In a partnership announced just this morning, the YouTube Multi-Channel Network Yoola has become the first digital media company to help non-Chinese influencers crack into the Chinese market and its massive viewership.
Yoola pulled it off with a lengthy laundry list of partnerships with major Chinese social platforms. Taken on the whole, these platforms serve 98 percent of the Chinese internet population.
Yoola will be working with platforms including Weibo (NASDAQ: WB), Youku-Tudou, Tencent (NASDAQ: TCEHY), Toutiao, Miapoi, Kuaishou, Bilibili, Meipai, AcFun, and Aipai.
“We’re excited about the opportunity to introduce our massive audience to new creators from all over the globe that they may not have had the chance to view before,” Zhang Hao, Manager of Strategic Development at Weibo, said in Yoola’s press release. “As one of the first media companies to offer a solution to bringing global content to our platform, Yoola will work with us and our partners to incorporate new, engaging and, most importantly, localized content for our users.”
Eyal Baumel, CEO of Yoola, also spoke on the partnership, the first of its kind:
“The barrier-to-entry into the Chinese market is high, not just in terms of localizing content, but also from understanding and adjusting to Chinese market preferences. From a landscape perspective, there are more than 10 major social media players in China, and each with its own unique approach to content.”
Revenue Models Differ Across the Markets
Eyal highlighted one major difference: monetization. Western digital media markets currently emphasize video ads — platforms from Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr and even GoPro are launching massive video pushes in response. In China, “digital gifting, brand integrations and ecommerce” are the revenue models at the top, Eyal explains. Yoola will help influencers tackle the differing revenue models in order to capitalize on market differences rather than be capsized by them.
Right now, Yoola manages more than 45,000 creators, and drives over 7 billion monthly views across their network. With their advance into the Chinese market, those numbers should only keep growing.
Read more about digital media here at Tech.Co.