One of the greatest achievements of the internet is that people can easily access vast amounts of information. Many are searching for information online. In Western countries, they can find answers on sites like Wikipedia; in China, there is Baidu Baike, a Chinese website equivalent to Wikipedia.
But in China, people can also use another tool for their research: Zhihu. The essence of Zhihu is a Q&A website; no matter what question users ask, Zhihu provides them with scientific answers at the Wikipedia level.
For the Zhihu community, answering even seemingly silly questions with detailed and sincere answers is something to be proud of. Sometimes doing this excessively becomes a way of joking around.
Since its launch in 2011, Zhihu has adopted a strategy to ensure high-level questions and answers: guaranteeing registration only through an invitation process.
Users may be recommended by hundreds of already registered users, or undergo a lengthy application process where they must provide substantial personal and professional information to verify their expertise.
The goal is to build a reputation known for scientific accuracy, authenticity, and detail; this ultimate success has proven to be the reason for Zhihu's success and growth.
Data speaks for itself. As of 2018, the website had over 220 million total users, with more than 30 million questions and 130 million corresponding answers.
Although public registration started in March 2013, the early strategy of accepting only invitations established a benchmark for the Zhihu community's scientific accuracy and level of detail, which is also why Zhihu's answers are respected.
As mentioned earlier, Zhihu's basic functions provide users with the opportunity to ask and/or answer questions. They can also tag other users to invite them to answer specific questions, follow other users' accounts, and track their own questions and answers. Answers are then ranked according to the "Like" system; the more likes an answer receives, the more prominently it is displayed.
Ordinary Zhihu users are often well-educated, possessing above-average disposable income, making them a valuable audience for brand messaging. Consequently, unsurprisingly, there are already over 30,000 official business accounts operated by brands on the Zhihu platform, utilizing Zhihu to enhance their brand image, build relationships, and interact with their customer base.
Zhihu is particularly effective for brands offering high-involvement products (such as cars, solar panels, or similar products), as customers take time to conduct in-depth research on products they intend to purchase.
However, with increasing wealth, people's expectations are also rising, especially considering the level of scientific accuracy and detail expected by the Zhihu community when answering questions.
Brands have many options to enhance their image on the platform. They can start their own Q&A campaigns, collaborate with influencers to provide answers or invite people to ask them questions, ask employees how it feels to work at the company and their love for their positions, or organize live streams. These choices are almost infinite, but importantly, brands must maintain focus on the type of advertising platform to achieve the right tone.
Since users on Zhihu need reliable information, brands can successfully enhance their image by providing in-depth, scientific, accurate, and authentic answers to questions belonging to their professional fields. On the other hand, users on Zhihu do not wish to see obvious promotional advertisements. Therefore, when brands look for questions to answer, they should avoid obvious, straightforward questions like "Why is our product better than others" and instead tend to provide interesting facts within the brand's professional scope to users, such as "How do solar panels work?"
At first glance, this seems like a daunting task, but it allows brands to interact with customers and build trust, as brands have time and space to actually prove their expertise and proprietary technology by providing valuable content, rather than being limited to promotion.
This is especially true for brands offering high-involvement products, which makes advertising on other platforms awkward. When they are trying to relax by watching cat videos on TikTok, no one seriously considers solar panel advertisements.
In addition, it can improve the brand's SEO. Since Zhihu enjoys a reputation for scientific accuracy, search engine algorithms prioritize content on Zhihu, which helps brands associate with desired keywords.
Furthermore, it improves a brand's search result environment, as personal content on Zhihu can also appear in search results. This means that a brand's website search results can not only open the website itself but also link to high-value content provided by the brand, which is valuable in itself.
In summary: Is Zhihu suitable for doing some shotgun ads before the next budget or performance meeting to boost short-term sales? No.
However, it is a huge opportunity and long-term investment that can enhance brand image and reputation, build trust relationships with potential customers, without scaring them off with active obvious marketing tactics.
