Weibo: Microblogging in China
Main data source: DCCI 2010 China Internet Microblogging & Online Community Survey
www.incitez.com
Microblogs are called “Weibo (微博)” in Chinese; “wei” means “micro” and
“bo” means “blog”.
Weibo.com/rockyfu
Table of Content
Introduction
Top Microblogging Platforms
China Microbloggers
Sina Weibo
What can You Do on Weibo
Microblogging Tips
About Incitez
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This is the 3rd version of Incitez China Microblogging whitepaper; you can subscribe here for the latest update: http://ciw.me/eqD8Gz
Introduction
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Introduction
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Microblogs are called “Weibo (微博)” in Chinese; “wei” means “micro” and “bo” means “blog”.
Introduction
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China microblogs, or Weibo, allow up to 140 Chinese characters for each post; one weibo post could contain a lot more information than Twitter
Weibo allows direct upload of multimedia content which is not counted as part of character limit.
For more on Sina Weibo UI, visit: http://ciw.me/sina-weibo
Introduction
Chinese microbloggers are a diverse group including celebrities, CEOs, teenagers, media and parents.
There are more engagement on Chinese Weibo than Twitter.
Female users often post about their daily life, emotions and gossip.
Men trend to share news about a specific industry, sports and technology and network online networking
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Introduction – Brief History
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Aug 16, 2009
Aug 28, 2009
Dec 14, 2009
Dec 22, 2009
Jan 20, 2010
Apr 1, 2010
Twitter: open to public on July 15,
2006
First 3 Twitter clones: • Jiwai: Apr 14, 2007 • Fanfou: May 12, 2007 • Zuosa: Jul 9, 2007
Top Microblogging Platforms
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The most well known Microblogging Platform
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Incitez.com/china Source: DCCI
The most popular Microblogging Platform
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Incitez.com/china Source: DCCI
The favorite Microblogging Platform
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Incitez.com/china
Source: DCCI
By satisfaction…
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Incitez.com/china
5: very satisfied – 4: satisfied – 3: average – 2: not satisfied – 1: very dissatisfied
Source: DCCI
The most frequently used…
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Every day
Once every 2-3 days
Once or twice every week
1-3 times every month
Less than once per month
Sina Sohu Netease Tencent 139 ifeng
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Monthly total visits…
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250 million
200
150
100
50
Sina
Baidu iPostBar
Tencent
Sohu
Netease
Digu.com
Tongxue.com
9911
Follow5
Zuosa.com March 2010 April 2010 May 2010 June 2010
Total visits to microblogs in China jumped from 153.64 million in March 2010 to 417.4 million in June 2010.
Data source: iResearch Incitez.com/china
Top 4 by Traffic according to Google
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Top 4 by Interest according to Google
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Sina Tencent Sohu
China Internet Watch
China Microbloggers
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Total Microbloggers in Mid 2010
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Sina
Baidu iPostBar
Tencent
Sohu
Netease
Digu.com
Tongxue.com
9911
Follow5
Zuosa.com March 2010 April 2010 May 2010 June 2010
Total number of microblog users in China jumped from 54.521 million in March 2010 to 103.07 million in June 2010.
Unit: million
Data source: iResearch Incitez.com/china
Total Registered Users in 2011
Sina Weibo: over 100 million
Tencent Weibo: over 100 million
Netease Weibo: over 32 million
Sohu Weibo: 20-30 million
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4 Types of Microblog Users in China
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Like to express their opinions and emotions; they often read other users’ posts.
They don’t post on weibo much but would like to read posts on weibo.
They don’t follow others’ weibo much but like to discuss popular topics; prefer to express their own opinion.
Social users write posts, follow others’ weibo, like to discuss, ask questions and expect suggestions from other users.
Data source: Dratio���Incitez.com/china
The most followed user…
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Liu Xiang
Yao Chen (actress)
Warcraft
Huang Jianxiang (sports commentator)
Liu Ye (actor)
Incitez.com/china
Note: the above stats were recorded on Jan 4, 2010
What content are China microbloggers interested? Female v.s. Male
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Incitez.com/china
What content are China microbloggers interested? By age group.
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Incitez.com/china Source: DCCI
Sports Automotive Health Women Real Estate Finance Mood status
Entertainment / Gossip
Celebrity news
Born in 1990s
Born in 1980s
Born in 1970s
What type of microblog posts are more likely to be “retweeted”?
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According to a survey conducted by Dratio last August, 89.4% microblog users will recommend microblogging to their friends and 47% will “retweet” posts on microblogs:
Famous quotes
Humorous posts & Jokes
Good content
Facts & News
Sina Weibo Sina Weibo had more than 50 million registered users
after just 14 months of operation and in March 2011 the number of users Exceeded 100 million.
