Have you ever wondered what the most popular Chinese social media platforms are? Here are the Top 35 major social media platforms in China for 2025!

This article is updated every year with new popular social media platforms and apps in China. It includes a ranking of apps based on their primary uses, recent demographic data regarding the audience of each platform. Also, depending on the applications, it includes explanations of their main functionalities and advice on how companies can use them.

Every second in China, 486 articles are published on WeChat, 166 rooms are booked on Qunar, 115,740 questions are answered on Zhihu, and 3,472 orders are placed on Ele.me, and more than 62% of people check the WeChat app more than 10 times a day.

The role of social media in China is enormous, as it not only entertains, but also influences food, lifestyle and fashion choices, provides makeup and lifestyle reviews, and gives advice on vacation spots. It therefore takes up a large part of the working time of white-collar citizens.

FAQ About Social Media in China

What Platforms Do Chinese People Spend Their Time On?

WeChat continues to dominate the social media sphere in China, with its huge user base of over a billion people and its integration into daily life’s basic functions. For businesses, it is simply essential. As of the end of 2023, 87.3% of the population in China uses WeChat.

Douyin – the Chinese TikTok, is used by 78.4% of the Chinese population. Douyin has all the functions of TikTok, but also many others and much more in-depth. The Chinese spend on average more than 2 hours per day watching its short videos.

NB: China recommends that children under 14 limit their use of Douyin to 40 minutes per day.

The instant messaging platform Tencent QQ and the search engine Baidu Tieba are neck and neck with 59.8% and 58.8% Chinese users respectively on their sites.

With a meteoric rise since its creation in 2021,  Xiaohongshu has attracted  51.2%of the Chinese population to its app in just 2 years! (App created in June 2021, statistics from September 2023).

And finally, Sina Weibo remains relevant, although its audience has decreased, the app still has 46.8%of the Chinese population as active users!

A Typical Day in the Life of a Daily User in China

A dive into the digital life of a Chinese person

The first thing most of us do when we wake up is check our phone.

The infographic below shows a typical day for an online user in China. Here are the main social media platforms used, at what time and for what purpose.

People tend to check messages and social media first, on WeChat and Weibo, then listen to music on QQ Music Or Netease while getting ready.

They will use WeChat or Alipay to pay for their breakfast, order a taxi via Didi, and may use the Starbucks or LuckinCoffee apps to order a coffee.

On desktop computers, QQ, WeChat And WeCom are used to chat with colleagues and exchange professionally.

At noon, Eleme or Meituan are used to order lunch from mobile phones.

During lunch and dinner, people often watch TV or short videos on platforms iQiyi and Youku and check their finances on Alipay.

In the evening, it is time to check  WeChat Moments, make some purchases on Taobao or JD.com, or watch a movie, booked via Maoyan.

Interesting fact:

Due to previous scandals involving fake production and imports (some of which ended in fatalities), consumers do not trust official advertising in China as much as they once did. Instead, they prefer to follow what other consumers say and do. 

Therefore, the idea of providing online advice and recommendations to others has become a well-paid service. It is known as influencer marketing through KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders). Even more importantly than in the West, China is now one of the most popular countries for brands to collaborate with influencers as a marketing medium to reach Chinese audiences.

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Top Chinese Social Media Sites and Apps in 2025

With a population of more than 1.4 billion, China remains one of the most “connected” countries in the world, with 79% of its population being active users of social media platforms (compared to 71% last year) and spending on average 5 to 6 hours on the internet per day. 89% of its people watch videos, 71% watch streaming, 53% play live video games and 74% make online purchases using their mobile phones.

In this context, it is not surprising to see that the Chinese app ecosystem is highly segmented and each platform or app has its own well-defined place.

Online commerce plays an important role in the country’s economy and occupies a large part of the digital ecosystem. However, the current trend is that video is now the second largest segment based on the number of regularly used video apps and platforms.

Discover our selection!

The TOP 8 Most Used Social Media Platforms in China

#1 WECHAT – ALL IN ONE: THE TOP 1 APP IN CHINA!

Q: What kind of app is WeChat? 

A: WeChat is a messaging app, a social media platform, an online bank –  it’s basically a super app with every feature imaginable.

Q: How many users does WeChat have?

A: As of 2023, WeChat had over 1.36 billion registered users.

Q: Who are the main users of WeChat?

A: Chinese people; the main age group of active users is between 16 and 64 years old (78% of users).

It is no exaggeration to say that the super app WeChat simply makes life easier in China. It’s almost impossible to live there without it. It is interesting to note that 98.5% of smartphone users aged 50-80 use WeChat and that 61% of users over 60 years old devote more than half of their total mobile data consumption to it.

These figures are significantly lower than those of the younger population, who only devote around 14% of their mobile data to the platform. In addition, Users getting information via official WeChat accounts are mostly over 30 years old.

Overall, the distribution of WeChat users is about 48% female and 52% male. They spend about 1 hour and 20 minutes per day on the platform!

Main Functions of WeChat

WeChat is used to send voice messages, videos, pictures and texts over the Internet. It supports group chats and users mainly use it to communicate with their friends through SMS, MMS, GIFs, video calls, etc.

The WeChat app is completely free, you just need an internet or Wi-Fi connection to use it.

WeChat supports mini-programs directly integrated into its interface and designed separately by brands and companies. Like other apps, they aim to sell, engage or entertain.

WeChat’s integrated apps include everything you can think of: brands, utility payments, mobile phone top-ups, online ordering and more.

Adding Friends on WeChat and Privacy Feature

The most common ways to add friends on WeChat are searching by phone number, WeChat QR code scan of someone, adding from QQ friends list or mobile phone contact list.

There’s also a cool little feature that lets you “find people nearby” by shaking your phone!

The most common messaging functions are instant voice messages, video chats, and WeChat calls.

Your Own Photo/Video Timeline or Your Own “Moments”

WeChat offers its users the possibility of creating a “wall”, a space where you share the “Moments” of your life through photos, videos, messages, music, etc.

You can also choose which of your friends can see it, so it’s up to you to configure your WeChat according to your exposure to social media platforms!

Business Functions

WeChat is widely used for business promotion, as it enables business accounts to be created and promoted on the platform.

Many accounts have a specific purpose: offers, registrations, blogs, etc., while other accounts display general information about the business.

WeChat mini apps allow you to use partner services, such as calling a taxi, making a hospital appointment or paying bills.

WeChatPay

WeChat has been so successful in China because of its easy payment system. Simply scan a WeChat QR code to pay for items via your WeChatPay wallet (bank account integrated directly into the app wallet).

This is a boon for businesses because it pushes users to consume more easily and in particular via impulse shopping on all platforms available in China!

WECHAT STATISTICS IN 2024

Take a look at our guide here: 30 Marketing Tools on WeChat!

#2 WeChat Channels

Channels is a feature of the WeChat ecosystem that allows you to share and consume video content. Similar to Instagram’s “Reels” function, Youtube Shorts or Tiktok, it is a news feed containing popular videos (HOT), from our friends or from accounts we follow. Part of the powerful all-in-one WeChat messenger, it is very easy to share and send content from Channels, allowing the user to entertain themselves on the most used platform. With the addition of this feature, WeChat thus meets all the user’s needs, allowing them to do everything on a single application!

So Channels benefits from the enormous traffic from WeChat, making it a platform with a larger audience than Douyin and Kuaishou. This video format has the highest engagement time per user at 80% compared to photo sharing on WeChat Moments!

This platform is used by individuals and businesses alike and attracts many professionals with the advertising options it offers. With 813 million monthly active users, it is estimated that the audience of Channels is composed of 80% women and therefore 20% men. This audience spends on average 1 hour per day watching videos (up to 1 hour in length, but short videos are preferred) on Channels.

WECHAT CHANNELS STATISTICS IN 2024

#3 DOUYIN – THE CHINESE TIKTOK

Q: What kind of social media platform is Douyin?

A: Douyin is originally a short video sharing platform.

Q: How many users does the Douyin app have?

A: Douyin has over 1 billion registered users.

Q: Who are the main users of Douyin?

A: 48.7% of Douyin’s daily users in China are under 30.

Known internationally as TikTok, Douyin is the king of short videos. Its 755 million users come from third-, fourth- and fifth-tier cities and spend more than 2 hours per day on the platform! Besides short videos, 90% users watch live broadcasts (live streaming).

Today, Douyin has also become one of the most popular e-commerce platforms on social media, attracting millions of influencers and customers. The shopping experience may remind us of the telemarketing that was so popular in the 90s. With a fresh approach and a hint of glamour, this new business model is boosting sales for many smaller brands looking to reach the middle class in China.

Advertising on Douyin is also a great way to make a brand popular in china. Douyin, which offers very competitive rates, wants to attract more international brands to the platform in China.

DOUYIN STATISTICS IN 2024

Want to learn more about advertising on Douyin? Check out our article here: Marketing on Douyin 2023: How to sell on Douyin

#4 QQ – THE CHINESE VERSION OF MESSENGER

Q: What kind of app is QQ?

A: QQ is one of the most popular messaging apps in China.

Q: How many users does QQ app have?

A: QQ has about 817 million active users.

Despite the rise of its predecessor WeChat, QQ Messenger, still has more than 817 million  active userseach month. It is more commonly used on desktop computers because it is integrated with email and file management, and has a certain nostalgia for those who used online messaging before WeChat came along.

Creator of WeChat, QQ Zone, QQ Messenger and dozens of secondary brand products, Tencent is one of the earliest innovators in technology development in China.

Today, Tengxun.com is a popular search engine (linked to WeChat) and QQ Mail is one of the most widely used email services by individuals and businesses.

QQ Music and V.QQ are both entertainment platforms. QQ Zone is one of the main platforms of Tencent Group where users can communicate on a global ecosystem.

But QQ Messenger serves as an instant messenger and social media platform. It allows you to send messages, make voice and video calls, microblog, and has many other features that promote social interaction! Despite the app being accessible worldwide, 96% of its users are located in China. These users are approximately 52% male and 48% female.

QQ STATISTICS IN 2024

#5 XIAOHONGSHU OR RED, THE CHINESE INSTAGRAM

Q: What kind of app is Xiaohongshu?

A: Xiaohongshu is a social media platform, e-commerce and product review platform.

Q: How many users does the Xiaohongshu app have?

A: Xiaohongshu has over 163 million monthly active users.

Xiaohongshu, also known as Little Red Book or RED, is a Chinese platform combining social media platforms and e-commerce, comparable to Instagram. Created in 2013, it mainly targets young people, especially women from large cities, with 80% of users under 30. RED stands out for its user-generated content, a strong presence of influencers (KOLs) and e-commerce integration, allowing users to discover and purchase foreign products. With a community of nearly 200 million monthly active users and over 140,000 brands, Xiaohongshu offers a unique platform for foreign brands looking to enter the Chinese market.

Its user base, predominantly female (82% women, 62% Gen Z) is active and influential, focusing on fashion, cosmetics and lifestyle products. These “digital natives” with high incomes and significant consumption value branding. RED stands out with unique features and e-commerce integration, providing an attractive platform for influencer marketing and product promotion. 56% of its users say they use the platform several times a day!

XIAOHONGSHU/LITTLE RED BOOK 2024 STATISTICS

Check out our latest article which details everything you need to know about Xiaohongshu!

How to register a store on Xiaohongshu? Here’s the answer!

#6 WEIBO – THE CHINESE TWITTER/X?

Q: What kind of app is Weibo?

A: Weibo is a micro blogging platform.

Q: How many users does the Weibo app have?

A: Weibo has over 588 million active users.

The wide variety of functions available has allowed Weibo to evolve into a versatile platform which has no equivalent in Western social media. Just think of any function that can be found in social media platforms and Weibo will offer it. Among its hundreds of millions of users, the post-1990 generation represents 48% and the post-2000 generation 30%. With a male/female split of almost 50/50, they spend on average 50 minutes on the platform, every day.

Weibo, short for MicroBlog, is a platform for sharing short messages in real time. Considered China’s X (formerly Twitter), Weibo is a complex platform that offers different types of native advertising, semi-targeted ads, and even a live streaming option.

