Social media moves into the corporate world

The blogger added that they even buy clothes for their babies from the same shops on Taobao - the largest online shopping platform operator in China.

China's two pioneer portal providers, Sina Corp and Sohu.com Inc, are both keen on social media development to lure more corporate clients.

Sina invested $150 million on micro-blog development last year and allocated $160 million to it this year.

It has just promoted its 2.0 version company weibo, which strengthens brand display and offers statistical analysis and a third-party appliance platform for corporate users.

Micro blogs also created access for small and medium-sized enterprises to take full use of interactive Internet resources to promote their brands. Social media marketing is more economical and more flexible and therefore more convenient and more practical for small and medium-sized companies compared with traditional advertising channels, said Sina Chief Executive Officer Charles Chao at a news conference in April.

Sohu is seeking a breakthrough in the video sector. It span off its video advertising business from its advertising department at the beginning of this year and plans to invest $31 million in the independent sector this year.

The sales of Sohu's video advertisements increased 90 percent year-on-year during the first quarter.

"Unlike traditional Internet marketing, which focuses on offering content and integration, social media marketing requires companies to not only deliver their message to their targeted customers but also to establish sound communications with them - quick responses and reasonable solutions to any challenge," said Wang Ying, an analyst from research company Analysys International.

liujie@chinadaily.com.cn