A July 2016 report from iResearch Consulting Group estimates that social media ad spending in China will reach RMB20 billion ($3.2 billion) in 2016, up 44% from 2015. In 2017, spending will grow by 39.1% against this year.
By 2017 social media ad spending will hit RMB27.8 billion ($4.46 billion). While growth will decline slightly in 2018, about 35%, spending will rise starkly, to RMB37.5 billion (about $6 billion). It’s clear that ad spending in China, at least with regard to social media, is robust and will only grow more.
Meanwhile, growth in users is virtually flat—suggesting the average social media user in China is set to see a lot more advertising soon.
Flat growth notwithstanding, there are over 100 million daily active social media users in China on both desktop/laptop and mobile devices. That’s a huge market with a lot of ad engagement potential.
Mobile does overall paint a brighter picture in China: While there are over 100 million more monthly active users on PCs, there are almost as many daily active users on mobile as on desktops and laptops. Mobile users also spend about 10 more minutes on social media per day.
And the amount of time is substantial: about 45 minutes on social media per day, which means they likely encounter a good amount of social media advertising.
In June 2016 eMarketer reported that social media users will brow by 7.4% in China in 2016. About 75% of internet users in China also use social media, and nearly 60% of social media users in the country are men.