Using Social Media Marketing to reach affluent Chinese outbound tourists
Thursday 29, July 2010
With 384 million internet users in China, It's of vital importance for hotels and international destination management companies willing to attract Chinese tourists to have a proactive social media marketing campaign.
China Elite Focus has released the most efficient social media marketing services available on the market to target Chinese travelers and influence their choice of destination. But what are really the Chinese social networking habits?
- 384 million Internet users in China, 75% of whom are under 34.
- 221 million bloggers.
- 222 million creators of online video.
- 272 million instant messaging users.
- 108 million online shoppers.
- 265 million online gamers.
The major players:
- The largest Internet service portal is Tencent, with 1 billion accounts (485 million active users). In 2009, its revenues surpassed $1.5 billion, 90% of which came from digital goods and games and 10% from ads. Tencent is the most important Internet company in China and the third largest in world, after Google and Microsoft.
- Tencent’s social network Qzone has 310 million users. Their IM service, QQ, has 50 million concurrent users.
- China’s answer to Facebook, Renren has 200 million users, 55 million of whom are mobile.
- Another popular social network, Kaixin001 has 75 million users.
- 51.com has 160 million users.
- Zhenai, the largest online dating site in the world, has 22 million accounts. Matches are made via 350 dating counselors who get direct feedback that improves users’ dating and success rates.
How social networking happens in China:
- 221 million people have blogs, largely in a diary-style.
- 176 million Chinese connect via social networking system (SNS) with their “real” friends and online networks.
- 117 million connect anonymously via bulletin board system (BBS). These interactive online message boards are the heart of social media in China. They’re where people go to find topic-based communities and where consumers talk about products and services. In particular, when Chinese travelers are planning a trip abroad, they tend to ask advice on BBS, rather that going to their local travel agency or going on hotel booking engines.
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