MAIN FUNCTIONS OF WEIBO

• Short/long messages:
  Originally, it had a text limit of 140 characters per post, but Weibo has increased its character limit and encourages longer posts. The idea is to post thoughts or updates to people who follow you online (like on Facebook or Twitter).
• Follow accounts/topics:
  Weibo is a communication tool. It allows you to follow people or organizations that interest you in order to see their new content, shared information… Like any social media platform, other people can also follow you.
• Live chat:
  To increase online attention, users can discuss hot topics and interact with other people.
• Mention and Hashtags:
  As on Instagram, the @ symbol is used to mention someone. Hashtags are also commonly used to search for topics (Weibo introduced this feature years before Instagram added its “follow hashtag” feature).
• Public comment and private message:
  You can comment and forward other people’s posts. For more privacy, you can chat via private messages.
• Weibo also offers many functions of gamification such as acquiring medals and adding apps (Weibo Square is where you can check these out).
• Live Streaming – Livestreaming
• Video vlogs

SINA WEIBO STATISTICS IN 2024

#7 KUAISHOU – AUTHENTIC AND UNFILTERED

Q: What kind of media is Kuaishou?

A: Kuaishou is a short video sharing and live streaming platform.

Q: How many monthly active users does Kuaishou have?

A: Kuaishou has over 504 million monthly active users.

True to its name, which means “fast hands”, Kuaishou has quickly established itself as one of China’s leading social media apps. She distinguished through its emphasis on short videos, favoring authentic and unfiltered content such as live streams and vlogs.
This popular livestreaming app has 504 million monthly active users, including 70% are under 35 years old.

Kuaishou differentiates itself from Douyin by creating extensive interactions between users and content generators. The application brings together every day 347 million users who pass more than 2 hours watching content ! We note that men are slightly more present than women with 55% against 45%.

KUAISHOU STATISTICS IN 2024

#8 BILIBILI – CULTURE AND COMMUNITY

Q: What type of media is Bilibili?

A: Bilibili is a video sharing and streaming platform.

Q: How many monthly active users does Bilibili have?

A: Bilibili has over 336 million monthly active users.

Bilibili (Chinese name: 哔哩哔哩) started as a space for anime fans and has grown into a cultural community and platform that some now call the “Chinese YouTube”. It is primarily a video hosting site, but it also offers livestreams, particularly popular among gamers, and is launching into the television program production.

This application and its features are especially appealing to 19-24 years old, which represent 61% of all users. Men and women are equally present on the platform and spend an average of 1 hour 30.

BILIBILI STATISTICS IN 2024

Social Media Platforms for News and Information in China

#9 JINGRI TOUTIAO (TODAY’S HEADLINES) – CHINESE NEWS UGC 

Q: What type of media is jingri toutiao?

A: Jingri Toutiao is a news broadcasting platform

Q: How many monthly active users does Jingri Toutiao have?

A: Jingri Toutiao has over 270 million monthly active users.

JinRi Toutiao (Today’s Headlines) is a user-generated content and news platform that is extremely popular among young Chinese users. The age breakdown of Toutiao’s 700 million users is fairly homogeneous across the generations, as is gender (Women 45% and Men 55%). The average user spends 76 minutes on the site each day, which translates to 1.3 billion articles read each day.

JinRi Toutiao aims to help businesses, institutions, media and independent media gain more visibility and attention. With over 700 million registered users and 410 million monthly active users, who wouldn’t want a piece of this massive online audience? However, Toutiao accounts are difficult to apply for and it is particularly easy to get banned.

Users’ high-quality content will get more exposure thanks to a powerful intelligent recommendation algorithm, while the industry-leading weight removal protection mechanism will keep the original free from infringement worries.

The platform can publish videos, questions and answers. Also “Recommended” marked in red means that the platform supports this content.

#10 ZHIHU – THE CHINESE VERSION OF QUORA

Q: What is zhihu?

A: Zhihu is a knowledge/encyclopedia site in the form of a sharing and Q&A forum.

Q: How many monthly active users does zhihu have?

A: Zhihu has over 102 million monthly active users.

Zhihu can be considered the Chinese version of Quora for social media. Users can ask and answer questions on virtually any topic. 80% of registered users have a bachelor’s degree or higher and 20% of users have experience teaching abroad. Among its 102 million monthly active users, 71% are under 35 years old.

Recognized as the largest Q&A platform in China, Zhihu was included in the TOP 30 most influential platforms in China in 2017. Soon after, Zhihu launched “Zhihu university” in 2018, which allows users to educate themselves through online courses

The course system includes Zhihu Live and “Zhuhu Private Course” launched in late 2017. It includes both audio and video, a single course for bite-size learning and a series of longer courses that require more time and effort. The book system includes e-books and audiobooks, as well as a “Know the Book Club” section, launched in early 2018 to help users take apart and analyze books.

Zhihu is a much more serious platform than Quora and attracts industry professionals to share opinions and advice. Unintellectual or childish questions are not well received on the platform and are often not published on Zhihu.

Programmers, managers, founders, CEOs, etc. are the main professions of Zhihu users. Most of the content published therefore comes from the users themselves. Some profiles are labelled as an “expert” in a certain field, with a badge certifying their account.

The app’s interaction features are extensive and always oriented towards a clear goal of high-quality education and knowledge sharing. It is therefore possible to follow expert profiles and institution accounts, but you can also follow questions asked and get notified of the progress of the discussion and its related answers. You can also create and participate in polls and surveys, as well as like, share, comment and save posts, and participate in live streams and arrange private calls with experts.

The aim of this platform is to share constructive knowledge, and it allows professionals to stand out and prove their expertise in their chosen field, as well as reach an educated audience.

To learn more about Zhihu as a marketing tool, please check our article: All about Zhihu

#11 DOUBAN

Q: What kind of media is Douban?

A: Douban is an interest-based social media platform and forum.

Q: How many monthly active users does Douban have?

A: Douban has over 300 million monthly active users.

Douban originally started as a movie database, accompanied by movie discussion forums. Today, the forums have evolved to encompass discussions on all sorts of topics, and the site could be compared to Reddit rather than IMDb.

Its 300 million plus monthly active users are typically college-educated, middle-class urbanites. With a 57-43% female-to-male audience, Douban is one of the best word-of-mouth marketing platforms for entertainment. 65% of its users are under 35 (40% are between 24 and 35).

Founded in 2005, Douban is a forum dedicated to books, films, music, podcasts (Douban FM) with opinions, ratings and discussions. Douban also has a group feature, where people can join together based on their common interests! Chinese people pay close attention to the rankings given by this platform to choose whether to watch a TV show or a movie.

#12 HUPU

Q: What kind of media is Hupu?

A: Hupu is a sports-based news forum.

Q: How many monthly active users does Hupu have?

A: Hupu has over 86 million monthly active users.

HUPU, a platform focused on sports news, brings together 91% men within its user base. 86% of its audience is under 30!

The information shared can come from certified accounts and profiles but also from users. The content can be posts and written articles but also livestreaming sessions and discussions in closed forums.

The platform has a total of 86 million monthly active users.

#13 NETEASE

Q: What type of media is Netease?

A: Netease is a news and information platform.

Q: How many monthly active users does Netease have?

A: Netease has over 300 million monthly active users.

Just like Toutiao, Netease is a platform that shares news and articles posted by professionals or individuals. With a predominantly male audience (65% vs 35%), the latter is young since 85% of users are between 18 and 35 years old. They write, read, comment, like and share relevant articles.

#14 36KR

Q: What type of media is 36kr?

A: 36kr is a news platform based on the technology industry and the startup environment.

The application draws its content from verified sources, newspapers and journalists who are experts in the field, as well as from professionals in the sector. Authors have the ability to publish articles that will be shared and commented on. They can also create newsletters to which their audience can subscribe. Readers can then be reminded to read the latest trends following specific profiles, companies and even topics!

This platform is famous for advertising because it is the only one to offer advertising on its own account: 36KR.

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E-Commerce Websites and Apps in China

#15 TAOBAO – ALIEXPRESS IN CHINA

Q: What kind of app is TaoBao?

A: TaoBao is an e-commerce platform and online marketplace.

Q: How many users does TaoBao app have?

A: TaoBao has over 877 million active users.

TaoBao, a platform launched in 2003 by Alibaba Group, has become an essential for e-commerce in China.

With annual revenues exceeding several hundred billion dollars, it compares to giants such as eBay and Amazon.

The platform is popular among a wide range of consumers, especially young people, thanks to its wide range of products and ease of use. TaoBao stands out with its live streaming, customizable stores and interactive features, attracting a large user base, including many young consumers.

It plays a crucial role in China’s digital retail landscape, offering a complete and varied online shopping experience.

To learn more about Taobao, please see our article.

TAOBAO STATISTICS IN 2024

Chart description: 

The e-commerce platform is popular among both women and men (51% and 49%), and age breakdown doesn’t vary much from one category to another. 16% are under 24, 26% are between 25 and 34, 19% are between 35 and 44, 17% are between 45 and 54 and 12% are over 55.

The platform does not support cross-border e-commerce. In China, it hosts domestic chain stores and individual stores. Taobao offers business models such as general e-commerce, B2B and B2BC. In keeping with the Chinese social media ecosystem, the platform supports Livestreaming, which is an integral part of its customers’ shopping experience. 

In 2024, the main product categories were: “clothing, shoes and bags”, “digital products”, “jewelry”, “beauty and skin care” and “mother & baby products”.

 

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#16 PINDUODUO – TAOBAO BUT EVEN CHEAPER

Q: What kind of app is pinduoduo?

A: Pinduoduo is a group buying platform

Q: How many users does Pinduoduo app have?

A: Pingduoduo has more than 751 million monthly users.

Q: How does Pinduoduo differ from other apps?

A: ¨Users can buy discounted products by forming purchasing groups with friends, family, and strangers»

In 2023, e-commerce giant Pinduoduo had more active users than JD.com, including 90% that born after the year 2000. 60% of its users come from third and fourth tier cities.

Founded in September 2015 by Shanghai XunMeng Technology, before going public in the United States in 2016, Pinduoduo became the second most downloaded app in China last year. Pinduoduo is a third-party social e-commerce platform that focuses on the C2B conglomerate.

In 2023, Pinduoduo, a Chinese e-commerce giant, continues to make waves in the market. With an impressive 66.6% growth in sales over three years and a 142.6% increase in earnings per share, the company attracted strong institutional demand. These remarkable performances have not only strengthened its position in the market but also led to a significant rise in its shares. Pinduoduo stands out for its ability to innovate and meet the changing needs of consumers, giving it a strong position in China’s competitive e-commerce sector.

Interesting fact: Pinduoduo is owned by PDD Holdings, the company that also owns the cross-border e-commerce platform Temu !

PINDUODUO STATISTICS IN 2024

Chart description:

In the same industry as Taobao, Pinduoduo’s gender split is almost even (55% female, 45% male) and the age distribution is relatively even, with a peak of 24% of its users in the 25-34 age category. The remainder consists of 14% of people under 24, 19% of people aged 35 to 44, 18% of people aged 45 to 54 and 14% of people aged 55 and over. 

Pinduoduo, like its competitor, supports livestreaming as well as home business stores and individual stores. But the platform also supports “flagship” stores (Flagship Store) and cross-border e-commerce! Its business models include B2C, ODM (Original Design Manufacturer) and a group purchase function. 

In 2024, its most popular product categories were “Electronics & Digital”, “Beauty & Skin Care”, “Mother & Baby Products”, “Food & Health” and “Outdoor Sports Equipment”.

 

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#17 JD.COM – LIGHTNING FAST!

Q: What type of app is JD.com?

A: JD.com is an online commerce platform for local and international businesses.

Q: How many monthly active users does JD.com have?

A: JD.com has more than 400 million monthly active users.

One could argue that JD.com is the Chinese’s favorite online supermarket. Founded by Richard Liu in 1998, the company has become a go-to place for shopping with confidence. What makes JD.com so great is its incredible delivery network: what you order in the morning can often arrive on your doorstep before the end of the day! It has made a name for itself by ensuring that all its products, be them electronic gadgets or everyday products, are authentic and of good quality.

Today, theJD.com app has nearly 400 million monthly active users with a generally even gender breakdown (45% Women, 55% Men) and age (-24: 16%, 25-34: 30%, 35-44: 21%, 45-54: 16%, 55+: 17%). Every day, JD.com continues to surprise people by using cutting-edge technologies, such as artificial intelligence and even drones, to make the shopping experience even smoother and faster.

JD.COM STATISTICS IN 2024

Chart description: 

JD.com hosts a wide range of stores, including those from domestic and international companies, as well as Jingdong Marketplace vendors. The platform also supports cross-border trade, allowing businesses to reach a global audience.

JD.com’s business model is diversified, encompassing B2BC (Business to Business to Consumer), B2C (Business to Consumer), and B2B (Business to Business) segments. This versatility allows the platform to adapt to different types of business transactions, thus meeting the varied needs of its users.

