More and more international brands are starting marketing campaigns on Douyin, a famous Chinese social media platform. According to China Daily (2019), the UK and US universities began to use Douyin as one of the student recruitment channels, considering the application’s popularity among students. The reason why universities connect students via Chinese social media platforms is that Chinese students are always an essential part of the international student group.
As reported by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS), 134,870 international students are applying for a UK undergraduate program, taking up around 20% of the total number of applicants in 2020. Among the international applications, there are 31,400 Chinese applications, which accounts for 23% of international applications. Apparently, UK universities value the potential of the Chinese market and utilise Chinese social media platforms for student recruitment. PSBA companies should also consider exploring the Chinese market and initiate specific marketing plans to attract Chinese students.
Social media platform promotion has always been a good starting point for marketing. If you’re still asking what Douyin is, you may have missed the current hottest Chinese social media platform. It’s ok. It’s never too late to learn more about this fantastic app. Rollzoom will explain to you what Douyin is and how to promote it via Douyin.
What is Douyin?
We used to introduce Weibo and WeChat, two famous social applications in China. Different from these two social media platforms, Douyin starts as a short-form video-sharing app that focuses on video content creation. Simply speaking, Douyin is the Chinese version of Tik Tok. Douyin was launched in 2016 by Byte Dance, a Chinese Technology Company, and was launched as Tik Tok on the international market in the following year. The major targeting audience of Douyin is young adults. According to InsiderIntelligence.com, the total number of Douyin users in 2021 is 639.4 million. The number of Douyin is expected to reach 835 million in 2025 with a relatively steady growth rate.
Obviously, Douyin has stood out among plenty of social media platforms. It is because Douyin not only relies on short-video entertainment but also offers multiple functions, such as payment, online shopping, live stream, etc. Douyin’s multi-functionality enhanced users’ experiences and, to a great extent, stabilised the user number. Regarding Douyin’s popularity, many universities used Douyin as one of their marketing channels. Beijing and Tsinghua Universities, the top two Chinese mainland universities, now have gained over 3.5 million followers on Douyin, showing the significant impacts of Douyin among students.
How do you advertise on Douyin?
Considering the vast popularity of Douyin among Chinese students, Douyin can be a primary channel for PSBA companies to reach the Chinese market. Since Douyin emphasises the role of short videos, PSBA companies could use this social media platform to build their brand images and reputation. We here suggest a few ways to make your first move on Douyin.
1. Set Up Your Douyin Official Account
Douyin has its certified accounts designed for influencing individual users and enterprises. Certified Douyin accounts have privileges in a few aspects compared to standard accounts. If you have a certified Douyin account, you could release longer video content and have access to Douyin paid advertisements and customised stickers. Additionally, authorised Douyin accounts could ensure your content is maximum exposure to potential customers. Those privileges could definitely contribute to the final performance of your brand marketing. In addition, a certified account implies authority and could help companies build a good brand reputation.
There are two types of certified accounts on Douyin: individual and business accounts. A personal account requires at least 10,000 followers to become a certified account. For the business accounts, to register an authorised account only needs a mainland Chinese business license, an ICP license, an application letter and yearly subscription fees. There is no requirement on the number of followers for business certified account. In this case, if you want to apply for a certified business account, an experienced Chinese marketing agency could offer you a complete guide and save your time with complicated application procedures.
2. Run Douyin Paid Advertisements
As mentioned before, certified Douyin accounts have access to paid advertisements. Common paid ads on Douyin include splash screen ads, feed ads and promotions with KOL.
Splash screen ads have the advantage of displaying a full video advertisement lasting for 4-60 seconds. A splash screen ad could directly show brand images and link the users to any websites you wish to display, bringing powerful impacts to the ad viewers. Now the splash screen ads support pictures and videos with full-screen or split-screen displays.
Feed advertisements usually appear on the recommendation page of Douyin. Feed ads could link the user to the website or Douyin account you want to display. You’ll see a feed displayed in the lower right corner as you watch or swipe videos. Apart from splash screen ads and feed ads, you could choose to cooperate with Key Opinion Leaders (KOL) on Douyin to reach more prospective customers and increase your brand awareness.
Advertising is always an effective way for PSBA companies to increase brand awareness and establish a brand reputation. Suppose you are unfamiliar with Chinese social media platforms. In that case, Rollzoom could provide you with a guideline on your Douyin marketing and optimise your marketing plan regarding your business needs.
What can we do for you on Douyin?
As a digital marketing expert, we provide a one-stop service for you to start digital marketing on social media platforms. Regarding your marketing objectives, we offer customised and various sets of service packages to ensure your needs can be satisfied. Here are the currently available services we provide for the social media marketing
- Account Set up
- Account Verification
- Content Translation
- Content Creatives
- Video Creatives
- On-site Live Streaming
- Customer Promotion
- Reputation Interaction
Apart from the services mentioned above, we could make customised marketing plans based on your personal goals and make corresponding adjustments per your business requirements. We have rich experience in helping overseas companies explore the Chinese market. We are confident that we could provide you with unique industry insights to achieve your final business objectives.
About Rollzoom
Rollzoom is one of the leading marketing service companies with rich experience in helping PSBA companies explore the potential Chinese market and build company brands among Chinese students. We offer complete services for the social media marketing channel, including setting up your social media accounts, creating high-quality content, producing video/audio content, and so on. We aim to help customers achieve business goals, initiate and implement marketing plans and support your every move in the Chinese market. If you are ambitious to expand your PSBA business in the Chinese market but are still confused about how to make the first step, choose Rollzoom as your working partner and build your personalised business plan. In the past few years, we have become reliable partners for many PSBA brands, such as aparto, Unilife, and Collegiate. We will devote ourselves to providing you with the most satisfying experiences and exceeding your expectations. Feel free to contact us if you want to learn more information. We are always here and looking forward to seeing you.
