A 7-Step Checklist for Creating a B2B Weibo Profile

As we discussed previously, Sina Weibo is an essential social media platform for B2B marketers looking to achieve business success in China. With a comprehensive Weibo marketing strategy, you can build your Chinese online presence quickly and engage with your target customers in real time. 

However, before you jump into a Weibo marketing initiative, you need first to understand how to create an attractive Weibo profile and find ways to make the account more efficient.

A polished and complete Weibo profile can help you enhance your brand image and attract the right followers. Here are seven checklist items to reference when creating a Weibo profile.

1. Have a Chinese Mobile Phone Number

A Weibo account requires a Chinese phone number to register. Similar to other Chinese online marketing platforms, such as Baidu and WeChat, Weibo requires users to submit a Chinese phone number to open an account. Once submitted, the system will send you a code via text to verify your identity.

This process can be simplified if you have a business presence in China or local Chinese staff members on board. If not, you will likely need help from a professional international marketing agency.

2. Create an Appropriate Name and Clear Description

Unlike Twitter, where users can market themselves with a descriptive name and a handle name, you can only use one name on Weibo. The handle name is the same as the descriptive name. Most companies use their company names for Weibo, but there are also some exceptions. For example, Ying-Chao Logistic adds the name of their industry after the company name, Deppon Official Weibo Account uses their Weibo identification, and McKinsey Magazine shows that Weibo is a channel where they publish.

Once the name is confirmed, you can not change it again if you are a regular user, but you can change it twice a year if you are a Weibo VIP user. So, it’s essential to carefully choose one Weibo name that will represent your business and serve your marketing goals.

Additionally, Weibo allows you to leverage 70 characters to describe your business. A short bio is important for people to see a quick snapshot of your business, so make sure you take it seriously.

3. Make Visual Elements Attractive and Consistent With Your Brand Image

After successfully registering with your phone number and Weibo name, you will have access to the account with a default design. Since Weibo is an important online channel for brand awareness, remember to customize the visual elements – make sure they are consistent with your brand image, and clearly deliver your brand proposition. For example, Deppon has a well-designed Weibo profile.

There are three parts for you to create:

Profile Image

The default profile image is a gray portrait. Since it’s free to change the profile picture, update it as soon as you access the account. You can either use your brand logo or any other well-designed image that’s aligned to your marketing strategy. The uploaded profile image can not be more than 5 M, and it will save in three formats – 100×100, 50×50, and 30×30.

Header Image and Background Design

The header image and background design give visitors a first impression of you when they visit your Weibo account. There are a few default formatting designs that you can choose if you are not a Weibo VIP user. However, if you want to pick better designs or upload your own images for the header and background, you would need to become a Weibo VIP member, which costs ￥108 RMB/year (around $16). 

4. Become a Weibo VIP Member

As mentioned above, a VIP account will give you access to customize your account design and layout. But that’s not all. A VIP account also grants more access, like adding an exclusive account name, a pinned post on top, more accounts to follow, editing features, and more. Therefore, applying for a Weibo VIP account is necessary for you to create a truly complete Weibo profile.

5. Verify Your Weibo Account and Leverage Add-On Features

A verified Weibo account has more customized features for you to make a complete profile. You will only need your Chinese business certificate and ￥300 RMB ( around $45) for the Weibo Verification. The add-on features include creating a customized Weibo short URL, adding your website URL and other relevant URLs that your profile can link to, showing sliding images with external links, etc. 

Also, a verified account will not be limited to a 70 character description. A complete and longer story make your company Weibo profile more professional and trustworthy.

6. Completely Fill out Your Contact Information

Ultimately, any marketing channel serves as a lead generation tool for your business. Since Weibo allows you to add email addresses, QQ numbers for regular users and phone numbers for verified users, you don’t want to leave a blank there and miss any opportunities for people to quickly contact you.

7.  Tag Your Profile and Use QR Codes

You are almost done with creating a B2B Weibo profile once you have completed the first six items. But it’s worthy to think about one more step; helping people understand your business and follow you easily.

Adding tags to your profile will help visitors quickly know what your Weibo account is all about and what kind of information that they can expect from it. It also helps visitors to search on the Weibo and find relevant accounts and information, so don’t forget to add 4-5 tags to your profile.

Another way to help visitors to recognize you and follow your account is to use a QR code. Weibo generates unique QR codes automatically for all accounts, so make sure you maximize this benefit by putting them on your marketing materials or other online presences. This will help people find you and follow you easily.

Final Thoughts

As Weibo has become more popular and competitive, it is important for a company to build its Weibo presence with a comprehensive strategy. An informative, complete, and well-designed profile is the foundation of marketing success on the platform. I hope this post provided you with a clear guidance on how to create the essential elements of your Weibo profile or helps you to polish your existing Weibo page.

I’d love to hear your opinions or concerns about building a Weibo profile. Please leave a comment below or contact us directly!