Magic of Chinese Hongbao Marketing - NiceNIC.NET

Hongbao Marketing can be regarded as both China Social Media Marketing and China Mobile Marketing.

In a recent post, we look at Hongbao marketing and how effective it was in 2015. Hongbao, the red envelopes filled with ‘lucky money’ and traditionally given to singletons and children, have gone digital in recent years. Sina Weibo and WeChat have been two of the social messaging services to offer their users the ability to send these digital gifts to one another during times of celebration.

Hongbao stats for Chinese New Year 2016

Companies had some pretty big expectations when it came to using Hongbao as part of digital marketing in China plans. Ali pay had 800 million yuan to give away, while $.10 platforms planned to distribute a combined 200 million yuan in digital Hongbao. It was anticipated that consumers would be equally generous as well. Last year, WeChat saw 1 billion Hongbao sent during the lunar New Year period, and expects that the year of the monkey will be welcomed amid a flurry of 10 billion Hongbao. Chinese users sent 2.3 billion in digital lucky red envelopes to celebrate the beginning of 2016.

Companies are quickly cottoned on to the vast potential of Hongbao marketing. It gives them away to generate excitement and engagement with their brand, while tying in to a high profile event. Let’s take a look at some more ways companies used Hongbao marketing in order to celebrate Chinese New Year 2016.

The Chinese government

The Chinese government’s Organisation Department found a great way to use president Xi Jinping’s New Year address to build a social following for the Communist Party of China. In the run-up to New Year they created a WeChat account, those who watched the presidents New Year greetings would be able to use key phrases from his speeches to unlock Digital Hong Bao. The government distributed ￥300,000 over the festival period. Regional governments at some of China’s largest cities also got involved with similar promotions.

WeChat in Times Square

As part of their Chinese New Year 2016 celebrations, WeChat ran a campaign which involved billboard advertising and their messenger app. WeChat users who were in Times Square between 4 and 9 PM on the first, second, seventh or eighth of February could shake their phone in front of the digital billboard for their chance to win hongbao of ‘lucky money’. The campaign used WeChat shake feature, which lets users find others nearby to talk to.

Is Hongbao marketing finished in till 2017?

Chinese New Year may see the largest volume of Hongbao sent and received, but there are many other celebrations for which it is relevant, making it a useful tool when digital marketing in China. 500 million Hongbao was sent on children’s Day, while the Chinese Valentine’s Day saw 1.4 billion Hongbao exchanged, while 2.2 billion digital red envelopes were gifted during the mid Autumn Festival. So if Hongbao marketing seems a good idea to you, you have plenty of opportunities over the coming year to put it to good use.

China Social Media Marketing

China Mobile Marketing

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Chinese Most Popular Messaging Service APP WeChat - NiceNIC.NET

WeChat is a highly popular messaging app with a range of integrated features that allow users to keep in touch with their friends, follow businesses and celebrities, and even shop. As of the middle of 2015, 46% of users have set WeChat as their top app. It is used by nearly twice as many men as women, and for almost twice as long each month (209 minutes) by android users than those with an iOS operating system (106 minutes). With 90% of its users aged between 18 and 36, WeChat is a great place to connect with a young, savvy audience.

We’ve taken a look at some more important WeChat stats from 2015 to help inspire your digital marketing in China during the coming years.

WeChat has more users than Tumblr, Instagram, Twitter, Skype or Sina Weibo

As of the beginning of this year, WeChat was the sixth most popular social media network in terms of monthly active users in the world. It only loses out on fifth-place to QZone by 3 million users. WeChat has almost a hundred million more users than Tumblr (555 million), 250 million more than Instagram and more than double the number of people who use Twitter on a monthly basis (320 million). It is the third most popular Chinese social network in the global top 10, beaten by QQ at number three. All three networks are owned by Tencent.

WeChat users are return users

Of its total monthly active users, a huge percentage of them make use of the app every single day. As of the middle of November 2015, WeChat had 615 million monthly active users, with an average of 570 million visiting the app on a daily basis. Compare this to Sina Weibo, which at the end of the first quarter of 2015 has just under 200 million monthly active users, and 89 million daily active users.

This means that people on WeChat are far more likely to return to the app on a daily basis than users of many other social media channels. Because WeChat offers a new platform for traditional phone-based forms of communication, such as text messaging and video calling, it has been able to attract and hold the attention of a large audience. Get on WeChat to engage a huge crowd of regular users.

WeChat users consume a lot of content

Brands can publish content to WeChat in order to capture and engage their target market: a tactic that has proved highly successful for many. The average WeChat user consumes seven articles every single day – that’s the equivalent of a whole novel each month. If creating engaging Chinese content is a big part of your plans for digital marketing in China in 2016, WeChat is the perfect publishing platform.

China Social Media Marketing

China Mobile Marketing

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Chinese Xiaomi Saved Millions by Social Media Marketing - NiceNIC.NET

If ever there was a company that illustrated the power of social media marketing in China, it is Xiaomi. The domestic smartphone brand has become a major market player in China in just a few short years. As well as recognising the needs of the market and designing low-cost smartphones to meet them, Xiaomi has utilised a remarkably simple, yet highly clever, marketing strategy.

In a market where huge global brands such as Samsung and Apple throw millions of dollars at promotional strategies, Xiaomi has been able to get the attention of Chinese consumers in a very different way. We take a look at how the company managed to become China's top-selling smartphone brand while spending virtually nothing on paid advertising.

Selfless attitude

Regardless of what country you are in, one of the easiest ways to fail at social media is to only think about yourself. The companies that do well at social media marketing in China are those who try to provide value to their fans. Xiaomi has over 8 million Weibo fans, and has amassed such a following of dedicated people, who refer to themselves as "mi fen", through the company's attitude of wanting to please its followers.

As Amanda Chen, Xiaomi's global director of marketing, explains the company values social media because it's where we can easily listen to our users, get their feedback and tell them what we think right away.

Involving fans at each stage of the process

Xiaomi have used social media marketing in China to build bridges with their fans and create a dialogue. Xiaomi uses giveaways and discounts to entice people to follow them in the first place, then gives them a say in what the company does, and responds to their comments and questions. Their fans have an input on everything from the development of new products to the ways in which those products are marketed, creating a strong connection with the brand and generating fierce loyalty.

Flash sales

With a strong social media presence, and a fanatical fan base, Xiaomi has been able to take advantage of quick-fire promotions on popular shopping days to whip buyers into a frenzy. Singles Day is China's biggest online shopping day, with the total sales figures easily eclipsing Black Friday or Cyber Monday. In November 2014, Xiaomi launched a flash sale which saw them shift 720,000 devices in a 12-hour period, making CNY 1 billion (GBP 112 million) in revenue.

Succeed like Xiaomi

Xiaomi's success comes from the fact that they have used social media marketing in China to create brand loyalty, generate word-of-mouth marketing, and make their fans feel involved in the way the company operates. Their success attests to the fact that an investment in time when marketing in China can be just as effective as paid-for campaigns, when approached with the right attitude and skill set.

China Social Media Marketing

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