If you’re serious about building a brand in China, there are many advantages to working with a Chinese digital marketing agency. From access to native language skills and professional expertise to faster routes to market, the right agency partner can help you achieve a better ROI in less time.

But, as with all business relationships, there are smart ways to accelerate your gains. With that in mind, here are some top tips to get the most from your Chinese digital marketing agency!

Share your business plan

For your Chinese digital marketing agency to help you with your marketing, it’s vital for them to understand your overall marketing and sales strategy. It helps to share the relevant aspects of your business plan as a whole, so your agency partners can build up a clear picture of your business, its priorities and challenges, its operating context and customer base.

As they say, knowledge is power! So the more you can share, the better your chosen agency will be able to assist you with expert guidance and carefully-considered ideas.

Know what you want

Are you looking to commission Chinese digital marketing strategy advice, for you to build a plan that is managed in-house? Or are you looking to outsource your entire Chinese digital marketing delivery, including activities such as Baidu SEO, Baidu PPC, and Chinese social media, which all require native language skills?

By knowing what you want, you can get the most from your budget, especially if you choose to have your agency on a retainer and buy in a certain number of hours each month.

A good agency will give you different options for commissioning work to suit the unique needs of your business; flexing your service as needed. This maximises the flexibility and value of your arrangement, and creates a true partner arrangement that can grow over time.

Be open to expert advice

When you’ve done your research to find the right agency for your business needs, make use of them! Agency professionals are extremely focused and knowledgeable in everything that is happening in the world of Chinese marketing, and they are rich sources of insight, know-how and guidance.

Make use of this, ask for advice and be open to the ideas they share. After all, it’s what they are there for! What’s more, you’ll find that your chosen agency partners are highly enthusiastic about sharing know-how and expertise!

Have a realistic Chinese digital marketing budget

It is possible to do basic Chinese digital marketing with a very small budget; for example by using content marketing via social media only. However, if you’re serious about building your customer base and target market in China, you need to invest fully in your digital activity.

Some of the likely channels and activities that require proper funding include PPC and KOL partnerships. Remember that your competitors are very likely to be delivering their Chinese digital marketing with a full channel mix.

With the right level of investment and clear guidance from your chosen agency partner, you will see this investment multiply and generate excellent returns.

Nominate clear contacts

It greatly helps to have nominated contacts within your business marketing team who can engage regularly with your chosen agency and answer questions quickly (particularly those from potential customers.)

This can be very helpful mid-campaign when you need to be as agile as possible. Nominated contacts mean that your in-house team and your agency can engage quickly and build productive relationships with the right people, further leveraging your results.

Set your agency up for success

The right kind of client briefing can make or break marketing work, regardless of the channel or market. In time and with growing familiarity, a verbal briefing can be sufficient for smaller pieces of recurring, tactical work. But when you need to commission a larger or more complex piece of new work, it helps to provide a full written briefing, with an additional verbal briefing. If you can sit down together once a month, then all the better.

A great relationship will benefit from the time investment and a transparent approach to collaborative working. This will set your agency up for success by helping them to do the best possible job for you. And again, this will translate into measurable results.

Communicate regularly

Similarly, the more fully and proactively you can communicate with your Chinese digital marketing agency, the better your campaign outcomes.

This is because you can pass on relevant information that might affect the way that the shared marketing work is being delivered, to ensure that everything is still on track, and poised to achieve the right results.

Encourage two-way communication and be open to questions and a little creative challenge. Sometimes this positive friction can generate highly creative, exciting solutions.

Transparent communication will also ensure you are able to work with your agency in an agile way that meets the changing needs of your business, and – in turn – allows your business to adjust to shifting conditions in the Chinese digital market.

With positive, full and two-way communication, you can unlock excellent benefits and build a far more robust Chinese digital marketing strategy.

Ask for evidence

A good marketing agency will always be prepared to show you evidence of their Chinese digital marketing activity. They will produce regular reports that show the impact of your marketing within your target market, with information about trends, progress against KPIs and other objectives, and insights that help with further decision-making.

You can help this by understanding which measures are important to your business, and by agreeing these as measures for your collaborative work. Again, this provides a focus and a clear yardstick by which progress can be assessed.

Find out more

Market Me China is a full-service Chinese digital marketing agency that works with new and existing Western brands seeking to grow successful businesses in China.

Our team of native language speaking professionals are highly skilled in creating digital marketing campaigns that help Western brands to grow.

From localising your brand to the China market to creating a full digital ecosystem that converts visitors to customers, our team will help your Western brand to see clear success.

We work on a flexible basis around your needs; whether you want to fully outsource your Chinese digital marketing activity to an agency partner, or simply obtain additional flexible marketing resource when you need it.

Please contact us in the first instance to find out more and to discuss your needs!