Insights
What we know about China's platforms.
Platform updates, strategy breakdowns, and lessons from real campaigns.
Strategy
Double 11 2026 results: what worked on social and what did not
Sales barely grew this year. The money moved from star hosts to brands’ own live rooms, and from clever discount math to one plain price cut.
18 min of reading | November 2026
Strategy
China social media readiness checklist: 45 checks before you spend a yuan
Before a brand spends on posts or ads in China, a stack of documents, filings, and sign-offs has to be ready. This page lists every one, grouped by the team that usually owns it.
15 min of reading | November 2026
Platforms
China social commerce compared: Xiaohongshu, Douyin, and WeChat stores
Douyin Shop sells volume, a Xiaohongshu store sells on trust and search, and WeChat Store sells to people who already follow you. A foreign company can open the first two from abroad. WeChat Store needs a company registered in mainland China.
18 min of reading | October 2026
Strategy
Double 11 marketing on Chinese social: the countdown for foreign brands
Double 11 2026 opened between Oct 7 and Oct 15, so presale is over. With under two weeks left, the job is triage: back what already sells and fix your prices. Then plan next year.
15 min of reading | October 2026
Strategy
How to read China social media reporting metrics and spot the padding
Most padding in a China report isn’t fake data. It hides in definitions, such as which reads were counted and how long a sale was allowed to take. Ask for the definition behind each number and most of it falls away.
13 min of reading | October 2026
Platforms
Private domain traffic in China: what WeCom groups actually return
Private domain traffic in China returns more frequent buying from customers you already have. In the company filings that break it out, it stays a small revenue line of its own.
14 min of reading | October 2026
Strategy
In-house vs agency for China social: the real cost comparison
A two-person social media team in Shanghai costs about 860,000 yuan a year in salary and employer contributions alone. That is the number to set against twelve months of agency fees, not a single salary.
14 min of reading | October 2026
Strategy
Baidu SEO vs social media: which comes first?
Test Baidu (百度) first when buyers search for technical answers or suppliers and your website can help them choose. Test social first when demonstrations and customer experiences do more to explain the product.
12 min of reading | October 2026
Strategy
China generative engine optimization: how to earn useful citations
China generative engine optimization starts with accurate Chinese answers that search tools can find. Then check whether AI answers cite those pages correctly. Technical changes and more pages cannot guarantee inclusion.
18 min of reading | October 2026
Strategy
Best WeChat marketing agencies in 2026
The best WeChat agencies can build what you need and leave the keys with you. Score them on Mini Programs, WeCom and the customer records behind both. Of nine agencies whose WeChat pages we checked, three offered both Mini Program builds and WeCom work. None showed both a price figure and a named client. Pick the agency type by the job, then test the one you like.
15 min of reading | October 2026
Strategy
Change your China marketing agency: the handover checklist
You can change your China marketing agency without losing your accounts. The risk sits in anything an agency registered under its own company, and you need to find it before you give notice.
14 min of reading | October 2026
Strategy
Best Xiaohongshu marketing agencies in 2026
Judge a Xiaohongshu agency on four things you can check yourself. Look at its price, its named clients, its place on the platform's own agency list, and where its team works. Of the nine agencies whose pages we checked, none showed both a price figure and a named client.
15 min of reading | October 2026
Platforms
Bilibili marketing for foreign brands: audience, cost, and fit
Bilibili marketing suits brands with something worth explaining and the means to prove it on camera. Budget for production and editing, creator rights, and paid distribution separately.
11 min of reading | October 2026
Strategy
China market entry timeline: the realistic six months on social
Six months is a realistic China market entry timeline for a social-first launch. The accounts are not the slow part. The trademark is, so it starts the day the board says yes.
16 min of reading | October 2026
Platforms
Is Weibo still relevant in 2026? Who it reaches and when it is worth the budget
Yes, but for a narrower job than it used to do. Weibo is now where launches and public news play out, and where celebrity campaigns live. It's no longer the place to grow a community one post at a time.
14 min of reading | October 2026
Strategy
Best China social media agencies: compare the fit
Choose an agency for the work your brand needs, then compare the full cost of that work. A published fee helps, but it doesn’t prove a team can deliver.
14 min of reading | October 2026
Strategy
Your KOL campaign got views and no ROI. Here is the fix.
Views without sales mean the chain from post to purchase broke. Look in six places. You can fix five of them in the next round; the sixth is the product.
