You need to know your Chinese customers in order to be able to market to them effectively via social media marketing in China. Understanding their behaviour, and how they interact with certain platforms, makes it easier for you to successfully engage them with your marketing.

Online, Chinese consumers have very different behaviours to Western consumers. The things they value, and the content they create and share, are very different to Western users. If you want to succeed in your online marketing in China, you need to know exactly what internet users like, value, and respond to.

Chinese social media affects buying decisions

Personal recommendation is one of the best marketing assets any company has. A customer is likely to give an honest account of the quality of service and products you provide, which can encourage other customers to buy.

This is truer in China than anywhere else in the world. Chinese consumers are more influenced by personal recommendation than any other consumers in the world (source: McKinsey & Company). The more people on social media talking about how great your company and products are, the more likely you are to get new customers.

Chinese travellers are brand loyal, and expect something in return

Social media has given consumers across the world a new way of interacting with their favourite brands. A study towards the end of 2013 found that Chinese social media users are more likely than Western users to follow travel brands on social media, including travel providers, hotels, and airlines.

At the same time, the study showed that there may be another motive besides brand engagement to Chinese social media users’ willingness to engage. The Asia Pacific Social Media Monitor found that users were often brand loyal in the hope of receiving discounts or other special offers in return (source: ThinkDigital.Travel).

Chinese internet users are always reviewing

As mentioned earlier, testimonials and recommendations from other customers is a powerful tool for marketing and driving sales. Customer reviews are very important for this, as they share the real experience of doing business with you for other potential buyers to see.

Chinese internet users love to talk, it seems. In the West around 20% of social media users rate content, products, shows or services and/or post reviews at least once a month. In China, this is something that is done by 75% of internet users (source: Contagious).

How to use this information when social media marketing in China

These behaviours could drastically change the ways you planned to market in China. A travel provider could find themselves failing to retain followers if they don’t know that their customers are expecting discounts. And if you were unaware of the Chinese tendency to review, you could potentially miss out on a wealth of data about your company and products that your customers have provided you.

There is much more left to understand about the Chinese consumer. Using Market Me China, you can ensure you deliver effective campaigns that work with consumer behaviour to generate the best results.

(Image source: “Global People” | www.freedigitalphotos.net)