So with this in mind, let’s cover some of the main questions Western marketers have about Chinese B2B marketing.

How does B2B and B2C marketing differ in China?

As in the West, the B2B sales process tends to be far more involved than in B2C markets. Furthermore, B2B sales usually involve more than one decision maker, take longer, and have almost no likelihood of impulse buying.

With this in mind, Western marketers must focus on building trust with their target audience and working to communicate the features and benefits of their product or service offering; focusing on quality attributes, value and features that matter to the end audience. For digital marketing, the focus may well be on product explainers, for example, and carefully targeted online advertising, rather than promos or gimmicks.

Quality is very much the key to success – quality content that can be shared via channels such as a company-branded blog or app, or a social media channel such as WeChat, will have value.

1. What do Chinese B2B customers value in Western products?

This very much depends on the industry and the product or service in question, but generally speaking, Chinese B2B customers are looking for high-quality products and services from Western brands with a strong reputation for quality, reliability and trust. The Chinese value relationships and this market can be extremely lucrative, especially if you are ready to invest in excellent service, impeccable delivery and a quality offer built upon these values.

2. Is a Website vital for B2B marketing in China?

Yes, a Western B2B brand needs to have a carefully optimised, locally hosted and localised version of their Chinese website, specifically for the China B2B market. This website must also be optimised. This is your platform to communicate your high-value USP, and your key attributes such as respect, trust, status and the possibility of personalisation. Your website will act as a cornerstone that links together the other elements of your digital marketing strategy.

With that in mind, your Chinese language website must also have carefully translated content (and ideally, Chinese-targeted content made specifically for this audience), and careful localisation that considers factors such as imagery, tone of voice, cultural factors and readability.

3. How important is digital marketing to the China market?

The short answer is, very! Chinese entrepreneurs and employees are all very heavily connected online, so digital marketing is a powerful way to engage with company decision-makers at all levels. For example, WeChat can be a powerful platform for B2B brands, because of the ability to have conversations on an individual basis and group basis by interest.

4. Which digital marketing channels are the main focus for B2B marketing in China?

Every business will have its unique requirements based on its objectives, budget and product offering. However, the main focus areas for B2B brands tend to be:

• Chinese Website development (and/or apps)
• Chinese social media, such as WeChat official accounts (You can use WeChat to host a mini version of your business website and then push out weekly article batches to build visibility, for example.)
• SEO marketing and Baidu advertising (as Chinese customers value high-quality advertising as a sign of legitimacy and quality.)
• Online PR: contributions to top portals, vertical websites and relevant user-generated forums and Q&A platforms (such as Zhihu – the Chinese version of Quora) to build your brand awareness and reputation.

Thoughts on Timing

These activities can be leveraged to target business buyers at different stages of the sales funnel and they should be planned in an integrated, cohesive manner that repurposes quality content as much as possible and builds trust, engagement and enquiries.

It’s also important to remember that different channels and digital marketing activities should be timed to suit different stages of the sales funnel. For example, you might use search engine marketing for the ‘search and discovery’ stage, and social media for building your brand reputation and engagement with decision-makers.

Don’t risk trying to do everything all at once, however! It is often wise to start small and build up your Chinese B2B digital marketing activity over time, as you understand what is working particularly well and what can be adjusted for better results.

5. What should Western B2B brands know about data protection?

The China market has some strict regulations and laws that govern the way privacy must be maintained online, including the way that customer data is used and shared. There are also complex cybersecurity laws that must be adhered to. Companies that gather and store data must be compliant or they risk heavy penalties.

6. Is digital marketing sufficient for successful B2B marketing in China?

In most cases, digital marketing will be a key part of an overall marketing strategy for the B2B markets in China. The entire strategy will include offline elements such as direct mail and trade shows, for example. The key lies in integrating on and offline marketing activities to maximise synergies and leverage results.

7. What is the best way to deliver B2B digital marketing in China?

One of the biggest challenges in delivering B2B digital marketing in China is access to native language skills and a deep understanding of the huge array of digital marketing platforms and tools that are available in the country. Often these are far more sophisticated and powerful than Western alternatives, but they are all delivered in Chinese!

So if your brand can work with a Chinese digital marketing agency it can fast-track to digital marketing success in B2B markets by immediately harnessing these marketing and language skills. This saves time, money and effort – allowing you to focus on gaining the right results for your brand.

Find out more

Market Me China is here to help you achieve B2B digital marketing success in China. Our team of native language digital marketing professionals has the knowledge and expertise needed to deliver your brand real results; evidenced at every turn. What’s more, we are friendly, flexible and ready to work with your team in the way that best suits your needs. Please contact us to find out more, and to discuss your unique needs.

The post 7 Common questions about Chinese B2B marketing appeared first on Market Me China®.

In this blog, we will take a look at what Chinese B2B customers want from the brands they buy from, and how those brands can meet these needs.

What do Chinese B2B customers want?

