Evolution of Marketing in China in Times of Social Media; A Weibo And TikTok Case Study

1.0       CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Social media in marketing is a crucial element in the development of a country. Most developed countries boast of vast and modern social media in marketing as compared to the less developed country (LDC). China has proven to become an economic giant in recent years in terms of trade, which is mainly due to the enormous investment in the business. This, in return, has allowed China to compete domestically and internationally, creating a global mark (Ellis, 2009). This has led to poverty reduction, provision of employment, food security, and income distribution. There have been various programs put in place since the 1990s to spur economic growth and reduce poverty through improved transportation, and this has risen over the years. The government of China has incorporated both quantity and quality social media in marketing (Chiu, C., Lin, D. & Silverman, 2012). Increased investment in irrigation and water conservation program. The success of china economy in terms of industrialization can be aggravated to the following:

• China has diverse natural resources
• Visionary leadership with a high level of accountability
• Substantial investment in development in social overhead capital and institutional development
• There has been much focus on entrepreneurship development
• Ready market due to proximity to Taiwan, North Korea, and Singapore
• Ensuring access to affordable reliable and sustainable energy resources
• Green revolution in agriculture
• The external flow of financial resources and the attraction of foreign direct investment
• Investment in electricity production

It is estimated that china’s electric power industry is the largest in the world after the rapid growth in the 1990s, which is accounted for by the coal at 66%. With its continuance increase, coal production is expected to increase to 1300 GW by 2020 (Nee, V. (1996). In 1996 an Electric power law was implemented and was meant to protect the legal rights of investors, consumers, and to regulate generation distribution and consumption (Chai, J. C. (1998). Through various reforms in the electricity production sector management of electric supply shifted from bureaus of government to private sector or corporation outside the government sphere.

Hydroelectricity is china’s largest renewable energy source and second in place after coal. China had always looked forward to been self-sufficient in energy; this has often played a key role in its development. Chinas hydropower production is estimated at around 600 GW.

Thirdly wind power is also a significant source of energy in China, which is favored by its long coastline and large landmass. This has added to its total energy production, which has consequently accelerated its economic growth. With this, the researcher has continued to predict that in years to come, China would be able to meet its demand for energy through wind power. Lastly is that there has also been a various investment in nuclear and solar power leading to substantial economic impacts and emergence of china as an economic giant

1.1 The Chinese Market

1.1.1 China’s Investment in Transport

This includes the renovation of old of transport and the building of new ones. This has been occasioned by the significant growth in china’s transportation in the past years. Airport, roads, and railway. People’s Republic has built most of the china transport system with the railway receiving much of the investment. Construction of modern highways around the city has eased transport opening china to the domestic market and international market (Bai, C. E., Liu, Q., Lu, J., Song, F. M., & Zhang, J. (2004). This has created a wide variety of access to the market. For instance, Beijing airport is among the busiest airport in the world, contributing so much to the overall GDP.

Considering the high population in china, this has eased the way of doing business and attraction of foreign direct investment, which has led to the creation of jobs. This, in turn, has led to the alleviation of poverty. This being part of the pro-poor policy has resulted in a positive outcome; thus, the poor and the middle-class can-do business due to the reduction of the cost of doing business.

Railway development has, in general, led to general china productivity through a direct impact by cost reduction productivity, demand substitution, and induced demand. The rail construction in China over the past decade has been a positive stimulus to the economy. The negative impacts of rail development have been the carbon dioxide emission, displacement of individuals, and substitution of other means of transport.

This has had an impact on net export, which has led to the balance of payment and reduction in the current account deficit. With this view in mind, China has been able to capture markets overseas that were initially dominated by the United States of America, Japan, the United Kingdom, and Germany, etc. This has led to the revolution of china’s economy as an enormous economic power in the world, leading to competition and motivation of the overall china labor force. Since most of the china population is involved in the production of goods and services, there has been much surplus to the world. The excess is exchanged at a low cost as compared to other products making china goods cheap and attractive to buyers. This has led to many countries, especially in Africa, turning to the east for the good they don’t produce domestically.

Lastly, this has created a platform for significant tourism activities, which has created more job opportunities and more considerable government earnings. The modern designs used in china to develop the skyscrapers, the design of bridges and railways, vast highways, renovation of old buildings, and construction of large airports have turned to be fortunes for china in disguise. Tourist is flooding in china to witness this magnificent creation which has become significant economic growth. Keeping in mind the proximity to the south-east Asian tigers, this has emerged as one of the drivers of the economy. China has also hugely invested in the labor force by providing the necessary skills and equipment to its citizens. This has had tremendous changes in the economy employment has become attractive for the citizens where the government has undertaken various reforms. For instance

• China government sponsoring students to other developed countries through multiple programs and coming back to exercise the knowledge in the host country
• Investment in technology
• Specialization in the type of good they produce well at a low cost, which has led to specialization of the skills by the labor force.
• Improvement of health services in the country by use of modern equipment and health cover programs, which has been an incentive to the labor force.
• Provision of subsidies to the farmer by the china government, which has provided morale to those in farming practices.
• China has also come up with programs of helping the aged people in the society and the unemployed
• Easy access to loans for the peasant farmers and small entrepreneurs
• Tax incentives on specified goods by the government which has led to higher incomes for employees
• Provision of tax holidays to companies investing in areas that are not favorable for investment, which has led to the distribution of income and development in China.
• China boasts of significant institutions that play a vital role in producing fully equipped personnel, which channel their skill to the overall productivity in the country.
• The government has been intolerant of corruption imposing severe penalties for those involved in such malpractices, which have led to proper management of public funds and direct benefits to the broader population.

Due to this employability status, the migration from rural areas to the urban centers has reduced and led to those places previously known for the elites changing and reduction of immigration. This has created a country that is attractive in every corner for investors and locals to thrive economically. Therefore, the state of the labor force has been essential to the growth of China, which has been followed by a massive investment in technology. China is among the countries leading with most people who have access to the internet, with the estimated population of about 700 million people with internet access, which is about 86%. This has undoubtedly led to a faster way of government transacting business even in the remote areas at a low cost. The labor force participant has the opportunity to view the available opportunities online, and since they are also the buyers, sellers, and recipient of government services internet has led to the low cost of transacting business.

Entrepreneurs in China can conduct their business abroad with no need for physical presence. Thus, they can spread investments across the borders. In recent years china’s government activities have become digitalized, making access to government services easy, especially in the opening of new business and payment of taxes to the government. China is also the home of the largest mobile manufacturing companies like Huawei, Techno, etc. which are exported in other countries contributing to the net exports. The negative impacts are that it might be difficult for the government to track illegal activities done via the internet. This activity may include money laundering, tax evasion, where there might be difficulty in determining who to be taxed and how much they should be taxed. There is also the aspect of regulating online business by the government which might be difficult

China’s military expenditure has also played a vital role in the economy by providing a stable environment to conduct business. That is, it is not prone to attack by the terrorist, thus improving investors’ confidence. By improving military social media in marketing, China has been able to secure its borders, attracting so many foreign direct investments (Zhang, & Shi, 2016). Investors are assured of the long-term success of their businesses. With this, the government has created reliable intelligence units that can be accountable to the public, control illegal dealings along the border, and act in accordance with the emergence of a security threat. This has also had a negative impact on where it has raised fears among its neighbors who have harbored the idea that it’s a show of military might. This causes concern among citizens, which may affect the relationship between China and its neighbors. They feel as if china is flexing its military muscle.

