Part of the reason China marketing is so daunting is because understanding it takes a whole new vocabulary!
Here we’ve compiled a list of must-know platform names and features, acronyms, internet slang, English translations of popular Chinese words and concepts that you can refer to whenever you come across a term you don’t know.
We are updating this on a regular basis so if you feel like there is something missing let us know!
A
B
Bacao (拔草): Bacao means I tell you that the product is not as good as it is advertised, and you think it in the same way after I told you. Opposite is Zhongcao.
Bilibili (哔哩哔哩 or B站):
Bytedance (字节跳动): An Internet company founded by Zhang Yiming in 2012. It has created several popular apps in China, such as Jinri Toutiao (今日头条), Douyin (抖音), Neihanduanzi (内涵段子). In August 2018, it was valued as 75 billion dollars, becoming the biggest unicorn company.
C
Challenge: Hashtag contest on Douyin
ChaoA (超A):
CP or Couple Marketing:
D
Daigou (代购): A person who lives overseas and sell oversea products to people. Or it could also be simply referred to a person who sell oversea products.
Daihuo (带货): A person’s ability to influencer his/her followers purchasing decision
Daka (打卡): You get recommendations of certain restaurant, tourist spot or store from friends or the Internet, and you pay a visit to them. Or it could refer to the behaviour that you keep doing. For example, you are learning a language from an app, and every day after you have achieved your task on the app, you share it to your social media page.
Douyin & TikTok (抖音): A short video app that focus on 15 second videos. For some users, their time is expanded to 1 minute. It’s the most popular app in 2018.
Duanzi (段子): Funny, hilarious, interesting or thought-provoking sentences
E
F
G
Guochao:
H
I
IP: Intellectual Property. It’s a similar form of KOL, who have followers and can influence them greatly.
J
Jinri Toutiao (今日头条): A news and information content platform. By analysing the features of content, the company’s algorithm models generate a tailored feed list of content for each user.
Juhuasuan:
K
KOC: Key Opinion Consumer
KOL (大V): Key Opinion Leader. They are people who output product knowledge and have significant effects on consumer behaviours.
Kuaishou （快手):
L
Live Streaming:
Luzhuanfen (路转粉): You were not a follower or a big fan of a celebrity/influencer, and you change your attitude to them to become a fan of them
M
MCN: Multi-channel Network. An organization that works with video platforms such as YouTube, to offer assistance to a channel owner in areas such as “product, programming, funding, cross-promotion, partner management, digital rights management, monetization/sales, and/or audience development” in exchange for a percentage of the ad revenue from the channel.
Mini programs (小程序): A WeChat function added in 2018. They are like mini apps where you can go shopping, playing games on it.
Moments (朋友圈): WeChat’s Instagram-like feed where you can see pictures and articles shared by friends as well as WeChat Moments ads
N
O
Official Account (公众号):
P
Private traffic (私域流量): Different from public traffic. It’s a way for KOLs to build closer relationship with their followers. It’s usually done by adding KOLs’ personal social media accounts, offline meetings with fans or joining group chat with the KOL in it.
Pinduoduo (拼多多): An e-commerce platform that offers a wide range of products from daily groceries to home appliances, allowing users to participate in group buying deals.
Post-80s:
Post-90s:
Post-95s:
Post-00s:
Q
R
RED:
S
Shuaping (刷屏): When a hot topic is simultaneously showing up on your social media. People are posting the same topic.
T
Taobao
Tmall
U
V
W
WeChat (微信): A social media app which allows users to contact, post images, words and videos, read, shop, order taxi and takeaway and other activities.
Weibo (微博): A Chinese microblogging website.
Wemedia (自媒体): It’s generated in the context of social media where everyone has a voice, expresses their opinions and has a chance to become well-known.
X
Xiachen (下沉): Popular contents are not all about sophisticated or gorgeous life anymore. There is a trend that contents are getting closer to life, to ordinary people’s life.
Xianyu (闲鱼):
Xiaohongshu (小红书) : An app that allows users to share and post. It has included makeup, skincare, cooking, travelling and working out. also known as RED or Little Red Book
Xiaoxianrou (小鲜肉): Hot young guys
Xiaozhen Qingnian:
Y
Z
Zhibo:
Zhihu (知乎): An app that allows users to ask questions and answer.
Zhongcao (种草): Zhongcao means I recommend a product to you, and you think the product is great as well. Probably you will buy it later. Opposite is Bacao (拔草).
Zombie fans (僵尸粉): Zombie fans are not real people, they are just accounts. characteristics of Zombie fans’ accounts usually follow large amount of people and have a few followers. It also refers to fans that doesn’t contribute anything for the person who they follow. For example, they don’t view the person’s post, they don’t any interaction with him/her.
#s
10w+ (10万加): It applies in WeChat accounts. When an article is viewed by more than 100k people, it will appear a “10w+” in the end. “w” means “万” in Chinese, which stands for 10,000.
11.11: