Digital Marketing Tips in China for Overseas Brands

Marketing in China means having a marketing strategy tailored to the rules and customs of the Chinese market. 
 

Social Media Marketing in China
Like in other parts of the world, social media advertising is an important aspect of marketing in China. While you might have a great product, this is not enough to secure success in marketing it to the Chinese market. It is critical to make your products stand out. However, there is a cost and time factor involved with using social media advertising that you should be aware of before implementing your digital marketing strategy. In fact different channels can better resonate with particular demographics or industries. 
 
For easier understand, let’s have a look of  Top apps in China and what they are similar to in the West 
 
As far as interface and objectives go, many of the marketing channels in China draw parallels with the more popular channels of the West. For example:
 
Baidu is similar to Google

It is the top search engine in China. However — unlike Google —  Baidu is strictly focused on the local Chinese market. And Google cannot be accessed within China.
Baidu and Google are similar in that they both offer a suite of tools in addition to their core offering of search. For example, Baidu’s suite includes social products, knowledge products, music, games, translation, and ad platforms etc.
Advertising on Baidu generally takes not much limit on product type or demographic reasons.
 
Douyin and Kuaishou as TikTok


Douyin is the Chinese version of TikTok. They’re both made by ByteDance, a company based in Beijing. Both apps feature an interactive short-video platform and popular influencers. However, Douyin is much more advanced as an e-commerce platform.

Using just a few clicks, the 400 million users of Douyin can buy a product they see featured in a video, or make a reservation at a nearby establishment and receive a discount. Also, there are professional sellers livestreaming sales of all kinds of products. This feature had been tested in the west world but not successful. Kuaishou also support this feature and becoming a strong rival in livestreaming e-commerce. Both Douyin and Kuaishou set up CBEC platforms now, focusing on overseas products.

 
 
WeChat as WhatsApp, but much powerful

WeChat and WhatsApp are chat apps — connecting you to other people in your contacts list — that’s just about where the similarity ends.

WeChat has a much higher level of functionality than WhatsApp. WeChat includes ‘sub-apps’  as they named mini-programme within the platform for shopping, gaming, banking, sending money, and more. On top of this, WeChat currently has more than 1 billion users, which makes it the most used app for Chinese consumers. In fact, almost all local and state government organs, schools, hospitals and other organizations have their own official account to post statement and notices. Not long ago, other than chatting and sharing moments, it launched its short video feature, trying to cut a piece of cake in the vigorous growing short video market. And of course, the high rate of use, engagement, and functionality make it an amazing option for advertising.
In fact, luxury brands as well as FFCG brands insert advertisment among users’ Wechat.
 
Weibo as Twitter

Weibo is a microblogging platform that allows users to send short, concise posts out to followers and the world — much like Twitter. But there are a few key differences between these popular apps, too.
Weibo has a more sophisticated in-app video streaming platform, allowing users to watch entire clips without leaving the app. It is an official platform for government organs, media and celebrities to make announcement. It also support picture sharing, long article and many other features. It has a extremely influential ranking of topics searched on its platform called “Weibo Hot Search”, often used as a benchmark to define whether something or some is the must popular news in China.
 
Toutiao is similar to Facebook News Feed or Flipboard
 

Toutiao is difficult to compare to any other global app. It’s is a news aggregator that analyzes its user’s interaction with content, and then generates a tailored feed list for each user. It could be compared to the Facebook news feed (without the rest of the Facebook platform) or possibly Flipboard, as a frame of reference.

Toutiao boasts more than 700 million users with more than 200,000 articles and videos added to the platform each day — and that’s caught the attention of content marketers  across the world! Its users are mostly mid-aged, more likely have already developed mature tastes and not easily moved by new engagement on social media.
 
RED Xiaohongshu is similar to Instagram Shopping

 

RED  is similar to Instagram’s shopping feature, but much more advanced.
The app is aptly described as a ‘social commerce’ platform. In RED, users can explore and discover predominantly luxury goods — such as beauty products or clothing from influencers — and view reviews left by other users. Understandably, active users are mostly young women.
Similar to Instagram Shopping, RED has become an incredibly popular immersive e-commerce experience for its 300million users, as well as both foreign and domestic advertisers
 
 
WKI will discuss more about marketing strategy in China in following articles. WKI understand that you don’t need more experts to tell you that market research and find a right business partner or to come with a budget. There are still two vital points to take in before you make any decision about China market.
 
China requires that any business that advertises in China get a license
 
While a business may not necessarily need to obtain a license to sell a product in China, you can use dealer, it will need a license to legally advertise in the country. So as to sell or advertise on any of these social media platforms.
 
 Understand it’s a long term investment 
Breaking into the Chinese market takes both time and capital. Once you gain that momentum, the pay-off can be extremely rewarding. 
 
Contact us to find out more.
 

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