Digital Marketing in China - Weibo and Fan Economy

Abstract

During the previous decade, People’s Republic of China undoubtedly became one of the main drivers of digital marketing in the World. Digital marketing trends in China move so quickly that it is quite hard for foreign companies to keep up. With the booming of mobile devices, social platforms have changed the way how people communicate and play an important role in daily life, stimulating the growth of social media marketing. Sina Weibo, as one of the major social media platforms in China, also acts an influential digital marketing channel having almost 400 million users. This paper focuses on the difference between non-fan and fan users in order to analyze the target audience and classify Sina Weibo users into various fan levels. The results are related to user pattern, including the preferred features, purchasing behaviors on Sina Weibo VIP membership, of non-fan users and fan users (in different fan levels) and how it would affect the marketing practice on Sina Weibo. This paper provides a new perspective on Sina Weibo user behavior analysis, gives a clear definition of non-fan and fan users and discuss the difference in their user pattern. The findings are very valuable for marketers and companies from China and abroad, especially from the Belt and Road countries, interested in digital marketing in the largest market in the World. In order to effectively promote in China, it is crucial to better understand users on Sina Weibo and lay the foundation for future successful Sina Weibo marketing campaign.