Almost 80% of searches in China are conducted through Baidu, making it by far the country’s biggest search engine. Baidu advertising, however, is hugely different to advertising on Western sites such as Google, Facebook or LinkedIn. So, if you’ve been looking to expand into the Chinese market, or you require some help with your online marketing in China, here’s what you need to know about Baidu advertising.

1. A lot of bureaucracy is involved

Like every other country operating in China, Baidu is regulated heavily by the government. It means that, if a Western company wants to advertise on Baidu, plenty of paperwork and contracts can be involved. To advertise on the search engine Baidu, a company registration document and a finance document need to be scanned before an advertising account can be created. Any other documents if required, especially for highly restricted industries, like finance, healthcare, airline. Without the right documentation in place, it’s not possible to advertise on Baidu. Please see one of our previous blog posts to learn more about how to create Baidu PPC account. To be fair, this is pretty common when advertising on any Chinese site, search engine or social network. Although the process may be alien to some, with the right help, it can be painless and straightforward.

2. Baidu advertising in Mandarin is recommended

Although having Mandarin landing pages isn’t completely essential, it is recommended. If you think about the user, they’ll be conducting their search in Mandarin, and will therefore expect the subsequent landing page to be in the same language. Whilst it’s entirely possible to have an English landing page with Mandarin keywords, the fact is that Mandarin landing pages perform much better. The huge majority of users who click through to an English landing page after conducting a search in Mandarin are going to leave almost immediately. This means your landing page gets an unwanted high bounce rate which in turn could lead to an unsuccessful campaign.

3. There are cultural and social differences

What may work for western audiences may not work in China at all. It’s worth taking this into account if you plan on advertising on Baidu. It’s important to do your research beforehand and speak to people with experience of advertising in the market. Trends are constantly changing, as are the requirements of consumers, so some outside knowledge could be hugely valuable, especially in the early stages of the campaign.

4. The audience is potentially huge

You’ll already be well aware that China has the biggest population in the world, and out of that population, there are 700+ million internet users, making the country also home to the largest online population. While those figures are enticing, it’s absolutely crucial that you know what type of audience you want to attract before you start your Baidu advertising campaign. You should also have a realistic budget in place when you’re attempting to attract from what is a huge market.

Baidu advertising, and advertising in China in general, may be more tricky than advertising in different regions throughout the world, but with the correct approach and know-how, you can make a success of it. For help setting up your Baidu campaign, be sure to contact us to discuss your goals – we’ll be more than happy to assist with any questions you may have.