At this week’s Community Uninterrupted webinar we were joined by AV Communications (AVC), a Canadian marketing agency that specializes in multicultural marketing, to walk us through the “Twitter-like” App for Chinese Canadians – Weibo.
With a strong Chinese population spread across Canada (1.8 million), with Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal ranking in the top three cities – Chinese Canadians represent the second highest source of new immigration and international student body into the country. As a brand, finding them on the platforms they are already using is integral.
Established in 2014, Weibo is the #1 Social Media platform in Mainland China. A combination of Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, it has more than 523 million monthly active users, 54% of whom are between the ages of 23-40. In Canada, Weibo has roughly 600k+ well-educated monthly active users, who have an affinity toward influencers. In fact, Stephane Hu, Chinese Media Lead & Project Manager at AVC, advised that this segment is more likely to consider buying a product if they see it being discussed or recommended by influencers, even seeking them out before making a purchase, given that Chinese Canadians purchasing power is estimated at $53 billion (CA) each year, understanding this nuance should not be overlooked.
Differences between Weibo vs. WeChat
If you are a Brand or an Agency looking to reach Chinese Canadians you should consider these two things:
- Language – about 73% of Chinese Canadians were born outside of Canada. Understanding that English is not their native language and that they want to be communicated to in simplified Chinese/Mandarin is something that large brands are leading the charge of by creating content that reflects this preference. In doing so, these brands are seeing a positive advertising impact while maintaining brand loyalty among this segment.
- Budget – Weibo acts as a lower price point of entry (roughly $10 CPM) to this segment, whereas WeChat posts can range from $1,800-$3,000 / post.
IAB Canada members can listen to the full presentation here and if you are interested in joining our Multicultural Media Committee, please contact us at [email protected]