Enter Chinese Market Via Digital Means
If recent trends are anything to go by, the Chinese market is rife for business growth. Chinese consumerism and the appreciative nature of their customer pool to new products make the region an appropriate destination for new products and businesses. Further, the country’s large population makes it ideal for many new companies looking to maximize their profits by reaching out to a large customer pool.
Like any new market demographic anywhere in the world, the Chinese market has certain specific attributes that every business should be aware of before launching into it. Granted, one of the fool-proof ways of entering the Chinese market is through digital marketing. However, it is essential to note that traditional digital marketing strategies may not work for some of the Chinese markets. This article gives five tips you must follow when entering the Chinese market to give you a reasonable chance of success.
Address The Chinese Consumer
Marketing is a consumer-centered activity. When trying to appeal to a new customer, you need to take your time to learn about the customer, their preferences, what makes them tick, and what is likely to appeal to them. As with any demographic worldwide, Chinese consumers have unique habits. To adequately engage Chinese digital marketing, you must understand these habits and incorporate them into your marketing strategy.
One technique you can exploit to address the Chinese consumer is to use language that is culturally aware and sensitive to the Chinese people. The Chinese have a long and deep heritage and tradition tracing back centuries. Such traditions are expected to be deeply entrenched in the Chinese lifestyle to affect consumer habits. Therefore, always appreciate the power of localizing the content on your digital platforms to reflect Chinese culture and tradition.
A little caveat, though. Although reflecting the Chinese traditions in your digital marketing strategy is paramount, this is not to say that you should forget all the Western attributes associated with your brand. When reaching out to Chinese consumers, remember that some stereotypes related to Western culture draw them to your brand. Try incorporating these stereotypes into your digital marketing strategy alongside Chinese traditions to give your brand an authentic feel.
Chinese Social Media Is Different
Chinese Social Media products wildly differ from their Western counterparts. Where Western countries use Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp, Chinese people use WeChat, Tencent QQ, Douyin, and Sina Weibo. For the Chinese consumer, these platforms provide local content and have a larger market share than those from Western companies. While some Chinese users would also have Western social media apps on their devices, they hardly use them when interacting with friends and business partners from other countries.
You need to increase your presence on Chinese social media platforms to reach a larger Chinese audience. This means you must have a team conversing with all the specifics surrounding these social media platforms and the regulatory aspects involved.
One interesting thing to note is that for most Chinese users, their social media platforms also have e-commerce capabilities. For instance, WeChat has both social media capabilities and payment functionalities involved. This means you can market your goods and services on WeChat, sell your products, and receive payment without leaving the platform.
Influencer Marketing
One of the things the Chinese market has that is similar to other countries is the use of influencer marketing to push new products. If you want to increase your brand’s reach in the Chinese digital market, you need to reach out to influencers within the Chinese social media platforms and networks. Having such influencers create a buzz around your products can go a long way to increasing the traction of your brand in the region.
Choosing an influencer can be a challenging task. You need to identify the influencers within the region that have both a cultural appeal and are considered authentic reviewers of different products. You want to use something other than influencers that could tarnish your brand’s image. As such, some cultural icons you could use are sportspersons, musicians, and technology experts if your brand deals in tech. Such individuals may be in an excellent position to give your products the right touch to seep into the Chinese market.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) In China
While most of the world uses Google, Bing, and Yahoo as their primary search engines, the Chinese market uses Baidu, a search engine specifically tailored for Chinese consumers. This is one thing you need to understand when joining the Chinese market. As such, you need to have a team that specializes in search engine optimization for Baidu.
Since the Chinese consumerism culture differs from most of the world, the optimization strategies you use must reflect the specifics of the Chinese market. In the long run, this will increase your brand’s visibility and ultimately give you an edge over other companies within your market niche.
Digital Marketing Is Never Static
Marketing is a very dynamic activity. As consumer culture and tastes are constantly changing, so should your marketing strategies. To be effective in the Chinese market, you must constantly monitor the effectiveness of your strategies and make alterations to befit the situation. Using the same strategy time and again may yield good results in the short term. However, failure to make changes as the times do could reduce the relevance of your brand to future generations.
As a new brand entering the Chinese market, you must strive to remain relevant for a long time. Constantly evaluating your marketing strategy guarantees that you achieve that.
Wrapping Up
As with any new market, entering the Chinese market through digital marketing can be a daunting and enervating task. However, with the proper techniques and strategies, you can reach Chinese consumers and increase your brand’s visibility in the new market. To engage the Chinese audience effectively, ensure you learn their culture and reflect it into your marketing strategy.
Further, learn how to make China-specific social media platforms and search engines to suit your needs. Using influencers with a good reputation within the Chinese market will prove worthwhile when you start, especially when creating a buzz around your products. Finally, remember the power of constantly changing your strategy to meet new customer needs!