Although every business customer will have his or her own needs, these requirements tend to be mandatory across the board when it comes to Chinese B2B marketing:

1. A brand that Chinese B2B customers can understand

Chinese B2B customers value quality brands that offer obvious benefits (your USPs) and attributes such as personalisation, trust, status and respect. It’s vital to invest in your brand in China and ensure it resonates with your target audience. For many Western brands, this will mean partnering with a Chinese marketing agency to get their brand right the first time.

2. A clear, concise and high-quality Chinese language website

Every Western B2B brand doing business in China must have a localised Chinese-language website that is mobile-optimised and hosted in, or near, China. Its customer journeys must be optimised with Chinese readers in mind (bearing in mind that Chinese language readers scan content differently to Western language readers) and the content must be of very high quality. This is a basic requirement, and your Chinese B2B website should form the cornerstone of your digital marketing ecosystem.

3. WeChat (& other considered social media)

Most B2B brands will have a WeChat Official Account. Use this to host a mini-version of your website and post regular posts to engage with your followers. This could be done in a single weekly push of batched articles. Chinese B2B customers expect to see good visibility from brands across the social media platforms they choose to use, so choose the best for your industry and develop them consistently. Your brand may also benefit from a presence on other Chinese social media platforms, but choose the right ones carefully and really invest in your content and engagement.

4. Baidu advertising

Chinese B2B customers recognise and appreciate good quality online advertising as a sign that a brand is legitimate and of good quality. So invest in well-managed Baidu PPC campaigns, optimised and adjusted throughout their lifespan for the best possible results, using techniques such as A/B testing. This will mean having access to native Chinese language skills.

5. Online PR and relevant Q&A forums

Again, Chinese B2B customers value brands that contribute in a meaningful and useful way to top portals, vertical websites, and relevant user-generated forums and Q&A platforms. Investing in online PR and posting articles and useful content on Zhihu (Chinese Quora) and other user-generated industry forums to boost your brand awareness and reputation.

6. Clear and logical engagement

Yes, Chinese B2B customers are very sophisticated, meaning that confident Western marketers can look at strategies and channels such as video, automation, virtual events and AI. But it’s important to begin with the basics and get them right before developing any of these more advanced approaches. The key is to have a well-structured, cohesive and effective digital marketing ecosystem in place that demonstrates success – before continuing to evolve your approaches to incorporate more complex tactics.

Pitfalls to avoid with Chinese B2B marketing

There are also common pitfalls for Western B2B brands to avoid when seeking to engage and convert Chinese customers. For example:

1. Making assumptions

Chinese B2B customers often behave in different ways from their counterparts in the West, especially when it comes to consuming and engaging with marketing content. It is well worth investing in research and insight to develop accurate personas before developing your own marketing campaigns.

2. Connecting Chinese marketing to blocked websites

Remember that Western websites such as Facebook, Google, YouTube, Twitter and website hosting platforms will be blocked by the Chinese firewall. So localise your Chinese language website carefully so that there are no links to these (including Google APIs for fonts and images or Google maps) as these will compromise the website performance or see it blocked entirely.

3. Relying on LinkedIn

Some B2B businesses find that LinkedIn does work for them, but it tends to be hit and missed. Research suggests that some Chinese professionals will use the platform for job searching, but are less active on it when it comes to engaging with brands.

4. Trying to buy in data

Regulations govern how data can be used in China, much like GDPR in Europe. So bear in mind that you can’t simply buy reputable data lists. Consider strategies for building up your own high-quality, data-management-compliant data lists over time.

5. Taking translation short-cuts

A simple and direct translation of Western content rarely works out. At best, it looks clumsy and at worst it can be offensive. So go the extra mile wherever possible and create truly localised Chinese language content, targeted to your B2B audience.

6. Not measuring results

It’s vital to measure the results of your Chinese B2B marketing campaigns in the same way that you would for a Chinese B2C marketing campaign. Data is key to success – but remember that you’ll need native Chinese language skills to gather and analyse this data on common Chinese marketing platforms such as Baidu and WeChat.

7. Trying to go it alone

Navigating the Chinese B2B market can be extremely complex, particularly when it comes to navigating Chinese digital marketing channels in the native language. For brands that don’t have native Chinese speakers in their in-house marketing team, it makes sense to partner with a Chinese digital marketing agency to gain rapid access to these skills. This will also gain you rapid access to targeted digital marketing skills and the necessary customer insight, for maximum results.

Find out more

Market Me China is here to help you achieve Chinese marketing success in the B2B markets. Our team of native-language digital marketing professionals can help you with every step of your Chinese B2B marketing journey, measuring success at every turn and working as a flexible extension to your own business. Please contact us to find out more.

The post What do Chinese B2B customers want – and how to provide it appeared first on Market Me China®.

The more you can understand about this complex market in advance, the better your chance of success! With that in mind, here are five key things to know and consider:

1. A localised website is vital

A localised Chinese-language website is key, with reliable hosting in China (or located nearby to counteract the firewall.) You may apply for an ICP licence from the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) if you have a Chinese business licence. It’s also important to invest in quality Chinese language content, written by experts with a native understanding of the language and cultural nuance. Chinese culture is highly contextual and it’s very easy to inadvertently offend or fail to get your point across if you’re simply attempting to translate English copy.

