Vancouver International Airport (YVR) has been actively engaging with Chinese Audiences since 2016 on WeChat, Weibo, and RED.

We are proud of the work we do for YVR because managing the airport’s Chinese social media requires both quality translation services and a well-adapted marketing strategy.

YVR has more Mainland Chinese air carriers than any airport in North America and Europe, with over 100 direct flights a week to destinations in Asia. It is therefore important for the airport to engage with the Chinese population, both locally and abroad, to provide valuable information about its services.

Our team is proud of our partnership with YVR, helping the airport build a strong Chinese social media presence. We believe this service is part of what earned YVR the recognition by Skytrax World Airport Awards as Best Airport in North America 14 times!

Since social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are banned in China, we leverage their Chinese equivalents, WeChat, Weibo, and RED, to connect with Chinese travellers.

Looking at the popularity of its WeChat and Weibo accounts amongst Chinese travellers, YVR has lately ventured into RED (Xiaohongshu), one of China’s fastest-growing social media platforms!

Our Chinese Marketing team understands Chinese culture, consumers, and social media. Driven by data, they monitor closely what topics and information are most relevant to their audience and make sure to provide adapted content on all platforms to ensure an optimal level of engagement from Chinese people here in Canada, as well as in China. 

According to a recent study, “53% of Chinese Canadians report that they pay more attention to the information in their own language” (source: Vividata). So being on the right Chinese social media platform, such as RED, along with WeChat and Weibo is crucial. 

Within a few hours of publishing on RED for the first time in 2022, the post received 250+ likes and the account got 1,400+ followers! 🥳 In its first few weeks, the account gathered more than 4,500 followers. The first post had nearly 30K page views, 884 likes, 223 comments, 159 shares, and 171 collects!

YVR's RED account reached 12.4K followers within the first 2 years, along with 16.4K likes and collects. The comments section is continuously active and the account receives countless PMs (private messages) from enthusiastic readers, exceeding even our own expectations!

Spotlight on RED (Xiaohongshu)

In 2023, LAT Multilingual assisted Vancouver International Airport (YVR) in opening a Spotlight account on RED (Xiaohongshu).

The Spotlight Platform (聚光平台) is an advertising tool that allows brands to "boost" their content to enhance visibility and engagement. In February 2024, the Lunar New Year overlapped with Valentine's Day. A great opportunity to promote YVR’s tenants. Our team leveraged RED's Spotlight platform to amplify three key posts highlighting YVR's offerings:

• Luxury Brands at YVR (For ex: Hermès Store)
• Lunar New Year Campaign: Shop & dine at YVR
• YVR Duty-Free Campaign: "When Lunar New Year Meets Valentine’s Day"

Campaign Results

The campaign generated a total reach of 28,024 and an engagement rate of over 1,000 interactions on RED, successfully promoting YVR's offerings and enhancing its connection with the Chinese community!

YVR’s Key Successes on Chinese Social Media:

• The number of Weibo followers tripled within six months.
• Hugely popular campaign in collaboration with Hong Kong Airlines featuring martial arts master Jackie Chan. We gained 900 followers on Weibo during the one-week campaign.
• Ad campaign to celebrate the first anniversary of YVR’s WeChat presence resulted in 1K+ new followers.
• Keeping passengers well-informed during the COVID-19 pandemic, sharing safety-related information, travel procedures, and much more. Followers and engagement grew during this time, despite there being a significant drop in the number of flights.