Our China Blog
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…
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.
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…
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…
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…
China Email Marketing and Chinese Anti-Spam Laws
China email marketing is still one of the most effective direct marketing channels and it is widely used by marketers. The main appeal of email marketing is in its relative low cost combined with the ability to get your message directly to the recipient’s inbox, or a smartphone as it is increasingly becoming the case. Excellent ROI and enormous reach of email campaigns, provided, of course, that your email manages to bypass spam filters, are what make this channel an important component in the overall marketing strategy. read more…
Checklist for Building your China Web Presence
Getting serious about setting up Chinese website for your business? There are a few important things to keep in mind before investing time and efforts into building your China web presence. Getting it right will enable your Chinese website to rank high with the main search engines. Get it wrong and your website may not show up high enough in searches to be found or, worse, will never be indexed by Baidu.
Here are the top 10 items on your China web presence check list:
#1: Subdomains or multiple domains
How to Setup Live Support for Chinese Website
Having been spoiled by Taobao, China’s online consumers often expect instant live support for Chinese website. Here is how to do it easily and cheaply.
One of the most critical components for a successful conversion of online consumers is being able to communicate with them in real, or almost real time. In this post we are going to look at how to incorporate and use live support for Chinese website.
Chinese online consumers have already been spoiled by near instant customer support on major ecommerce sites. For example, large percentage of shoppers on Taobao would often initiate online chat session with a seller before taking a decision to make a purchase.
Regardless of whether it is a product sold from a website or an online service, Chinese visitors would expect to be able to ask questions and get answers within minutes. read more…
Hosting Website in China: ICP License and Why You May Need It
Did you know that you need a special permit called ICP license in order to host a website in China? Here we explain what it is and whether you need one.
The main benefit of having a website hosted in China is much faster loading time compared to the same site hosted out of the country. There is no question that faster loading speed can benefit your website from both user experience and SEO standpoints. What’s more, there is practically no chance that your site may get blocked in China for simply being unlucky enough to share a server with a blacklisted site (it does happen). read more…
Marketing on Douban, a Unique Chinese Social Network
Douban is one of the lesser known social medial platforms in China which has been around since 2005 and still enjoys widespread popularity. It has about 60 million registered and about 150 million unregistered users. In fact, one of the unique features of the network is the fact that users, who are not registered, can still enjoy 90% of the site’s functionality.
Marketing on Douban offers some unique opportunities for brands targeting niche audiences and could present an interesting opportunity to explore. In this post we are going to have a closer look at the options.
Targeting Chinese Companies: Part 2: Communication Channels
This post continues on the topic of the most efficient ways to communicate with Chinese businesses. In the first part, we’ve discussed the role of trade shows, exhibitions and conferences.
In the second part we are going to look at each of the remaining communication channels:
Email communication is one of the preferred ways to communicate with your customers in China, also being the most convenient method to maintain contact with your existing clients. read more…
9 Points Checklist for Building Your Chinese Landing Page
Building Chinese landing page that targets visitors in China requires taking into account an additional set of guidelines besides the typical requirements for landing pages.
First, let start with the definition of – a landing page (or LP) is where your potential customer “lands” first after clicking your link in the search results, social media or an email. read more…
Targeting Chinese Companies: Part 1: Trade Shows, Exhibitions & Conferences
What are the most efficient ways to communicate with Chinese companies from the seller’s point of view? The answer to this question depends on what type of product or service you are selling and at what stage of the sales process you are. Making an initial contact, contacting repeated customer or maintaining a relationship require slightly different approaches, one of which is participation in trade shows/exhibitions and conferences.
The following conclusions are primarily based on our B2B marketing experience in China as well as the research by Matthew Harrison and Mark Hedley of B2B International. read more…
Pros and Cons of Hosting a Site in China
Foreign websites that are looking to target Chinese audience are often presented with the dilemma regarding physical location of their server. There is also a lot of conflicting information about whether local hosting is important, as well as to what degree it affects site’s performance and ranking in the search engines.
In this post, we attempt to summarize various pros and cons of having your site hosted in China. read more…
WeChat Marketing Checklist: Where Should You Place WeChat QR Code
Promoting brand’s official WeChat account is the trickiest part of WeChat marketing. Scanning WeChat QR code is the primary method for the followers to subscribe to a WeChat account but where should you display it? Companies have been trying hard to make sure that it shows in every place where there is a chance to get a smartphone camera pointed to it and some have become quite innovative.
If your company has a WeChat account, you should go through our checklist to make sure that you have all the bases covered. read more…
5 Common Misconceptions About WeChat Marketing
In the last couple of years, WeChat marketing has been a hot topic. The app is, by far, the most used one in China and it is estimated to be installed on over 90% of smartphones. The combination of the enormous potential reach and the possibility for brands to connect with their customers in the most intimate way makes WeChat marketing one of the important components of the overall marketing strategy.
On the other hand, many foreign brands, who want to jump in on WeChat, don’t realize that the platform comes with the number of limitations. While in some cases and if done right, WeChat marketing can be incredibly effective, in other cases the results can be quite disappointing. read more…
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