China's Weibo to help microbloggers build their brands

Two entertainers wear cartoon clothes stand in front of an exhibition booth of Sina Weibo at the 2016 Global Mobile Internet Conference (GMIC) at the National Convention Center in Beijing, 28 April 2016. [Photo/IC]

BEIJING - China's microblogging site Weibo plans to build a one-stop system to help some of its most-followed users turn their online influence into money, the company's CEO said Tuesday.

Weibo, the largest domestic microblogging platform, will help users define their brand focus, attract and accumulate followers and cash in on their popularity through advertisements, pay-per-read posts and other marketing tools, Weibo CEO Wang Gaofei told the ongoing 2016 V-Influence Summit on the country's growing new media platforms and fan economy.

Microbloggers have raked in 11.7 billion yuan ($1.73 billion) via Weibo's current services. Promotions that link to online shopping generated the highest earnings, 10.8 billion yuan in total, for users, followed by pay-per-read posts and brand promotions at 470 million and 430 million yuan, respectively.

Weibo has around 340,000 microbloggers deemed "influential," meaning those whose articles or posts are read by at least 100,000 people each month, up 34 percent year on year, while those with 10 million monthly readers saw a 70 percent increase year on year.

The company has earmarked 100 million yuan to support the promotion of influential microbloggers; 500 million yuan in short-length video promotion; and has plans to release a live voice streaming service next year, according to Wang.

Weibo has partnered with over 300 multi-channel networks (MCN) to help microbloggers grow their brands with programming, funding, cross-promotion, audience development and other services, Wang added.

The NASDAQ-listed company overtook its U.S. counterpart Twitter in market capitalization for the first time during trading earlier this month thanks to its strong revenue and user growth. The company is expected to release its third quarter financial performance in late November.

Weibo had 282 million active monthly users by the end of the second quarter of this year and aims to have 500 million within three years, according to Wang.