Advances in Economics, Business and Management Research, volume 652

Proceedings of the 2022 7th International Conference on Social Sciences and

Economic Development (ICSSED 2022)

Research on Social Media Marketing Strategy of the

Milk Tea Industry
Xiling Jiang1, †, Yufei Xie2,*, †
1
College of finance and economy, Guangdong Polytechnic Normal University, Guangzhou, 510000, China
2
Faculty of business administration, University of Macau, Guangzhou, 510000, China
*
Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
†
These authors contributed equally.

ABSTRACT
This paper analyses the current situation of social media marketing channels in the milk tea industry through a case
study and points out that milk tea brands’ social media marketing strategies are not systematic and reasonable. Besides,
brands ignore the interaction with consumers when promoting on social media platforms. And most brands have a single
marketing model. In addition, the content and forms of brand marketing in social media platforms are not diversified
enough. Finally, the conversion rate of brands is low, which means it is challenging to turn exposure into actual sales.
To solve these problems, this paper proposes that brands consider the characteristics of different social media platforms
when developing marketing activities and formulate other marketing plans. They should improve marketing strategies
for different platforms. Moreover, brands should pay more attention to the interaction with consumers and dig deep into
the real needs of consumers. Brands should open up multiple marketing channels in marketing activities to realize multi-
directional assistance in marketing. In terms of marketing content and attracting consumers’ attention, brands should
build their own brand culture. This paper can guide milk tea enterprises when making social media marketing strategies
and provide ideas for transforming and upgrading the Chinese milk tea industry in a new direction.

Keywords: Milk tea industry, Social media, Marketing Strategy

extracted tea. At this time, the primary type of milk tea

1. INTRODUCTION
was black tea mixed with milk, the category was
relatively simple, and the quality of raw materials was
1.1 Background
ordinary. At this stage, the brand effect of milk tea was
In recent years, the Chinese milk tea industry has not noticeable, and there is little difference between
developed rapidly, and drinking milk tea has become an brands. The more prominent brands were Gong tea,
indispensable part of young people’s lives. It is a kind of Royaltea and so on.
food, social medium, and attitude towards life for young The third stage: From 2016 to now, the Chinese milk
people. tea industry pattern has undergone tremendous changes,
The development of the Chinese milk tea industry has and the milk tea industry is moving towards the era of
gone through three stages： “new Chinese tea”. From 2016 to 2020, the market scale
growth rate has been stable at more than 20%, reaching
The first stage: In about 2000, milk tea was mainly 33.41% in 2016, with a compound growth rate of 21.9%
instant milk tea mixed with hot water. The popular items in 2016-2020. At this stage, the milk tea industry mainly
were HK Milk Tea and desktop bubble tea. At that time, has the following characteristics. First, the category of
the most popular brands were Lipton, XiangPiaoPiao, the milk tea has increased. In order to meet the demand
U.Loveit. of consumers, the brand has made innovations in milk tea
The second stage: With the continuous improvement varieties, inventing fruit tea, coffee tea, Yakult tea and so
of Chinese economic development, residents’ on. Secondly, the brand effect is strong. Consumers’
consumption level has been upgraded. Around 2010, adhesion with brands is higher than before. For example,
there was a kind of milk tea characterized by freshly many customers spend hours in line to buy a cup of milk

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 Advances in Economics, Business and Management Research, volume 652

