How luxury brands use four social media apps in China to reach consumers who shop mostly online

WeChat and Weibo dominate China’s social media scene. But just as there’s more to e-commerce than Taobao and JD.com, China’s leading social media platforms are only part of the story.

The digital environment in a market with more smartphone users than any other is constantly changing – one social media app eclipsed its competitors within little more than a year of its launch, for example.

For luxury brands, mastering social media in China is a must for connecting to consumers and making sales.

More than 80 per cent of Chinese luxury shoppers are on social media, according to a recent report by ParkLu, a marketplace for key opinion leaders. They are also using networks on their favourite platforms to research products and brands before they buy.

Online censorship prevents Chinese consumers easily accessing popular overseas social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, so brands and marketers seeking to master China’s social networks have to adopt different strategies and often play by different rules.

Take WeChat, for example. It sets itself apart from social networks like Facebook because “Facebook is just a channel for traffic, while WeChat is a complete ecosystem”, says Thomas Graziani, co-founder of WeChat marketing agency Walk the Chat.