Twitter Archives

Sephora: The French retailer primed to be a digital powerhouse for C-Beauty

Five of the newest beauty trends that makeup companies should be on the lookout for in order to capitalize on the Chinese beauty boom were unveiled by Sephora. Chinese brands have been actively welcomed by the platform, which has accelerated the upgradation of regional market players.

Five local premium beauty brands are expected to generate over 100 million RMB ($13.92 million) in annual revenue with the aid of the retailer’s “China Accelebrate” program over the next three years.

https://daoinsights.com/works/sephora-the-french-retailer-primed-to-be-a-digital-powerhouse-for-c-beauty/

Baidu Baike: The Chinese online encyclopedia as a marketing tool

The Chinese search engine Baidu owns the online encyclopedia Baidu Baike, which sees billions of searches annually and 200 million DAUs (daily active users).

In fact, Baike has developed into a crucial marketing tool for companies looking to build their online presence in the Chinese market, and it has become essential for western businesses looking to improve their brand reputation in the nation.

Each Baike webpage has a standard length of 800 characters and typically has a very straightforward structure with sections made up of text and images. The platform’s intriguing feature, however, is that it enables brands to establish a direct connection to their official website or social media accounts by allowing them to insert corporate links and referrals inside the page.

The most significant advantages include things like raising trust and authenticity levels, increasing search rankings on Baidu, and more

https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/TfIoftKlY3_28vDvwnDPNQ

Decoding China’s CIIE And What It Means For Foreign Brands

The expo, which is supported by the government, has been held at Shanghai’s National Exhibition and Convention Center since 2018. The six-day event in 2021 attracted more than 2,900 businesses from 127 nations, and the total value of the deals concluded there was $70.7 billion.

The fifth iteration of CIIE this year welcomed companies from 145 nations, including several L’Oréal, Kering Group, and Richemont brands.

Even when partnered with prestigious organizations like the World Trade Organization, government-run trade fairs are not known for their glitz or appeal to cutting-edge fashion brands and design houses.

However, access to the enormous Chinese market has been siloed because COVID-19 restrictions continue to limit business travel to China and make it nearly impossible for locals to shop abroad.

https://jingdaily.com/china-international-import-expo-2022-loreal-kering/

Tencent tests animation video creation App “Wan Ju”

On November 25, Tencent conducted a limited test of the “Wan Ju” app. It is a tool for making straightforward animated videos. By using the text and editing resources in the “Wan Ju,” which include stories and science popularization, users can create animated videos.

Additionally, “Wan Ju” supports the split mirror function and allows the addition of multiple animation scenes, ensuring a variety of animation content. Users can view their creations in the “Personal Center” after they have been published and saved in the mobile phone album.

Twitter: Half of top 100 advertisers stop advertising

A significant exodus of advertisers is threatening Twitter. According to market research firm Media Matters, half of Twitter’s top 100 advertisers have stopped using the platform 25 days after Elon Musk purchased the company.

According to Media Matters, those 50 businesses have given Twitter close to $2 billion in advertising revenue since 2020, with $750 million spent this year alone.

FIFA World Cup sets off consumption boom for JD.com

JD.com has partnered with supermarkets nationwide and extended business hours to launch a special “Night Market” in order to take advantage of the World Cup’s business opportunities. This will allow fans who stay up late watching games to take advantage of quick deliveries whenever they place an order.

Since the Covid-19 outbreak and ensuing lockdowns, the idea of instant retail has rapidly gained traction in China and even turned into a well-liked business model for e-commerce behemoths like Alibaba and Tencent.

JD.com hopes to increase its market share and expand its instant retail services by taking advantage of the World Cup festivities.

https://daoinsights.com/news/fifa-world-cup-sets-off-consumption-boom-for-jd-com/

Weibo is often called China’s answer to Twitter but is that actually true? Let’s dig into the specifics of both of the platforms and understand what Weibo is really about.

With over 140 million active users, Twitter is one of the most popular social media platforms in the United States, and the platform was acquired by Elon Musk for $44 billion, about a month ago. In China, Weibo is regarded as Twitter’s equivalent. There are a number of Chinese microblogging sites. The most popular of these is Sina Weibo.

Unlike Twitter, Sina Weibo, which debuted in 2009, was not the first in this space. However, it has increased its user base during the last three years.

