1. What is the value of Baidu?

China is one of the world’s most digitised countries, and Baidu is the biggest search engine. Its size is mind-boggling in this vast country of digital netizens – Baidu is currently the fifth most visited website in the whole world!

However, although it offers plenty of options for targeted PPC campaigns in China, it’s not always that simple to get started, especially if you don’t have native Chinese language skills.

Baidu and Western equivalents such as Google are slightly different, so it’s important to understand the steps involved.

2. Can Western brands advertise on Baidu?

Yes, but with care. Businesses must have the necessary business registration certificate and business licence to place adverts on Baidu. Assuming these have been secured, and the necessary documentation submitted to Baidu, Western brands can use Baidu platform to deliver PPC advertising, which Chinese customers value and trust more than in the West.

An initial payment applies to set up a branded corporate account, which can then be applied to your first advertising campaign, and the platform is managed in Chinese, so native language skills are a must.

3. What should I know about setting up a Baidu PPC campaign?

Baidu allows two lines of ad copy but, typically, will only display one. For certain product categories, such as pharmaceutical products or health, specific limitations are in place.

Furthermore, it’s important to be careful about using certain symbols and words (which can be prohibited entirely by Baidu). Political content should also be avoided.

A note on campaign keywords

For effective keyword research in Chinese, we highly recommend using the Baidu Keyword Planner tool rather than directly translating your Google Ads keywords from English. This approach ensures more accurate keywords tailored to the search behaviours of Chinese users. Regular audits of your Chinese landing pages are essential for optimising them around these keywords. Additionally, it’s crucial to closely monitor your campaigns, as keyword bidding prices on Baidu can fluctuate significantly.

You’ll also notice that Baidu ads are more seamlessly integrated into organic content compared to Google, and Baidu PPC ads allow for more characters, providing greater flexibility.

4. What sort of strategy works well on Baidu?

There are different types of paid ads available on Biadu, including paid search ads, feed gds, and Brand Zone etc. The best one for your brand will depend on what you are trying to achieve, your budget and your target audience.

Whatever format you deem to be the most appropriate, it’s vital to get your content and messaging right. For example, Baidu PPC ads often include aggressive or particularly good special offers and these are very common for attracting customers in China. Always remember to tailor your content to the Chinese market too, rather than simply translate your existing Western content, so that it is culturally and contextually appropriate.

Alongside your ad design, remember to create targeted local landing pages optimized for key product types and categories, as these will aid your targeting and help with measurement. Check that the UX is targeted at Chinese readers and smartphones.

5. How do I manage my campaigns?

It’s useful to make use of the Baidu Editor Tool which helps you to manage your campaigns. You’ll need to keep on top of your PPC campaign monitoring to analyse your data and adjust campaigns as needed. To avoid any instances of fraud, check your click-spend daily.

It can be useful to research whether your sector is well aligned for Baidu before deciding how much to invest in any campaign. For example, research suggests that relatively low-ticket purchases thrive on Baidu, such as cosmetics. But at the other end of the scale, high-value investments such as Real Estate can also do very well on the platform!

6. Should I combine PPC and SEO?

It’s important to consider Baidu within your broader digital marketing strategy and combine it with a longer-term SEO strategy. PPC can be highly effective for generating instant qualified leads in the short term, but SEO is your go-to for long-term sustainable rankings and organic traffic without the cost of ads.

The best approach is typically to begin with PPC and then evolve to a more SEO-driven approach. The latter approach will also help to drive better-quality, qualified traffic to your website as your brand begins to gain traction and recognition.

It will also mean that you still see results, even on a day when your competitors have decided to spend vastly more from their budget on similar keywords to your own!