In 2024, the most popular product categories on JD.com included home appliances, electronics, beauty products, kitchen supplies, clothing, shoes and bags. Additionally, like its competitors, the platform supports livestreaming, offering sellers a dynamic and interactive way to showcase their products and engage their customers in real time.

 

#18 SECOO – LUXURY SPECIALIST

Q: What type of application is Secoo?

A: Secoo is an e-commerce platform specializing in luxury products.

Q: How many monthly active users does Secoo have?

A: Secoo has over 520 million monthly active users.

Launched in 2008, the SECOO app is in some ways the dream destination for luxury lovers in China. The platform specializes in high-end products, ranging from designer clothing to luxury watches and exclusive accessories.

Its site hosts stores but also individuals who can sell to other stores or to other individuals. The key product categories for this year 2024 were clothing, watches and jewelry, bags and leather goods, beauty and skin care, and finally shoes.

SECOO has built a reputation by offering its customers the assurance of purchasing authentic and certified products, often difficult to find elsewhere (except in original stores), particularly because the presence of counterfeit goods is widespread.

Today the platform brings together 520 million monthly active users, split fairly equally between men (56%) and women (44%).

SECOO STATISTICS IN 2024

NB: There are tons of e-commerce platforms in China, so we decided to create a few separate articles dedicated to this topic. Here are some of the most useful ones:

Chinese e-commerce platforms: registration costs

5 Wonderful E-Commerce Solutions Other Than Tmall

Choosing a Tmall Partner

Guide to Cross-Border E-Commerce Platforms in China

 

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Video Hosting Platforms and Applications in China

 

#19 YOUKU – BETWEEN YOUTUBE AND NETFLIX, CHINESE VERSION

Q: What kind of app is Youku?

A: Youku is a video service application.

Q: How many users does the Youku app have?

A: Youku has over 251 million registered users.

Q: Who are the top users on Youku?

A: According to statistics, 80% of Youku users are between 18 and 40 years old.

The original “Chinese YouTube “, Youku occupies an irreplaceable place among the main and essential social media platforms in China. More than two-thirds of its 251 million users come from affluent, college-educated backgrounds, and 82% are aged 18 to 40.

Its audience is 60% female and 40% male, with most users aged 25-34 (33%), followed by 35-44 (21%). Young users under 24 represent 18% of the audience, while older groups are less represented.

MAIN FEATURES OF YOUKU

Youku is therefore a video platform managed by the Youku group of the giant Alibaba. Currently, Youku is one of the leading video platforms covering a daily viewing volume of over 1.18 billion minutes per day, figures that make your head spin.

The platform offers a vast library of content, including movies, series and exclusive content. It supports livestreaming and provides user-driven recommendations. AI to improve user experience. Users can also download content for offline viewing. Videos can be viewed directly on your computer or your TV, but they are mostly watched directly on the mobile phones of users.

Youku operates on a business model that includes advertising, premium subscriptions, pay-per-view options, and e-commerce features. Access is free, but it is accompanied with advertisements and excludes access to exclusive content and viewing in high definition (HD).

#20 TENCENT VIDEO

Q: What type of media is Tencent Video?

A: Tencent Video is a video hosting service.

Q: How many people use Tencent Video?

A: 900 million people use Tencent Video.

Launched by tech giant Tencent, this streaming platform has become one of the most popular in China, offering a vast library of content. Tencent Video hosts TV shows, movies, sports and news. But also original content produced in partnership with international studios.

With 385 million monthly active users divided into 48% men and 52% women, half of this audience is under 35 years old. Its contents are compatible with Virtual Reality equipment, incorporate livestreaming and e-commerce services, and let Artificial Intelligence take care of recommendations to users.

#21 IQIYI

Q: What type of media is Iqiyi?

A: Iqiyi is a video hosting service.

Q: How many people use Iqiyi?

A: 465 million people use Iqiyi.

IQiyi, often referred to as the “Chinese Netflix,” is one of the leading streaming platforms in China. Launched in 2010 by Baidu, the application quickly established itself as an essential name for fans of series, films, reality TV shows, and animations.

What sets iQiyi apart is its high-quality original content, ranging from popular Chinese dramas to licensed international productions and most importantly, content exclusive to the platform. This content is undoubtedly a hit with its audience, which is predominantly female (58% versus 42%), spread across the ages: -24: 17%, 25-34: 28%, 35-44: 20%, 45-54: 15%, 55+: 9%. With a user-friendly interface and an ever-expanding catalog, iQiyi caters to all audiences, offering entertainment for all tastes.

Following this trend, iQiyi also offers livestreaming services, AI recommendations and catalogs, and several subscription offers. Among these there is the free model, with advertisements, without access to High Definition and exclusive content. Then there is the Premium offer, which requires a fee, but gives you full access to the platform and its services. There is also a pay-per-content option, meaning you rent the movie for a set period of time. And finally, online commerce is possible here, because during livestreamings, influencers can promote products, which can be purchased through the platform directly.

#22 MANGO TV

Q: What type of media is Mango TV?

A: Mango TV is a very popular streaming platform in China.

Q: How many people use Mango TV?

A: 267 million people use Mango TV.

Mango TV stands out for its dynamic and entertaining content, mainly focused on reality tv shows, THE drama series, and variety programs. Launched by Hunan Broadcasting System, one of China’s largest television stations, Mango TV is particularly popular among younger generations for its innovative, exclusive shows, sometimes produced in-house. Its audience is largely dominated by women to the tune of 76% And 70% are under 35 years old.

Just like its competitors, Mango TV offers a free subscription with advertising, a paid subscription for full access, complementary e-commerce services but also paid livestreaming options! Whether it’s to follow the latest trends or just binge on captivating series, Mango TV offers a colorful and lively streaming experience.

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Livestreaming Websites and Apps for Video Games

 

#23 HUYA – GAME STREAMING PARADISE 

Q: What type of media is Huya?

A: Huya is a gaming video/live streaming platform.

Q: How many monthly active users does Huya have?

A: Huya has over 8.36 million monthly active users.

Huya is a gaming livestreaming platform that is extremely popular among active users under the age of 44, which makes up 80% of its audience. User loyalty and interaction with the platform remains at a very high level, with an average daily viewing time of 135 minutes.

Huya tried to merge with DouYu, another live game streaming giant, in 2020. According to Variety, this could have allowed the platforms to capture 80% of the Chinese market. This attempt failed and the platforms denied any rumors that it was still in the works, They nevertheless collaborate, as they are both supported by Tencent.

Huya’s team invests its core resources to provide users with a clear, fast and smooth live viewing experience. Users can interact with the host in real time, in the form of text messages and meetings with their gaming idols. They can also make donations and send virtual gifts, which is part of the platform’s monetization system in addition to subscriptions and partnerships.

The vast majority are male (70%), including big video game fans. Huya offers live broadcasts of popular games, online gaming competitions and broadcasts from gaming stars and influencers: KOLs. All of this is compatible on phone, computer and game console and in 4k, with the possibility of sharing everything easily by having integrated social media platforms into the platform.

#24 DOUYU – FOR GAMING FANS

Q: What kind of media is Douyu?

A: Douyu is a video game livestreaming platform.

Q: How many monthly active users does Douyu have?

A: Douyu has over 5.17 million monthly active users.

Despite a failed merger attempt with Huya, Douyu remains one of the most popular apps for gaming fans. Launched in 2014, Douyu has quickly established itself as the leader in game streaming, where gamers come to watch live games, eSports tournaments, and broadcasts from their favorite streamers.

A little like Huya, Douyu’s audience is composed mainly of men (71%) with 81% of its population under 45, and 58% under 35. The app offers exactly the same compatibility, integration and subscription features as its competitor Huya. However, the difference is in the type of games it hosts. In addition to MOBAs, FPSs and Battle Royales, Douyu also hosts RPGs, which Huya does not.

#25 INKE

Q: What type of media is Inke?

A: Inke is a livestreaming platform.

Inke is a live streaming platform that stands out for its social and interactive side. In fact, the platform only hosts mobile games and its video resolution stops at High Definition.

Launched in 2015, Inke allows its users to stream and watch live videos, covering a wide variety of topics from daily life to artistic talent to live discussions. What makes Inke unique is its focus on connecting users and broadcasters, with features that encourage interaction, like virtual gifts and real-time chats.

In 2024, Inke continues to appeal to a young and dynamic audience, offering a space where everyone can express their creativity and make themselves known. The platform is also known for hosting live events and interactive challenges, making the streaming experience both entertaining and engaging.

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Chinese Recommendation and Delivery Apps

 

#26 DIANPING – THE CHINESE VERSION OF YELP/TRIPADVISOR

Q: What kind of application is Dianping?

A: Dianping is an online review, restaurant, and experience platform.

Q: How many users does Dianping app have?

A: Dianping has over 500 million registered users.

Recently acquired by the MeiTuan group, Dianping is a bit like Tripadvisor or Yelp, but much more advanced. Users can find and rate restaurants, hotels, gyms, movies and many other services. They can book directly and benefit from discounts and advantages via the application.

The social dimension is at the forefront, with multiple feeds displaying the best recommendations from the nearby public. Most of the 500 million users are between 16 and 40 years old and are mainly students and urban dwellers. Dianping was hit hard during the COVID-2019 pandemic, but was able to recover as soon as the Chinese economy recovered.

Launched in 2003, and backed by Google and Tencent, Dazhong Dianping is the leading platform for information and evaluation of local life in China. This popular app/platform not only provides information services such as business information, consumer reviews and consumer preferences, but also online business services such as group buying, restaurant reservations, takeaways and e-membership cards.

Want to know how to use it or how to register your business on Dianping? Learn more about Dianping in our previous article.

#27 MEITUAN – ALL SERVICES IN ONE PLACE

Q: What kind of app is Meituan?

A: Meituan is a review and delivery platform and is known for its bike rental.  

Q: How many people use Meituan?

A: There are 160 million monthly active users on Meituan.

Meituan is an application very similar to Dianping, it is also operated by the same company: Meituan-Dianping since their merger in 2015 and share their users’ data with each other.

The main differences between the 2 apps are an in-app food delivery service and a bike sharing/rental service, which can be found everywhere in Shanghai and major Chinese cities. Its 500 million users (total number of accounts on the platform) are generally young and have an above-average income, particularly 25-34 year-olds, who represent 37.5% of users.

Its user base is 69% male and 31% female. Meituan offers a wide range of services beyond food delivery, including grocery deliveries, product deliveries, taxi booking, and access to various coupons and deals. It offers extensive nationwide coverage and supports multiple payment methods, such as WeChat Pay, Alipay and local bank cards.

The platform also includes advanced features like real-time tracking, AI-driven recommendations, and 24/7 customer support. Users can exchange reviews, comments and a rating system, with social media integration options. Premium subscriptions are available for those looking for enhanced services.

#28 ELE.ME – EASY AND FAST!

Q: What type of app is Ele.me?

A: Eleme.me is a food and grocery delivery platform. 

Q: How many people use Ele.me?

A: There are 70 million monthly active users on Ele.me.

Ele.me is one of the big names in food delivery in China. Founded in 2008, the platform stands out for its ability to quickly connect consumers with a wide range of restaurants, from well-known chains to local establishments. In 2024, Ele.me remains a preferred choice thanks to its efficient and convenient delivery service, which includes not only meals but also groceries and drinks.

What makes Ele.me special is its ease of use: you can order in just a few clicks, track your delivery in real time, and pay flexibly. The platform continues to innovate with advanced technologies to make deliveries even faster and more personalized.

Compared to competitors like Meituan, which offers a wider range of services including hotel reservations and ticketing, or Dianping, which focuses on restaurant reviews and delivery to a lesser extent, Ele.me focuses exclusively on food delivery.

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Music Apps In China

#29 NETEASE MUSIC

NetEase Music is a bit of a refuge for music lovers in China. Launched in 2013, this platform is known for its convenient interface and extensive music library. What really sets it apart is the quality of its personalized recommendations and playlists, which allow you to discover new artists and musical genres.

In addition, NetEase Music is a community in itself, with 153 million active users monthly, they can discuss music among enthusiasts. With a good gender balance in its audience (52% Women and 48% Men), 70%users are under 35!

 

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#30 QQ MUSIC

QQ Music, developed by Tencent, is one of the most popular music platforms in China. Since its launch, QQ Music has established itself with its huge catalog of songs, including both international hits and Chinese music. The app offers a seamless user experience with features like karaoke, synced lyrics, and recommendations based on individual preferences.

The platform stands out among its 196 million monthly active users through its musical catalog. Appealing to both a female (52%) and male (48%) audience, more than 50% of its audience falls tinto 18 to 35 category.

