The Chinese market is a hugely exciting prospect for any Western brand. With its vast and dynamic digital economy and affluent consumers, it offers superb opportunities for international businesses.

But, the Chinese digital marketing landscape is unique, and very different from the West. To enjoy sustainable success, you need to get to grips with different platforms, consumer behaviours, and cultural nuances.

Whether you’re new to the Chinese market or seeking to grow your presence, the prospect of creating a successful Chinese digital marketing strategy can feel overwhelming!

So rather than trying to do it all at once, focus on the main areas of Chinese digital marketing initially, and then evolve your approach as you learn what works, using analytics to guide your delivery.

With that in mind, let’s cover what you need to know.

1. Understand the Chinese Digital Ecosystem

Western platforms such as Google, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram, are either blocked or irrelevant in China.

Instead, Chinese customers enjoy a vast and hugely sophisticated digital infrastructure that they use to carry out most areas of their lives, from search, social, gaming and news, to shopping, payments and service bookings.

The key platforms include:

• Baidu is China’s largest search engine, akin to Google. It’s vital for Western brands seeking visibility. SEO and PPC are your channels to master.
• WeChat is China’s original super app, with more than 1.3 billion monthly active users! It brings messaging, social media, mini-programs, and brand engagement, payments, gaming and more into one powerful space.
• Weibo is great for brands seeking to build awareness, KOL collabs and successful campaigns.
• Douyin is familiar as TikTok in the West, and packed with short-form videos that drive ecommerce and provide entertainment.
• RED (Xiaohongshu/Little Red Book) is a hugely popular lifestyle and e-commerce app, filled with UCG and particularly good for affluent working Chinese women with plenty of disposable income.
• Tmall & JD.com are the main e-commerce platforms where Chinese customers seek out high-quality global brands.

Take Action: The channels are different, and the Chinese digital marketing strategies you’ll need to employ are different too. Don’t waste time trying to cut & paste what you do in Western markets. Instead, invest in understanding the Chinese digital marketing landscape as part of your own strategy development.

2. Identify Your Chinese Target Audience

China is a vast country with distinct regional, demographic, online behaviour, and spending behaviours. This means you need to target your Chinese digital marketing strategy carefully. For example:

• Regional differences: A marketing strategy that delivers results in a tier 1 city like Shanghai might not work in a tier 3 city like Zhengzhou. For example, customers in tier 1 cities are driven by trends and have a global mindset. Customers in lower-tier cities often look for price and practicality.
• Generational differences: Chinese Millennials usually have plenty of disposable income and aspirational lifestyles. Brand storytelling, authenticity, and personalisation are important to them, as well as wellbeing and sustainability. Chinese Gen X customers love quality, luxury, value, and heritage brands that endure.

Take Action: Invest in targeted marketing research to understand your target Chinese demographic and the values that matter to them.

3. Localise carefully

Good localisation builds trust with Chinese consumers who might be cautious about a new international brand they aren’t familiar with. By localising your content, you can build this trust through a targeted brand message, branding, tone of voice, imagery and product offering.

Take Action: Invest in professional localisation services for language, and create a Chinese website with local hosting and Chinese user-journey optimisation. Show your commitment to Chinese customers with local customer support via live Chat or WeChat.

Remember cultural aspects too, such as symbols, Chinese cultural values (including respect, family, relationships, social harmony and loyalty), and remember Chinese holidays!

4. Make it Mobile-First

Over 99% of Chinese internet users go online via their smart phone, so make sure your digital ecosystem is mobile-friendly from the start.

This means having a fast-loading responsive website, WeChat official accounts, and mobile-friendly ads, such as videos. Consider Mini-Progams on WeChat too, for seamless purchase and service experiences. These are also great platforms for building a loyalty scheme.

Take action: Build your Chinese digital ecosystem with a mobile-first ethos, to get it right from the start! Remember to test UX on mobiles too, and with unique Chinese market needs in mind

(For example, did you know that Chinese online users scan online content differently from Western users? This sort of insight is vital to know before you invest time and money in digital asset development!)

5. Succeed With Social Media

Chinese social media is more of a social commerce model in China, which has one of the world’s most dynamic digital shopping environments. You’ll see everything from livestreaming and mini-program stores to short videos that drive impulse purchases.

Take action: Start small and test a starter campaign on a couple of campaigns that match your target audience. Test, refine and build upwards.

6. Leverage KOL partnerships

Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) are vital to your Chinese digital marketing success as they drive purchasing decisions heavily amongst their followers.

In the West, influencer marketing is typically targeted to brand awareness, but in China, it’s a direct sales channel. Chinese KOLs are highly skilled professionals with loyal followings on their target social media platforms.

Take action: Broker a trial partnership with a smaller, highly relevant KOL and test the waters!

7. Focus On Long-Term Results

It takes patience to build sustainable success in China, especially if you operate in saturated markets with strong competitor brands. Focus on building visibility and trust, and aim to be consistent. This means:

• Having a clear Chinese digital marketing plan with a supporting calendar- and sticking to it.
  Delivering regular, high-quality content on your chosen platforms and engaging with your audience in the ways they want (online chat, and forums, for example).
• Building a brand story that speaks to Chinese values
• Building Baidu SEO for organic search benefits over time
• Creating Baidu PPC campaigns on a ‘test and learn’ basis to understand what works for you.

8. Get Expert Help

The right Chinese digital marketing agency can help you to leapfrog common hurdles in the China market, and accelerate your access! At Market Me China, we offer highly skilled digital marketing professionals with native language skills, and we work on a flexible basis to meet your unique needs.
From negotiating KOL contracts to optimising your Baidu PPC campaigns, we’re here to maximise your budget’s ROI and help position your brand for success in China. To find out more, please contact our friendly team, who will be delighted to assist!