2010 was a year when social networking sites flourished, and it was also a year when Weibo became popular across the country. China's netizens have reached 457 million, and as of December 2010, the number of users visiting China's Weibo exceeded 120 million. DCCI Internet Data Center predicts that the actual number of independent independent Weibo users on China's Internet is expected to reach approximately 100 million, 168 million, and 253 million by the end of 2011, 2012, and 2013 respectively. The emergence of Weibo has made individuals and enterprises begin to think about the changes and possibilities brought about by new communication methods.
Information dissemination of “Gongjing Prison”
Weibo has brought about a revolution in communication methods. The previous communication method was pyramid-shaped, from top to bottom. But now, communication has entered a stadium-type communication, and society has entered an era of "national journalists". Everyone is an information source. Weibo has promoted the arrival of the self-media era, and also promoted the social structure from a "panoptic prison" to The conversion of "Shared View Prison".
The so-called "panopticon" is a metaphor for the way French philosopher Foucault controls human society. In traditional societies, social managers mainly achieve lower-cost and more efficient social governance through information asymmetry. This form of control is just like a pyramid-style prison invented by the ancient Romans: prisoners are imprisoned in different cells, and the jailer is in the monitoring room at the top of the highest cell. He can see all the prisoners, but the prisoners see He cannot be reached, and the prisoners also lack effective communication and information channels among themselves. Regardless of whether there is a manager or not, criminals subconsciously feel that they are being watched and will consciously restrict their behavior. The "Gongjing Prison" is a spectator structure, more like a stadium structure, where everyone watches the individual. The distribution of information among them has become more symmetrical. People no longer listen attentively to the voices of managers and the media as always, but communicate with each other in "whispering". At this time, there is no longer a "guard" and a "prisoner" in the full sense. They are relatively transparent to each other. Under each other's gaze, one can see and hear each other's words and deeds, and interact and communicate.
Without gatekeepers, you need to be cautious when "streaking"
Traditional communication methods are mainly one-way communication, with low audience participation, insufficient interaction, and strict control. However, the development of the Internet has broken this state. The network communication of the Internet allows information to radiate rapidly in a short period of time. The gatekeepers are "busy" and unable to filter all the information. Weibo has taken advantage of the trend of "information fragmentation". To the extreme, "You can keep the temple but you can't keep the monks." When everyone is an information publisher, the role of the gatekeeper has begun to weaken, and the information is more truly and transparently displayed in front of everyone, as if everyone is running naked. , the power of Weibo’s double-edged sword gradually became apparent.
Traditional information dissemination requires communicators to be objective, fair, and calm. However, as a private media, Weibo is bound to have a strong personal touch in the information dissemination process. In the blog era, celebrity Xu Jinglei is the queen of blogs; in the Weibo era, Yao Chen is the queen of Weibo. These interactive tools are the icing on the cake for celebrities and become a communication platform for interacting with fans. However, if not handled well, they can also cause negative effects.
A low-cost, high-return marketing tool
Where do you waste half of your advertising dollars? Adhering to the belief that "sales is king and effectiveness is the last word", companies struggling to survive in crises have been looking for effective marketing methods. Traditional media has its own inherent market and still occupies a large share in communication. However, the huge advertising and promotion fees prohibit many companies. The emergence of the Internet has opened up a new path for precise communication. The emergence of Weibo marketing has changed the state of high-cost marketing.
Word-of-mouth communication is a communication method with higher trust and lower cost. Weibo allows each other to become "acquaintances" through mutual fans. Companies can target consumer groups through searches and spread them directly. Individuals can quickly learn the information they want through following, and business is done "unknowingly" in this way. Then through "forwarding", more consumers will know this information, and the company and its products will be promoted in this way. When the credibility of mass communication is challenged, the emergence of Weibo may turn future marketing into adult marketing. In a society of acquaintances like China, people are more inclined to trust recommendations from relatives and friends. Commercialization is creeping into Weibo, and a new brand communication and marketing model is taking shape.
Many companies have sensed this opportunity and began to set up camp on Weibo.
The main operating functions of Weibo are: posting topics, following others, forwarding, and commenting. Forwarding is the main way to spread information and expand influence. It can be seen from domestic and foreign cases that the success of Weibo marketing is inseparable from a large number of reposts. How to obtain reposts requires the following factors:
1. It is very important to put the "label" properly. Weibo provides tag and search functions. When some topics or words appear frequently, they will become hot topics and attract more browsing attention from netizens.
2. The content is humorous and interesting, has pictures, and has "profits". If it contains any one or more of these, it will be more attractive. When companies do Weibo marketing, they are more "profitable" and attract fans. A good advertisement must have image, communication and benefit points, and benefit points are the key to motivating consumers to take action.
3. Take advantage of social hot spots. Hot spots have considerable attention and are being watched and spread. Combining social hot spots with marketing is like having everything ready and the east wind is coming, often achieving twice the result with half the effort.
In the self-media era of information explosion, Weibo has obviously become an indispensable communication platform. Its characteristics of "close distance, zero time difference, and equal dialogue" have changed people's lifestyles, communication habits, and corporate propaganda. The inherent model of promotion and marketing has changed the way of social communication, and mankind has entered the era of micro-communication. Weibo is a "dark horse" and its marketing value needs to be further developed. It is not wise to commercialize it prematurely and make Weibo a tool for pyramid schemes. How to use this new communication structure generated by Weibo is A step-by-step process. (Author Li Guangdou)