Granfluencers, sometimes called “silver” influencers, are older influencers who have become increasingly influential in the Chinese social media sphere. Once a novelty aimed at attracting young people, who were previously the dominant demographic on social media, they are now normalised and primarily cater to the growing number of mature users, especially on short-form video platforms such as Douyin, Kuaishou and WeChat Channels.
Data from QuestMobile shows that as of last September, the “silver” internet user had reached 239 million, and the average screen time was 129 hours per month. On Douyin, top “silver” influencers in the fashion lifestyle category, “Unc Mona” (末那大叔), “Gran Wang only wears heels” (只穿高跟鞋的汪奶奶) and “Kangkang and Grandpa” (康康和爷爷) have reached 15 million, 12 million and 6 million followers respectively, while the “relaxed country life” category saw “I’m Gran Tian” (我是田姥姥) and “Gran Pan” (潘姥姥) both achieve a following of more than 34 million.
Similarly, Rednote has also seen a wave of older influencers taking over. Retirement lifestyle is one of the hottest categories. Aunty Meiying (梅英阿嬷) gained over 200,000 new followers with her block-busting hashtag “how does a 90-year-old girl with self-discipline spend her day” (90岁自律女生高能量的一天是如何度过的) as young Rednote users admire the relaxed but productive retirement lifestyle. Meanwhile, fashion and food granfluencers on Rednote are still attracting younger followers, different from Douyin and Kuaishou.
All platforms are trying to monetise the trend of “silver influencers” via ads and e-commerce “seeding”. Those only targeting older audiences still face difficulty in converting their viewers into shoppers. With large MCN (multi-channel network) agencies such as Austin Li Jiaqi’s Meione already targeting “silver” users, many believe that there’s great potential with this demographic.