure in China, there are 5 main methods for brands wishing to take advantage of Weibo: Weibo influencer campaigns, viral marketing via tagging, and crowd surfing (aka. “pinning”) Weibo. With the use of a viral marketing strategy via Weibo you can help yourself get more fans, followers, and get closer to the target audience. Here are the main viral marketing strategies for using Weibo as part of your marketing plan for China.
The viral strategy of using “pinning” is a good one if you are trying to spread your message and get more fans/followers on Weibo. If your brand already has a Weibo account you can go to the ” Account” drop-down menu and select “PIN” and then choose your Weibo ID. Now any time someone adds your Weibo ID to their follow list, your posts will appear as “Pinned”. This campaign is a great way to build Weibo followers because even if your post doesn’t get enough fans/followers, it will at least have the potential to spread by other users. This strategy does require your Weibo ID and therefore must be used in conjunction with another strategy. For example: You may want to use the #Feedbacks twitter strategy to promote your feed back to Weibo and thus generate more “PINned” posts.
The viral strategy with Weibo can also be used to build Weibo brand awareness. You can do this by creating a buzz about your product/website by posting about it in Weibo’s fan forum or you can use the official Weibo application to do this. This will help build your Weibo presence in the Chinese microblogging platform and will make people aware of your brand, website or product/website.
One other way of effectively using Weibo for Weibo Marketing is to look at it as a content delivery network (CDP) platform. Unlike most social media platforms that allow you to simply upload your content and hope for the best, CDP platforms like Weibo need you to actively participate and engage. The microblogging site is similar to Twitter in that you are allowed to upload your content for free. However, when you participate in the site you will need to add value to your profile, your content and post links to your website or blog. This is where a Weibo CPA campaign would come in handy.
Weibo CPA campaigns are typically set up as a pay per click (PPC) campaign where your brand can choose to have ads run on the right hand side of the Weibo site or appear on the left hand side. This gives your company more control over how your ad is displayed and also makes for a much more personal marketing experience for your customers. Depending on how elaborate your campaign is, you might also be able to choose a different layout. For instance, the left hand side could be completely banner supported while the right hand side could be entirely text-based. The type of advertisement you run on Weibo will also depend on how well known your brand is in China and how much traffic you get on the microblogging site.
The most effective marketing strategy for Weibo begins with your marketing and engagement efforts. By adding value to your Weibo account everyday you will find that over time your brand will begin to reap the benefits of having an active and engaging Weibo presence. Your customers will appreciate it and will become repeat visitors.