Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
The world of Chinese social media can be a hairy one, the crew at Social Agent has compiled a list of frequently asked questions about our product, as well as Chinese social media in general.
We'll keep adding more as we go along, if you don’t see an answer to your question please
Q: Are the leads searched by your software automatically?
A: Currently all leads are searched by the sales assistant.
Q: I want to target Shanghai customers only. Can you do that?
A: Yes, we can help you find customers from specific location.
Q: You provide Weibo service only. What if I want to add leads from other platforms?
A: Social Agent is focus on Sina Weibo now. You may also add leads from other platforms with ‘add custom leads’ function.
Q: Do I need a Sina Weibo Account to Use Social Agent?
A: We can help you signup for Sina Weibo via Get Weibo, but yes, to use of our Social Agent tool, we require you to have a Sina Weibo Account to follow up the sales leads in the system, as they are Sina Weibo users. In the future, as we grow more social media platforms, you will be able to filter which social media platforms you would like to find leads on, and users therefore to engage with.
Q: How do I create a Sina Weibo Account?
A: We made this quick guide for you.
Q: I Don’t Speak Chinese, can I still use Weibo?
A: Sure! We made this guide and tips for you to get around a bit better.
Q: Do I need to post on Weibo everyday? What do I post about?
A: If your purpose is to find contacts in China through Weibo instead of doing Weibo marketing, we recommend that you should have up to 10 posts about your company and business with media elements to fill the first page of your Weibo. The purpose is to help visitors understand what you do, who you are. So daily posts are not necessary at this stage. In the future when you are ready for Weibo marketing, you can increase the amount of posts, to show the community you are active and engaging with people, and not a robot account.
Q: What Do I do once Social Agent finds me these leads?
A: This is where it’s up to you and your team to reach out to them. Preferably on Weibo itself, since that’s where we found em, but you can also find their website, email, or even give them a phone call. If you need or want a chinese assistant, please contact us and we can refer you to a talent agency.
Q: What Are Some Tips for me to use Sina Weibo as a Westerner?
A: We prefer using the english mobile app on the go, its more fun, and gets you moving faster on Sina weibo. Share photos, have fun. We also suggest you have a Chinese assistant help you post more business related posts too.
Q: Isn’t this just like Linkedin?
A: We are a social media tool, we search, for now, just Sina Weibo, and find potential customers for you. As we grow, we will grow cross platform and cross border. Another difference about linkedin, is that the penetration rate of Linkedin in China is not nearly as high as that of Sina weibo. If you want to find real Chinese businessmen, then you need to go on the social media platforms they are active on, and that is not linkedin.
Q: Do I need someone who speaks Chinese to help me?
A: Yes, you will need a Chinese speaking (or at least reading/writing) sales assistant to follow up the leads. We are working on solutions to help you locate a sales assistant in China, if you are interested in this, you can contact us.
Q: Why can’t I just search Weibo itself, instead of Social Agent?
A: Sure, searching on the social media platform itself may be able to find some potential customers, but the value we are adding is not simply a data output (aka data dump) of search results. We are filtering and optimizing our search algorithm to find the best business opportunities.
Secondly, we are doing this on a consistent basis, rather than having you or your staff remember to search, our job is to consistently find new business leads for you.
Lastly, we are a workflow and measurement tool – Find is only the first part of the system, we help you track, manage, and report the ROI of these efforts. It’s the complete package and workflow in your organization that will differentiate our system.
Q: How do you charge for your services?
A: We currently have 3 plans that are monthly subscriptions based on the amount of keywords (search parameters) for new customers, the amount of users, and the amount of leads and lead updates we give our users.
Q: How can I find my potential customers/partners in weibo?
A: Social Agent’s proprietary search technology is constantly searching social media for new potential customers for you, based on your inputted business information and keywords.
Q: What are the top mistakes foreigners make when using weibo?
A: Many times, when we review some weibo accounts that our users want to optimize, we cannot tell if this person or a robot. Some of the ways we can tell this is
- Weibo account has no profile picture and introduction
- Just post English sentences there ,there are no pictures or videos. Or Just posts pictures without saying anything
- Posts only marketing weibo or the things he or she wants to post ,do not listen or learn what his or her fans want to see from his or her weibo
- There’s no interaction with their fans ( No comments/replies/ reposts)
- Not posts regularly