tea from Hey Tea[1]. Thirdly, the raw materials used in the main body, and rarely summarized and analyzed the
the products are more high-end, and the brands generally situation of the whole milk tea industry. Secondly, in the
position high-end routes[2]. Therefore, based on the very few studies of the new media marketing strategies
above characteristics, the marketing strategy of the milk of the milk tea industry, only a few scholars focused on
tea brand becomes very important, and how to improve social media, the most essential and popular marketing
the popularity and recognition is a problem that every tool of enterprise new media, to conduct detailed
brand needs to solve. research.
However, with the rapid development of the Internet, In contrast, this paper will focus on the whole milk
social media marketing has become a digital marketing tea industry, analyze the current social media marketing
giant. Major social platforms have become the central situation, and conduct more in-depth research in this
positions for promoting milk tea brands. They use field.
bloggers’ recommendations and WeChat official account
content promotion to attract many fans’ attention and 1.4 Research framework
attract consumers. Because of the vast amount of
information on the Internet, users see countless content Firstly, this paper introduces the influence of social
on social platforms every day. It is often difficult for media marketing on brand promotion. Secondly,
users to remember the brand in dazzling detail. So, it is combined with the successful case analysis of domestic
essential and arduous to do well the social media brands in social media communication and promotion, it
marketing strategy of the milk tea brand. summarizes the current milk tea industry’s leading social
media marketing strategies. Finally, it points out the
1.2 Literature review existing problems of the contemporary milk tea brand in
social media marketing strategy and puts forward some
Many scholars have studied the marketing of the milk suggestions.
tea industry. Compared with the analysis of relatively
traditional fields such as product and pricing strategies, 2. METHODS
with the development of new media technologies such as
the Internet, instant messaging tools, and social software, 2.1 Literature analysis
some scholars have also begun to study new media and
network marketing. The literature research method refers to obtaining
information through literature investigation according to
Wang analyzed the Internet marketing of A Little
a particular research purpose or topic to comprehensively
milk tea in the case study. He first pointed out that in the
and correctly understand the problem to be studied. This
Internet era, the consumption model of the milk tea
paper will integrate and refine the information regarding
industry has changed, and the consumer demand tended
social media marketing of the Chinese milk tea industry
to be personalized and differentiated. Then, he concluded
in different kinds of literature. Through systematically
that A Little milk tea made full use of social media to
analyzing the industry’s current state of social media
make customized drinks as the core means of its Internet
marketing, this study tries to find out the common
marketing and won the market [3].
problems of different brands and seek a way out for social
Liu et al. took the brand Sexy Tea to analyze the media marketing in the complex industry ecology.
enlightenment for the company’s new media marketing.
They pointed out that companies should use social media 2.2 Case study
platforms’ communication characteristics and extensive
influence and pay more attention to the brand effect and A case study is a research method that identifies a
positive interaction with consumers [4]. specific research object or group and clarifies its
characteristics and formation process to understand it.
Bai et al. concluded that under the current situation of This paper will specifically analyze several milk-tea
fierce competition and the endless emergence of new brands that have gained some success in social media
brands in the tea market, companies should carry out marketing. Marketing concepts will be applied to
distinctive and personalized Internet marketing to leave a interpret the reasons for their success from the
deep impression on consumers. Brands like HEYTEA perspectives of consumer interaction, marketing method,
should pay more attention to market demand, product channel and content, as well as contribution to customer
structure adjustment, and Internet marketing strategy [5]. buying. This paper will also summarize their common
points, and compare their differences to put forward
1.3 Research gap targeted optimization suggestions according to different
situations.
Firstly, most of the literature took one specific brand
as the research subject, with the analysis of its product,
pricing, and other aspects of the marketing strategies as

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3. RESULT repeatedly, thus causing users to get bored. In addition,

each forum has its characteristics. For example, the
3.1 Current situation of the marketing information dissemination in Weibo is rapid, and the
environment scope of information dissemination is broad. The users of
Xiaohongshu mainly share their lives, with high
Before analyzing the social media marketing authenticity of information and incredible stickiness of
approaches used in the milk tea industry, briefly users. Tik Tok is dominated by short video
analyzing the current marketing environment is communication, with a large amount of single video
necessary. The following two points are most relevant viewing, but the conversion rate of fans is low. Brands
and worthy of attention. don’t make marketing plans according to the
characteristics of different social platforms. They can’t
The first is the changing social media environment.
give full play to the advantages of each platform to attract
Today’s era is the era of the Internet and new media.
platform users with maximum efficiency, which makes
Technologies such as Internet platforms, instant
the marketing strategies unsystematic, unreasonable and
messaging tools, social software, and video platforms are
inefficient.
constantly developing and gradually surpassing the
traditional media in approaching consumers.
3.3 Interaction with consumers
The second is the change in consumer attitudes. First
of all, consumers no longer passively receive information When a brand publicizes on a social platform, it is
from companies in this technological environment but often only one-way output, which only pays attention to
have more initiative. Therefore, the interaction between transmitting information and neglects to collect customer
consumers and businesses becomes more critical. In feedback. The interactive value of social media
addition, with the rapid development of society and the marketing cannot be fully realized. Brand lacks
upgrading of consumption, consumers pursue individual communication and interaction with consumers, so
expression and social needs, which requires milk tea enterprises can not accurately understand the real needs
shops to have social attributes and attract customers with of consumers, which is not conducive to the improvement
personalized brand experience [4]. and update of the brand’s products. Secondly, there is a
sense of distance between consumers and brands.
In the marketing environment mentioned above, Consumers have no channels to express their opinions
many milk tea brands, from large to small, have begun to and demands, making consumers poorly understand the
change their traditional marketing approaches and user experience.
integrate network and new media marketing into their
marketing methods. Many brands use social media 3.4 Marketing channel
platforms for marketing campaigns, such as running
Wechat public accounts to show customers information Almost all milk tea brands are only promoted through
about products and events or partnering with food social media platforms. This marketing method is too
delivery apps. However, with the popularity of social single, and the promotion only by this method is not
media, such a marketing approach has become almost an strong enough. Although the marketing cost of social
essential requirement for keeping up with time. In order media platforms is low and users’ coverage is
to make better use of social media for marketing and gain comprehensive, too many milk tea brands use this
comparative advantages, there is still a lot to be improved channel to publicize easily to cause crowding, and the
in the social media of the milk tea industry. same propaganda content leads to the decline of brand
resolution. Besides, now most users who are often active
3.2 Social media marketing methods on social media platforms are young people born after the
90s and 00s. People of other age groups are not keen on
By April 2020, the number of Internet users in China surfing the Internet. If the brand only use social media
has reached 1.011 billion, and the Internet penetration marketing strategies, some people may not be able to get
rate has reached 70%. Many customers provide a good information about the brand, and thus the brand may miss
foundation for tea companies to carry out new online some customer groups.
media marketing. Nowadays, most milk tea brands adopt
social media communication marketing strategies. They 3.5 Lack of diversity and personality in social
open accounts on major social platforms, such as the
media marketing content
official WeChat account, Sina Weibo, Xiaohongshu, Tik
Tok, and so on. They use social accounts to publish Many milk tea brands release tweets and other
advertisements and recent activity information. But most content on social media platforms, which are mainly used
of the time, the content they post on each platform is as tools to display their products and activity information.
almost the same, which leads users to see the same However, in the milk tea industry with serious product
information when browsing different platforms homogeneity, such marketing content lacks diversity and

