Western content is heading to Chinese social media feeds
Chinese social media users will soon benefit from a flood of new international content entering their feeds.
That's thanks to recent tie-ups between local social media platforms and digital content distributor network Yoola to bring selected content, primarily from the United States and Russia, into the Chinese market. Local partners include social media giants Weibo and Tencent (Hong Kong Stock Exchange: 700-HK), as well as Youku-Tudou, Toutiao, Miapoi, Kuaishou, Bilibili, Meipai, AcFun, and Aipai.
This comes against a backdrop of Western internet companies, including Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) and Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL), long struggling to gain footing in the Chinese market. Both are currently blocked in the mainland.
Yoola is one of YouTube's multi-channel networks (MCN), third-party service providers that work with YouTube channels to offer audience development, content programming and monetizing services, among others. The company currently manages more than 72,000 channels, driving over 7 billion monthly views with more than 650 million subscribers across the network.
Through a localization process, which includes translating, editing, operating and promoting the content on different networks in China, Yoola is aiming to help influencers gain traction in China — and, in doing so, bridging international content gaps.
"People think that content that works well in the West can succeed in China, but that's not true. There is still a very big language and cultural barrier that we help creators overcome," Eyal Baumel, CEO of Yoola, told CNBC's "Squawk Box."
There are high barriers-to-entry into the Chinese market, Baumel said, "not just in terms of localizing content, but also from understanding and adjusting to Chinese market preferences."
He also cited the differences in monetizing as a key impediment for Western access: "Here in the U.S. and in the West, more than 95 percent of the majority of revenue comes from video advertisements. In China, it's maybe 10 percent, usually less."
Instead, digital gifting, brand integrations and e-commerce drive revenue streams, Baumel said.
Beyond the distribution of content, Yoola is also using its own production studio to explore opportunities in the Chinese live streaming market. "There's a huge opportunity that's not going to slow down," said Baumel. "We are big believers."
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