One tip is to include a WeChat QR code visibly on the homepage of your Chinese website. Equally, if you have a focused sales team for the China market, include their details.

And of course, remember to make your website smartphone-friendly and optimised for handset use! This includes having user journeys that are built for the Chinese market (and as a consequence, different from the ways that Western users read content.)

2. Chinese social media marketing is essential

There are some social media platforms in China for B2B brands to consider! For example, WeChat is a primary focus for B2C marketing, but most B2B brands will use it too and have their own official account. The platform offers businesses various features, including the ability to host a limited version of a corporate website, and the chance to communicate with followers, for example by pushing out articles. There is also a corporate version of WeChat called WeCom (WeChat Enterprise) and this can be used for a variety of communication purposes with customers and clients, as well as for data mining and other business marketing features.

The right social media platforms for your business will depend on your business objectives, and it may be worth focusing on a limited number to begin with, with precise targeting and excellent content – rather than spreading your efforts too broadly.

3. Baidu PPC can be powerful

Once you’ve applied for an advertising account on Baidu (Chinese Google), you can run Chinese-language PPC campaigns, to drive rapid and qualified traffic to your digital ecosystem, while your Baidu SEO efforts bed in and consolidate. Just bear in mind that Baidu is delivered in Chinese, so you’ll need a PPC professional with native Chinese language skills to create and manage your campaigns.

4. Don’t overlook forums

In China, user-generated forums and Q&A platforms such as Zhihu (Chinese Quora) are a great way for B2B brands to build brand awareness and SEO rankings. Invest in quality posts, comments, articles and thought leadership to get your message out there within your target marketplace. A good approach is to pick a manageable number of industry-specific forums and Q&A platforms and then really invest in them, measuring to see what works and what needs further development. It’s all a valuable learning curve!

5. Avoid common mistakes

China can be a complex market for B2B markets to operate in. Firstly, there are a huge number of incumbent businesses across all sectors, and secondly, the market itself is complex, ever-changing and highly demanding. Chinese B2B customers have high expectations and often operate in ways that are different to Western customs. With this in mind, there are various common areas that Western brands should carefully avoid. For example:

– It’s important to avoid having any kind of digital connection between your brand and Western social media and search sites, including Facebook, Google, YouTube and Twitter. For example, if you are using Google Maps on your location page, you will probably find that your website completely slows down or is blocked from loading completely.
– Equally, don’t expect to buy data for your marketing lists! Data is heavily controlled and regulated in China, just as it is in Europe and the UK under GDPR.

Extra tips for Chinese B2B marketing success:

1. Gather data and insight for better decision-making
Invest in market research to really understand where your brand is currently positioned in its Chinese marketing journey, and what you need to do next. For example, if you don’t yet have an integrated digital ecosystem that brings your Chinese language website, social media platforms and other digital assets into one place, you aren’t ready to invest in brand awareness or large-scale lead generation. It can also be valuable to invest in user behaviour research and analysis to really understand what makes your targets tick.

2. Think, target and adjust
Remember to incorporate the typical behaviour of Chinese B2B contacts into your marketing workflow. For example, WeChat tends to be more common than email marketing so you may need to adjust your typical Western workflow to meet Chinese needs. That same degree of careful thought and targeting is essential for your marketing mix. For example, techniques such as AI, automation and account-based marketing can all be extremely powerful for B2B marketing in China, but it’s vital to have a clear strategy for how you will use these in the right way for your target audience. When in doubt, get the basics in place and working well before you try more advanced approaches!

3. Get help!
Chinese marketing can be challenging to get right, especially in B2B markets which tend to be particularly complex. However, the help of a Chinese digital marketing agency can help you to maximise the results of your efforts. Market Me China has the skills, experience and highly qualified native Chinese digital marketers that your business needs for success. We work on a flexible basis with clients from across all industries to help them succeed with their Chinese B2B marketing strategies and campaigns.

To find out more about how we can help your business, please contact our friendly team for a no-obligation chat about your needs.

The post 5 key Things to Know about B2B Marketing in China appeared first on Market Me China®.

Indeed, when you’re developing your B2B brand in China, it’s important to consider strategies that will buy you that vital longevity within your target market. After all, with China’s vast market still evolving at speed, early advantage – particularly in high-growth industries – can build brand awareness, engagement and loyalty as you continue to build your presence within your target market.

So what are some of the key trends to know about the China market and B2B marketing?

1. The growth of smaller-scale, online trade from foreign businesses is gaining traction in China, leveraging attributes of quality, trust and expertise.

2. B2B e-commerce in China is already incredibly powerful and continues to grow at high speed.

3. The vertical structure of digital B2B markets in China offers tremendous growth for Western brands that are prepared to invest in smart, targeted marketing.