 

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#31 XIMALAYA FM

Ximalaya FM is THE podcast and audiobook platform in China. Since its launch in 2012, it has become a meeting place for those who like to learn, be entertained or simply relax while listening to audio content. The app now has over 87 million monthly active users, evenly split between ages (18-24: 13%, 25-34: 26%, 35-44: 24%, 45-54: 19%, 55+: 10%).

It has everything from radio shows, educational podcasts, children’s stories, and even online courses. What makes Ximalaya FM so appealing is the diversity of its content and the ability for users to create their own podcasts.

 

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#32 KUGOU

Finally, Kugou is one of the oldest music platforms in China, best known for its large library of Chinese music. Since its launch in 2004, Kugou has stood out for its ability to deliver a personalized music experience, with features like synced lyrics and karaoke. It is also a platform where its 232 million monthly active users can connect and share their musical tastes with other fans. With its high-quality streaming options and user-friendly interface, Kugou is a top choice for those who enjoy streaming music and discovering new tracks.

 

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Social Medias Opportunities in China

#33 XIANYU – THE CHINESE VINTED

Q: What kind of media is Xianyu?

A: Xianyu is an online second-hand shopping platform.

More than 60% of its 200 million users were born in the 1990s, and nearly 70% are women. You can find this application by following this link: https://2.taobao.com/

Xianyu, also known as “Idle Fish”, is Taobao’s second-hand shopping platform, similar to eBay but without auctions. It is very popular in China for buying and selling second-hand goods, like LeBonCoin. Launched by Alibaba, Xianyu allows users to sell or buy almost anything they can think of: clothes, electronic gadgets, furniture, and even collectibles. What makes Xianyu unique is its community spirit. Users can chat, negotiate prices, and share tips for finding good deals.

The app is particularly popular with younger generations looking to recycle their belongings or find hidden treasures at affordable prices. In 2024, Xianyu continues to thrive by integrating new features like personalized recommendations and secure payment options, making the buying and selling experience even smoother and more enjoyable.

 

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Chinese Blogging Platforms and Apps

#34 BAIJIAHAO – FOR ALL ABOMINATING BLOGGERS AND WRITERS

Q: What type of media is Baijahao? 

A: Baijahao is a blogging platform. 

Baijiahao is a content creation platform developed by Baidu, China’s No. 1 search engine. This platform is intended for budding bloggers and writers, but also for content creators and journalists. They have the ability to share articles, videos, and other forms of media, giving them a space to publish and monetize their creations.

What sets Baijiahao apart is its integration with the Baidu search engine, which allows published content to reach a wide audience through search results. Contents published on the platform will be delivered to users on Baidu mobile search, Baidu Search on Desktop and Baidu mobile browser. Creators can thus reach a wider audience while benefiting from the analysis and monetization tools offered by the platform. Baijiahao encourages content creators to create high-quality content.

It is therefore thanks to its high visibility and its support for all creators, novice or experienced, that Baijiahao continues to grow its popularity. For users, it is a rich source of information and entertainment from diverse and expert voices.

 

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Professional Social Media Platforms in China

#35 MAIMAI – THE CHINESE LINKEDIN

Q: What type of media is Maimai? 

A: Maimai is a professional social media platform. 

MaiMai is a must-have app for professionals in China who want to expand their network and find career opportunities. Much like LinkedIn, MaiMai allows you to connect with colleagues, recruiters, and other experts in your field. What makes MaiMai truly unique is its anonymous nature. Users can share their work experiences, give feedback on their company, and discuss sensitive topics without having to reveal their identity.

Launched in 2013, MaiMai quickly gained popularity thanks to this freedom of expression. In 2024, it continues to attract professionals looking to advance their careers, while offering a space where people can talk openly about their daily work life.

 

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Social Media Platforms and Sports and Health Applications

#36 KEEP – FITNESS FOR EVERYONE

Q: What type of app is Keep?

A: Keep is a fitness app.

Keep is the fitness app trusted by millions of Chinese people to stay in shape. Since its launch in 2015, it has established itself as an essential sports companion, offering a variety of workouts suitable for all levels, whether for yoga, weight training, or running. What sets Keep apart is its ability to personalize programs based on your goals, while allowing you to track your progress and stay motivated through a vibrant community.

Recently, Keep launched new features like live classes, nutrition tips, and challenges that push users to surpass themselves. Whether you’re a beginner or a fitness enthusiast, Keep is here to support you and make your workouts accessible and stimulating, right from your smartphone.

 

#37 MINT (BOHE)

Q: What type of app is Mint?

A: Mint is a health and wellness app.

Mint (also known as Bohe) is a popular app in China for those interested in health and wellness. The app focuses on health tracking, offering tools to monitor your diet, physical activity, sleep, and even your mental state. Mint is designed to be a personal health coach in your pocket, helping you maintain a balanced lifestyle.

Launched with the idea of making health management more accessible, Mint offers personalized advice, reminders to stay active, and recommendations based on your habits. In 2024, Mint continues to improve by integrating advanced features, such as deeper data analysis and even more personalized wellness advice for each user.

 

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Which Chinese Apps Should You Use For Your Business By 2024?

The choice of Chinese apps you decide to invest in will really depend on the type of business you run.

Generally speaking, most Chinese people seek advice (RED, Weibo), read entertaining and educational content (WeChat) and watch videos (Youku, Douyin). Younger generations spend their time on Taobao looking for new or interesting products, while the older generation is looking for good deals on Pinduoduo.

Most platforms offer purchasing options and almost all of them are interactive and very comprehensive, offering maximum functionality to their users. The Chinese social media landscape is truly immense, making it very easy to get lost.

Where to start?

Here are some of our tips to apply:

DON’T CREATE A SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNT JUST TO HAVE ONE

Brands often open different accounts on Chinese social media in the hope that people will actively seek them out, but this is not the case. If your account doesn’t add any value to the subscriber’s life (membership, games, discounts, access, etc.), you will have a hard time increasing your subscriber count.

DO NOT OPEN AN ACCOUNT IF YOU DO NOT INTEND TO PROVIDE VALUE TO CUSTOMERS

The most successful accounts on WeChat and other platforms are those that are interactive and not just give out information.

Just like Facebook and LinkedIn, most Chinese social media apps intentionally reduce visibility so that brands spend more money on advertising. In fact, apps like WeChat are said to be “closed” because only friends and close contacts can see updates.

However, there are “creative” ways to get known on so-called “open” platforms like Weibo or Douyin, where creating viral content remains easier.

Otherwise, targeted advertising on WeChat remains one of the best options to start with.

Advertising on WeChat: Ad Types, CPM Pricing, PPC Pricing

Identify the best Chinese social media platforms to support your e-commerce solution

Whether or not your brand has a large following on Weibo or Douyin, it is still important to link your e-commerce links to social media platforms.

If you have any questions or would like further information, do not hesitate to contact us.

HI-COM is a digital marketing agency that provides businesses worldwide with China-specific strategies, social media communications services and e-commerce marketing services. Working with more than 100 brands, HI-COM is the preferred partner for companies wishing to enter the Chinese market!  

Contact us for a free consultation today!

Scan the QR Code to get in touch via WeChat

They sell out stocks worth of millions of dollars in minutes, they make newest products trendy and famous, they are the most-watched Chinese influencers and internet stars in China, they are the king and the queen of Chinese e-commerce!

E-commerce in China is booming. In 2021, it is expected to grow more than 20%, versus a 7% growth in total retail sales. For the first time in history, anywhere in the world, the proportion of a whole country’s retail sales will be more than 50% online. The mountain is huge, and who sits atop? Chinese influencers, aka KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders).

We’ve charted the top KOLs for 2020-2021 elsewhere, but here we want to introduce a special kind of Chinese KOL. The kind that has the ability to sell out entire inventories in minutes in 2022!

Livestreaming has taken over KOL marketing in China. By year 2022, popular shopping dates like Singles Day and 12.12, hundreds of millions of people log on to shopping platforms to receive the best discounts of the year. To guide them towards which products to buy, they often tune into livestreams by beauty and fashion bloggers and KOLs in each and every product category. For the top KOLs, the products they feature invariably sell out in minutes.

Below, we want to talk about Influencer Marketing in China, the top 10 KOLs in China and how influential they have been on the Chinese e-commerce market.

As the 

Taobao Live-steamer KOLs in 2022

It is worth noting that after Viya stopped live streaming, Viya’s live streaming assistants continued live streaming under the name of “Bee Joy Club”.

Bee Joy Club

At present, the live streaming room has accumulated 900,000 fans. Its popularity is still relatively strong even though its ability to sell goods through live streaming is not as strong as that in the Viya era.

Up and coming KOLs on Taobao update 2022:

This month’s top 3 KOLs – according to the Taobao native ranking platform are “Brother Hui”, “Pop Corn” and “Charlies’ Angels”. 

Looking for a partner to get your KOL Marketing in China right? Check out our Case studies: 

Top 1 Chinese Influencer & Livestream Sales KOL in 2020-2021 (off air at the moment)

Austin Li

Austin Li otherwise known as ‘The Lipstick King’ has some impressive accolades under his belt.

Q: How many followers does Austin have?

A: Austin has over 29 million followers on Weibo and over 44 million on Douyin

Disappearing from the public eye, the brand featuring in broadcasts of Li Jia Qi remains paused. While different sources provide different information of the true reason of his suspension, he did not give any official statement. 

For anyone even vaguely familiar with KOL marketing, Austin should need no introduction. For newcomers, here are the basics: Austin is a Chinese beauty blogger specialising in lipstick. Various feats of his, such as earning a Guinness World Record for the most applications of lipstick in a minute, and trying on 138 lipsticks in a 30-minute live stream, have garnered him the title ‘Lipstick King’.

While he’s able to pull in $145 million in a day in sales, like Viya, he’s also socially conscious. In 2020, he worked to promote products from Wuhan following its difficult period, and helped raise RMB 70 million on Chinese New Year’s Eve in aid of rural farmers and communities.

During the 6.18 shopping festival in 2019 , he broke his own record once again, he sold 150,000 lip glosses in one hour livestream. He also managed to sell 5,000 Shiseido Ultimunes within 3 minutes and 40,000 Sori Yanagi cast iron pans within 1 minute.

But his reach does not stop in lipsticks. Austin was featured in major campaigns of KFC, Uniqlo, Clear, Dr.Jart+, Paris fashion week sponsored by L’Oreal, Godiva and many others.

Forbes China 2019 recognized him as one of the most influential in their list of “30 Under 30”. He was also awarded various awards including “Man at his best” award, Esquire awards and many more.

Today Austin dominates the Chinese social media by having verified accounts on Weibo, Douyin, Xiaohongshu/Red and Kuaishou. Engagement of his posts on Weibo reach from 5K to 1.5 million reactions!

To be able to cooperate with Austin via livestream sales event brands shall have a store on one of the Alibaba’s platforms: Tmall or Taobao.

Top 1 Female Chinese Influencer & Taobao Livestream KOL in 2020-2022 (off air at the moment)

Viya

Viya is another fierce Chinese influencer / KOL star in China that was taken off the air. Former  No.1 Anchor on Taobao, her accounts were frozen by the platforms, following the tax evasion scandal.

Q: How many followers did Viya have?

A: Viya has over 17 million followers on Weibo, over 16 million on Douyin, over 1,5 million on Xiaohongshu, and over 12 million followers on Taobao’s Weitao.

Chinese influencers, despite stereotypes, are not vapid product-selling husks. Their rise to prominence is usually accompanied by a great deal of hard work, and often admirable achievements outside the world of selling. This is why they’re trusted by their followers.

Viya (薇娅) is was apex example of a Chinese influencer with substance and credibility. Her livestreams are a mix between variety shows, infomercials and casual chats with her viewers. In 2020 she sold $365 million in a single day, and drew more than 37 million simultaneous viewers.

But she also devotes her time meaningfully, becoming one of Alibaba’s 2019 Poverty Alleviation Campaign anchors, and frequently featuring products produced in poorer regions of China. She is also one of the ‘The Belt and Road Thailand Product Ambassador’.

The products she chooses to promote have been carefully selected by her. When selling any product, this Chinese influencer pays attention of the following things:

1. time limit (the offer is only valid for the time slot at the broadcast)
2. quantity limit (the amount of products available is limited, urging the viewers the make decision quick)
3. price limit (the price of the products must be the lowest when comparing to official channels of the purchase)

Wonder how much Viya charge per one livestream? Depending on the industry she charges from 40,000 to 200,000 RMB.