17 min of reading | October 2026
Platforms
Douyin advertising: formats, bidding and what actually converts
Douyin advertising runs on two auctions and one reservation book. In both auctions you can bid on a result and pay for views. Change that bid more than twice a day and the platform's cost guarantee stops covering you.
17 min of reading | October 2026
Strategy
KOL vs KOC cost in China: what you pay and what comes back
On Xiaohongshu (小红书), one top-tier KOL post costs as much as 5 to 160 posts by micro KOCs at our planning rates. The small posts fill search results, while the big one buys a moment. Most budgets need some of both.
16 min of reading | October 2026
Strategy
Which China social media platform to start on: how to pick your first three
Pick three platforms, not one. WeChat is the base for almost every brand, and four questions about your product and your buyer pick the other two.
16 min of reading | October 2026
Strategy
B2B China social media case study: Viessmann and iGuzzini
Viessmann and iGuzzini both sell through the trade. Chinese social worked for them by reaching the household behind the order, and it took about two years.
12 min of reading | October 2026
Strategy
China KOL pricing in 2026: rates by platform and tier
Our planning ranges put a Xiaohongshu creator with 20,000 to 100,000 followers at 3,000 to 15,000 yuan a post. A mid-tier Douyin video plans at 5,000 to 30,000. Add a platform fee of 5% to 20%. Then treat the listed price as an opening bid.
17 min of reading | October 2026
Strategy
China marketing hidden costs: 12 lines nobody puts in the proposal
Most China marketing hidden costs are small public fees paid to someone other than your agency. Three are not small: locked ad balances, legal risk, and the commission on every sale.
18 min of reading | October 2026
Strategy
Douyin marketing cost in 2026: what you pay and what a package should include
Douyin usually costs more to run than Xiaohongshu or WeChat. At one public contract's rate, four videos a month cost up to about 19,600 yuan before a single ad runs. Selling adds live rooms, with staff and fees of their own.
18 min of reading | October 2026
Platforms
WeChat Mini Program cost: what you pay, what it does, who needs one
Public award notices put a custom WeChat Mini Program build at 199,800 to 2.3 million yuan in 2025 and 2026. Tencent's own fees are small. Plenty of brands should not build one at all.
19 min of reading | October 2026
Platforms
WeChat open rate benchmark: what under 3% really means
For a brand's WeChat (微信) service account, 2.8% to 4.1% was an average open rate in 2022, and four in ten posts in that study already fell below 2.8%. Under 3% is common. It becomes a problem when your total reads fall with it.
13 min of reading | October 2026
Platforms
WeChat vs Xiaohongshu: which one to launch on first
Launch on Xiaohongshu (小红书) first if Chinese buyers don't know you yet and research before they buy. Launch on WeChat (微信) first if your sale needs a conversation, a repeat order, or a sales rep.
14 min of reading | October 2026
Platforms
WeChat Official Account setup for foreign companies in 2026
A foreign company can open one WeChat (微信) service account without a Chinese entity. It costs 99 US dollars per verification and takes 7 to 15 working days. Here is the full process, and what that account can't do.
15 min of reading | October 2026
Strategy
WeChat marketing cost: account, ads, Mini Program, and WeCom
WeChat marketing cost is mostly yours to set. Tencent's own fees are small: 99 US dollars a year to verify an overseas account. The real money goes to content, ads, a Mini Program build, and staff.
19 min of reading | October 2026
Platforms
Xiaohongshu banned words: what gets notes hidden and what to say instead
Six kinds of wording can put brand notes at risk. Chinese law and platform rules both matter. Some claims must be removed, not rephrased.
13 min of reading | October 2026
Platforms
Xiaohongshu advertising cost: every ad format, and when it works
Xiaohongshu advertising cost depends less on the format you pick than on the order you buy them in. Search comes first, and the usual budget split starves it.
13 min of reading | September 2026
Strategy
What an entry-level China social media package actually includes
Four platforms, one post or video a week on each, a monthly report, and a monthly strategy call. Here is every line of our entry package, and the longer list of what it leaves out.
13 min of reading | September 2026
Strategy
Camper in China: a social media case study, 43,000 to 187,000 followers
A Mallorcan shoe brand quadrupled its Chinese following in 18 months without running a single discount campaign. The content was about how the shoes are made.
13 min of reading | September 2026
Strategy
Do you need a Chinese entity to run social media in China?
Usually not, at least to start. WeChat and Xiaohongshu verify overseas companies under published rules. Weibo routes you through an agent. Douyin now lists an overseas route but keeps the details behind a login.
