85: Private traffic in China — Taking back the power from platforms

After an extended hiatus, John and Matt are back! This week, they look at the increasingly effective trend of private traffic. Powered by WeChat and its mini programs, marketers and brands are increasingly creating and driving organic traffic to their shops. Like owned traffic in the West, this is a direct response to the rising costs of reaching fans and followers. Matt delivered a presentation on the topic during the ChinaChat 2019 conference and they take a deep dive into the phenomenon this week.

Key questions

• What is private traffic?
• Why are brands resorting to this method?
• How does private traffic work?
• How do WeChat and Tencent view private traffic?
• What are traditional e-commerce platforms like Taobao doing to combat private traffic?

Links

• TechCrunch Shenzhen Nov 11-12
• Presentations from ChinaChat 2019
• China Tech Talk 83: Podcasting and why the open web is dead in China with Rio Zhan
• China Tech Talk 10: [Interview] Influencers in China and the future of brands with Elijah Whaley
• China Tech Talk 37: Weibo’s KOL woes with Elijah Whaley
• Become a member of TechNode Squared

Hosts

• John Artman, @knowsnothing, TechNode
• Matthew Brennan, @mbrennanchina, ChinaChannel

Editor

• Peter Isachenko

Podcast information

• iTunes
• Spotify
• RSS feed
• Music: “Theme from Penguins on Parade” by Lee Rosevere, Music for Podcasts 3