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About Sina Weibo
Sina owns multiple domains for its microblogging service
Main URL: weibo.com
Shortened URL: t.cn (all URLs will be shortened using “t.sn”) Sina bought this domain last December at 5 million yuan
Mobile access: t.sina.cn and weibo.cn
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Sina Weibo Stats
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Since its beta-launch in August 2009, it took Sina 66 days to reach 1 million users. By the eight-month mark (April 2010) it had reached 10 million
On October 20 2010, it announced that it had exceeded 50 million registered users after just 14 months of operation.
In March 2011, Sina Weibo announced that it had exceeded 100 million registered users.
Sina revealed at the DCCI Adworld 2011 advertising conference that Sina's Twitter-like service is currently growing at 10 million users a month, and the company estimates that Weibo will exceed 150 million users this year.
Sina Weibo Stats
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Sina weibo platform has more than 60,000 verified accounts under its real name system, and the top 100 users have a combined 180 million followers.
More than 5,000 companies and 2,700 media organizations are currently on Sina Microblog
According to iResearch, Sina Weibo has 56.5% market share by total number of active users and 86.6% market share by time spent on site in 2010
On April 7 2011, Sina changed Weibo domain from t.sina.com.cn to weibo.com though the previous one still works
Sina Weibo Stats
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According to Sina, there are over 1,300 verified government related accounts, among which 692 are from the police force and 426 are government officials.
Interactions on Sina Weibo
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Comments (check the box to “retweet”)
“retweet” or repost: Users can leave comments while reposting; check the box to leave comments to weibo author and original author
Users can send private messages (like Twitter’s Direct Message); topics are
tagged using double hash keys “#topic#”. And, users can view pictures
and videos directly on Weibo.
For more on Sina Weibo UI, visit: http://ciw.me/sina-weibo
Interactions on Sina Weibo
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Sina opened its Weibo Screen registration this week, which is a great way for live events interactions such as Q&A in conferences and greetings from audiences. For more, visit: http://ciw.me/e7WSUX
Guys v.s. Gals On Sina Weibo
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Incitez.com/china
In total, more male users than female users. But, among active users, there are more female users.
How users access Sina Weibo?
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1. S60: Over 25% 2. iPhone: 11.1% 3. Kjava: 10% 4. Android:
about 5%
Incitez.com/china
Sina Weibo posting trend by hour
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10 am to 10pm
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Be reminded that depending on your targeted audience, the best time for posting could be different. People in the north tends to post during office hours while people in the south trends to post during evening.
Case Study 1/4
On June 14, 2010 (the 3rd day of World Cup), one of the most famous sports commentators Huang Jianxiang asked a question in Sina Weibo with a lucky draw to those who comment. Results:
Re-posted by Weibo users: 16,345 times
Comments: 74,319
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Case Study 2/4
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On Aug 8, 2010 a university student by the name of “Kayne” published a photo of Zhouqu Landslide scene (Gansu Province) on Sina Weibo, which was used by many mainstream media including state owned Xinhua News Agency.
Re-posted by Weibo users: 5,454 times
Comments: 1,166
Case Study 3/4
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On Aug 19, 2010, a new media marketer published a post on Sina Weibo about a Li Mengmeng’s story, who did very well in National University Entrance Exams but couldn’t get in any university because the local government office forgot to submit her application.
Re-posted by Weibo users: 93,396 times
Comments: 22,948
Case Study 4/4
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Actor Xu Zheng lost his iPad on Feb 23, 2011 and he posted on Weibo for help; the post was reposted over 751 times with over 466 comments. After 75 minutes, one Weibo user commented that she found it, who is the flight attendant where Xu Zheng lost the iPad.
Weibo Tips
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Weibo Tips
• Be authentic and personal
• Be able to express, write the title and ask for re-post (retweet)
• Be interesting
• Provide valuable information and even exclusive one
• Update daily without nagging
• Interact with other users frequently
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Weibo Tips
• Post balanced and rich content, not too specialized or too niche
• Provide content that followers want instead of what you want them to read
• Promote your weibo creatively without too much advertisement
Include relevant photos for more views
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About Incitez
About Incitez
Incitez is a data-driven digital marketing company providing digital strategy consulting and digital marketing campaign development. We partner with clients to identify their opportunities in digital space, address their challenges, and advance their businesses with custom digital solutions.
Social media services: we deploy and execute digital strategies in Chinese social media including blogs, BBS community, SNS and microblogs
You can find out more about us at our website: www.incitez.com
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Contact Us
Contact us for China social media strategy and campaign management.
For more on China Microblogging, please visit:
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http://ciw.me/china-weibo
Contact Us Rocky Fu Director, Digital Strategies E: [email protected]