Each animal in the Chinese zodiac has a set of characteristics that it passes on to people born in its namesake years. For instance, with 2015 being the Year of the Sheep (or Goat), many believe that people born this year will be creative, dependable and calm.

Just like the animals of the zodiac, your marketing in China needs to demonstrate certain traits. You might not find all of these on zodiac animals, but you will find them on winning campaigns.

Let’s take a look at what your marketing needs to be in 2015.

Organised

Many people market in bits and pieces. This could be because they have no strategy, or just because they feel they haven’t got the time to plan out their marketing. This kind of haphazard approach makes it difficult to get significant results.

Having a plan of action will make marketing your business much easier. Knowing what you have to do and when allows you to get on with it, rather than wasting time figuring out what to do next. Having a plan also keeps you on schedule: useful as posting and updating your content and marketing messages regularly gets the best results.

Sympathetic

You need to understand the wants and desires of your target market in order to market to them effectively. They want different things to your western consumers, and failing to realise this will make gaining a foothold in the China market difficult, if not impossible.

Take the time to understand what your Chinese customers want. What features of your product or company will really appeal to them, and how can you tailor your offering to get the best response?

Patient

No matter what kind of marketing you are undertaking, good results take time. People often expect an instant return on their marketing. Powerful marketing takes time to develop and implement. This time is used to become well established and create a strong relationship with potential customers.

Marketing that offers instant gratification may seem attractive in terms of getting your money back, but it won’t work in the long run. Only a planned and implemented long term strategy will give you a constant return on your investment. Get it right, and one marketing campaign could continue to provide strong returns for a very long time.

Adaptable

One of the strengths of a great marketing campaign is the ability to adapt depending upon what is working and what isn’t. You may find that a certain area of your marketing is vastly outperforming other aspects. This is what you want to focus on.

Your marketing should be able to adapt to focus on its strengths. You’ll find these out by testing and measuring its performance. Over time you’ll see what is getting the best results, and will be able to focus your efforts on those areas.

Marketing can be a complex science, but if you start with the basic principles you will be able to create solid and successful campaigns to help you gain some foothold in the China market.

(Image source: “Chinese Lanterns” | www.freedigitalphotos.net)