While doing her livestreams on Taobao, Viya, on average, creates a total transaction value of 66 million CNY / 10 million USD in one hour!

But to cooperate with Viya, brands shall be ready to go through an application and selection process and ready to provide up to 30% commission on sales she generates plus the production fees. Interested to get in touch with Viya? Email your request right now!

Where to start with the KOL marketing campaign? Check out our guide!

Fashion KOLs who Sell Products in Minutes – available KOLs in 2022

WeChat Chinese Influencer in Fashion: Becky Li

Record of selling 100 MINI cars on her WeChat official account within 4 minutes

Top fashion KOLs by Forbes China

Q: How many followers does Becky Li have?

A: She has over 7,6 million followers on Weibo, over 75 thousands on WeChat, and over 650 thousands on Douyin

When mentioning Becky, she is often described as “one of the most influential fashion bloggers” or a “shopaholic”. In fact, she was the chief reporter of the Southern Metropolis Daily, mainly reporting current affairs and movies, and was one of the best entertainment reporters in China before she managed the WeChat account “Becky’s Whimsical World” and became a fashion blogger, and of of the top Chinese influencers.

She was invited by Chanel to attend Paris Fashion Week, and has worked with Chinese A-listers such as Chen Yanxi for the promotion of the philanthropic projects organized by Louis Vuitton and UNICEF. She has cooperated twice with the Palace Museum on culture and jewelry projects, with a transaction volume exceeding 2 million RMB.

In 2017, Becky and MINI cooperated for the first time to exclusively sell the “MINI YOURS Caribbean Blue Limited Edition”. 100 custom cars sold out within 4 minutes. This achievement became a much-told story in the industry and was listed as a classic case by Harvard Business School. At the end of the same year, Becky launched her own clothing brand with the same name.

She has appeared in H&M advertisements, served as a mentor for Helena women’s entrepreneurial projects, became the first KOL partner of WeChat Pay, and acted as its overseas payment experience officer and a friend of the BALLY brand. Earlier last month, Forbes China released a list of China’s top KOLs, listing 50 Chinese key opinion leaders in five specific sectors, such as beauty, fashion, mother & baby, lifestyle, and e-sports. Becky was one of the leaders among them.

So, unlike other Chinese influencers fashion bloggers, and although Becky is a “shopping enthusiast”, people have the impression that she is real, sincere, and down to earth. Just like an everyday beautiful lady, she talks about all kinds of good things, and also builds an image of “I can also have it” from the perspective of an ordinary woman. Therefore, she draws a lot of attention from female customers.

She was “Miss Shopping Guide” in the newspaper office because she always had a good eye for unique and trendy shopping.

But, today, seven years has gone by since “Becky’s Whimsical World” was set up, a fashion WeChat Official Account that is now followed by nearly ten million women, with each of her posts generating over 100,000 views.

“A lot of people focus solely on the number of followers, but I would prefer to have 10 followers who really know an recognize me instead of 100 followers who disagree or do not engage with me.”

Is it possible to find a KOL that does not charge a crazy amount of money? YES! Here is the list of top 10 mid-tier KOLs!

WeChat Chinese Influencer in Fashion: Zola ZHANG

The WeChat Media channel “It was Zola” is undoubtedly one of the best WeChat channels that integrate KOL and WeChat e-commerce sales successfully.

Q: How many followers does Zola have

A: Zola has over 2,9 million followers on Douyin and over 200 000 on WeChat

On the other hand, Many individual products recommended in Zola’s WeChat articles come from her Taobao “Just Chilling” brands, which mainly focus on European and American niche brands. Zola and her employees use those brands, promote them and go one step forward; they determine the product’s price together with the supply chain after contacting the authorizing parties.

On the other hand, it is reported that “It was Zola” made annual sales of about 40 million RMB and monthly sales of 3 to 4 million RMB. The amount is not huge on Taobao, but for a We Media owner switching to e-commerce, it’s impressive.

However, unlike other Chinese influencers, Zola”s “It was Zola” channel does not specialize in a specific topic.

She provides a comprehensive guide to the fashion life circle from all aspects of life rather than being merely a beauty or fashion blogger. Now the number of her followers has reached 7 million on various social media, including 1.5 million for her WeChat official account, and 2.82 million for her Weibo. She has signed and incubated more than 40 bloggers, and the number of her network’s followers across 15 platforms has reached 75 million.

“On WeChat, we are one of the first of several WeChat advertising test accounts. In the WeChat Alternative Advertising case in cooperation with BiOil, we completed 417% of the KPI, reaching 62,700 ad exposures and 177,000 views. On Taobao, we have cooperated with EVE LOM, a niche skincare brand prices 50 – 100, in the CPS advertisement of Guang.taobao.com, in which we sold out 200 fortune bags in 19 seconds.”

Top Fast Sale Chinese KOLs in Kuaishou

Xin Youzhi

Q: How many followers does Xin Youzhi have?

A: Xin Youzhi has over 1,3 million followers on Weibo and over 3,5 million followers on Douyin,and over 70 million on Kuaishou.

Xin Youzhi (辛有志辛巴), is a livestreaming entrepreneur, with over 70 million followers in Kuaishou. He streams less frequently than others, because he maintains a team of livestreamers that do so on his behalf. Still, when he does, he can generate more than $50million of sales in a single day. Unlike many other Chinese influencers, he does not specialise in one product category, but rather sells across many.

Sanda Brother

Q: How many followers does Sanda have?

A: Sanda has 2 million followers on Weibo and 50 million followers on Kuaishou.

With 50 million followers on Kuaishou, Sanda Brother (散打哥) is also known as ‘Fast Sale King’ in China. He’s garnered several awards for his livestreams, and broken records here, there and everywhere, proving the might of KOL marketing. In a single day in 2018, his sales totalled RMB 160 million.

Yu Childe

Q: How many followers does Yu Childe have?

A: He has over 57 thousands followers on Weibo and over 23 million on Kuaishou.

Anchor of Kuaishou’s beauty products platform, Yu Childe (瑜大公子) is considered a pre-eminent beauty KOL and celebrity in his own right. On January 5 2021, he joined several other celebrities to livestream the ‘Stars Giving Back’ event, which was watched by more than 10.2 million people. As part of the broadcast, he set a record by selling RMB 368 million in a single broadcast, putting him in the top ranks of Chinese KOLs.

More KOLs from China who Sell Products Fast

Cherie

Q: How many followers does Cherie have?

A: Cherie has over 12 million followers on Weibo, also she has about 1 million followers on Douyin and on Xiaohongshu.

After opening a Taobao store in 2011, Cherie (雪梨Cherie) has grown a following of more than 200 million fans for her livestreams, making her one of the most popular KOLs in China. Featuring more than 30 brands, in 2020, Cherie set a record for the highest number of transactions in a single live broadcast; in five hours, her sales exceeded RMB 300 million.

Dandan Kid

Q: How many followers does Dandan Kid have?

A: She has over 3 million followers on Douyin

A relatively new kid on the block, Dandan Kid is making waves on KOL platforms. In 2019, 30 livestreams generated a sales volume of RMB118 million. In 2021, she racked up RMB 120 million of sales in one hour, with one broadcast exceeding RMB 330 million in sales.

Kiki

Q: How many followers does Kiki have?

A: Kiki has over 5,8 million followers on Weibo and over 3.5 million on Douyin

Chinese influencer Kiki (陈洁) once sold RMB 177 million in three days. She made a name for herself in a cooperation with actor Lei Jiayin to promote Borward Auto. In two and a half hours, the duo pulled in more than 220 million orders, helping Borgward become the car manufacturer with the most live broadcast bookings in 2019.

LieEr Baby

Q: How many followers does LiEr Baby have?

A: She has over 4,5 million followers on Weibo and over 3 million on Douyin.

Another record-breaking Chinese influencer, on Singles Day 2017, LieEr Baby (烈儿宝贝) had sales of RMB 10 million in just five minutes. Her live broadcasts, even back then, before China’s KOL hayday, garnered view counts of millions. In the following year, 2018, her annual sales exceeded one billion RMB. Fast-forward to 2021, in January she won the 13^th spot on the list of ‘Hot People of the Year’ according to Sina Weibo.

Hasi Food

Q: How many followers does Hasi Food have?

A: She has over 5 million followers on Douyin

A Chinese food and beauty blogger, Hasi Food (哈西美食) did a whopping 303 live broadcasts in November 2021 alone, achieving sales of RMB 418 million. Her content is generally aimed at demonstrating recipes, but she accompanies this with selling beauty and body products.

In conclusion, according to most brands, KOL marketing is one of the most effective ways to promote in China. Here at HI-COM we understand the Chinese market. If you want to learn more about Chinese KOL marketing or need help with your Chinese marketing? Drop us a line!

As the second largest consumer economy in the world, China has been at the forefront of marketing trends shaping the global economy. According to China’s Ministry of Commerce, in 2020, China saw sales of consumer goods reach 6 trillion USD. Home to major online e-commerce platforms such as Alibaba and JD.com, China has also ranked in as the world’s largest online retail economy for the past 8 years.

The country’s mature online retail economy, high mobile penetration, and comprehensive e-commerce infrastructure has made it the perfect environment for the emergence of a variety of innovative marketing trends in the past few years. These trends have not only reshaped marketing playbooks within China, but also impacted consumer markets around the globe. Understanding these new trends will help businesses around the world effectively craft cutting-edge marketing strategies.

What marketing trends should we look out for from China in 2022?

1. From KOL to KOC marketing

KOL (influencer) marketing, also known as influencer marketing, was one of the major trends to emerge in the social media era. However, as China’s online consumers become increasingly internet savvy and media reports started exposing KOL misconduct, the prestige of KOL endorsements have waned. Today, China’s consumers, especially the digital natives of Gen Z, are increasingly turning towards KOCs, or key opinion consumers, for product recommendations.

KOCs are seen as more “real”. With fewer followers and a more approachable internet presence, they are seen as the everyday consumer. By providing product reviews and recommendations from an end user perspective, they hold more sway over consumers looking for quality products as opposed to brands with cultural cachet.

In China, marketers are turning towards a two-pronged approach of combined KOL and KOC marketing, using KOL marketing to increase brand exposure and using KOC marketing to more granularly target specific consumer groups.

Further reading:

KOC marketing in China: what it is and how to get started with it

All You Need to Know Before Starting a KOL Campaign

Top KOLs in China 2021-2022

Top 10 affordable KOLs that generate sales

2. Livestreaming

Livestreaming marketing became possible in 2016 with the launch of Taobao’s livestreaming function Taobao Live. It has since only exploded in popularity since the COVID-19 pandemic. With the integration of e-commerce functionality on livestream-ready social media platforms like Douyin, Xiahongshu, and Kuaishou as well as the integration of livestream capabilities on e-commerce platforms like Taobao and JD.com, livestream marketing has become a mainstay in today’s Chinese marketing strategy.

Last year, on Taobao’s Single’s day shopping festival, livestreams accounted for 6 billion USD in sales. Livestream marketing’s success is the result of combining the frictionless one-click purchasing of e-commerce, the interactivity of livestream product presentations and Q&As, and the dynamism of live product demonstrations.

This trend has now expanded beyond China, with Amazon and Walmart dipping their toes in the livestream marketing trend last year.

 

Further reading:

Top livestreaming platforms in China that generate leads

3. Social E-Commerce 

The emergence of platforms like Xiaohongshu and the development of e-commerce functionality on various social media platforms in China have ushered in the age of social e-commerce. According to e-Marketer, in 2019, Chinese social e-commerce sales totalled 186.04 billion USD, a figure that has only grown in the last two years.

An important innovation in Pinduoduo’s massively successful marketing model was the social aspect of community promotion of products. Social media platforms like Douyin and Xiahongshu took advantage of their massive userbases to integrate e-commerce functionality in the last few years. WeChat’s comprehensive ecosystem, with mobile payments, instant messaging, mini-programs, and official accounts offered the perfect environment for social e-commerce to thrive.

Today, Western platforms are playing catch-up, with Facebook and Instagram refining their e-commerce functionality only with the massive changes in shopping habits brought on by COVID-19.

Further reading:

How to register a store on Xiaohongshu, one of the most popular social e-commerce platforms in China

4. Group-Buying

In 2018, Pinduoduo went public, raising 1.6 billion USD through a US IPO, becoming one of the largest deals of the year. In just three years since founding, the upstart platform broke into the upper echelons of China’s e-commerce market.

It’s secret success? The group-buy feature.