20 min of reading | September 2026
Platforms
Xiaohongshu business account setup for foreign companies, step by step
If your company sits in a region the platform has opened, you do not need a Chinese company to open a verified Xiaohongshu business account. You do need the right documents in the right order, and you need to start on a desktop browser rather than the app.
16 min of reading | September 2026
Strategy
China marketing agency pricing: retainer, project or fixed price
There are three models, and this is how agencies in China actually bill you. A retainer buys time, a project fee buys a deliverable, and a fixed price buys a written scope.
17 min of reading | September 2026
Platforms
Seven reasons your Xiaohongshu account stopped growing
Most stalled accounts were never penalized. Something plainer went wrong, and each cause has a test you can run yourself in five minutes.
16 min of reading | September 2026
Platforms
How the Xiaohongshu algorithm works in 2026
The platform's own engineering team has described the machine that decides who sees your note. Most of what circulates in English about the Xiaohongshu algorithm is not from them.
16 min of reading | September 2026
Strategy
Xiaohongshu marketing cost: what brands actually pay in 2026
Six cost lines. Three carry a figure the platform or its marketplace publishes, two come from dated third-party research, and one is the agency fee almost nobody prints.
16 min of reading | September 2026
Strategy
How to start social media marketing in China: the first 90 days, week by week
Accounts can be live in two weeks. The Chinese name takes months to protect, and the first lead usually lands after week eight. Here is the schedule.
16 min of reading | September 2026
Platforms
Xiaohongshu marketing for foreign brands: the complete 2026 guide
Xiaohongshu is where Chinese shoppers check before they buy. A foreign brand in a region the platform has opened can verify an account with its own overseas paperwork. Some ad categories are still closed to overseas firms.
18 min of reading | September 2026
Strategy
How much does China social media marketing cost in 2026
Five cost lines, four of them public. Verification is cheap, media has a published floor, and the agency fee is the only number you usually can't find.
18 min of reading | September 2026
Strategy
Why your China engagement rate keeps dropping
Engagement fell across China's platforms in 2025. The audience did not leave. WeChat, Douyin, and RedNote changed what counts, and most brand dashboards never updated.
12 min of reading | July 2026
Platforms
How to sell on WeChat: a guide for brands
China's biggest brand ecosystem is WeChat. Official Accounts, Video Accounts, Mini Programs, ads, and WeCom, and how to sell across all five.
11 min of reading | July 2026
Strategy
Douyin marketing for Western brands: the complete guide
Douyin is not TikTok. Account setup, content formats, KOL costs, paid amplification, and Douyin Shop. A practical guide for Western brands.
11 min of reading | July 2026
Strategy
The 80/20 content rule does not work in China. Here is what does.
The old split of 80% value and 20% selling was built for feeds where content and shopping sat apart. On China's platforms they are the same thing. The number to watch is not the ratio. It is whether your content feels real.
9 min of reading | July 2026
Platforms
China's Social Media Platforms: A Guide for Brands in 2026
WeChat, Douyin, RedNote, Weibo, and a dozen more Chinese platforms. A clear, current guide to being present, finding influence, and publishing in China in 2026.
15 min of reading | June 2026
Content
AI content production in China: what brands need to know right now
Over 53% of Chinese advertisers use AI for creative content. Here is how AIGC is reshaping social media production on China's biggest platforms.
5 min of reading | April 2026
Platforms
Douyin social commerce: hard to profit, still the best way in
Most brands lose money on Douyin in year one. But no other platform gives you access to more than a billion monthly users this fast.
6 min of reading | April 2026
Platforms
WeCom: what it is, what it does, and why your China strategy needs it
WeCom is Tencent's enterprise communication platform inside the WeChat ecosystem. Learn what it does, how private domain traffic works, and why brands in China need it.
6 min of reading | April 2026
Platforms
WeChat advertising: every ad format and what they actually cost
WeChat advertising runs across Moments, Official Accounts, Channels, Mini Programs, and Search. Here is what each format costs and how to start.
7 min of reading | April 2026
Strategy
Why livestream shopping took over China
Nearly 600 million Chinese consumers buy through livestreams. Here are the five reasons livestream shopping works so well from the shopper's perspective.
7 min of reading | April 2026
Strategy
KOL vs. KOC in China: how to pick the right influencer for your brand
KOLs create awareness. KOCs build trust. How to combine both, what they cost, and how to spot fake followers in China's market.
6 min of reading | April 2026
Strategy
Live commerce in China: why it converts and how it works
Live commerce is China's highest-converting sales channel. Here is how the ecosystem works, what it costs, and why your brand should care.
7 min of reading | April 2026