1.1.2    Social Media Marketing in the Health Sector

China is characterized by advanced technology capabilities and government support, which facilitates an opportunity to provide innovative solutions to the health sector. With investment in the health sector social media in marketing, China has been able to at least cover the gap between medical resources and the needs of the nation. The renovation and development of health social media in marketing compacted with high technology has been very critical to the development of china population through the following;

• Easy access to the health services by the poor encompassed with the transparency of the entire process
• Low cost of provision of health services to the inferior and appealing online products to the customers
• Provision of portable equipment to health service seekers such as gene testing box, blood pressure monitor, finger pulse oximeter, and IoT scale
• Investment of more health facilities and stations in the country
• Use of modern equipment has enhanced the provision of quality health services to the population
• There have been tremendous reforms of the medical social media in marketing and insurance policies leading to opening up of its healthcare market
• The government of China has, in recent years, opened up to the private ownership of hospitals leading to improved provision of services.
• Several other reforms, such as online registration of patients, online payments, receiving information inquiries, and receiving of test results, have also been employed.

With these changes in place, the market provides a positive impact in which the customers have a wide variety of facilities to choose from. Secondly, insurance schemes for the health sector are now easily accessible to the population e.g., the caring voice a Shanghai-based technology start-up in collaboration with other insurers provide the customers with a digital platform in which healthcare facilities and services covered by the insurance policy are clear and easy to process.

With this china, the health sector is booming and very attractive, and health providers can track their customers’ progress and provide more confidence to them, maintaining the customer base, simply maintaining a good relationship between buyers and sellers characterized by at least some full information. With the attraction of more investors in this sector, it has contributed to the overall economy in terms of an increase in GDP e.g.; many businesses have ended up investing in the medical devices and wearable industry, which is projected to have grown by 20.1% in 2016. For instance, Honaunau and shanghai based start-up targets to develop an intelligent healthcare program for the aged to provide companionship and monitoring ongoing services. Foreign investors can now access preferential treatment such as tax incentives and discounted land prices, and the health sector has been opened up for foreign investment. There has also been enhanced capacity for more efficient healthcare practices, and more players are ready to be involved in the health sector, which signifies its primary importance.

The negative impact is that most of the modern equipment and facilities have been established in the urban areas forcing the health seekers to travel to cities such as Shanghai and Beijing for better services. Furthermore, with significant players in this sector, there has been an increase in the production of counterfeit drugs in the economy, which creates a negative impact on the economy such as high suspicion by consumers and flooding the market with low-quality products, which may lead the individuals to outsource. There is also the overcrowding aspect of individuals in these hospitals since the rural ones are ill-equipped

1.2.4    Social Media Marketing in The Agriculture Sector

In every economy, this is very key, which involves other sectors. For instance, for any individual to be productive, they must be satisfied in terms of food consumption. It merely refers to food security and all that is needed in production there are several ways which have been exercised in terms of investment in agriculture;

• Free markets where the government does not determine the type of crop to be planted by the farmer and the market to be sold.
• Provision of subsidies to the farmers
• Providing modern machinery that can be used in farming at an affordable price to the farmer
• Construction of dams for irrigation
• Increasing the acreage under irrigation
• Provision of high-quality crops by the government to the farmer
• Extension of agricultural services to the farmer by the government through seminars
• Tax exemption of agrarian inputs which reduce the cost of production and access of food to non-farmers easy
• Containing the prices of cash
• crops which are affected by fluctuation
• Provision of high breed animal and crops that are drought and disease resistant

Considering the rising population oina, there is an urgency for massive investment in this sector. Consumption of dairy products has also increased over the year, an indication of the large market available. With the changes in technology shopping for this agricultural product is very easy and becomes even more accessible for farmers to buy what they cannot produce.it is estimated that average annual factor productivity in China grew from 1.9% in the 1980s to 4.21% in the 1990s.china is reported to be the largest soy import country due to the Chinese diet custom. There is also an increased demand for meat. This implies china acts as a buyer and a seller. Due to the high demand for sugarcane by china, countries like Thailand and Cambodia experience huge exports. Another factor that is driving china’s agricultural imports is the presence of large capacity mills in the country. China has extended into Africa and South America to satisfy the high demand, also placing a substantial investment in the country (Du, Lu, & Tao, 2012). They have also resulted in overseas land acquisition to avoid food insecurity.

There has also been an increase in the agricultural output; the main reason being that Chinese peasants have turned to produce high-value products such as meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, and fruits, etc.

There are three types of agricultural production actors in chin, namely: house led, cooperative led, and co-operated led. But the modernity has led to a change of Chinese culture, especially in the diet part whereby the increasing demand for food has led to the breaking of barriers.

1.2 Negative Impacts of Social Media Marketing Investment on Chinese Culture.

The Chinese culture has been affected by this development and improvement where for instance, in the construction of modern buildings, the government has had to do away with the old buildings that had carried a lot of history with them. This may include the demolitions of the sacred places for various communities etc. Roads that in the past served as a sign may be as towns grew from scratch with them been upgraded and demolished, they would be in history

The continuing increase in food demand and rising population has resulted in Chinese citizens resulting in the production of crops that in the past were not produced by previous generations. The presence of abundant food manufacturing industry and available markets abroad has also led to the Chinese adapting to the changes for economic benefit

With the expansion of the tourism industry in China, there has been a mix of individuals of different originality who have impacted their ways of living to the Chinese. This is primarily in the transfer of skill and integration and migration policy undertaken by the Chinese government

In the past, there was a traditional way of healing. Still, with the latest technology and availability of modern equipment, there have been drastic changes in that most people have turned away from the traditional ways the emergence of diseases that people were not aware of in the past has also resulted in people abandoning their conventional forms of treatment. Other factors are easy to access to services and access to trained personnel

The traditional methods of learning in china have also changed due to the establishment of modern institutions of learning. Through various exchange programs, China can offer solutions to the emerging problems whereby student from china attend their training in other countries which may end up affecting their culture and eventually changing the culture

The traditional way of moving from one place to another has experienced drastic changes with the introduction of modern means of transport (Wang, Y., Wang, & Pan, 2011). For instance, in places where one would walk, there is the use of rails, vehicles, and in place of canoes, there is modern ships and water boats.

The introduction of modern designs of wear has also penetrated due to the changing social media in marketing attracting modern wears, which have overtaken the dressing code of the Chinese. This is mainly due to the easy access to the Chinese market and the increase in foreign investment

But this change with modern technology, china has been able to create museums where they preserve their culture and have also renovated other historical sites for the generation to come in the future to learn their ways. The government has also embarked on the construction of modern libraries in major cities where they store various literature and material entailing Chinese culture and traditions.

