Our China Blog
Basics of China Keyword Research: Baidu Index
Baidu Index Tutorial
Being the largest search engine in China, Baidu keyword research should be the one to start with. Currently, Baidu offers Baidu Index tool that is free for Baidu advertising accounts, offering some basic information to users. read more…
Basics of China Keyword Research: Weibo Index
Weibo Index Tutorial
In terms of monthly users, Weibo is the second largest Chinese social media platform after WeChat. However, unlike WeChat, it is still primarily PC based. Weibo is one of the most powerful marketing tools in China offering wide range of possibilities for reaching people across various demographics and psychographics. read more…
Successful China Marketing Strategies: Lessons from Evernote
Evernote is the most popular online note taking app that works across multiple platforms and devices. Since its launch in 2008, Evernote became one of the most successful stories in tech space, managing to acquire millions of dedicated users and devoted fans, over 100 million according to company’s figures, myself included. They have also realized early on the huge potential of Chinese market and succeeded in developing and deploying effective strategy in China.
Just one year after its launch in China in 2013, Evernote was already claiming 4 million users. Last year, China has become its second largest market with reported 20 million users. Yinxiang Biji, it’s Chinese company, has recently announced its plans to go public in China. read more…
Web Presence Localization in China, Part 1: Translation
Having localized website for Chinese market is one of the essential steps a foreign company should take in order to build trust and improve brand awareness locally. Localization is not the same as translation of the content, although translation is the major part of it. Our experience suggests that it isn’t a quick process and, most importantly, it requires careful planning and verifying every step with your contractor.
If you are on a bootstrap budget, the first thing to try would be finding a freelance translator through sites like Upwork or Freelancer. It’s by far the cheapest option but could also be a hit and miss. Typically, we always suggest to have your site translated to both Simplified Chinese for Mainland China audience and to Traditional Chinese used in Hong Kong and Taiwan. read more…
Online Fraud in China Digital Advertising Is Its Biggest Problem
The main reason why online advertising has overtaken traditional channels in almost every area is that it is more measurable, thus can be made more effective. However, what undermines this efficiency is the proliferation of fraud in the form of “non-human” traffic.
Being a worldwide industry problem, China’s digital advertising market seems to be one of the worst affected ones. Chinese internet is the second most popular advertising media after television and was estimated at $55.48 billion by the end of 2018 according to China Daily. Unfortunately, advertisers’ losses could account for up to third of that amount, mostly lost to non-human traffic and fraudulent CTR (click through rate). read more…
China B2B Marketing Success: 12 Most Common Questions
Understanding China B2B marketing environment is the key to success in the market which is often described and the “world factory”, producing every product imaginable. Here are the 12 Q&As on this topic that we have consolidated for our B2B clients.
China Marketing Alternatives: 360 Search SEM
Being the second largest search engine in China, 360 Search is a powerful alternative to Baidu. In fact, 360 Search SEM can become a very effective tool for China marketing strategy.
When considering China SEM strategy, Baidu is usually the one that gets most attention from marketers. It is primarily due to its larger reach – by different accounts, Baidu holds between 60 to 70% of China search engine market. read more…
China Marketing Alternative: 360 Search PPC Campaign
Baidu PPC doesn’t have to be the only China SEM option. Thanks to lower CPC and higher conversion rate, 360 Search PPC campaign offers a cost-effective alternative for China marketers.
10 Features of Mobile Apps Market in China
With China’s smartphone market reaching 800 million users, the mobile apps space has been quite busy. Given its mobile and ecommerce growth, coupled with rapidly improving mobile infrastructure, China presents an enormous opportunity for both apps developers and marketers.
There are considerable challenges in achieving success in the mobile apps market. read more…
5 Most Useful Features of WeChat for Marketers
After reaching nearly 1 billion registered users, WeChat continues to reign supreme in China social media landscape. From marketer’s standpoint, the platform is still limited in many way due to its more private nature compared to other social media channels. On the other hand, some unique features of WeChat for marketers that can be used quite effectively.
In this post we are going to have a look at top 5 of them.
5 Most Useful Features of WeChat for Marketers
Best Strategies for Selling Products Online in China
How do you go about selling your products online directly to China’s consumers? Do you setup your own online store or plug into the existing China’s ecommerce ecosystem? In this post, I will attempt to shed some light on the available choices.
As of now, China’s e-commerce sector is more than three times the size of the US market, which currently ranks distant second.
Chinese Brands and Consumer Trust Issues
It is no secret that Chinese consumers quite often distrust Chinese brands. Recent food scandals involving local firms have brought the reputation of some of them to all times low, some even thought beyond repair.
The number of surveys indicate that Chinese are increasingly looking toward foreign brands at the expense of Chinese brands for everything from food and cosmetics to airlines and hotels. This means more opportunities for foreign companies considering increasing their foothold in Chinese market and winning more customers at the expense of the local competition. read more…
Building Chinese Website: 15 Points Checklist
Building a Chinese website for a foreign brand maybe not be as straight forward task as in the case of other markets. Thanks to a unique nature of Chinese internet and various market specifics, brands must modify their approach for establishing China web presence.
read more…
How to Promote a Brand on Weibo
At the end of 2013, Sina Weibo was pushed from its number one spot among Chinese social media services by Tencent’s WeChat, a mobile based social media app. However, with the estimated 200+ million monthly users, Weibo still remains an extremely attractive venue for marketers.
In this post, we are going to review the primary routes for promotion and advertising on Sina Weibo. read more…
Color Perception Considerations in Marketing Design for Chinese Market
When it comes to design for marketing, does the color perception stays universal across cultures or are there significant differences?
Should marketers adopt cross-cultural approach in marketing communication or attempt to take into account psychological and socio-cultural associations and meanings that different colors convey in various cultures?
Most of the research on color theory has been done in the West and was primarily focused on Western color perceptions. It comes to no surprise that those perceptions differ significantly in the East. read more…
30 Ways Of How To Get WeChat Followers: Part III
We are often asked by our readers and clients on the most effective ways of how to get WeChat followers. In this post we publish the third part of our list of 30 ways of how to get WeChat followers.
For the second part of our list of 30 Ways of How To Get WeChat Followers go to Part II and here is the Part I. read more…
30 Ways of Getting WeChat Subscribers: Part II
We are often asked by our readers and clients on the most effective ways of getting WeChat subscribers. In this post we publish the second part of our list of 30 ways of getting WeChat subscribers.
For the first part of our list of 30 Ways of Getting WeChat Subscribers go to Part I.
30 ways of getting WeChat subscribers – part 2:
30 Ways of Getting WeChat Followers: Part I
We are often asked by our readers and clients on the most effective ways of getting WeChat followers. In this post we publish the first part of our list of 30 ways of getting WeChat followers.
Since WeChat, unlike most other social media platforms, is not a discovery network, getting WeChat followers doesn’t work in the same way either. On the other hand, what really matters is not the quantity but the quality of followers which is the main strength of WeChat as a marketing tool. read more…
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