Seven Key Features for Weibo Marketing

Within China, there is a social platform similar to Twitter called Sina Weibo, otherwise known as Weibo. It is a microblogging website with social chat rooms and platform sharing; it’s an excellent place for sharing news, information, trending stories; and it’s also used for following people’s favorite brands and celebrities. This means it’s the perfect place for advertising a brand—through Weibo marketing. But, to make an effective marketing strategy for Weibo, you need to be aware of the numerous key features available to the platform.

1. Official and Verified Accounts

One of the first key features you need to take advantage of when building your Weibo marketing campaign is getting an official or verified account on the platform. A verified account allows you to distinguish yourself from the average user (and it gives you a better ranking), and it is only available to companies, celebrities, and famous people with large fan followings. Verified accounts show that you have more credibility and trustworthiness due to the blue icon next to your account name, and it requires a review of valid legal documents.

2. Hashtags

Good use of hashtags is important for your Weibo marketing. Hashtags allow users to search for certain trending phrases easily, or for brand names. Unlike English platforms, a hashtag is at the start and end of a word or phrase, and there are no spaces between words, generally. Taking advantage of hashtags increases your visibility greatly, especially if you are posting about a trending topic.

3. Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs)

Key opinion leaders are people who have a lot of followers. They are also known as influencers. Part of your Weibo marketing can include a partnership deal with a KOL, which involves the KOL promoting your products and services, and possibly giving away their product or discount codes you supply.

4. Stories

The story is a feature that rolled out a couple years ago on Weibo. It acts similar to stories on other popular social media platforms. As part of your Weibo marketing, you should include stories as a form of daily content. This will allow followers to leave comments that will appear on-screen (rather than in direct messages). Stories can improve your organic visibility, and visible comments allow for open communication between you and your followers, improving engagement. Stories are visible at the top of your homepage, and your icon shows if there are new stories.

5. Micro Topics

Micro topics on Weibo create small pages for specific topics, allowing followers to talk about a particular product, new movies, a game match, etc. For your Weibo marketing campaign, you can use micro topic pages for promoting the launch of a new product or service.

6. Live Streaming

Another recent addition to the Weibo platform has been the feature of live streaming, which is great for engagement with your followers. Live streaming can be used as part of your Weibo marketing campaign for product and service announcements, or for launches to drum up interest. It also provides a means of direct communication to fans that is more engaging than text.

7. Mass Broadcasts

Weibo was originally designed for mass broadcasts, and they still are a key Weibo marketing feature on the platform. Unlike some other microblogging sites, mass broadcasts are more than just text; they can also include rich multimedia files, such as images and videos. You can upload files directly, or link to supported video sites. You can even include emoticons.

If you are looking for a company to handle your Weibo marketing and get your brand visible on the Chinese market, then contact Westwin today.