Therefore social media in marketing is very fundamental in building a nations believes, standards, and integration of various communities in China. Iconic figures that have also found a place in the urban social media in marketing with their statues been constructed for making a mark. The giant Buddha statue in China, which is a representation of their religion, is very significant and part of preserving and maintaining their culture. Others include the ten-story obelisk that was erected as a national monument of china to the martyrs of revolutionary struggle.

As Keynes once stated that the significance of government intervention during the great economic depression in the 1930s, this has been crucial in china and evident from the china government expenditure on social media in marketing.

1.3       TikTok; The New Concept In Social Media Marketing

Companies from the west and Europe have always wished to be able t penetrate the Chinese market; the reason is that they realize that china has excellent opportunities for companies to thrive and develop themselves. China has the largest population in the world, and its economy has been growing at the rate of 10% for the last three years, making the country one of the economies in the world that are growing very fast. The relevance of social media marketing in China is a serious issue that every company wishing to penetrate the Chinese market must take with the seriousness it deserves as the country has the most significant number of social media users in the world. It is estimated that the Chinese social media market exceeds the global number of Facebook users. A large number of users have been prompted partly by the rapid rate at which the internet has grown. People spend a lot of time online creating and sharing content and also connecting and communicating with other people. This factor compels social media companies to optimize their platforms to facilitate marketing and opinion development activities.

Most companies and businesses in the Chinese market invest a lot in social media marketing with the hope of expanding their market base, increasing sales, and also profitability. This is due to the fact that companies know very well that many Chinese people rely on social media for information. Web-based Platforms that allow their users to create, exchange, and bookmark content are known as social media applications. These platforms can either be social forums, blogs, weblogs, wikis, videos, social bookmarking, podcasts, etc. These platforms play a crucial and significant role in changing various aspects of consumer behavior. Despite their difference, all social media platforms provide a ready audience of diverse backgrounds, interests, social, cultural preferences, demographical composition, among other aspects, to which companies can present themselves and their products. Companies that have been able to understand the usability of social media have been able to build solid relationships with their customers. They have been able to create a brand identity to which many people, who are mostly social media users have associated their loyalty.

Social media in China is one of the most complicated and confusing in the world due to factors such as rural to urban migration that has been going on for decades and has separated members of families, the loneliness that teenagers of the Chinese one-child generation go through, and the restrictions imposed by the government on foreign social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. The latter is one of the incentives that make domestic companies create local social media platforms like Weibo and TikTok, among others. It is worth considering that there are social media platforms that established a foothold in the Chinese market a long time ago. For instance, Weibo, which is the most popular social media platform in the world, is microblogging with a market share of over 30% in China.

1.3.1    What is TikTok

TikTok is not a new social media platform. The platform was initially called musical.ly and mostly involved users, who were primarily teenagers doing karaoke overtop of the video songs of their preference. The app was later purchased by bytedance, a Chinese company, which then integrated it into its TikTok application (Tang, D. (2019). Opening the app reveals that the highly creative content of short video pieces that are made by utilizing features such as filters, visual and video effects, music editing tools, and many other functionalities that are built in the app. Most of its users don’t consider it as a mere karaoke application, but rather an application through which they can express themselves. The community that created on the platform is based on creativity and content sharing. This is one of the reasons that young people love the application.

TikTok’s growth rate has amazed many people in the social media industry. The application was downloaded more than 660 million times globally in the year 2018 and gained 75 new users in the month of December alone. It also made the record for the longest social media session duration at 294 seconds (Ren, Y. (, 2018). It is estimated that users spend an average of 52 minutes daily on the application.

As earlier mentioned, the TikTok brand pillar is based on creativity and self-expression. Recently, TikTok launched a marketing campaign dubbed “#ImaDoMe”. What is captivating about this tagline is that it sums up all that TikTok is about. It encourages users to continue posting their creative content and express their feelings and emotions freely. There are 411.8m views that have been posted in association with this hashtag. Stefan Heinreich, TikTok’s global marketing executive, was quoted saying: “What I love about TikTok is that people show their real side.” Like other social media platforms, the return on investment on TikTok is basically market awareness and consumer engagement rather than direct sales revenue. The other benefit of using TikTok social media marketing is that it helps reach people of younger demographic characteristics, which has become an uphill task in other social media platforms. Lil Nas X, the creator of the song ‘old town road’, TikTok presented his song to audiences of different characteristics at the same time. His answer to the question of whether TikTok should be paying him for every stream of his video, he responded that he ought to be the one paying TikTok for helping make his song popular, something that he had tried on other social media platforms without any success.

The other reason that TikTok has been successful as a social media platform is that it is easy for users to download video content, which is then recompiled on YouTube. This expands the reach of marketing campaigns associated with video content as the content can be accessed by thousands or millions of other new viewers (Ren, Y. (2018). The users are also free to share the content on other social media platforms such as Weibo, Twitter, Reddit, Instagram, etc. after downloading.

1.4       Research Question

The objective of this research study was to investigate the impacts of social media on the changes that have occurred in marketing strategies in companies in the Chinese market. The goal is to contribute to the body of knowledge about the impacts of social media on marketing and recommend ways in which firms can benefit from integrating their marketing strategies with social media. This research paper focuses on Weibo and TikTok, the most popular social media platforms in China to answer the research question:

What are the changes in marketing in the Chinese market in the social media age?

2.0       CHAPTER 2:            BACKGROUND INFORMATION/LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1       Advantages of Social Media Marketing to Businesses

Social media has taken over the world in a storm in less than a decade. Marketers are considering social media networks as pillars of their marketing strategies as they are playing a crucial role in influencing consumer behavior and purchasing decisions. This has been attributed to the fact that social media platforms aid brand awareness by amplifying word of mouth. Social media influences the purchasing habits of consumers in many ways (He, X., & Pedraza, R. (2015). Firstly, through the ability to access data/information regarding particular products and brands, consumers are able to make informed decisions regarding the suitability of those particular brands and products towards suiting their needs, and hence their decisions to either purchase or avoid them is influenced by social media (Gao, Q., Abel, F., Houben, G. J., & Yu, Y. (2012, July).. Secondly, social media enables consumers to engage with sales and customer care representatives of companies in ways that enable them to make complaints or voice their discontent with the goods they have acquired, depending on their quality or the quality of the services. Thirdly, consumers are able to make purchasing decisions based on the reviews provided by other consumers on a particular product or brand on social media. These, among others, are the reasons why one can safely say that social media provides an unlimited number of advantages to companies of all levels as they provide a means for them to devise strategies for dealing with market issues. Additionally, social media provides companies with ways of interacting with their end customers in a direct, prompt, and cheap manner. Sales and customer care representatives have a platform through which they can have conversations about matters that are of mutual interest. Consumers are also at an advantage because they can communicate with fellow consumers and share relevant product and brand information.