4. Western B2B brands can find success going it alone – but also enjoy excellent relationships with Chinese partners who already have a presence in the relevant Chinese sector

5. The Chinese B2B market is sophisticated, and B2B clients are well used to using digital platforms for networking, prospecting, relationship building, market research and purchase decisions. They will also use these platforms to read reviews, find personalised products and services, and seek out customer differentiation opportunities.

6. For these markets, it is still important to maintain offline channels, such as trade exhibitions, recommendations, in-person networking, etc.

7. China is officially ‘open for business’ once again after the Covid pandemic, and its government is keen to boost domestic consumption again as a means of driving forward the economy; offering excellent prospects to Western brands who wish to trade with Chinese clients.

Strategies to build longevity for your B2B brand in China

Here are some activities to prioritise as you seek to set your B2B brand up for long-term success in China:

1. Invest in your localised Chinese website

For B2B marketing success in China, your website must be accurately translated and localised, optimised for Chinese UX, correctly hosted, fast and responsive and designed to work across all operating systems and devices. Naturally, the content must also offer genuine, relevant value to potential Chinese clients, and factor in all cultural considerations.

2. Make the most of WeChat

With benefits to B2B marketers that include WeChat Moments, flexible advertising, the ability to connect to third-party apps and a powerful ability to find leads, build brand awareness and manage client relationships, WeChat really offers it all. This vast platform has over a billion monthly users and it’s a vast digital ecosystem that works as powerfully for B2B brands as it does for B2C. You’ll be able to host a mini version of your corporate website within the platform, post valuable content and build followers – and that’s just to get started!

3. Focus on Baidu

Baidu – China’s biggest search engine – is a must for Western B2B brands seeking to build and develop their presence in China. As with Google, SEO activity needs to be thorough, targeted and consistently deployed to maintain and grow rankings for keywords. Online advertising campaigns can yield impressive results when carefully optimised and it’s worth knowing that Baidu does actually promote paid ads more heavily in its search results than Western search engines. However, the system admin is in Chinese so you’ll need native language skills in order to create and manage campaigns. The help of a Chinese marketing agency can make this process as quick and easy as possible, and yield excellent results.

4. Look at forums

It’s also worth knowing that user-generated wikis and forums such as Zhihu can be a great way to grow your brand awareness and SEO, especially if you invest in your engagement and answer questions and comments from potential clients and the wider Chinese business community.

5. Work with KOLs

KOLs can be powerful influencers in B2B markets too, especially when it comes to brand awareness, product explainers and so forth. Collaborate to show your product quality, heritage, values, ‘add-on’ attributes and other key marketing messages, and remember that KOLs don’t necessarily have to have huge followings to be effective for your brand.

6. Build your data

In China, as in Europe, access to marketing data is highly controlled and you can’t simply buy marketing lists to gain access to potential leads – that is to say, quality marketing lists. Instead, build your own data using market research and your own data collection methods. This will also ensure that the integrity of your data is assured and owned solely by your business.

7. Invest in quality PR

Reputation building can be greatly enhanced by using the right PR channels, media outlets and websites. A Chinese marketing agency can help you to identify the right outlets for your target audience, place the right messages and achieve the best possible results, with media tracking to analyse the impact of your efforts.

8. Look to the long-term

B2B markets are built over time and this holds true in both China and the West. The sales cycle for B2B usually requires time, effort and consistent application in your marketing strategy and tactics – beginning with a carefully targeted and optimised marketing strategy that leverages key channels for your brand, and then continuing with ongoing, careful tactical delivery that is constantly refined, evaluated and built upon.

With a careful, strategic approach that seeks to evolve and grow within this vast, complex and lucrative market, Western B2B brands can position themselves perfectly for sustainable success in China.

Find out more

Market Me China is here to help you achieve success with your B2B marketing efforts, regardless of your industry or business size. Our team of digital marketing professionals work flexibly with your business to deliver bespoke programmes of targeted work that bring you the best possible results. Please contact us in the first instance to find out more, and for a no-obligation chat about your needs.

The post How Western B2B brands can build longevity in the Chinese market appeared first on Market Me China®.

In China, the already sophisticated digital landscape made it relatively easy for firms to adapt to online marketing and to maximise these channels, but there are still plenty of opportunities for those businesses to maximise.

Let’s look at the steps that B2B businesses can take to go digital in China in the modern, post-Covid world.

1. Be clear on your brand and values

B2B businesses need to have clear brand values and a proposition in the same way as B2C brands. By choosing a strong and relevant brand and accompanying values, it becomes far easier to target and engage with your target B2B audience. The right brand also acts as a platform for your content strategy, informing your key messages and making it far easier to create your digital ecosystem with ease.

2. Do your research

Depending on your industry, the Chinese B2B market can look quite different to Western equivalent markets. It may be structured differently, have different types of incumbent providers and offer different degrees of opportunities. It’s also important to note that Chinese business cultural practices are different to the West and it’s very important to understand this before seeking to engage with B2B decision-makers. Good, in-depth research can help to inform your sales and marketing activity and improve your successes with targeted digital marketing.

