Shanghai, Oct, 2023: KAWO, a leading social media management platform in China, has launched its 2023 ‘Guide to China Social Metrics’ which provides brands tips to navigate the unique Chinese social media landscape. It does this by helping marketers understand where each platform sits in the marketing funnel and how metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) can be translated into actual business success.

Examining six social media platforms – WeChat official accounts and Channels, Douyin, Kuaishou, Little Red Book (xiaohongshu), Weibo and Bilibili, the whitepaper discusses:

– how brands can make KPIs work,

– recommends ways to calculate statistics

– assess content performance with data analytics,

– methods to compare commonly used progress and goal tracking tools,

–  details different ways to measure conversions.

“China’s social media platforms are diverse, unique and present a challenge for brands who are investing millions in reaching their audience but may not have the right tools to measure results and impact,” said Alex Li, Chief Executive Officer, KAWO. “We hope that this guide will present brands with a framework to understand the Chinese social media landscape and allow them to astutely leverage each platform across the customer journey – be it in China, or among the millions of Chinese diasporas around the world that use these platforms.”

Overview of mainstream Chinese social platforms

The guide provides a snapshot of the current state of a constantly changing social media landscape that marketers can instantly grasp and dive deeper into.

Utilizing the Right social metrics for the right stage of the customer journey

With an understanding of the entire ecosystem in place, brands must next understand the intersection of each social platform with the different stages of the customer journey – and the suitable social metrics to measure success.

For example, brands must pay attention to building trust in the consideration funnel – where audiences weigh their options before they decide to invest in a brand. A suitable metric during this period is whether followers are won or lost, during this period.

A common mistake by marketers is moving too quickly from the awareness phase to the purchase phase without nurturing their audience properly.

In this case, losing followers upon publishing content can be an insightful metric to evaluate a brand’s performance at the consideration stage of the customer journey – revealing that audiences fall off after awareness and are not yet convinced further down the funnel.

The case for an alternative to KPIs

KAWO also argues in the Guide that an alternative to traditional KPIs – Objectives & Key Results (OKRs) – should be considered for social media metrics as it is suitable for creative and collaborative works that are hard to measure through typical KPIs.

To achieve long-term ambitions, OKRs should be clearly defined and differentiated from KPIs.

(This article is adapted from a KAWO press release).

KAWO’s ‘Guide to China Social Metrics’ whitepaper is available for download here. It provides readers with the following:

• An overview of mainstream social platforms in China
• Key metrics and social listening considerations
• Customer journey and the marketing funnel on social media
• KPI selection for the various social platforms in China
• Making KPIs work
• Measuring conversion