Many companies rushed to implement social media marketing strategies, some with the knowledge that social media revolves around content sharing and user interaction. Considering that social media provide companies with means of obtaining feedback directly from consumers, a one to many communication channels is established (Hu, L. (2020). It is worth mentioning that companies must design their social media marketing strategies in ways that promote interaction, content creation, and sharing among users. Social media marketing is a marketing tool that can be used across many contexts, unlike the traditional methods of marketing (Zhou, L., & Wang, T. (2014). The marketing tool enables companies to reach large audiences of different demographic composition easily and inexpensively. The social media presence of a company can be used to gauge the performance of a company in a particular market segment and the popularity of its brands and products among customers (Taylor, K. (2019). The number of customers a social media campaign conducted by a company reaches, and the number of comments, likes, shares, or reviews the campaign receives shows its impact. Social media marketing has increased the level of competitiveness in marketing as companies work towards outdoing their competitors with marketing strategies (Zarrella, D. (2009). A better marketing strategy in the highly competitive global market means greater sales and hence higher profitability.

2.1.1    Brand Awareness

Brand awareness refers to the consumers’ interpretation of a brand. It represents the level of recognition of a particular line of products of a specific company by consumers (Zarrella, D. (2009). It also signifies the level of understanding of consumers of what the brand stands for and their opinion towards it. Social media offers companies the opportunity to open dialogues with consumers and, via this opportunity, strengthen brand awareness. This is the pillar of social media and the reason s to why companies consider social media marketing a pivot in their marketing strategies (Evans, D. & McKee, J., 2010).  Besides communicating with consumers, Companies care about what social media users are saying them and their products.

2.1.2    Lead Generation

Lead generation can be defined as the process of attracting potential consumers and nurturing them into useful customers. It also involves converting the target market into real buyers of the firm’s products. The lead procedure should be under scrutiny by the marketing team to ensure its progress, failure to monitor its progress may lead to a severe business loss. Giant industries, as well as the small business, must create an excellent lead to ensure their survival in the market (Ge, J., Gretzel, U., & Clarke, R. J. (2013). Generating leads is talking a new route due to the ever-changing technology worldwide. Most firms are moving from the old ways of creating leads to modern social networking. Digital marketing has established itself as the most effective and efficient in recent marketing trends. China has not been left behind during this transformation period and has turned to social media as the primary source of lead generation (Zhou, L., & Wang, T. (2014). Social media forms a significant path to lead generation, making it simple to understand various ways of generating leads by the use of social networking. The corporate social media channels act as the greatest source of website lead that satisfies the institutions. As a result, web traffic increases, which attracts relevant visitors to the site.

Social media lead contains facts such as; it reduces the cost of operation by approximately forty percent, it has led to 24% business growth, and it is being used by almost 68% of the institutions globally. Each lead being developed must undergo nurturing to ensure gains a wide market coverage. The most effective way of doing this on social media is through the use of email links. Most emails are linked to respective social media accounts, meaning the use of emails can create a very wide lead. After nurturing the new lead, an evaluation is necessary to be able to know the exact progress (Nguyen, B., Yu, X., Melewar, T. C., & Chen, J. (2015). Creating a target audience will assist the marketing executives in establishing which of the social platforms will be appropriate. Statistics hold that people worldwide love social media; hence generating a lead via social networking will be very easy. Gaining lead through social media is considered cheaper as compared to other platforms (Dahnil, M. I., Marzuki, K. M., Langgat, J., & Fabeil, N. F. (2014). For example, advertisement on the web is relatively expensive as compared to adverts on social media; hence creating and nurturing a lead is cheap. Some of the most famous and commonly used platforms that can generate leads in China include; QQ, Wechat, Sina Weibo, and QZone. The use of the most valuable content of a product also enables an organization to attract a large mass, which eventually becomes interested in the product and can easily be converted into real customers (Zhang, L., & Pentina, I. (2012). Additionally, creating contests has been involved on several occasions, and while the target market competes in contests, they are nurtured into new buyers. Moreover, these contests attract many social network users who are slowly nurtured.

As a result, the social media act as a source of information for business Leads that can be divided into two sets: experience and qualified leads and also the less involved with the service. The aim of the firm is to show the brand to the people in order to attract them into buying, thus attaining sales (Wang, X. (2016). Both the buyer and the seller gain in the process: the buyer analyzes data from several businesses providing the same goods and services they need, whereas the sellers get the chance to display their good or service to the potential consumer who has given them a chance (Gao, Q., Abel, F., Houben, G. J., & Yu, Y. (2012, July). Conversion rates on leads through social networks received by an institution are mostly higher in the cold contacts scenario, and this is a result of pre-qualification. According to Henriques, D. (2020, Since many B2B corporations in China have large sales series, having leads becomes the most appropriate tool to measure the results of their marketing efforts.

Moreover, it is likely to create extra skilled leads in social media marketing by ensuring strong visibility, relationships, and awareness in all social media platforms, which may finally result in converting recurring buyers into the main business. They can boost sales to potential consumers by the use of word-of-mouth (WOM) or gain popularity by influencing their followers to disperse the company’s information to all the social media channels (Papasolomou, I., & Melanthiou, Y. (2012).. Additionally, understanding the firms’ followers’, profession, age group, location, integration and interests of social data gives the companies an opportunity to obtain a detailed understanding of their customers and the target market, thus developing a suitable approach with the aim of attracting both the consumer and the potential buyers. As a result, there will be notable progress in marketing and business development.

Social media networks usually generate high traffic, which may be assimilated to the corporate webpage. Due to this, companies are integrating social media into institutions’ websites, which help in converting leads to potential buyers. Businesses can adopt these privileges by enhancing keywords in general information in a way that echoes research problems. Thus, combining search engine optimization (SEO) efforts with social media assists in maximizing corporate marketing efforts, which can be a leading circulation generator (He, X., & Pedraza, R. (2015). When businesses share videos, blog posts, and other content from their web page, they give access to their products by just clicking on the videos and blogs on the sites. Once there, firms get the chance to inspire visitors to take a step by encouraging them to create a mailing list, purchase, or even make calls for a free consultation.

2.1.3    Competitor and Market Monitoring

Initially, having knowledge of the competitors’ information and activities gives a firm an understanding of how they carry out their actions, that is what works out and what fails. The good thing about social media is that a lot of data concerning competitors is always public and can be view by anyone interested. A company may also screen various activities that the competition is going through, for example, specific operations (Wang, X. (2016). Through studying and understanding the competition trends, the business can develop its own approach, and this development will help them create the right image of competitors in a market situation; hence market penetration becomes simpler to navigate.

Social media is a vital instrument of understanding what other related industries are carrying their activities and this enables growing with them, by learning from their errors and know how to outdo them in the market. Windels (2013) highlights that an inquiry or a search appeal can be vital in monitoring the activities of an opposing brand. Thus, providing a significant platform of interacting

”LNconsumers or apply them in monthly reports.