3. Optimise your website

It’s vital to optimise your B2B website as part of a broader and holistic digital ecosystem. This means checking that it works for your target audience’s intended journeys, has the right landing pages and calls to action (to which your Baidu PPC campaigns point), is hosted correctly, operates quickly and is optimised for mobile. A Chinese digital marketing agency can ensure your website looks professional, is correctly targeted and is fully optimised for human readers and search bots alike.

4. Consider your ePR strategy

Online PR can be hugely powerful for B2B businesses, especially when you can secure coverage in relevant industry publications. The right agency partner can secure you this kind of placement and linking through high-quality PR content, relationships and networking – leading to introductions and referrals that begin to ease customers and clients through the sales funnel.

5. Look to KOLs

In many B2B markets, it is also possible to find relevant KOLs who have a business or professional audience. By working with an agency that can secure the right KOL with the right targeted following, you have the opportunity for a valuable paid partnership or sponsorship arrangement. In today’s digital world, the right influencer may have a smaller but more niche and relevant audience, so it’s important to be strategic when identifying potential influencers that could add value to your brand.

6. Invest in Baidu PPC advertising

Baidu PPC can drive instant and qualified traffic to your website, as Baidu is the largest search engine in China. Baidu is usually the first choice for launching a highly targeted PPC campaign and the results can be excellent with the right set-up, campaign management and optimisation.

7. Invest in other online advertising

This includes investing in online advertising on other search engines, relevant social media platforms, aggregators and relevant industry websites. A digital marketing agency can identify the right platform and campaign upon which you can host highly relevant, targeted PPC campaigns, optimise their run-time and evaluate your ROI.

8. Work on your SEO

A well-built Chinese website should always include Chinese SEO considerations, such as correct and full meta-tagging, alt tags, structure and hosting. It should also include content and linking strategies that meet the latest SEO algorithms and their preferences. The right digital marketing resource can ensure that your presence is optimised for SEO terms over time. This may mean targeting less obvious terms and phrases which are still highly relevant to your audience, so that you don’t directly compete with big-budget, established competitors online.

9. Create a powerful content strategy

Once your digital ecosystem is built and optimised, your content strategy can bring it to life and tie in all of your channels – including website blogs, ePR, social media content, video, email marketing and more. Your B2B content strategy will need to be considered, targeted and seasonal, with specific campaign themes and focuses that always add value to your target customer. Good content must be managed over time, with careful repurposing for maximum value, and a strong focus on your end reader.

10. Measure and evaluate

With all B2B marketing activity, it is essential to carefully measure and evaluate what you do so that you can continue to refine and adjust your campaigns over time. This will also ensure that your budget is being leveraged in the most powerful way. B2B marketing is a specialist field that must integrate carefully with planned sales activity and map your expected sales cycle and pipeline. For this reason, expert digital marketing support will tend to yield the best possible results, especially if your B2B brand doesn’t have its own comprehensive in-house digital marketing team.

Find out more

Market Me China is here to help you to achieve the best possible results from your digital B2B Chinese marketing campaigns. We offer our clients an extremely experienced and skilled team of native Chinese language speakers, with the ability to offer comprehensive, integrated digital marketing campaigns that work. We work flexibly around our client’s needs and naturally we evidence our results to prove our value to your bottom line. Keen to find out more? Please contact us in the first instance for a no-obligation chat about your needs.

The post How Chinese B2B markets can leverage digital marketing in the post-Covid world appeared first on Market Me China®.

Considering the B2B user journey

Recommended digital marketing activities

1. Your B2B Chinese Website

2. Chinese online PR

3. Baidu PPC

4. WeChat marketing

Find out more

The post B2B: How can you use digital marketing to build your B2B brand in China? appeared first on Market Me China®.

In fact, CNNIC research found that a third of social media users in China are corporate employees, 15% are self-employed and 14% are professionals. This indicates an active body of business users with decision-making and purchasing power. [Source: https://komarketing.com/blog/social-media/b2b-marketers-social-media-china/]

Western B2B companies can use Chinese social media to:

– Reach out to sophisticated and connected Chinese business people who use social networks extensively for a variety of information gathering and networking activities.
– Engage emotionally with B2B buyers, who are keen to make good decisions that offer the best results to their employers, through ‘real’ conversations.
– Nurture prospects through longer sales cycles through brand awareness activity (that isn’t too ‘in your face’)
– Build thought leadership by producing great content and distributing it cross-platform for maximum reach and engagement.
– Gain trust with a credible online presence – using tools such as content engagement, Q&As, product explainer videos, customer reviews and so forth.

Tip to getting B2B social media in China right

Get around the table

Firstly, plan how you want to brand yourself in China and research the business communities you want to target and the platforms that they use. Do you really know and understand the needs, wants and values of your Chinese B2B audience? For example, Chinese business people place great emphasis on GuanXi, or the value of relationships. They use social media to communicate with colleagues, keep up with news and interesting content, learn new things, offer recommendations and to ask for help. Users trust the views of other users when they are making a decision to purchase. These insights are vital to delivering a successful Chinese B2B social media marketing campaign that delivers results.