Twitter Vs. Weibo: Features

Rich Media
Weibo: Sina Weibo allows users to insert extra material such as photographs, videos, music, emoticons, and polls. The site also allows you to see links from video streaming sites such as Youku Tudou, without leaving the site.
Twitter: Twitter, like Facebook, allows you to include video URLs in your tweets and reshare videos. It also allows you to download videos on occasion, but only at a very low level. Here, it might take a page from Weibo and implement a feature that allows users to view videos linked to tweets without leaving the platform, so increasing user retention.
Comment Threads
Weibo: Weibo has capitalized on its platform’s social validation feature by making its comment thread user-friendly. You can see comments properly sorted out under a tweet with a single click. You can also include your @username in the comment to remind the audience about your brand and company. In this way, Weibo supports corporations in raising brand awareness.
Twitter: Twitter, on the other hand, is still unorganized in that sector because you have to take the time out to browse and track who has responded to your tweets. The ones commenting on the tweets mix with other comments about different topics. The thread is sorted under one umbrella.
Trending Categorization
Weibo: Weibo’s hall of fame is a dedicated page that tells you what’s ‘trending,’ similar to Twitter’s except for this one. Weibo dominates the trending game because it divides its trends into categories such as sports, entertainment, finance, and travel, making it more user-specific.
Twitter: Since the hashtags that appear on a user’s feed are generally news or brand-related issues, Twitter has yet to categorize its trending hashtags based on user preferences.
Contests
Weibo: Weibo includes a function called ‘event,’ which is the virtual equivalent of a party, but in sections (as usual). The feature aggregates everyone’s ideas, increasing engagement by a factor of ten. The Weibo event allows you to participate in local events, prized events, forum events, and other great events highlighted at the top of the website, as well as spark Weibo messages (weebs).
Twitter: Twitter hasn’t yet reached this level of engagement, but it has managed to generate interest through contests and meet-and-greets with influencers. These sponsored contests have provided marketers with an exciting way to reach out to their consumers, but they could learn a thing or two from Weibo on how to organize it on a larger scale.
Number of Characters
Sina Weibo, like Twitter, has a character limit of 140 characters. Nonetheless, it makes a significant difference. A Chinese character, like an English word, has a meaning. A string of 140 characters might mean a lot of different things. In English, however, each word consists of many characters. The 140-character constraint restricts the expression of thoughts. As a result, you cannot use extended words to explain complex concepts on Twitter. According to the most recent Economist research, Chinese is great for microblogging.

Twitter Vs. Weibo: Revenue

Twitter: At first glance, Twitter’s business appears to be in good shape. Its revenue increased by 7% in 2020 due to the pandemic but increased by 45% year over year in the first nine months of 2021 as those challenges faded.

Twitter’s total monetizable daily active users (mDAUs) increased by 27% to 192 million in 2020. It had 211 million mDAUs at the end of the third quarter of 2021, up 13% from the previous year. This expansion was driven by its expansion in other markets, particularly Japan.

However, Twitter became unprofitable in 2020 and continues to lose money in the first nine months of 2021. A substantial chunk of the losses was due to tax and legal charges, but they were also exacerbated by a 30% rise in staff this year.

Twitter also anticipates that the forthcoming sale of MoPub will cut revenue by $200-$250 million next year, making it more difficult to meet its target of producing more than $7.5 billion in annual revenue by 2023.

Weibo: Weibo’s income declined 4% in 2020 due to the pandemic, which lowered ad sales. Its live streaming business has also slowed. However, Weibo’s income increased 39% year on year in the first nine months of 2021 as those businesses recovered. Analysts anticipate a 37% increase in sales for the full year.

Weibo’s total monthly active users (MAUs) increased by less than 1% year on year to 521 million at the end of 2020. However, it concluded the third quarter of 2021 with 573 million MAUs, a 12% increase from the previous year.

Weibo, unlike Twitter, has been consistently profitable under generally accepted accounting rules (GAAP). Its net income fell 37% in 2020 but increased 10% year on year in the first nine months of 2021 as pandemic-related challenges faded. Analysts predict that its net income will grow faster in the fourth quarter and by 54% for the year.

They predict Weibo’s revenue and earnings to climb 12% and 29%, respectively, in the coming year, which is still outstanding growth for a stock that trades at only ten times forward earnings

Weibo Twitter

Conclusion

If you’re a business looking to expand globally, or considering entering the Chinese market for the first time, this article should be a good guide. Both Twitter and Weibo have their advantages and disadvantages, so there’s no one-size-fits-all solution here; instead, it’s a matter of researching your target audience and deciding which platform is best to your needs. It may even make sense to maintain a presence on both—if nothing else, that will allow you to reach customers at both ends of the spectrum.

Both platforms are popular worldwide, and their differences open avenues for different types of businesses. For example, Chinese businesses would benefit from a Weibo account to attract Chinese customers and global firms should rather create a Twitter account to attract customers worldwide.

Though the features of Weibo outnumber those of Twitter, and revenue for the Chinese platform appears to be increasing, it is still too early to determine whether Twitter will be replaced (or at least complemented) by Weibo. However, with Weibo’s recent development and expansion, it is certainly a unique alternative to Twitter.

Read more about Weibo and its recent status here.

If you wish to know more about Weibo and other Chinese social media platforms, please contact our team. We use our knowledge and expertise to help businesses build meaningful partnerships and develop their network among Chinese customers. For additional information, please contact at contact@thewechatagency.com.

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