China, a growing market is a labyrinth for businesses. In the age of social media, learn which platforms are best to promote foreign real estate in China.

A Quick Overview of the China Market

The Chinese market, a rapidly growing segment of global property buyers, is predicted to generate hundreds of billions of dollars in the near future.

Ads Regulations in China

Before jumpstarting your marketing for real estate in China, there are a few things to keep in mind such as national policies, laws, and regulations, including but not limited to:

• Explicit or implied guarantees on the appreciation of value, return on investment, future effects, and earnings; capital preservation, risk-free returns, etc.
• Advertisements must not indicate the project location based on the time required to reach there from a specified location.
  
  
• Any form of advance payment, or disguised references to them, in violation of regulations (down payment stages, down payment installations, illegal down payments, etc.).
  
  
• Any misleading promotion of transportation, commercial, cultural or educational facilities, or other municipal conditions that affect planning or construction.
  
  
• Any superstitions such as geomantic omens or divination.
  
  
• Using political events and news for commercial advertising.
  
  
• Using “national,” “highest,” “best,” or similar superlative words.
  
  
• Advertisements must be in Mandarin using standard Chinese characters. The Mandarin text must always be the primary text.

Now that you know what to look out for when promoting real estate in China, let’s see the best online platforms you could do just that.

1) TouTiao

First on the list of top 3 social media for real estate in China is TouTiao, a Chinese social news platform. It analyzes user data and customizes the news feed to show content that is relevant to its individual audience.

PROS. It is the biggest news app in China with a real estate channel. A huge chunk of its users are ages 25-50 years old, who have strong purchasing power. TouTiao also allows you to produce quality content like you would on a website. Websites are a challenge to acquire in China since you will need to file for ICP (Internet Content Provider) that is yet to be approved by the Chinese government. A platform like TouTiao saves you time and money.

CONS. Unfortunately, TouTiao official accounts for overseas entities are still not allowed. This poses as a roadblock in promoting properties outside of China.

Digital 38 is an official sales partner of TouTiao and provides services like Ad Account Setup and Media Buy to help get you started in the China market.

2) Weibo

Weibo is China’s second-largest social media platform. You can share media such as photos, videos, stories within a 140-character limit.

PROS. Weibo is the workhorse for branding as it is a widely used social media platform in China. It also offers customer service. Like TouTiao, you can produce website-like content and not anymore be required to apply for ICP.

CONS. None. This is the perfect platform for promoting your business.

For real estate businesses, Digital 38 offers Weibo official account setup & verification, account management, in-feed ads buying, and influencer marketing.

3) WeChat

WeChat is a messaging app developed by Tencent and launced in 2011. By the end of 2020, the app had gathered over 1.2 billion monthly active users. It is the fifth most-used social network in the world, along with other big names like Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, and Facebook Messenger.

PROS. WeChat is a super app in China that includes WeChat Mini Program and WeChat Pay. It offers customer service which is a plus for businesses setting themselves up. Much like the first two platforms mentioned above, WeChat produces website-like content.

CONS. Ads for overseas properties are not allowed on WeChat. It is a closed community, unlike other platforms like Weibo where posts can be viewed/engaged even when not followed by users.

As an official sales partner of WeChat, we offer services like official account setup and verification, account management, ads buying*, and influencer marketing.

*WeChat ads are not allowed for foreign real estate

Do you have properties you want to introduce to China? Contact us to learn more about real estate marketing in the China market.