Choose the right platform

As with the Western world, there are a large number of social media platforms that Western B2B businesses can target when marketing in China. Some of the biggest platforms include WeChat,Weibo, Youku and Zhihu. The platforms you choose – and the tactical campaign activity you focus on – will depend on your market, business and objectives. The most successful platforms for your campaign may not always be the biggest and most obvious ones! A Chinese marketing agency can greatly assist with this and ensure you achieve that vital ROI.

Promote your brand

700+ million Chinese are connected online and this audience carries out extensive online research before purchasing. Social media can be a valuable tool for brand-building. By creating a branded presence on targeted social networks, linking to your Chinese language website and running carefully-planned, expertly messaged and targeted B2B marketing campaigns, you can begin to build your brand in China.

Use KOLs

More commonly associated with B2C markets, Chinese Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) from the ‘professionals and experts’ category can also support B2B marketing in China by acting as a brand ambassador and officially endorsing your products. Similarly, verified organisations can help to share your content amongst your target audience, by posting your content into relevant industry accounts and giving it credence. Choosing the right KOL is essential for success, as they must have influence within your industry and target market.

Pick your activities

As an example of possible B2B social media marketing activity in China, and as part of an integrated marketing campaign plan, you might:

– Use Baidu’s ‘Tieba’ (Post Bar) forum for reputation building and to garner positive posts (with users voting for content ranking, similar to Reddit) to boost SEO ranking activity.
– Post valuable, relevant content on WeChat to your target audience, get involved in WeChat’s active community of specific interest online groups.
– Showcase your products on Weibo using its video and live stream features.
– Build a presence on Zhihu and answer industry questions to raise your corporate profile which will help to boost your Baidu search results in the process.

Plan your content

Your content plan must be well thought out and highly targeted. It might include video customer testimonials and explainer videos, photos from your branded events, thought leadership articles, the sharing of PR and user-generated content, discussion topics and so forth. Content must add real value and be either created in Chinese or expertly translated.

Keep on top of it

Remember that your B2B social media strategy in China will need to be monitored and kept active with daily/weekly posting, engagement and monitoring for analytics. Again, your Chinese marketing agency can take this activity off your hands and deliver it through Chinese B2B social media experts.

Vancouver Fashion Week case study

Vancouver Fashion Week grew won Chinese customers through a targeted social media campaign in 2016. It published targeted articles on WeChat aimed at Chinese bloggers, buyers, exhibitors and visitors to boost visibility and to create interest. It also posted questions and topics on Baidu Tieba, Zhihu and Douban, positioning the message that the event was aimed at Chinese fashionistas. Official WeChat and Weibo campaigns were launched to boost brand building and to provide a platform for sharing content. Weibo posts were promoted each week onto community pages and shared by KOLs. This created valuable event PR and buzz and increased sign-ups, helping to deliver a successful event.

Integrate

Your Chinese social media marketing campaign is highly recommended be planned and delivered as part of your broader marketing strategy, with other marketing activities such as ePR, PPC and SEO supporting the mix. Although complex at first, Chinese social media does offer huge possibilities for Western brands. Get it right, and you can begin to fulfil your engagement objectives and drive traffic to your digital platforms, progressing potential buyers through the sales funnel.

Help from the Chinese marketing experts

Looking to move ahead swiftly with your Chinese social media strategy? Keen to maximise your ROI, minimise waste and accelerate your progress into the Chinese market? The team of highly-experienced Chinese B2B marketing professionals at Market Me China are here to assist. Our approaches are based on proven methodologies and a deep insight into the complexities of the Chinese B2B market. What’s more, we evidence our results with analytics to demonstrate ROI and the achievement of your sales and marketing goals. Contact us for a no obligation chat and to find out more.

The post Tips for B2B businesses to drive traffic and grow sales via Chinese social media appeared first on Market Me China®.

Key things to know about Baidu

As well as being China’s biggest search engine, Baidu operates a range of hugely successful digital platforms, including Baidu Music, Baidu Space (social networking), Baidu Yi (OS), Baidu Games, Baidu Maps and even Qunar, which is its own booking service. When you consider that its name translates into English as ‘countless’, its power and scope really does hit home.

The power of Baidu PPC advertising

For Western businesses, Baidu’s primary attraction lies in its online advertising reach. Baidu PPC for B2B marketing has a potential total audience of 600 million users with advanced options for targeting, segmentation and campaign management. It’s important to note however that more than 650,000 companies already pay to use Baidu PPC for B2B marketing campaigns, so Western businesses looking to maximise their budget, conversions and ROI need to be as strategic as possible in order to stand out from the crowd.

How to succeed with Baidu PPC

There are various steps to consider and each approach will depend on the business and its unique features. However, all businesses wanting to succeed with Baidu PPC for B2B marketing must:

Set up a Baidu PPC account

For Western businesses, a fairly drawn out administrative process is in place. For example, you must submit a copy of your business licence (a government-issued company registration certificate), a link to a valid government website where company information can be viewed and a copy of financial documentation alongside other administrative documents if required. To speed things up, avoid errors and genuinely avoid wasting precious time and a limited marketing budget, many Western B2B businesses prefer to use the services of a specialist Chinese marketing agency to manage the process for them.