Monitoring social media also contributes to observing the activities within the given market. It also provides a company with potential obstacles; thus, it prepares for future challenges. Zarrella (2010) insisted on the importance of competitors, industry, and market because it is likely to note the shortcomings the sector is facing, what is shared within the niche, and what the potential market like about the various competitors (Tang, D. (2019). B2B marketers employ several techniques in monitoring competitors’ progress. Some of these methods include; creating alerts so you will get a notification when a competitor posts or uploads any product in one of the platforms, watching the trends is another way of monitoring which involves tracking down the progress the competitor and finally, track and analyze the people discussing the competitor’s product to know who are the real customers (Hu, 2020). Hence tracking the competitor’s social media trends is a fast of researching and implementing their own ideas.

Monitoring is not only a way of discovering the steps of the competitors but can also be used to know the shortcoming of its own products. As the customers comment and argue about a company’s product, the mistakes are noted and addressed (Kottler & Keller, 2003). As a result of monitoring social media, companies in China have been able to improve their product hence dominance in the current market. Monitoring competitors on social media can be an easy way to get information, but on the other hand, it also exposes the company’s data to others.

2.1.4    Customer Engagement, Loyalty, and Feedback.

As businesses stay establishing themselves in the new era of the technology-motivated world, consumers are vital to those variations. Realizing this concept plays a crucial role in identifying the numbers and using them in decision making. Customers discuss a firm in the social media, forums, and other online platforms but do not actually give feedback to the companies directly, for example by making calls (Kottler, & Keller, 2003). Most of these conversations are all about a recommendation, a complaint, or is part of a tale discussing something to do with the industry. The firm should swiftly gain contact with the details on what is being discussed about them so as to pass it to the relevant department of amendments (Tuten & Solomon, 2017). Oliver (1999) once said that commitment could win the loyalty of the consumers. Moreover, the online product community assurance can create a close link to any product produced by an organization.

The new media has brought about less broadcasting activities such as traditional advertisements and more involvement (Canady, 2011). Social media can give an organization a fresh look at the industry. It also makes the company a real person; this is due to constant contact with the customers and listens to their issues and giving feedback. Zarella (2010: 187) also says that listening should be essential before being involved in input since you can not respond in the right way if the institution lacks the idea of who and where the comment comes from. There are some significant issues regarding the quality of the posts on corporate social media. For example, through posting interesting data or insights in the industry, consumers will have a feeling that the firm considers and respects them, and this improves the loyalty of the customers (Hollensen, 2010). The use of social networks gives an institution a chance to associate or connect with all the users of the given platform. It enables firms to be able to reach out to new clients as well.

Through reaching to the already existing customers, firms are able to get new customers. Such facts can be useful if an institution improves the relationship on the customer base as a result of having loyal followers (He, & Pedraza, 2015). Information collected from private and public segment industries indicates that persons influenced by social media demonstrate higher-order totals, higher levels of client satisfaction, and loyalty than those affected by other means which are not social media-oriented. Lastly, businesses get the chance to hold talks with millions of consumers, deliver messages, give offers at low costs as part of experiments, and, most importantly, receive a fast response (Men & Tsai 2012). And in the past, consumers did not have the ability to discuss, criticize, or recommend specific products on any platform while social media gives the opportunity.

2.1.5    Optimization of Costs and Marketing Expenses

Another benefit of social media is that it’s cheap when it comes to promotion expenses. Some social media platforms such as Weibo or QQ offer an opportunity for institutions to deliver their advertisements to customers with consideration of age, social status, place of dwelling and gender, personal interests, and this leads to generating more competent leads (Hu, 2020).

Registration of social media pages is absolutely free, and firms can make use of them by responding directly to consumers, product promotion, and establishing brand groups, which creates incredible value (the Atlantic research in Shi, 2012: 12). It increases the exposure, expands visitors to the site, develops attention in what the institution produces, and gives a chance for promotions (Stewart, 2013).

Many of the social networking platforms are usually free, and they bring institutions to direct contact with the target market without paying a single coin (Hu, 2020).In order to get to achieve good results, a business should only send an email to its customers requesting them to like, follow, or send friend requests to the firm so as to make orders. In case a firm has allocated a small amount for advertisement, it is necessary to use social media adverts because they are cheap and effective (Luo, 1995). It is evident that social networking provides cheaper advertisements as compared to printing or even television. (Freeman, 2013).

2.2       Disadvantages of Social Media Marketing

From the company perspective use of social media is an effective way to get data from the consumers. Firms use the influence of social media platforms to generate advice from the experts, increase business opportunities, and even get the wisdom of the entire industry (Evans, D. (2010). Although these platforms are commanding marketing instruments, they also bring about several shortcomings. The dangers range from just mail spam to complicated fraudulent scenarios, which include even hacking the firms’ website and injecting a virus into the company’s computers. Social media also exposes the data, organization, people, and the organization to various risks.

2.2.1    Data and People

2.2.1.1 High Employees’ Expenses

Despite the fact that social networking websites are mostly free and do not charge any amount, some expenses are involved in making the whole process a success. The firms need to carry out their web management in a strategic manner, which requires constant updates of their web pages, this entails signing skilled workers who should be hired by the institutions. In addition, there are emphasizes that firms should invest in social media training to create awareness on what to post and what to avoid (Evans, 2010). Modern technologies provide institutions the independence of using various media in their posts, such as images, videos, presentations, or audio recordings. The creation of quality media posts entails engaging professional techniques that may be expensive. As more money is used in distributing and promoting the data and also many personnel will be needed in moderating, creating, and analyzing the content.

Lack of social media knowledge is another key issue raised by experts, in accordance to this point institutions should develop forums where they train employees so as to work as a unit when it comes to social media networking (Evans, 2010). As a result, the training will also increase the productivity of the employees despite the fact that they are not cheap. Iannario (2014) notes that no change can be inevitable without a price. That is, if a company expects a significant outcome, then it will spend more.

2.2.1.2     Loss of Productivity

Most institutions have a fear of the negative consequences brought about by social media on the production unit. Concerns are raised about the updates caused by the platform that may distract the chain of production, leading to low productivity (Ge, & Clarke 2013). Increasing safety threats and lowering the are some of the fears employers have as the websites workers are so much exposed to the real situation in the markets. All in all, industries are experiencing a loss of more than $10 000 on income per employee on a yearly basis, precisely due to disruptions and data overwork.

2.2.1.3 Unauthorized Disclosure

The arrival of Web 2.01 has brought about social summarizing and is rising anxiety for social media privacy. The variance now is that the data is digitized and can be accessed by anyone online, and users are giving out the information to anyone who asks for it without minding the real situation of the business (Ge, & Clarke 2013). However, the users are not only concerned about the possibility of the tracking, but the most significant worry is the amount and variety of data that can be accessed without any permission on social media platforms. Using cyberstalking negative or the shortcoming of a given company can be exposed to the world. This can be done by providing wrong information or even spreading inaccurate data about a company that may end up affecting the company in the stock market (Hollensen, 2010). In other incidents cyberstalking can include damage to data, threats, data theft, false allegations, identity theft, and spying of the system or other technology.