The group-buy feature allows communities and neighbourhoods to place large orders together to get direct wholesale prices. These deals are accessed through WeChat mini-programs, and community leaders post links to various popular or on-sale products in WeChat groups. The massive discounts and communal nature of this marketing model have helped it become extremely popular in smaller cities across China.

Best platforms for group-buying in China

The group-buying market was worth over 11 billion USD in 2020 and is estimated to exceed 16 billion USD this year. In the three years since Pinduoduo’s IPO, Alibaba and JD.com have created their own group-buying functions to challenge the Pinduoduo’s massive market niche.

5. Private Traffic

As an alternative to the increasingly expensive option of paid traffic, private traffic (私域流量) marketing has taken off in China.

While most private traffic in the West is accomplished with blogs and mailing lists, China’s unique internet ecosystem has seen the rise of private marketing via WeChat. By setting up exclusive WeChat mini-program clubs and WeChat groups, brands can easily cultivate communities of consumers with share lifestyle aspirations. Private traffic allows brands to become less reliant on e-commerce platform search algorithms and give businesses the power to present their brand directly to consumers.

This more intimate environment of closed groups allows for higher rates of CTAs than large scale advertising campaigns. In addition, by building a closer relationship with consumers, private traffic increases customer retention rates.

6. Targeting of Lower Tier Cities (下城Xiachen)

As China’s top-tier cities become increasingly saturated for luxury and lifestyle products, brands are turning towards China’s rapidly burgeoning lower-tier cities. Once considered the market for domestic brands, lower-tier cities are now an integral target in the marketing strategies of more and more foreign companies in China.

Lower-tier cities in China, while not having the same cultural exposure and name recognition as tier one cities, constitute a vast portion of China’s population and have seen increasing spending power. Lower-tier city middle income earners have cheaper living costs and a slower pace of life than their tier one city counterparts and are happy to spend their growing wages on consumer goods.

As such, lower-tier cities are now major drivers of China’s consumer market growth, with 70% of Alibaba’s newly registered users coming from lower-tier cities in 2019. Notably, Pinduoduo’s emphasis on lower-tier cities played a crucial role in its meteoric rise.

7. Artificial Intelligence

From AI powered customer service, AI real-time translation/captioning, AI logistics optimization, AI product recommendation algorithms, to AI powered virtual influencers, advancements in the field of AI have created a vast trove of use-cases for marketing. These new advancements will free up resources for other marketing strategies and help to create more efficient pathways to reaching consumers.

Major Chinese tech and e-commerce platforms have been heavily investing in AI, including Alibaba, Bytedance (Tiktok), Baidu, and more. As a developing technology, AI technology integration into the Chinese marketing sphere is a major trend to watch out for in the coming years.

8. Personalization and Customization

According to a 2018 study by Luxue, customization is the top service requested by Chinese millennials.

While not a new concept per se, the trend of personalization and customization in the apparel market has been steadily growing in China. Product customization was a costly prospect reserved for high-end clientele not so long ago, but with the rapid development of e-commerce there are now more direct avenues of communication with customers.

Today, personalization and customization are widely offered by major fashion brands in China, often taking advantage of WeChat’s mini-program features, as seen in campaigns by Calvin Klein and Longchamp.

HI-COM is a multilingual communication agency dedicated to providing China-specific social media communication and e-commerce marketing services to businesses around the world. Working with more than 100 brands, HI-COM is the go-to partner of companies that want to enter China market! Contact us for your free consultation today!

The penchant in China for KOLs continued unabated in 2020, and into 2021. Hardly a marketing meeting goes by when the acronym doesn’t pop up once or twice. Having ascended marketing geek buzzword-territory into a generally understood concept, the question on the lips of brands operating anywhere in China is no longer if KOL marketing is a good idea, but how best to do it.

The truth is that KOLs with millions of followers command eye-watering price tags. For most companies, it is simply not feasible to get in on the action with someone like Austin Li or Vija Huang. There are, however, a cadre of mid-tier KOLs that wield significant-enough influence to generate sales, or get a brand name out there. Below are a few of our favourites.

Food & Beverage MId-Tier KOLs

miss蜗牛(miss Woniu）

Miss Snail is a Shanghai-based photographer and stylist who has built a substantial around her photos of food, beverage and lifestyle. Her unique sense of aesthetic sees her create highly stylized snaps of food that is usually considered low-brow, such as KFC, Pizza Hut, and Heineken. She accompanies her shots with a whole ‘Snail’ brand, including the Snail Institute, where people may come and learn from her how to take better food pictures. To be associated with miss Snail is to be associated with the ideals she embodies – capturing beauty in everyday objects, and passing on lessons about how to do so to her 330,000 followers on Weibo and 150,000 followers on RED.

悦食epicure (Yueshi Epicure)

Yueshi is all about digging into the details. His stated aim is to rekindled the relationship between people and food, in an authentic way. Sharing facts about the history of food, documenting it in pictures, and showing the beauty of ingredients, Yueshi tells stories. It is his authentic and honest love for food that has gained him almost a million followers on Weibo.

Cosmetics Mid-Tier KOLs

罐罐子_ (Guanguanzi)

Hangzhou-based Guanguanzi creates looks. Her looks are bold. In a country where wearing heavy makeup is only just beginning to become fashionable, Guanguanzi goes in. By pairing her makeup styling with bold fashion choices, and showing her audience exactly which products she’s used, her 350,000 Weibo followers get useful info, while brands benefit from the exposure.

Ya咸咸 (Ya Xianxian)

Based in Sichuan, Ya Xianxian is a prolific model for fashion and cosmetics. She sports a new look a couple of times per week, and, like Guanguanzi, often gives details about what products she’s used and why. Her uniqueness comes from showing off transnational trends, blending styles from around the globe, united by their position in the aesthetic of Generation Z. Expect her 265,000 Weibo and 100,000 RED followers to be young and willing to be adventurous in the pursuit of style.

Fashion

 季未燃 （JiweiJW）

Jiwei takes a very personal approach to his social media accounts. He posts pictures of his projects – ranging from fashion shootings, to drawing, and even paper art – but he also posts frequent vlogs, documenting his life-long passion for fashion. Recently he was treated to some new threads, and special seats at Shanghai Fashion Week, by Burberry. In return, Burberry got some very favourable coverage directed towards his almost one-million Weibo fans. Collabs have also been made with Dior and Guerlain.

小象王国 (Elephant Kingdom)

Elephant Kingdom, AKA XiangChong shares news and pictures about all the latest fashion goings-on in China. Xiang Chong is a favourite not only for meticulously compiling pictures from the very latest releases by big-name brands but also for informing the audience about the designers behind them. The sheer velocity and consistent quality of the posts have earned the account over six million followers.

Don’t know where to start your first KOL campaign? Check our KOL Marketing guide!

Hospitality

Cestmoii

Cestmoii is famed for posting beautiful 9-picture collages of travel locations from around the world. They pay particular attention to colour and theme, making sure that each of the nine are aligned by a central concept, such as ‘love’, ‘sunset’, or ‘change’, for example, but that their colours are virtually identical. The effect is to evoke an almost nostalgic, sentimental feeling towards the destinations, whether or not the viewer, one of their 300,000 followers for instance, has ever been there.

时尚西凉花（Fashion Xilianghua）

Xilanghua is what you might call a multi-disciplinary KOL. She combines fashion, lifestyle, travel and design into one big personal brand. It is the life of Xilianghua that people are interested in, not any one particular theme. Like Cestmoii, she pays close attention to the colours of the photos she shares, making her pages immediately pleasing to look at. When her 100,000 Weibo followers, and 55,000 RED followers delve into the content, it is exactly the variety that keeps things interesting. One post might be a collab with Dior, the next a bar, and the next a bakery.

Entertainment

疯狂特效师 (Crazy Special Effects Artist)

Let’s call Crazy Special Effects Artist CSEA for short. His account is exactly what you’d expect, as he is, indeed, a pretty crazy special effects artist. CSEA’s posts are usually of projects and props that he’s working on for different film projects, and show a lighter side of graphical production. His 250,000 fans love the fact that his videos always have unexpected twists, or huge film set-pieces, alongside the dynamic character that is CSEA in the first place.

Sport

 姜大湿 (Master Jiang)

Master Jiang posts daily motivation videos and images, alongside guides and meal plans for fitness fans. The account is well-balanced, with the drier, more detailed posts cushioned with humorous photos. Master Jiang is a big fan of cats, and, has gained traction recently for a recent foray into ballet. He is specially highlighted by Weibo as being a notable sports blogger, and has 1.5 million followers.

These examples are just a sample of what’s out there in terms of mid-tier KOLs. For more, or some that are more specific to a particular campaign, don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Looking for top KOLs in China? Here is a list of 30 top KOLs in China

Need help with your first KOL campaign? Drop us a line! 

About HI-COM:

HI-COM’s marketing director Kate Chernavina has been featured alongside other industry leaders in business magazine, BW confidential, commenting on influencer marketing trends on Tmall, and differences in KOL cooperation. She spoke about the role of Micro KOL in Chinese digital ecosystem, product review marketing, and more. 

HI-COM’s marketing director Kate Chernavina has been featured alongside other industry leaders in business magazine, BW confidential, commenting on influencer marketing trends on Tmall, and differences in KOL cooperation. She spoke about the role of Micro KOL in Chinese digital ecosystem, product review marketing, and more. Check out more of Kate’s thoughts here (P78, P80)!

Cost of engagement in China: more and more international brands are becoming concerned with the existence of a true social media engagement when working with Chinese KOL and Influencers.  Many communication agencies and marketing experts suggest choosing a more reliable KPI for their client’s campaigns, such as sales. But what do you do when you aim to make your brand more recognisable? Can you trust the influencers’ profiles? How much should a normal social media campaign cost in China? How do you pick out the real accounts from the fake ones and how much should you pay for one engaged person?

More and more international brands are becoming concerned with the existence of a true social media engagement when working with Chinese KOL and Influencers.  Many communication agencies and marketing experts suggest choosing a more reliable KPI for their client’s campaigns, such as sales. But what do you do when you aim at recognisability and not conversion? Can you really trust the influencers’ profiles? How do you pick out the real accounts from the fake ones and how much should you pay for one engaged person?

TABLE OF CONTENTS :
I – The growing trend of ‘Zombie fans’ will start to die out
II – Social media engagement cost analysis
1. Does more followers equal higher price per social media engagement?
2. Is it normal when a KOL’s follower base doubles in 1/2/3 months?
3. How long does the fame of an influencer last?
4. Zombie fans – do KOLs buy them every day?
5. Cost of social media engagement in China

KOL Marketing China: introduction to social media engagement analysis

Influencer marketing has become one of the most popular ways to engage with audiences, and is now a hot key word worldwide, and here’s why: a true influencer is a content creator, copywriter, designer and a consumer behaviour expert – all in one!  But how do you find one in a market full of fraud and fakery?

Whether it’s down to practicality, lack of patience, or just pure greed, Influencers are often lured into the world of fake followers, despite it being considered cheating to monetise a fake follower base.

Over the past three years, HI-COM has searched, studied and followed trustworthy and reliable KOL profiles. We were tracking Influencers whose names were mentioned in social media awards, profiles who do not accept cash payments and do not monetise their popularity, as well as very dedicated influencers who have been cooperating with big names for several years, as these types of KOL profiles have logical follower base growth and logical engagement volumes.

We also followed studied a few suspicious accounts that have obvious or even very smart but commercial growth of the follower base and engagement. And finally we interviewed influencers in China, both real and ‘wanna-be-real’.

The growing trend of ‘Zombie fans’ will start to die out 

Not so long ago, the trend of ‘zombie’ fans – or buying fake followers – was at its highest. But influencers who have genuinely been in the business for a long time quickly came to understand that the credibility of your account goes down, reliability decreases, and companies like Weibo or Alibaba would have their fake history on a record and would think twice about handing these influencers awards.

via GIPHY

Although the zombie era has peaked and now seems to be coming to an end, there are still a few influence markets that have not reached the expected maturity.

Mature influencer markets in China include cosmetics, fashion, travel, and sport. Relatively new and under developed influence markets are finance, technology, and b2b.

By using specially developed software we were able to collect account growth, engagement, and other data from the social media platforms of our chosen influencers. We tested our collected database and compared the data from influencers in different industries, and different follower behaviours. We also compared various prices per post and more, in hope of learning more about the relationship between cost and social media engagement of a real follower.

In this experiment we considered engagement volume the amount of all likes, shares and comments for a given period of time.

Average engagement volume: a sum of engagement (likes, shares and comments) divided by X number of posts in a given time (in the last month, 3 months, year).