Prepare your Chinese website

We’ve said it before and we’ll keep saying it! If you want to succeed at Chinese marketing, then it’s vital to optimise your website for your target Chinese audience. Ideally, for Western B2B brands, this will usually mean creating a standalone Chinese website or digital platform with content that corresponds to the target reader’s interests and which provides genuine, localised value. If this isn’t feasible, then a quality translation option must be provided – and in simplified Chinese, which Baidu’s algorithm prefers. There is no point in investing heavily in Baidu PPC if your landing pages are not optimised for your traffic. With this in mind, Chinese B2B customer journeys must also be assessed – ideally with market testing – and refined before the launch of your online advertising campaign with Baidu. And don’t forget the rise of Chinese mobile payments either! Chinese people are rapidly embracing mobile payment systems, and Western businesses may want to integrate an appropriate platform to facilitate sales.

Arrange local hosting

The Chinese website is recommended to be hosted within mainland China if you have a Chinese business licence. If you don’t, it isis recommended to get the Chinese website hosted in Hong Kong to ensure that it performs well. Chinese customers have high expectations when it comes to user experience, so a fast loading speed is vital. By way of example, imagine if your UK hosted website took more than 10 seconds to load in China. Exactly how many Chinese customers would you expect to have the patience needed to wait for your site to open after clicking on your Baidu advert? Very few!

Remember to optimise for mobile

Baidu’s primary means of access is still a desktop computer – but mobile searches are now getting more and more traffic. With this in mind, you must optimise your campaign landing pages and website so that they operate faultlessly across mobile browsers and operating systems.

Plan your keywords

It’s easy to lose sight of the basics when dealing with the complexities of modern Chinese search marketing! Western B2B brands will need a carefully planned keyword research plan that will allow their website to be found for relevant searches. The competitive nature of Baidu also means that a high degree of knowledge and strategy should be applied here, to find keywords that are likely to rank you favourably, without putting your brand (and budget!) immediately up against bigger players. It’s also good practice to place your most important keywords at the start of your content pieces to assist Baidu’s search bots with their rankings. Don’t forget those meta and image tags either; Baidu still relies on them for accurate SERP ranking.

Get your content right

The Chinese business audience differs from Western business audiences in many ways – including values, practices, traditions, customs and so forth. What a Western business reader might find engaging, may not work immediately with a Chinese business reader. Again, localised and expert Chinese marketing insight will ensure that your content hits the mark and results in the desired conversions.

Target, target, target!

With such a vast user base on Baidu (and with 10 per cent of searches relating to commodity prices, a healthy proportion of these will be B2B users), it’s vital to accurately segment your target audience. This can be a complex task and will benefit from in-depth market knowledge.

Watch out for pitfalls

Advanced knowledge of how Baidu works is essential to stay ahead of the game. For example, although you can promote an English website or landing page on Baidu, it isn’t recommended that you do so. Why? Because the bounce rate will be extremely high. Your campaign performance will be far better if you promote a Chinese website or landing page.

Evidence your results

Get your strategy and execution right for your Chinese B2B advertising campaign on Baidu and you will see positive results. The platform offers its own analytics platform, called Baidu Tongji (Baidu Analytics). This allows PPC customers to measure progress and goals and to manage their campaigns online, adjusting them where required to optimise results. However, this feature is only available in Mandarin. Consequently, many Western businesses use a Chinese marketing agency to manage their Baidu Tuiguang (PPC advertising) and Baidu Tongji analytics programme as one continuous service package.

Here to help your business succeed

Ready to incorporate Baidu PPC into your B2B marketing strategy? Contact the experts at Market Me China today, and see the results that you want, faster. Our team of Chinese marketing experts work with Western companies of all sizes and across all industries to provide the insight, skills and knowledge required to master Baidu PPC for B2B marketing and other on and offline channels. Whatever your marketing objectives, we can support you to achieve them, with analytics to evidence your conversions and ROI. Contact us today for a no obligation chat about your needs and we will be delighted to assist.

The post The best ways to master Baidu PPC for B2B marketing appeared first on Market Me China®.

The vast and lucrative Chinese market is hugely attractive for B2B businesses, but it is also incredibly complex, with significant differences to Western audiences and the added challenges of regionalism, language, different business cultural norms, marketing platforms – with their own administrative processes – and economics to navigate. A Chinese marketing agency will help you to negotiate these complexities successfully in order to smooth your route to market and to gain rapid entry to your B2B target audiences of choice, using a targeted strategy that is likely to include the following:

Research and planning

Fail to plan, plan to fail! Thorough initial research and information-gathering will lead to a stronger marketing strategy in China for B2B marketing and better results. Chinese marketing experts help to fast-track this stage with vital insights, knowledge, case studies and expertise into the complex and interconnecting factors that will influence how quickly you can market successfully to your target Chinese business buyers.