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personality, and it is easy to make consumers tired. The netizens. Many users publicized the theme song MV on
research and development of new products are, of course, the Internet, and some users released videos adapted from
necessary. Still, the whole industry is struggling to make the theme song of MIXUE. In Tik Tok, the theme song
products more eye-catching, so product innovation is has played more than 1.3 billion, which instantly made
more complicated and rapidly upgrading. A brand only many users know the brand through the theme song, and
depending on its product diversification and the brand awareness jumped. The theme song is also
differentiation efforts will be difficult to obtain a played in the physical store, attracting customers to come
sustainable competitive advantage. here, and turning the heat into actual sales by combining
online and offline.
In the face of more and more kinds of milk tea flavors
and ingredients and the standard promotional discounts
and festival activities, milk tea brands need unique and 4.2 Pay attention to two-way emotional
personalized flash points to attract customers. With the interaction
change of consumers’ attitude, the milk tea industry
Enterprises should pay more attention to consumer
cannot succeed just by selling products as in the past.
feedback and evaluation in making social media
Brand experience and social functions are the key for a
marketing plans. Brands should give consumers enough
brand to stand out.
opportunities to express their ideas and needs. They can
guide consumers to share and spread brands actively.
3.6 Low contribution to sales and customer
buying For example, A Little from Taiwan Province opened
a mini-program on WeChat to provide consumers with
Some milk tea brands launched some social media personalized, customized milk tea. In addition to the
campaigns and gained considerable attention at that time, original menu, customers can mix whatever drinks they
but most of them failed to maintain and sustain the want through the mini program. In this way, besides its
popularity they gained. Sometimes, the campaign gets a value, the product also is added the value created by
lot of popularity but doesn’t contribute as much to the customers. Besides, “A Little” regularly launches topics
increase in sales as expected. The milk tea brands need to or activities such as “Unlocking the Hidden Menu” on
effectively influence consumers’ purchasing behavior social media platforms by taking advantage of the
through social media marketing and vigorously improve characteristics of personalized drinks, and it encourages
the conversion rate from social media popularity to brand consumers to share their unique milk tea with social
attention and product sales. platforms. In this way, customers are used to attracting
more new customers. The brand broadens the contact
4. DISCUSSION channels between the enterprise and customers and
realizes the benign interaction between both sides.
This paper puts forward the following suggestions According to statistics, the search term “A Little’s hidden
because of the above problems. menu” has reached more than one million hits. It can be
seen that the effect of this marketing method is
4.1 Suit measures to local conditions remarkable.

According to the characteristics of different 4.3 Broaden marketing channels

platforms, design the corresponding publicity content.
Make use of the platform’s advantages to maximize the When making product marketing strategies, brands
transformation of platform users into consumers. Brands should expand to multiple channels and use the
can publish formal content on the WeChat official cooperation of various channels to improve the publicity
account, such as new product listing, large-scale effect. Firstly, enterprises can carry out discount
activities, etc. In Weibo and Xiaohongshu, it’s reasonable activities in physical stores and use online channels to
to print the daily operation of stores and forward the attract customers to participate in offline stores. Face-to-
evaluation and sharing of consumers. On Tik Tok, face offline activities can make customers feel the
promoting brand’s products through creative short brand’s excellent service in all directions and learn more
videos. about the brand culture. Secondly, brands can increase
For example, in 2019, MIXUE released a theme song their popularity by cross-border co-branding. Using the
on Bilibili, which was adapted from the classic American fame and reputation of other brands to let more potential
folk song “Oh, Suzanna” [6]. The whole song has only customers know about themselves, thus occupying a
two lyrics: “You love me, I love you”. After the release larger market share. In addition, cross-border brands help
of the theme song, it instantly became famous all over the enterprises incorporate new elements into their original
network. Because of the simple lyrics, it was easy for products, forming differences with other peer brands,
people to remember after listening to it, and the familiar increasing the competitiveness of products, and meeting
melody aroused the resonance of a large number of the needs of new consumers.

