We analyse social media trends and opportunities for brands to implement social strategies. We also explain social media related concepts and platform features.
Top-of-funnel performance is usually hard to track and measure. That’s why we need to take advantage of unique QR codes to better categorize sources where followers come from to find the most loyal audience.
A QR code is essentially a unique URL link stored in a graphic, which can be scanned and read by smartphones. It’s a convenient and secure way to access information and services online, often used in payment, account following, targeted communications, etc.
*Most QR code actions happen in WeChat. Therefore we use WeChat as an example.
How to Find and Measure the Right Source？
Let’s say a beauty brand kicked off two campaigns: One is about free giveaways of sample products, and the other one is about a partnership with a KOL sharing beauty tips. After respective audiences scan the unique QR code of each campaign to gain access to the giveaway, marketers can monitor their unfollowing decisions: Do they just accept the value and leave or do they stay, and for how long? When the account pushes new content, are they still willing to be there and listen? It’ll help you gain insights into your followers’ behaviors.
With the once tightly-closed China social ecosystem continuing to open, it’s possible to direct traffic between different social channels. However, PIPL is strict and the stakes for violating personal information are high. In addition to social channels’ universal mentality of keeping traffic within the platform’s own territory, tracking and measuring are not easy, but not impossible. Generally, you have two weapons at your disposal: Link shorteners and link tagging.
URL links can be long and complex. Link shorteners can help create a unique and shorter link that redirects to the original link. It’s more presentable and easier to share.
During an online campaign, you could have 5 different social networks directing traffic to your website, or one of your social networks is receiving traffic from other networks and websites. In the most complicated scenario, traffic even comes from multiple places in one social channel …
Each traffic channel has its unique URL. Link Tagging can help differentiate them by adding tracking parameters to each link, which can be set manually by your team. You can gain insights into traffic and conversion and understand user behavior on each channel better.
Using different social metrics in combination can provide a comprehensive assessment of each stage of the customer journey, while each metric may reveal different insights.
The marketing teams of different brands focus on different social channels and implement different strategies, but in order to achieve business results, brands must understand how social metrics work across each platform, and understand the appropriate stage of the customer journey. Only then can the right message be delivered at the right time.
KAWO’s Guide to China Social Metrics will combine social metrics with customer journey, and categorize metrics in a systematic way to inspire marketers in their daily efforts.
WeChat is one of the most established social platforms in China. Even though the open rate for Official Accounts (“OA”) has been declining for years due to fierce competition for readers’ attention, high-quality content remains the most efficient tool for maintaining audience stickiness.
Note: You can find the specific definition of the labeled metrics egorization category in the appendix.
From first hearing about a brand to becoming a paying customer is always a journey.
A company should choose a range of KPIs that measure different stages of the marketing funnel to ensure it’s not losing customers somewhere along the way.
Awareness: Capture the attention of people who have never heard of your brand before and getting them to connect and follow one of your official channels – what do be aware of
Consideration: Build trust with existing followers through informing and educating them about your brand and products – what to be aware of
Purchase: Get customers to the point where they trust you enough to hand over their hard-earned money to your company – what to be aware of
Loyalty: Build a long-term connection with your customers which brings them back to buy again and requires much less effort than acquiring a new customer – what to be aware of
Advocacy: Customers trust you so much that they recommend you to their friends, family and colleagues – what to be aware of
Each marketer’s role, or the whole marketing team possibly just focus on one step of the funnel, so feel free to skip to the part that are most relevant to you.
This Guide will help marketers understand where each platform sits in the marketing funneland how metrics and KPIs can be translated into actual business success
China’s social media platforms are diverse, unique and present a challenge for brands who are investing millions in reaching your audience, but may not have the right tools to measure results and impact. We hope that this Guide to China Social Metrics will present brands with a framework to understand the Chinese social media landscape and allow you to astutely leverage each platform across the customer journey – be it in China, or among the millions of Chinese diaspora around the world that uses these platforms.
Overview of Mainstream Chinese Social Platforms
With the social media landscape in China constantly changing, it is imperative to have a broad understanding of the ecosystem before diving deeper into how success is measured across platforms. In the Guide, KAWO provides a snapshot of the current state of Chinese social platforms along with the type of content popular with Chinese consumers.