Furthermore, a threat of free-flowing data may occur in the organization. Some companies are very concerned that personal data, such as delicate human resource documents, may spread between employees who may not sound right. The real encounter experienced by the decision-maker is to deal with their fear of what they do not know and the fear of exposing confidential information or even losing control of essential data (Hollensen, 2010). Most companies evaluate the risk of their skills and fear of what they do not know and lack of trust. People seem to work comfortably if there is trust, confidentiality, creativity, and solving problems in any institution. However, Kaplan and Haenlein (2010: 61) stress that it is vital to be in control of social media rules for all the workers.

2.2.2    Organization, Technology, and Publicity

2.2.2.1 Negative Publicity

Social media has emerged as one of the democratic platforms with authority over freedom of language and speech. Hence, this is a challenging subject for firms to whatsoever else but the truth. Though immoral publicity is unavoidable. Even if the firm exhibits good morals, it may run itself into a disaster-related to personal relations. In the technology age, wrong information about a company can get into public before the firm is able to take any defense action (Hollensen, 2010). As a result, it leads to the reduction of product appraisals that, in turn, reduce product sales. Psychology has it that human beings are mostly affected by negative data about anything than the positive side of the story. Admirers and supporters are permitted to post any comments on the social media platforms, and this exposes the business to the likelihood of harmful publicity. A swift comeback may help to reduce the harm brought by these remarks, but it does not remove the comments from the social media page or feed (Men & Tsai 2012). Despite the fact that firms have no or less control of the circulation of negative information, these data are very visible to potential clients. Additionally, making data policy very strict may end up making the contents boring and not attracting anyone; hence nobody will be interested in reading them would lead to a situation where the materials are not interesting, and nobody is keen on reading them, let alone discussing them.

The biggest challenge experienced by businesses is to establish the right extent to which the content could be good to the audience and also respect the company’s confidentiality. It all entails being relevant on the platforms and noting how fast information transmit fast regarding the business (Men, & Tsai 2012). Negative and misleading information causes a lot of impacts on a company’s products and can lead to extreme losses if not treated in the right way. Some of the consequences may include competitive advantage, loss of sales, loss of goods, and a decrease in stock prices. Therefore, it is very is necessary to match the picture of the company with reality and be able to apologize for any wrong information posted on social platforms. Furthermore, some industries hire web users to write encouraging reviews about their products and write criticisms, negative responses about their competitors (Gillin, 2008). Occasionally such disapproving evidence can start chain feedback, encouraging users and rivals to join in the condemnation.

2.2.2.2 Virus, Worm and Spam

With an increase in new technology inventions, businesses are exposed to criminal behavior, with some impersonating the companies on social networks using fake accounts (Gillin, 2008). It results in misleading information and may also cause selling products that do not belong to the company.

Phishing is one of the most common cybercrimes the cyber world is going through in recent days. It is used in theft cases such as: to steal passwords, bank info, or other significant data. Phishing is the process of trying to obtain delicate data like usernames, passwords by behaving like the legal owner of an account in electronic communication (Evans, 2010).  Although it has been noted that this trick does not work in some cases, it remains one of the most used fraudulent strategies. Mostly the user receives email or massages notifying them about a security threat, and they end up giving confidential details that help in accessing the accounts (Evans, 2010). The thugs are able to post anything about the company’s product, which is not true in any manner.

As social media has become progressively influential in determining reputations, the cybercriminals have used their computer knowledge to develop and sell false products – such as “likes” and “followers” what come from social network users (Evans, 2010). The Zeus virus was involved in stealing credit card info and was connected to a network comprising billions of personal computers around the globe.

2.2.2.3 Privacy Risk

Online social networks platforms are not confidential in any way. Due to the fact that these channels are open to the public, some companies are reckless about these insecurities and end up attracting cybercriminals (Evans, 2010). Even well-established industries have been victims of hackers. It may cause corruption of important confidential data or funds, as making consumers no to trust the industry at all. Cross-site request forgery is an occurrence where the user is tricked into following the attacker’s command without any knowledge. By inserting a malicious link in a link through email or a chat forum, the user is forced to perform some commands or actions unwillingly (Papasolomou & Melanthiou, 2012). More precisely, the attacker makes the user’s browser to perform requests to a given web site which may be malicious without the knowledge of the user. These activities result in compromising the user data and operations or even a whole server or network.

Businesses on social media are also exposed to another threat from the hackers in that he may take over a company feed or page and used false data that can attract a large cloud on social networking within a short time.

Being in control of login credentials for some accounts, scammers may then send notifications to everybody linked to the compromised accounts (Papasolomou & Melanthiou, 2012). In most cases, they use attractive topics so as to attract followers (Evans, 2010). The online channels can hold hidden risks for companies, since social networking pages and users may not be immune to pony-trekking and other types of online crimes. Most of the social networks comprise structures that encourage an exposed environment that is serious for the network to work at its best; nevertheless, these structures can create some structural security matters(Papasolomou & Melanthiou, 2012). Social networking services are centralized, meaning the service provider holds all the authority to control the information of the users. It is not a small mission for a user to reuse his own data, including the social network messages, and photos from other applications.

3.0              CHAPTER 3:            RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1       Research Approach

According to (Saunders et al. (2009), there are two main approaches that can be used by researchers in their work. The authors mention induction and deduction as the two main research approaches. Further, they add that the abductive research approach is the most applicable as the research questions it seeks to answer are based on empirical data that is related to data collected via interviews (Papasolomou & Melanthiou, 2012). Moreover, the abductive research approach does not reject the theory regarding a particular research problem, and its concept is almost similar to deduction. Adopting a qualitative and abductive research approach was the best technique of studying the Evolution of Marketing in China in Times of Social Media. Based on the approach, data collected via interviews will be analyzed to determine the views and perceptions of stakeholders in various sectors of the Chinese economy regarding how advancement in social media has impacted the marketing strategies of companies that they are connected to (Papasolomou & Melanthiou, 2012). The study will mainly focus on social media platforms that have a large number of users in China. These include Weibo, Wechat, and TikTok. The empirical data obtained will be used to fill the gaps in the literature review concerning how advancement in social media technology has influenced the evolution of marketing in the Chinese market (Henriques, 2020). The level of innovation and practice ability in digital marketing strategy and its connection to social media technology is one of the reasons why this research approach was deemed effective. Additionally, the abductive approach aided in the discovery of the connection between the rapid evolution of marketing and social media, and how the connection can be explained.

3.2       Study Design

This research paper adopts an abductive and qualitative approach to answering the research question. The approaches have been used to analyze different attitude levels surrounding various phenomena associated with digital marketing and its evolution in the social media age in china (Lipscomb, 2012). The reason the qualitative design was selected was that the aim of the study was to evaluate, describe, discover, and understand the Evolution of Marketing in China in Times of Social Media, and not to predict or confirm previous research studies (Levin-Rozalis, 2004). The qualitative approach adopted in the study allowed for the analysis and interpretation of data obtained through an interview, while the quantitative method proved crucial in the interpretation of statistical data.

Since the objectives of the study derived from the main research question are clearly stated and outline the sources of data, the study strategy adopted was the most applicable (Lipscomb, 2012). Additionally, its applicability can be backed up by the fact that the strategy uses empirical data collected from numerous sources to investigate a phenomenon that is linked to real-life trends and context, social media, and marketing.