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For example, HEYTEA has cross-border joint names Secondly, milk tea brands should coordinate social
with many industry brands, and there are cases of media marketing with brand advertising and other
cooperation with HEYTEA from clothing, make-up to traditional marketing methods and functions to achieve
the tourist hotel industry[7]. HEYTEA is committed to sustainable and extendable marketing. Social media
shaping the brand image of calm, design, and marketing will become a universal basic marketing tool
youthfulness. HEYTEA pays attention to whether it fits as it becomes common. If used alone, the effect will
its brand image when choosing a cooperative brand. At become worse and worse. Only forming a systematic
the same time, cross-border cooperation is used to composition can produce the best results[10].
interpret its brand in many ways, enrich and complete the
brand image, and make consumers have a more vivid 5. CONCLUSION
understanding and richer association with the brand
image of HEYTEA. 5.1 Key findings
4.4 Increase diversity and personality in social This paper mainly studies the social media marketing
media marketing content of the Chinese milk tea industry and puts forward five
problems. First, most brands’ efforts in social media
In order to deliver diversified and personalized social marketing are not enough. The existing social media
media marketing content, brands should break out of the strategies and approaches are not systematic and
bondage of traditional thinking and make efforts to reasonable enough; Second, in the social media
deliver multiple brand values. marketing of many brands, the interaction with
consumers is not sufficient. Third, their social media
Firstly, brands should consider diversified brand
marketing models are relatively single, lacking
characteristics and experience as marketing content. For
integration of various measures. Fourth, social media
example, in addition to the traditional milk tea flavors as
marketing content lacks personality and diversity; Fifth,
marketing content, HEYTEA also develops a variety of
the conversion rate from social media campaigns to
peripheral products in different forms, committed to
consumers’ purchasing behavior is low.
deepening its brand image in multiple dimensions [8].
Because of these problems, this paper studies the
Secondly, brands should encourage consumers’
successful marketing cases of some brands in the industry
personalized expression to personalize marketing
and puts forward the following optimization suggestions
content. For example, A Little Milk Tea personalized its
respectively. First, The characteristics of different social
products as a core selling point of social media marketing
media platforms and communication methods should be
and encouraged consumers to create their drinks[3].
considered when carrying out marketing activities to
Another example is MIXUE. The social media campaign
formulate marketing plans reasonably and effectively.
of its theme MV strongly supported UGC content, such
Second, brands should encourage two-way emotional
as the second creation of its MV[9], to encourage
interaction with consumers through social media
consumers to participate spontaneously.
marketing and encourage consumers to share feedback
Thirdly, the brand should grasp its positioning and and actively spread the brand. Third, social media
build a unique brand culture that can arouse the resonance marketing channels should be broadened and extended.
of the audience. For example, Sexy Tea uses traditional Fourth, social media marketing content should closely
culture as its brand background and integrates classical follow the brand context and highly enhance the brand
Chinese elements into all aspects of its social media value.
marketing.
5.2 Research significance
4.5 Enhance brand value propositions and
coordinate with other marketing methods From the marketing concept and practical case study
perspective, this paper summarizes the current situation,
In order to improve the contribution of social media leading problems, and corresponding social media
marketing to customer purchasing behavior, it is marketing solutions in the Chinese milk tea industry,
necessary to consider all factors comprehensively. This which can be used as a guide for milk tea companies to
paper draws on social media marketing research in formulate social media marketing strategies. In the
general and proposes the following points to pay pandemic, offline marketing activities have been
attention to. hindered. Therefore, online social media marketing has
become more important, and brands should take this
When developing social media marketing content, opportunity to develop in a new proper way. In this
milk tea brands should skillfully integrate more brand context, this paper can provide ideas for China’s milk tea
value propositions and product information and avoid industry to transform and upgrade in a new direction.
deviation from the brand context and blind pursuit for
fun, which would otherwise put the cart before the horse.

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5.3 Limitations [10] G.T. Zheng, Great Attention but No Sales, Social
Media Marketing Boom Dilemma, China
The limitations of this paper lie mainly in the research Marketing, no. 03, 2021, pp: 46–49.
method. This paper primarily analyzed the secondary
data but lacked primary data collection and analysis.
Future research will collect first-hand data through
questionnaires, interviews, and other forms to make more
authentic and comprehensive data sources. Statistical
analysis and predictive analysis will be used to draw
patterns and trends hidden in data to conduct more
accurate and specific research and draw more insightful
conclusions.

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