Earlier this year, Tencent Inc. announced the integration of a “big data” concept into its marquee social platforms to its shareholders and larger audiences. So what is “big data?”
First, let me refresh you on what Tencent offers. Tencent is one of the leading providers of Internet, mobile, and telecommunications in China. It boasts around 1 billion users on QQ, its feature product and China’s first instant messenger.
The company uses this large user data pool to leverage related derivatives such as Tencent Weibo (a product similar to Twitter), Qzone (a product similar to Facebook), and WeChat (a product similar to WhatsApp).
“Big data” is important to Tencent because Internet users in China are steadily increasing. With this growing audience, brands need to be able to leverage user data efficiently to identify consumer groups and connect with them. But right now, most social media websites aren’t providing those robust insights.
As a result, Tencent is now offering “big data” through MIND 3.0. Tencent MIND 3.0 is an integrated online marketing tool that provides total solutions for marketers on Tencent platforms, including ad investment tracking and performance, and quantifying consumer insights, such as fan behavior.
This image shows the business performance of Tencent and Sina, its top competitor, in the first quarter of 2012.
Tencent’s big data strategy helped it surpass Sina in online ad revenue during the first quarter of 2012, helping it become the online marketing bellwether of China.
Tencent MIND was launched as a semi-SMMS platform. This means, MIND aggregates feeds from all Tencent social channels and pulls them all to one location. Through the integration, MIND users can manage all Tencent content for every Tencent platform (Weibo, IM, and Tencent websites) in one place. In addition, Tencent MIND also provides analytics, CRM and fan management capabilities.
Liu Shengyi, the vice president of Tencent’s online media group, said that Tencent aims to integrate its website, upcoming video platform V+ and Weibo soon. The integrated platform will be optimized for both smartphones and tablets, which will help speed up network socialization.
Tencent’s other popular chat app with voice functionality, WeChat is also growing. Already over 100 million users, WeChat is approaching international markets such as Thailand and India with the intention of adding more.
For brands looking to present its Tencent data, it introduced Tencent Cloud. It displays how many QQ users are currently online and the user distribution in China.
This image shows QQ users simultaneously logged on in China. Approximately 90 million QQ users are online the day this data was pulled, and you can see them distributed through the blue and white spots on the map. It’s an interesting demonstration, and impressive to boot, isn’t it?
With this onslaught of products, Tencent seeks to be at the forefront of the social marketing industry in China. And with its ambition brings great opportunities for brands looking to make an impact in China.
Sam Yu, Emerging Market Specialist, also contributed to this article