Some commentators consider that the frenzy of social media seems to have peaked.

Certainly, many businesses are finding that localised content sharing and building quality connections and communities is proving more valuable than acquiring a mass following and huge numbers of likes. Having too many followers can also make it more difficult to engage and interact with them in a meaningful way, or to listen properly to what they are saying.

Social media marketing, like any other type of marketing, needs to bring results or it becomes a pretty futile exercise.

Targeted engagement – where you build engagement with audiences who are genuinely interested rather than simply acquiring huge followings – can help to make this happen.

Here’s how.

Tips for targeted engagement

There are a few ways to go about tapping into this trend.

• Focus on a small number of platforms that work well for you rather than posting everywhere, as this can help to facilitate engagement, customer loyalty and community building. It may require a little experimentation to get right, and will also involve making use of analytics tools to measure results.
  For China marketing, the choice of platforms includes WeChat, Sina Weibo, Dajie, Renren, Tencent, QZone, Douban and others – the ones you end up using will depend on your business, products, audiences and other factors.

• Consider partnering with influencers who have an impact on genuine audiences. This is particularly pertinent in China, where key opinion leaders (KOLs) often hold a lot of sway when it comes to purchasing decisions.
  Remember though that it’s not about huge numbers so much as quality and capacity for genuine engagement.

• Be consistent in your posting. Simply posting occasionally and then not following up for weeks or months is not going to work well for building relationships and communities on social platforms.

• Engage with your audiences. This involves listening to what they have to say and providing feedback and responses where you can. Also get to know when your audiences are online, and time your posts accordingly.

• Don’t see your social media strategy as being separate from your ‘main’ content strategy but as an integral part of it. Engagement through social is just as important as any other form of online marketing that you use to build your business.

Getting the balance right

There’s no need to abandon quantity altogether of course, but shifting your focus more towards quality can pay dividends – and is likely to lead to increased quantity anyway!

Getting the balance right in your social media strategy is not always easy, especially when dealing with a very different culture from your own. If you need some assistance with social media for Chinese audiences, contact the team of multilingual marketing experts at Digital Crew.