Average engagement rate: average engagement volume divided by number of fans. One of the possible indicators that can show us that an account is fake is if its engagement rate is 0.0001 or less (whether it’s because the account is buying fake fans, or is just losing popularity, the engagement is too low to invest into the account).

Cost per engagement: price of writing post divided by average engagement volume.

Once all necessary data have been collected/computed, all data from different industries are combined into an integral and standardised database.

Social media engagement cost analysis:

By comparing the data from three different industries, we can measure the Engagement Rates Distribution Density within the influencer profiles in those industries. In our example below, we ran the profiles in the cosmetics, gaming and travel industries.

Takeaway: distribution of engagement rate varies between industries in terms of standard deviation.

1. Does more followers equal higher price per social media engagement?

2. Is it normal when a KOL’s follower base doubles in 1/2/3 months?

Takeaway: A healthy growth of a KOL account should show a gradual increase in followers along with a similar increase in likes and shares.

3. How long does the fame of an influencer last?

This diagram shows the behavior of a KOL’s follower base in a given time frame. The influencer was changing his editorial style at the end of 2017, after noticing a lower engagement a little past his peak of fame.  In order to stay more relevant, the influencer started to post a new type of content (video), which brought some interest back. But the general trend of the fame of influencer is downward.

5. Cost of social media engagement in China

Big and small brands alike continue to work with influencers to increase brand awareness, consumer loyalty, and brand reputation.  But what are the first steps to take in order to launch a successful KOL campaign, and how to choose an achievable goal, and what influencer marketing budget shall you allocate?  Ask yourself these 3 questions before partnering with Chinese micro influencers!

How to work with Chinese micro influencers and why

Big and small brands alike continue to work with influencers to increase brand awareness, consumer loyalty, and brand reputation.  But what are the first steps to take in order to launch a successful KOL campaign, and how to choose an achievable goal, and what influencer marketing budget shall you allocate?  Ask yourself these 3 questions before partnering with Chinese micro influencers!

It’s not too late to cash in on influencer marketing―Here’s why! 

Plus 3 questions to ask yourself before partnering with a micro-influencer

Working with Chinese influencers is nothing new. Big brands and small brands alike continue to work with influencers to increase brand awareness, consumer loyalty, and brand reputation.

It’s no surprise as multiple studies have confirmed the value of working with influencers.

For example, one study found that influencers recommend products and/or brands up to 22.2 more times during the week compared to everyday consumers.

For businesses, this means getting their brand and products in front of more consumers and being recommended more often.

Notably, 82 % of consumers surveyed for the same study were highly likely to listen to the advice and recommendations of influencers.

While some people believe marketing through influencer partnerships is a fading trend, the exponential growth of China’s middle class is a strong case for businesses to continue using influencer marketing.

Cash in on China’s growing middle class with influencer marketing

The explosive growth of China’s middle class has brought about a rapid social and economic transformation over the last decade. What’s truly amazing is that according to research “more than 75% of China’s urban consumers will earn 60,000 to 229,000 RMB ($9,000 to $34,000) a year by 2022.”

What’s more, recent studies show that China’s “post-90s generation” are more likely to research a product or service before making a purchase compared to generations before them. This generation is also more likely to research niche brands and maintain loyalty to brands they trust.

For businesses aiming to target the growing, middle-class population, working with influencers is still a worthwhile option to achieve your marketing goals.

Whether it’s working with celebrity influencers or micro-influencers (non-celebrities with the impact to reach a large audience), it’s important to understand as to whether creating a partnership with influencers is right for your brand and business.

Micro-influencers tend to attract followers within niche areas of interest. Unlike celebrity influencers, micro-influencers often voice their opinions and recommendations out of passion for a specific interest instead of money.

If you haven’t already tried influencer marketing, there are good opportunities to find the right influencer to help enhance your brand. To get started, ask yourself the three questions below!

Question #1: Does my brand have unique attributes that a popular micro-influencer can incorporate in their day-to-day interaction with their fans?

Many micro-influencers will be eager to test a product and provide recommendations if it’s something that relates to what they already talk about and promote to fans.

As digital-savvy consumers continue to use social media as a platform to find products and recommendations, brands must be able to personalize their products that consumers are looking for. Marketing in heavily saturated industries is a challenge that can be overcome by personalizing content and relating to consumers’ everyday lives.

This is where micro-influencers can be leveraged. The right micro-influencers have unique perspectives on brands and can appeal to their followers more easily.

For example, if your business is related to health and fitness, you should consider seeking out a micro-influencer who is highly passionate about leading an active lifestyle. Rather than choosing the most popular micro-influencer, it’s better to focus on find the right influencer who is familiar with your industry and similar products.

Question #2: Are you willing to work with smaller influencers who may be lesser known?

While a celebrity endorsement is powerful, marketing campaigns typically take more than just one statement or mention. Consider incorporating micro-influencers into your multichannel marketing approach. This will allow you to stretch your budget further while still being able to promote your brand across various channels.

You might also consider working with Chinese micro influencers if you are also up-and-coming in your industry; partnering with a newer influencer could help both of you grow. Early collaborations provide opportunities for you to work with someone at a reasonable rate as well as give the influencer a chance to grow. It’s a win-win.

Just be sure your keep in mind micro-influencers may be less experience working with businesses and therefore, might be less professional.

Question #3: What does a successful partnership mean to you and your business?

Before enlisting Chinese micro influencers there are a few things to think about. One of the very first things to do is clearly outline your marketing goals. Your goals should be data-driven, not overly fluffed statements such as “increase awareness”.

The best goals are defined with metrics. For example, “increase sales by 10% each month” or “expose our product to more than 5,000 new consumers”.

Simpler metrics can be also be determined such as website views, forms filled out, referrals, etc.

Refer to the traditional S.M.A.R.T acronym – Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-based, to ensure you’re on track.

In addition to defining your data-driven goals, researching micro-influencers related to your industry is critical. Not only should your influencer’s brand be aligned with yours, it’s important to partner with an influencer who keeps their audiences’ preferences in mind.

Wechat and Meipai are two good places to start looking for someone to partner with. If you take your time to find the right influencer, you can avoid embarrassing mistakes that could hurt your brand.

Once you have defined your goals and find a micro-influencer to work with, it’s time begin your campaign!

Your Micro Influencer marketing budget

When you start digging in to influencer marketing in China, you quickly understand – it is costly. Of cause, every profile you might find will have different price, audience demographic, engagement and marketing experience. Choosing an influencer as well as the social media platform that is right for your product/service is crucially important for the campaign and your influencer marketing budget estimation!

Same influencer on 2 different platforms can charge a different fee. Duration and type of content plays an important role in budget as well. Video content will be more expensive that a written post with a photo.

When it comes to math, in general, working with a Micro Influencer (50K – 200K real followers depending on platform) will cost 1000-3000 USD per post. To reach even a tiny sector of a market, brand shall work with a series of KOLs and create series of campaigns.

For example, a market of 20 million people (size of Shanghai city), brands shall involve 20 – 30 micro influencers of 200K fans, which puts the influencer marketing budget to 60K – 90K USD, not including the platform fees that might be as high as . Keeping in mind that “reaching a market” means creating impression, not engagement.

Of cause, the relationship with brand or marketing agency and cooperation benefits for the influencer are important too and might cut some slack here and there.

If you are not ready to start your campaign just yet, try out some other ways to reach Chinese audience!

With these questions in mind, you can determine whether working with a Chinese micro-influencer will enhance your brand and overall marketing strategy.

If you’re still unsure if influencer marketing is right for your business, there are a variety of companies that can help determine your niche market and narrow down a potential list of influencers.

Want to start your Micro Influencer Marketing? Ask us how! 

Chinese KOL in cosmetics are taking over China’s beauty market. They are making the most out of the visually-oriented Chinese youth environment, producing watch-and-learn videos to share the most important tips and tricks on how to always look 100%. At Hi-COM we have carefully selected these profiles for the foreign brands to consider when promoting skincare and cosmetics brands, as well as entering the e-commerce market or dealing with health-related products in China. These 8 popular Chinese influencers are talented, hard-working and have been widely recognised by China’s social media market with various awards.

Chinese cosmetics influencers are taking over China’s beauty market. They are making the most out of the visually-oriented Chinese youth environment, producing watch-and-learn videos to share the most important tips and tricks on how to always look 100%.

At Hi-COM we have carefully selected these profiles for the foreign brands to consider when promoting skincare and cosmetics brands, as well as entering the e-commerce market or dealing with health-related products in China. These 8 popular Chinese influencers are talented, hard-working and have been widely recognised by China’s social media market with various awards.

#1

Kevin

Followers: 54.65million on SinaWeibo

Mr. Kevin Chou is a famous stylistin Taiwan and one of the hosts on Taiwan’s hottest variety show “WQueen”. Zhou was deemed “makeup king” by the industry. He created his own brand,BeautyMaker, which is tailor-made for Asian women’s skin and ivory toned skin color. It can take into account the skin and skin color of Asians and he currently resides in Taipei, Taiwan. In 2005, he entered the “WQueen” team and became a makeup icon in both Taiwan and mainland China. In 2008, his book, “Bare Makeup Bible and Beauty Make-up Collection”, which took him over a year of painstaking efforts, was published and sold more than 130,000 copies in three months. This book became the best-selling fashion lifestyle book in Taiwan in five years after “Beauty King“.

#2

Doctor P

Followers: 36.04million on Sina Weibo

Doctor P was born on February 8th in Taiwan. He is known as a makeup artist, skin care specialist and also an image designer. Having built up an incredible following, he is now invited by numerous beauty TV shows including “女人我最大”， “我要你最美”， “今夜女人帮”， “美丽俏佳人” and “我是大美人”.Hegives accurate and special advice for beauty and image design and also to tell women how to deal with their skin or hair problems. He is also the founder of “媲美网” and a makeup brand named JMIXP to provide Asian women with trendy, simple and practical makeup solutions. In addition to that, he has his own signature columns in several magazines including  “时装L’OFFICIEL” (Fashion L’OFFICIEL),  “时尚COSMO” (Fashion COSMO) and others.

#3

MOMO

Followers: 7.40million on Sina Weibo

MoMo was born on December 29, 1991 in Beijing. She is the founder of Mo Amour Essential Oil and is a popular Weibo blogger. In 2010, she founded MmeAmore Cosmetics (Beijing) Co., Ltd., and for the first time presented “one to one Aromatherapy customized skin care” in China. In 2014, she established “MeiMoDream Fund” for the urban women’s beauty and dream. This post-90’s beauty has been famous on the Internet for a long time. The reason for her fame is because she is absolutely shocking and glamorous. She is a member of the Baidu MCC Hall of Fame, SinaWeibo celebrity, Renren.com beauty, and CJ ShowGirl. As a famous taobaogirl, her popularity on the Internet has always been high because she shared her beauty with many people. She is also a British IFA aromatherapist, the founder of MimoEmalcosmetics, the owner of Mo Amour Essential oil shop, and the founder of Mo Amour essential oil.

#4

Jun

Followers: 3.94million on Sina Weibo

Jun is the founder and CEO of the JUNPING brand. He was born in 1981 and graduated from the Department of Journalism and Communication of Zhejiang University’s School of Humanities and Communications. After graduation, he worked for well-known Internet companies such as Sohuand Object Software and was responsible for the operation of online games. Throughout working in Shanghai, Beijing and other places, he is getting familiar with the aromatherapy and beauty fashion industry. He later returned to Hangzhou to establish the FAC HuajianMiyuAroma Life Concept Store and the JUNPING brand.

#5

Amiu

Followers: 3.68million on Sina Weibo

Born in 1992, Amiu is a famous Model at taobaogirl ShowGirl.  In the past ten years she was earning her living by modelling for car exhibitions and gaming events, as well as winning a few talent awards, bringing her fame and business in the Influencer market.  Nowadays she is one of the most recognised beauty industry influencer, working with many cosmetics and skincare companies, including Meitu Beauty.

She is:

2012 Most Popular taobaoGirl

Rayli10th Cover Model Competition All-Art New Talent Award

RayliStar 2010 Hangzhou Runner-up

#6

Chony

Followers: 3.01million on Sina Weibo

Features: fashion favorite, beauty blogger

With a social influence of 3 million Weibo fans and 3.3 million live broadcasters, 2.76 million fans in seconds Chony also has an amount of 9.99 million fans in the US. Her cooperations with the magazines “Yi Zhou”, “RuiliCostume Beauty”, “City Beauty” and brands, such as  L’OrealParis, Givenchy, CHANEL, SISIDYLL, TOM FORD has increased her influence dramatically in the past year, brining great gigs for way, such as an invitation by L’OrealParis (2016) to participate in Paris Fashion Week, recorded with Akasaka Sakai, and China’s Hunan Satellite TV’s 2017 New Year’s Concert.