3.3       Methods of Selecting Study Cases

Choosing a good case for the study is of great importance for the success of a study. However, it is challenging when it involves small samples. Sampling is the collection of data from a small population (Levin-Rozalis, 2004). For this study, the data collection was restricted to a small number of social media applications that are widely used by companies in china for social media marketing. Also, the number of companies that were considered in the study was limited only to a few. The binary method of case selection was mostly used (Lipscomb, 2012). The population of companies used comprised of both large companies and small-scale enterprises, mostly in the FMCG industry that use Weibo and TikTok in their social media marketing strategies (Ren, 2018).

Such companies were mostly found through the internet and from the social media platforms that were considered in the research.13 companies that have an active social media strategy were chosen for the initial phase of the study based on their number of followers and popularity (Tavory & Timmermans, 2014). Interviews were also conducted to get the perception of company representatives about the success and impacts of the social media marketing strategy in their companies. The participants were considered as a heterogeneous sample and were chosen based on their willingness to participate in the study (Ren, 2018). Some of the companies and respondents were eventually excluded from the study due to their lack of cooperation and inactivity on the social media platform considered in the study.

3.4       Data Collection Techniques

Interviews and observations were the primary sources of data for the research. Answers obtained from representatives of companies included in the sample population provided a clear understanding of the evolution of marketing in China in times of social media. Interviews are an efficient method of data collection conducted in the correct manner (Tavory & Timmermans, 2014). Additionally, it is a cheap method that takes a relatively short period of time as compared to other methods of collecting data. Basically, there are three types of interviews. Namely structured, semis structured, and unstructured.

Before an interview was done, data about a particular company and its social media marketing strategy was collected from secondary sources such as periodicals, magazines, and the internet (Lipscomb, 2012). Most of the interviews were conducted in Chinese with the permission of the respondents.  Most of the interviews were structured in nature as they consisted of an introduction, direct follow-up, direct or indirect questioning, and probing. The interviewees were communicated via email or via social media to ensure that they were aware of the topic of discussion and allow them time to prepare and confirm their availability (Men & Tsai,2012). The questions began with a background and introduction of the company. The objective of doing this is to gain the trust of the interviewees to encourage them to provide extensive answers regarding their views on their company’s social media marketing strategy. The respondents were also asked about the challenges that the social media marketing strategies in their companies face and the opportunities that are available (Men & Tsai,2012).

In this study, the interviews that were either held face to face or via telephone lasted for between 30 to 40 minutes. Face to face interviews was preferred more because they give the researcher the chance to connect with the respondent to ensure their cooperation. Such kinds of interviews have shown to yield the best results and have the highest response rate. They also give the researcher the chance to clarify questions that seem ambiguous to the respondent and also to follow up on some issues that may not be clear.

Most of the respondents who took part in the study demanded that their identity be withheld to avoid compromising the companies that they represent. The interviews consisted of 13 individuals who represent different companies in China that have an active social media marketing strategy on Weibo or TikTok (Men & Tsai,2012). Nine of the respondents agreed to provide a telephone interview while the rest agreed to face to face interviews. Face to face interviews proved more efficient as the researchers were able to ask open questions and obtain nonverbal responses from the interviewees regarding some issues. However, the telephone interview was also necessary owing to the geographical distance of some of the participants with respect to our location, and their availability (Gillin, 2008). The main challenge that we faced during the interview phase of the study was the lack of trust. Company representatives were reluctant to provide company information while some gave general answers due to the due to the competitiveness in the market. Also, some of the participants talked about issues that were not related to the interview. This led to a wastage of time and information gaps.

3.5       Analysis of Collected Data

The interviews had to be recorded and transcribed to allow for translation to English. Transcription was the hardest part of the task. However, it was the most important part of the task as it allowed for a better analysis of the data obtained (Lipscomb, 2012). It also gave the researcher the ability to familiarize themselves with the data, which proved crucial in the analysis. Transcription also helped in the structuring of information to ensure the relevance of the study. The data were also grouped and organized based on the similarities in the responses and relevance to the research question (Tavory & Timmermans, 2014).

3.6       Limitations of the Study

There were various limitations that were highlighted in this study. Firstly, there were weaknesses that compromised the reliability and validity of the findings. Secondly, lack of information and gaps was another limitation, especially since company representatives who were interviewed were reluctant to provide some information for fear of divulging company information that could be used by competitors (Tavory & Timmermans, 2014). Social media platforms such as Weibo and TikTok are very protective of user information. Access to some of the data that is protected by the social media platform could have been key to improving the reliability and validity of the research results. There were also numerous challenges that were faced during the process of transcription and translation (Papasolomou & Melanthiou, 2012). This is because some information is usually lost in the process of transcribing and translating interview responses.

Difficulties in the process of analyzing quantitative data was also another common limitation that researchers face (Tavory & Timmermans, 2014). The small-scale nature of the quantitative method of collecting data made it challenging to draw conclusions from the findings of the study, and also to categorize them according to their size and nature. The time-consuming nature of conducting interviews was also another challenge that the study faced (Levin-Rozalis, 2004). Some of the respondents failed to respond to the correspondence sent to them via email or social media to confirm or decline their willingness to take part in the interviews. The availability of some of the respondents was also another issue that we had to contend with. Some of the participants who confirmed their willingness to take part in the study gave far off dates that further delayed the time of analyzing findings and organizing results (Levin-Rozalis, 2004).

3.7       Reliability and validity of collected data

Reliability and validity are measured using various approaches that are meant to ascertain the ability of a study to confirm both theoretically and empirically, the results obtained after data analysis. The reliability and validity can also be measured by linking the research questions to the conclusions drawn by the study to evaluate whether it has sufficiently answered what the research sought to investigate.

Because the interviews were translated from one language to the other. The reliability of the study was compromised. There are possible errors that could have occurred through the process of transcription and translation. The anonymity of the interviewees is also another issue that hampered the reliability and the validity of the study. The broad nature of the social media industry in China is also another factor that could have hampered the reliability of the study. Performance data provided by company representatives could have been incorrect or profiled to depict a particular company to have implemented a social media strategy that is more effective than the others. Basically, the responses given during the interviews could have been objective, and the personal responses of the researchers that are subjective are factored in the analysis of data, provision of results, and drawing of conclusions.

4.0       CHAPTER 4:            INTERVIEWS

To ensure the reliability of the study in answering the research question, the selected participants for the research included representatives from the different companies that are currently using a TikTok social media marketing strategy or in the process of formulation and implementation. The outcome of the research is sectioned into two. Based on the theoretical section, positive and negative attitudes of companies using Weibo and TikTok social media marketing strategy make it easier to comprehend. The questions are tailored towards achieving a reliable and valid outcome.

How do you regard Weibo and TikTok as social media marketing tools?

Answers by Weibo and TikTok marketing strategy users.