Naming

Some Western brands will go as far as to create a localised name for their brand in China to ensure it is well received. For example, Pepsi-Cola translates into Mandarin as 百事可乐 ‘anything can be happy’.  The choice of Chinese name must tell the story of the brand, sound akin to the Western original, work visually with the characters in Chinese and be available legally. It must also avoid any negative connotations in a culture where superstition still holds weight (as indeed it does in the West – just watch British businesspeople touch the wooden boardroom table in front of them when discussing luck!)

Chinese website optimisation

For your marketing strategy in China in B2B markets to succeed, companies must focus on delivering Chinese websites that are:

1. Created specifically with Chinese B2B target audiences in mind and with appropriate Chinese-language content that offers genuine value
2. Designed and tested for mobile-friendly user journeys, with seamlessly responsive content which operates faultlessly across digital devices
3. Developed with local Chinese landing pages for PPC advertising campaigns
4. Optimised with Chinese onsite SEO
5. Built to operate rapidly, with fast-loading pages and compliant, localised hosting that maximises the user experience and minimises bounce rates.

Local knowledge here is vital. Chinese businesses have different norms and expectations which drive both the way that they do business, and affect the choice of campaign concepts, imagery, language and messaging. Key events in the Chinese business calendar must also be factored in for campaign planning, such as Golden Week in October, Chinese New Year and activity planned accordingly and well in advance.

Content is key

When it comes to Chinese business, in-depth knowledge of Chinese business practices is vital for success. For example, Chinese business people are likely to value characteristics such as courtesy, cooperation, modesty and tradition. The art of ‘small talk’ conversation and pleasantries is also important, as is the avoidance of politics. Seemingly innocuous elements such as numbers can also have greater meaning in Eastern cultures – such as the number 8 which is considered to be extremely lucky. These factors must be built into content that provides genuine value for the Chinese target B2B audience, and which engages them.

Baidu PPC

As China’s largest search engine, a Baidu PPC advertising campaign is a vital way to generate leads from China. However, the administrative processes required to get a Western brand registered on the platform are lengthy, extensive and complex, and can easily take 1 month to navigate. Many Western businesses use a Chinese marketing agency to speed up the process and to reduce the administrative burden on precious in-house marketing resource. We will cover Baidu PPC for B2B marketing in detail in our next blog.

Chinese SEO

In order to optimise content for the target Chinese B2B audience, Baidu SEO can be used to excellent effect as part of a longer-term and sustained marketing approach that links with other digital marketing strategies for the best results, and which supports the content strategy.

Chinese Social Media

Chinese businesspeople will consume content across a range of platforms. For example, Youku and Tudou in China are akin to YouTube and Sina Weibo is similar to both Twitter and Facebook. Most business people in China will also use WeChat to message or exchange details. A Chinese marketing agency can help Western businesses to identify the social communities that their target audiences are likely to be using and create branded channels with bespoke or subtitled Chinese content that resonates with users. Keep an eye on our blog for a deep-dive article into B2B traffic-building and sales growth via Chinese social media, coming soon.

Chinese Online PR

Chinese businesspeople value strong brands and excellent reputations based on consistent delivery, shared values and mutually-beneficial relationships. The right online PR can help to increase your brand’s exposure and reputation and to position it with your target Chinese business audience; delivering these goals and helping to move potential buyers through your sales and marketing funnel towards conversion.

Analytics

To ensure that you are getting the maximum return from your marketing strategy in China for B2B markets, it is vital to track and evidence campaign progress. This allows digital marketing activity to be refined and re-targeted mid-campaign as necessary and for resources to be reallocated towards marketing activities which are delivering the best return. Chinese digital platforms, such as Baidu, do offer Chinese language analytic tools called ‘Baidu Tongji’ which your Chinese expert marketing agency can utilise to produce insightful reports that aid strong decision-making and allow you to optimise your marketing budget for ROI.

A case study in Chinese B2B marketing success

Asendia is a Western B2B business which delivers international delivery services to cross-border e-commerce and logistics companies. Ascendia approached Market Me China in 2016, and we have been proud to operate as their preferred partner for B2B marketing in China ever since. Through our close working relationship with Asendia – one of the world’s leading e-commerce and mail shipping providers and with a presence across 15 countries – our team has successfully optimised their Chinese digital marketing to successfully grow conversions. The ongoing services we deliver for Asendia include Chinese website translation, social media setup and Chinese subtitling for video content, local Chinese landing page for Baidu PPC advertising campaigns, digital PR, onsite SEO and more.

Find out more

The team of Chinese marketing experts at Market Me China work with Western clients to perfect results-driven marketing strategies in China for B2B companies. Whether you are newly expanding your business into China or have an active presence which you are looking to leverage to grow sales, our team can help you to achieve your marketing goals. Contact us for a no obligation chat about your needs and to find out more about how we can help you.

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The post How to perfect your marketing strategy in China for B2B markets appeared first on Market Me China®.