Awards:

• May 2016 Shortlisted  BeautyBeautyBlogger

• December 2016 Beauty V Awards China’s Top 10 Beauty Makers Award

• August 2017 Fashion Reds Summit “Fashion Elite” Award

• December 2017 The Top 10 Beautifier Awards for Beauty V-Awards

• September 2017 Invited to participate in the Global Fashion Elite Summit

#7

Pan

Followers: 2.59million on Sina Weibo

Pan is a blogger and a V-award influencer in Makeup category, at the age of 18 she has a clothing store and beauty shop, in the year of 2015 won the cutting-edge fashion star. Through the sharing of personal love and use of things on Weibo, she created the first-ever “Little-Pan-loved-things” monthly video section. With the influence of individual fans at the same time, Weibo brand promotion reached tens of millions of readings. In the year of 2017, she won Super Star Festival and Top 10 Beauty Makers and scored the second place in the Influencer Value in a Beauty Category.

#8

SHU

Followers: 2.05million on Sina Weibo

She was the first beauty makeup queen in the entire network, has a variety of styles, and has strong beauty skills, especially fashion imitation makeup and creative makeup. Her content is distinctive in style with great affinity and strong fan appeal. She has brand cooperation experience, a high conversion rate, and is loved by first-tier brands.

She has participated in major fashion weeks, filmed Dell’s promotional video, and also participated in URBAN DECAY’s events with idol Ruby Rose. It is not too much to say that her fans are “winners in life”.

When a brand sees the vast opportunities to go global with their product, it is an exciting step.  Often however, it is a step into the unknown and comes with considerable risk.  But as they saying goes, no risk, no reward.  Today, HI-COM has a chat with one successful Australian entrepreneur, Catherine Cervasio, who saw the opportunity in China to market her luxury organic babycare products, Aromababy.  We hear about her story, what she’s learned and advice she would give others. It is one Australian brand Success KOL Story in China that makes us wow!

When a brand sees the vast opportunities to go global with their product, it is an exciting step.  Often however, it is a step into the unknown and comes with considerable risk.  But as they saying goes, no risk, no reward.  Today, HI-COM has a chat with one successful Australian entrepreneur, Catherine Cervasio, who saw the opportunity in China to market her luxury organic babycare products, Aromababy.  We hear about her story, what she’s learned and advice she would give others.

1. Can you please tell us a brief background of yourself and your company

I have enjoyed a love of health and natural beauty for as far back as I can recall. As a teenager I would often mix body scrubs and face masks using fresh ingredients from the garden and kitchen. My passion for a low tox life led me to develop my brand Aromababy, following a fruitless search for natural products over twenty years ago.

Aromababy was the culmination of many months of work – researching neonatal dermatology reports and raw material information, leading me to formulate a product using primarily natural and organic ingredients which were both historically safe for babies and provided some benefit to the skin. I combined these ingredients together with bases which were free from petrochemicals (mineral oil/paraffin), artificial colour and fragrance, talc, sulphates, alcohol, propylene glycol, parabens, animal ingredients (dairy, goats milk) and other ingredients thought to be linked to skin irritation in babies.

The result was a professional range of products for mothers and babies which utilised concentrated formulations to ensure value for money, as two decades ago ‘natural’ products were considered a luxury. I then launched Aromababy in pharmacies and maternity hospitals across Australia.

2. What made you decide to launch Aromababy in China, known to be quite a tricky market?

Export came early for Aromababy. As a nice brand in a market where little was known about the benefits of natural and organic, it soon became apparent I would need to look offshore for ways to sustain the business long term. China came knocking on my door ten years ago. Our first distributor was actually looking globally for a brand he could both use on his own baby and import/distribute as a side business to his biotech company.

My first trip overseas for business was to Hong Kong. I’ve long been fond of Asia and had spent time in Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan where we also exported to. China was a natural next step. It’s a tricky market with tough regulatory barriers and a diverse cultural landscape however I have fallen in love with China and find everything about the region fascinating. The opportunity here – especially for Australian made, natural products – is now enormous.

3. What do you think has made Aromababy successful in the China market?

Chinese consumers now have access to products from all over the world online and shopping via mobile devices is common, and Australia is considered ‘clean and green’; its product safety, efficacy and trust are crucial in offering baby skincare. As an Australian brand, Aromababy has a long history of all three elements. In addition, we have a long history of exporting to other Asian regions. E-commerce did not exist when we began exporting to China so we took a more traditional approach – working with retailers and offering education. I’m certain these elements have helped us build a solid base from which to work.

Parents often desire an emotional connection with health and beauty products – this is particularly true for mothers purchasing baby products, from milk formula to skincare. When Chinese parents research Aromababy they can quickly discover we are a well-established brand, successful in other markets, and that we have a long history of safety and efficacy on sensitive skin. They see us as a trusted, authentic brand. This matters nowhere more than in China.

The opportunity here – especially for Australian made, natural products – is now enormous.

4. What strategy did you use when working with Chinese KOLs and Chinese social media marketing for Aromababy?

Our marketing strategy for China has been similar to elsewhere – building trust, offering information and education together with retail touch-points. Most personal care brands rely on ecommerce to enter China initially – this automatically means they need to engage KOLs or invest in digital marketing in order to ‘stand out’ from thousands of other brands. By doing what we know works, doing what we do best, we have been able to slowly gain market share. The next phase for us will be looking at a stronger digital presence and building on what we have done online – for example with Kaola.com where we currently offer an introductory range of Aromababy. It is a joy to be an Australian brand Success KOL Story in China via our marketing strategy and KOL support!

5. Are there other regions/countries outside of China that Aromababy has been particularly successful?  What has been the marketing strategy there?

Aromababy began exporting to Singapore and Hong Kong very early on. These are still great markets for our brand, in particular Hong Kong. Similarly, South Korea is a good market for our skincare. We entered the market there, also in retail stores, before many imported natural baby brands were on shelves. Again, in all these regions we offer educational and interactive workshops and I am on the ground there as often as possible, engaging with both consumers and health professionals as well as our retail partners.

6. What about doing business in China has surprised you or fascinated you?  Any interesting stories or experiences you can share?

In China there is a saying ‘women hold up half the sky’ and indeed they do. There is a strong sense of female entrepreneurship and you will often find women in top positions within organisations. I recall addressing a group of midwives on International Women’s Day in China 2017. I began with sharing some recent findings, that ‘companies with women in senior positions demonstrated higher profits’; I continued: ‘it is well known that as women we are considered to be great conflict resolvers and excellent communicators; we are collaborative and nurturing in our approach to managing staff’ and so on. I suggested that surely this means we have an unfair advantage over men?  There was lots of laughter.

Advice from Aromababy for foreign companies wishing to launch in China:

• Get on the ground there – China is a huge country with cultural differences region to region. It may not happen overnight but with persistence and patience, it will happen.

• Consider targeting 2^nd and 3^rd tier cities – China is more than simply Beijing and Shanghai.

• Establish your brand in your home country and perhaps a smaller export region BEFORE tackling China.

• Learn a few words of the local language. Hold on and enjoy the ride.

Australian brand Success Story in China is inspiring for all the other foreign brands!

For more information about going global with your brand or product, contact us to have a chat and connect with other experts.

We are now seeing brands move away from ‘super’ KOLs, whose follower numbers are in the millions. There is a suspicion of ‘fake follower numbers’ as well as a view that their followers are not actually that engaged or loyal, meaning there will be less of an influence. These days, brands are focusing more on the KOLs who appear to have a more genuine followership; a more real connection to their followers. While their follower numbers may not be as high as those of the ‘top KOLs’ of China, these lesser known (and less expensive) KOLs have a more genuine connection with their follower base, meaning more influence and impact for KOL campaigns.

We are now seeing brands move away from ‘super’ KOLs, whose follower numbers are in the millions. There is a suspicion of ‘fake follower numbers’ as well as a view that their followers are not actually that engaged or loyal, meaning there will be less of an influence. These days, brands are focusing more on the KOLs who appear to have a more genuine followership; a more real connection to their followers. While their follower numbers may not be as high as those of the ‘top KOLs’ of China, these lesser known (and less expensive) KOLs have a more genuine connection with their follower base, meaning more influence and impact for KOL campaigns.

HI-COM sits down with one of these rising stars in the KOL scene, Rebecca Gao, for an inside look at the life of a KOL. Having started just two years ago, Ms. Gao’s Weibo account already boasts 60,000 followers and her WeChat account is growing quickly with almost 10,000. Last year she was invited to be a KOL Presenter at the Omega China VIP events in Shanghai, Chengdu and Changping, an invited KOL for Thailand Elle Fashion Week, and was the bilingual travel KOL presenter for Tmall’s ‘Taste New Zealand’ campaign, attracting more than 100,000 livestream viewers.

Question 1:

Please give us a brief introduction and how you became a KOL?

I’m a fashion and lifestyle KOL, but not that big yet. Why I became a KOL? I started in the US about two years ago. My friend and I thought, “Well, why don’t we start writing articles about things we enjoy, let people know about us”.

Question 2:

In your own words, can you please explain to us what a KOL is?

People are always talking about KOLs or “Key Opinion Leaders”. In my view, a KOL is just a blogger that tells you the real picture, the real view of their life. If you have something even just a little bit special to share about your life, you can be a KOL. Anyone can be a KOL.

Question 3:

In your experience, how has the marketing environment in China changed or developed in the last few years, with the increased presence of KOLs?

For Chinese marketing, all brands and companies are searching for the perfect KOL to help them to sell. This is a really key point in marketing right now. Before, brands only cooperated with celebrities or models. Now, they are not just looking for celebrities or movie stars. They are looking for the best KOL to represent their brand. When a KOL is used in marketing, it is much more involved. You are much closer to all your followers. It is more real and genuine.

Question 4:

In your view, what do you think is the future of KOLs in China and the rest of the world?

KOLs will become more and more powerful, with more and more followers. The trend of livestreaming through different platforms an apps will be keep growing.

Question 5:

How do you think KOLs can help foreign brands with their China entry for their products or services?

So many foreign brands or international brands have already been using KOLs in their marketing strategy for a long time. Last year I cooperated with Omega, who put on three VIP events in three different cities: Shanghai, Chengdu, and Changping. They invited fashion bloggers to give live demonstrations on how they accessorized their outfits with their watches. They invited both celebrities and KOLs, but KOLs had a more active involvement in the events. Many of the fashion brands used to only use celebrities as their VIPs. Now, you will find fashion and luxury brand bloggers as the VIPs.

Question 6:

Do you think the impact of KOLs is limited to luxury brands and premium goods, or can they also be effective for marketing in other industries?

Yes, KOLs can enter different categories. Someone can be a fashion blogger, but they could also write an article about baby and mother care. The market can be really big. As long as they really enjoy what they are talking and writing about.

Question 7:

How do you think KOLs can create a social impact or bring positive social change? Can you think of any examples?

If people are in the public and have a lot of people following them and knowing about them, then they need to take care about their language and what they are saying. They have a responsibility. More and more KOL can use their influence for good. It is not just about showing off beautiful and creative things. They can drive positive changes in society. There are these livestreaming shows on apps and some people have built up many followers. A lot of the teenagers have crushes on them and I think that it can be quite dangerous. These KOLs might use bad language, and really influence all the young people that are watching them and following them and influenced by them. They need to manage their behavior. It [whether the KOL can have a positive impact or not] depends on the KOL’s personality. The KOL industry still needs some education.

Question 8:

What makes you follow someone?

Because I am interested in the fashion industry, I follow many fashion bloggers. I follow anyone that has their own opinion, and shares their culture, their perspective about life. [They are] not just posting photos of themselves wearing an outfit. They post about why they are wearing it and what they think. This makes them more real.

Question 9:

What are your next steps? How to you plan to grow your follower numbers?

In April I will organize an event. A ‘Meetup event’. I have my own brand, so I will put on a small showroom and invite all my followers for them to see our new clothing releases. We have a special new print we have designed and put on hoodies.

Question 10:

What advice would you give to someone wishing to become a KOL?

You have to be ultra confident about yourself, and have something special about yourself. Like, have a special hobby such as writing articles or making videos, and put more effort into it and focus on it. Then share them and publish them on the different channels. You need to be sociable and be able to speak with different people. You need to sell yourself and make yourself interesting.

Thank you for your time!