Our China Blog
Infographic: Online Behavior of Chinese Millennials
In this post, we’d like to share a new Infographic by Hylink on Chinese Millennials – people born in between early 80s to early 2000. Just it is the case with other countries, Chinese millennials are often described as “digital natives”, having grown up along with the development of new technologies.
What is unique in China’s millennials who are born around 90’s is the their size – 211 million which is already 5 times larger than their US counterparts. Perhaps not surprisingly, they are also glued to their phones – 50% reported checking their cellphones every 15 minutes.
Social media is the main source information for 70% of Chinese millennials and they spend almost twice the time of Americans watching online videos. read more…
How Does Advertising on Youku Work
Watching and sharing videos through social media is one of the most frequent and beloved activities of a typical China’s internet user. Due to YouTube’s inaccessibility from the Mainland, Youku has been the main video hosting service in China for some time. Since Youku‘s merger with Tudou, the second largest video host, back in 2012, Youku-Tudou is estimated to hold about 60% of the total online video market share in China.
Recent statistics show that there were about 430 million online video users in China and this number has been steadily growing at the annual rate of between 12 to 15% since 2007: read more…
5 Unique Taobao App Features That Boost Sales On Mobile
More than half of the sales on China’s largest ecommerce platform, Taobao, are going through its mobile app. Browsing through Taobao products on a smartphone has become one of the most popular past times of Chinese mobile users after using WeChat. Here are the five top unique Taobao app features that are the largest contributors to its efficiency and popularity.
5 unique Taobao app features that drive its mobile sales
Picture search function read more…
No More Cash: Chinese Payment Systems Usher New Era
Chinese digital payment systems are helping to create a true cashless society and it’s happening faster then anywhere else in the world.
The rapid adoption of digital payment systems continues to transform Chinese economy and society in unprecedented ways. Nowadays, handling cash seems like a thing of the past with nearly everyone in China using one of the two main payment systems: AliPay or WeChat Pay.
When is comes to digital payments, China is, undoubtedly, the technological leader. Once Chinese payment systems have become the primary payment method online, brick-and-mortar stores started to adopt them for offline payments as well.
read more…
Choosing Between PPC vs. SEO for Chinese Market
SEO and PPC are the two basic options for boosting traffic to your website. Choosing between PPC vs. SEO for Chinese market is often a difficult decision to make.
Up until the middle of 2016, Chinese PPC, especially with Baidu, was, on average, delivering better returns than SEO. This was due to several factors:
- First, the search results, especially for popular terms, were dominated by paid ads. In some cases, hardly any organic results would be displayed in the first page;
- Second, there was little visual distinction in Baidu between paid and organic results and most people couldn’t even tell the difference.
5 Reasons Why Chinese Sharing Economy Future Is Looking Promising
In this post we are going to have a closer look at five main drivers powering fast growing Chinese sharing economy.
In our earlier article, we have introduced six most innovative services that have developed around various concepts of Chinese sharing economy. Some of those companies, like DiDi, have grown enormous within record time, swallowing rivals and winning new markets. Others have recently achieved infamous “unicorn” status (Tujia, Huochebang) while more startups are still small but full of potential.
read more…
Basics of China Keyword Research: WeChat Index
WeChat Index Tutorial
According to the most recent data, WeChat has passed a milestone of a billion users which puts it far ahead of any other Chinese social media platform. Measuring trends on such an enormous network could potentially bring the most statistically accurate data to marketers. 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…
Basics of China Keyword Research: Qihoo Index
Qihoo (360 Search) Index Tutorial
Qihoo, also known as 360Search and So.com, is the second largest Chinese search engine. By various estimates, it holds between 15 to 25% of the search market share and is fairly popular among younger users. read more…
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: Measuring Search Trends
One of the foundations of successful online strategy in any market is keyword research and China is no exception. Since the familiar tools such as Google keyword planner are irrelevant here, China keyword research must be done with the local equivalents.
How WeChat App Is Changing Restaurant Business in China
WeChat app is transforming daily lives of millions of people in China. This is how it helps restaurants to run more efficiently and deliver better value.
Recent proliferation of Western style coffee shops and fancy restaurants gave rise to the new trend of ordering food and drinks with WeChat rather than using traditional menus.
Besides the fact that WeChat app is already installed on practically every smartphone in China, vast majority of users have also connected their accounts to bank cards and use WeChat Pay on regular basis. read more…
Banner Ads in China
Banner ads in China are still a fairly effective channel to advertise and, on average, Chinese are more receptive to this type of advertising compared to internet users in western countries. Ad blocking software and plugins have been, so far, more common in the West than in China where banner advertising is a rapidly growing business.
Also, the type of banners ads that are considered to be more effective in China tend to be flashier and more animated, something that Western users typically find most annoying. read more…
Chinese Payment Systems Overview: Union Pay
Union Pay is the state run credit and debit card system with the largest reach in China and overseas. Online, it is competing with AliPay and WeChat.
Chinese Payment Systems Overview: WeChat Pay
WeChat Pay is the payment system that grew out of WeChat super app. Nowadays, just like Alipay, it is widely used for both online and offline payments. read more…
Chinese Payment Systems Overview: AliPay
AliPay is the largest Chinese online payment system for both online and offline transactions. It is the primary payment method of China’s ecommerce. read more…
Chinese Payment Systems Overview: AliPay vs. WeChat Pay vs. Union Pay
Understanding the ecosystem of Chinese payment systems is a prerequisite to setting up a successful sales strategy in this market. It is also one of the many aspects of Chinese market that is considerably different from what we are familiar with in other markets.
Relying on traditional payment systems such as credit cards or PayPal is simply not going to work in China. In fact, if you are planning to sell anything to Chinese consumers, there are only three viable options. read more…
Looking for love in China? The List of 8 Most Popular Chinese Dating Apps
Here is our review of the most popular Chinese dating apps:
(more…)Learn all about China digital marketing here:
