Gallery: Short Videos

What Does This Post Teach Us About Marketing on Chinese Social Media?

Brands could learn a few pointers about marketing on Chinese social media from this example.

Apart from the inclusion of Chinese subtitles to help netizens understand the English spoken in the clip, there are other subtle ingredients that make this post so excellent. As shown by influencer Speed last year, showing interest in China is a great starting point for connecting one’s content with viewers who may not speak your language. By making a clip specifically for a foreign country, American Wave Machines’ clip gives the impression that they care, and much more than if they’d simply translated or repurposed content they’d already posted for the United States, Canada, or Great Britain. This video goes one step further by showing Cruz eating some local squid and locals trying out the wave pool.

The location and timing should not be lost on us either. Hainan has received a lot of focus recently due to it becoming a free trade port and its aspirations of becoming a world class tourist destination. Choosing to post a video now and on this southern island is more likely to gain traction because there will be other businesses and travelers posting similar content.

As this particular wave pool is a leading attraction of the Riyue Bay Surf Resort, the resort may share American Wave Machines’ videos themselves, as they benefit from it. While this highlights the importance of collaborating with local partners, it’s also important to recognize that Riyue Bay is China’s first surf-themed resort. If it is successful, alongside Hainan’s increasing importance to the travel industry, we can assume that other locations of a similar kind may open across the country in the future, especially if surfing becomes more popular. As American Wave Machines could play a starring role in this over the next few years.

Additionally, this video reminds us of the importance of cross-platform adaptability, even across languages. Although in this instance Nanjing Marketing Group repurposed American Wave Machine’s YouTube video for Rednote,  it’s not uncommon to see Rednote users reposting viral content they’ve seen on TikTok or Instagram. Cruz Dinofa also shared this same video to his YouTube account. By making content that can be repurposed for different channels, companies can increase their chances of being seen.

Lastly, Cruz may be a good choice of partner in this video, as he is in the same age range as Rednote’s main demographic – women in their early 20s.

What Can We Learn From This Video?

The Hook

In short videos, the key to success is the “hook,” which is the first 1–6 seconds of the video where the topic is posed.

This video’s hook is: “我看到星巴克杯子的中文比英文更清楚一些” which translates to “I saw that Starbucks’ Chinese cup sizes are more clear than the English cup sizes.”

Of course, part of the hook is also the imagery. Most viewers won’t know who Tait is, so what they see is “some Westerner” speaking Chinese into his phone. 

Why would this hook work? 

Our team continuously monitors trends in China and shares them to create ideas for video content. Once recent viral video featured a Chinese English teacher complaining about Starbucks drinks sizes in China.

In the video, he complains to the cashier about how the sizes are confusing. He says the cups should be called 小 (small), 中 (medium), 大 (large), but are instead called 中 (medium), 大 (large), 超大 (extra large).

So, when a non-native face appears on a feed and (in Mandarin) says the English sizes are even more confusing, that piques the curiosity of Chinese users.

Minimal Production Value

The appeal of a “walk-and-talk” type video like this is its authentic style.

There were no cuts, and the entire speech flows from beginning to end without any interruption, so it feels like going on a walk and chatting with a friend.

Some images were added to help visually explain what he was saying.

One expense we do advise splurging on is a high-quality mic. When doing walk-and-talk videos in bustling malls or windy outdoors, it helps a lot. The mic he uses is a DJI Mic 3, available both in and outside of China.

What It Isn’t

Tait is neither a wealthy celebrity nor a well-known (and attractive) influencer, so the video’s popularity is not down to who he is. Some think his follower count (200k) means guaranteed views, but some of his videos will only get a couple of hundred views per platform.

This is important to mention, as some think his follower count (200k) means guaranteed views, but some of his videos will only get a couple of hundred views per platform.

Individuals Do Well on Social

It’s easier for individuals to get views on social video than it is for brands.

Not many of our clients want to take this approach…but if they do, we encourage it.

Your spokesperson for video content could be a company founder or a member of their Chinese department.

Of course, one thing that is hard to replicate is Chinese speaking skills, which can’t be learned in a week or a month. Still, English-language videos with subtitles can also do well, especially in some niches with many native speakers.