Most of the study participants stated that they had been using Weibo and TikTok for personal entertainment for not less than three years. All of the interviews voiced their realization that the two social media applications, especially TikTok, have become more effective in marketing due to their ability to promote creativity, originality, innovation, and content sharing. Moreover, all the respondents had Weibo accounts that were active while most of them had TikTok accounts. This was in line with the response by most of the interviewees that Weibo was the most popular social media platform and that TikTok had the potential to surpass its popularity.

Additionally, a majority of the interviewees responded that they realized the significant role that the two social media platforms have played in increasing the market reach and productivity of their companies in the Chinese market and internationally. They further added that companies feel an obligation to implement a social media marketing strategy that is centered on Weibo because it has the largest number of followers in China, but one that combines the advantages of TikTok, because of its fast rate at which its gaining popularity among the young generation.

The cost of implementing a marketing strategy was also another reason that was cited by the interviewees as the reason why companies in the Chinese market prefer Weibo and TikTok. It is relatively cheap to implement a Weibo marketing strategy while it is free for companies to run a marketing campaign on TikTok. One interviewee said: actually, if one has a computer with access to the internet, then the fee is minimum. Also, marketing employees can operate at the comfort of their home, thereby reducing the amount of money that could have been spent on staff transportation to and from the company premises. The interviewee also stated that the potential audience that can be reached by a social media marketing strategy that is centered on Weibo and ti tok is greater than that of normal advertisement campaigns that cost even more.

Answers by representatives of companies that are considering implementing a Weibo and TikTok marketing strategy.

Four of the interviewees admitted that it was prudent that their companies implement social media marketing strategies on Weibo and/or TikTok. One of the interviews reiterated that target audiences of different or specific demographic composition were easier to reach using social media. Other respondents acknowledged that traditional marketing strategies were becoming obsolete in the digital age, in which social media has become the dominant mode of interacting and sharing information. One of the respondents said: stories about commercial success happen by the minute in the digital business environment, this is an indication that the mainstream methods of marketing through traditional media has minimal or no impact on the consumer’s purchase decision making. This is the reason why we are focused on modernizing our marketing strategy to focus on Weibo and TikTok to keep up with technological development and the level of competitiveness in the Chinese market. The interviewee, who is a marketing analyst, adds that his company is going through a difficult time developing and implementing a social media marketing strategy due to the rapid rate at which technological development is happening. Regarding brand awareness, he adds that his company wants to turn to Weibo and TikTok since there are many brand loyalists who will encourage others to share content and provide feedback regarding the quality of products or services. He also said that the obtained data could be useful after analysis to forecast market trends and to measure the success of their marketing campaigns.

Another reason why most of the interviewers made an observation that the fact that Weibo and TikTok were free to use was good for their companies was that they were attractive for small, medium, and multinational companies/businesses. One of the interviews, which was the head of the sales and marketing department of a medium-sized company, expressed his optimism that implementing a Weibo or TikTok social media marketing strategy would enhance their growth to the next corporate level. He further added that content related to their brands and products was already being shared on Weibo and TikTok and that the implementation of a social media strategy centered on the two web platforms was overdue.

Did you conduct any marketing research on Weibo and/or TikTok before deciding on implementing a social media marketing strategy based on the two platforms?

Answers by companies using Weibo and/or TikTok social media marketing strategy.

Most of the interviews said that their companies had done market research before implementing a Weibo and/or TikTok. They also added that the research usually lasted for three weeks or more. The research mainly entails competitor monitoring and industry dominators, target group identification, and selection of the marketing strategy that was most applicable in the situation. Most of the interviewees accepted that the success of a marketing strategy was not guaranteed after the research. They added that in marketing, only the try and error method was helpful in helping corporates achieve their objectives.

Will you conduct market research before implementing your social media marketing strategy?

Answers provided by the companies that are planning to launch Weibo and TikTok strategies

‘The reason why companies continue conducting market research before implementing marketing strategies is that they yield positive results,’ said one of the interviewees, a representative of a multinational company. Another interviewee, a representative of a small business, said that his company could not afford the money required to conduct market research. We will rely on the fact that content about some of our brands and products are already circulating on Weibo and TikTok. Based on the responses of the interviewees one could gather that most of them were of the opinion that most companies that have larger marketing budget allocation will conduct comprehensive market research whose results would be used by the senior management to decide the best way of implementing a marketing strategy on either of the two social media platforms.

Why did you prefer TikTok from other social media platforms in China?

Answers provided by companies that already use TikTok

Most of the interviews said that their companies planned to launch their marketing strategies on TikTok because of its popularity among the young generation and the trend by competitors. One said that the impact of TikTok marketing campaigns in recent months on sales and profitability was a considerable drive. Some of the company representatives said that increasing brand awareness and loyalty was another reason besides profitability. One of the interviewees also added that companies should focus on improving their customer(follower) relationship rather than focusing on increasing the number of followers.

What benefits of a Weibo or TikTok marketing strategy do you anticipate?

Answers by companies already using Weibo or TikTok social media marketing

Most of the study participants responded that they expected that a Weibo or TikTok marketing strategy could help build brand awareness and loyalty, which would generate more leads to the official web pages of their companies. One of the interviewees added that research conducted regarding the purchasing behavior of customers in the Chinese market showed that 80% of the target customers search for recommendations about different brands and products on social media. A community of customers where customers share information about products and brands could form rapidly on Weibo or TikTok. This has the result of increasing sales, and hence the profitability of their companies seemed a common thought.

Some of the representatives added that a Weibo or TikTok social media marketing strategy provides a perfect tool for monitoring competitors. They were also positive that this allowed them to stay ahead of their competitors in the implementation of key business decisions. On this issue, one respondent added that Weibo was a perfect platform that was transparent for all companies regardless of their size to learn through the sharing of market information. He said, “It is legal to monitor and track the competitors on social media, which is never a commercial secret. For example, we learned a lot from looking at our main competitor and systematically measuring their business performance. We acknowledged what was wrong with their marketing campaign and were trying to avoid the same mistakes, which lead to our posts becoming much more popular.” Some of the respondents lamented the fact that businesses with limited funding had a difficult task monitoring the performance of their business competitors and added that they focused on building up brand strategy and loyalty, sales, and profitability.

Most of the interviewees also mentioned that through Weibo and TikTok, they were able to gain the trust of their followers, thus creating a perfect B2C relationship. An advantage of the two social media platforms that were adversely mentioned in the study is that the marketing campaign is able to attract the attention of experts or specialists in a specific field. The experts play a key role in pinpointing the weak point of the company’s strategies and recommend solutions to those particular problems.

Answers by companies that were considering to launch a Weibo and/or TikTok social media marketing strategy.

Most of the participants acknowledged that increasing sales and profitability was the main driving factor towards their implementation of a Weibo or TikTok marketing strategy. One of the interviews said that they looked forward to launching a Weibo or tik tok marketing strategy that portrayed his company is the most favorable way, with the aim of bolstering sales and revenue. Others were excited about the unlimited number of opportunities offered by Weibo and TikTok as marketing tools in the Chinese market, especially in this digital age.