7. Get help from a Chinese digital marketing agency

Baidu PPC campaigns can be highly effective, but they also require excellent knowledge and cutting-edge Chinese digital marketing skillsets to be effective. For example, unless you have researched your keywords to a degree that allows you to compete for relevant customers, you may find yourself outbid by bigger brands who use the same keywords, and your campaign will not achieve its objectives. It’s important to be smart and creative for the best results, and to constantly A/B test your campaigns to ensure your budget is achieving the highest level of ROI.

Contact us today

As with all things to do with Chinese digital marketing, a good approach is to begin in a measured way with a carefully considered strategy, and build your efforts over time. Market Me China can help you craft a strong Chinese marketing strategy that will allow you to grow your brand presence in China and see real results, evidenced with hard data.

Our team of native language-speaking digital marketing professionals are here to assist your brand. We work flexibly as an extension of your business to provide the Chinese digital marketing skills that you need for success in this exciting and lucrative market. Contact us today for a no-obligation chat about your needs and we will be delighted to assist.

The post How to get the most from your Baidu advertising campaign appeared first on Market Me China®.

Chinese customers know what they want. They love rich and entertaining digital experiences, quality Western brands and luxury goods. This makes the market particularly appealing to western brands that offer ‘heritage’ and high-end products, such as watches, bags, couture and designer fashion and jewellery.

But when your eCommerce brand is new to marketing in China, and potentially has a limited budget to make an impact, how can you compete with the big brands in China?

The answer lies in a threefold approach:

1. Starting small
2. Testing at every stage
3. Evaluating the results and adjusting performance on a continuous, systematic basis.

Additionally, the old adage about ‘failing to prepare, preparing to fail’ holds true here. Even the smallest, newest Western eCommerce brands can enjoy success if they put in the research, think strategically, plan well and use the right tools and expertise to deliver highly targeted campaigns of the highest quality. An investment in preparatory customer and market research will never be a misplaced one!

Additionally, every brand will have a different offer, slightly varied operating model and route to market, and different objectives. With this in mind, every marketing plan will vary and be tailored to suit these unique factors. However, at Market Me China, we would tailor-make a strategy depending on your brand, objectives and budget. In general, the following activities are recommended for success:

1. Build a Chinese microsite

Your Chinese microsite is essential to success and will form the digital hub that underpins your entire Chinese online marketing campaign. With this in mind, the site should be built to appeal to your customers’ user journeys (which tend to be different from the typical user journeys undertaken by Western customers.) Begin with your user persona, to really understand who your ‘ideal’ Chinese customer is. Using this, create targeted content in Chinese, and consider your imagery carefully so that it is relevant, aspirational and appealing to your audience. Make sure you have integrated payment platforms that are familiar in China, such as AliPay, WeChatPay and UnionPay. It’s also important to test your site beforehand with user testing, in order to iron out any issues before you go live. Naturally for such a hyper-connected audience, your microsite will also need to be mobile-friendly and responsive, and it will need to load quickly in order to rank favourably on Baidu, China’s leading search engine.

2. Use online PR for ‘noise’

If your brand is new in China, the right online PR campaign will help to create a buzz and raise awareness and interest in what you have to offer. Remember that Chinese people are generally suspicious of official media outlets, so the right trade, consumer and independent news platforms are viewed as providing useful recommendations and value to this audience, who like to carry out their research before they buy. With the right online PR campaign, you will build trust in your brand, see its recognition and reputation grow within the right market segment, build its value, and leverage the power of Word of Mouth marketing.

3. Set up the right social media accounts

Social media in China is hugely popular, with a large number of platforms that include WeChat, Weibo, DouYin, YouKu, Little Red Book and many others, including niche and subject or audience-specific social media sites. You’ll need to set up a brand presence on the right social media channels to reach your target audience and consider how you might use Key Opinion Leaders, or KOLs, for sponsorship or partnership arrangements. There are KOLs for every brand, every product and every budget, and a Chinese marketing agency can help you to broker the deal. Social ads are another important area to get right, particularly the use of WeChat ads, which can be carefully optimised to reach your target audience – without breaking the bank! Additional features are also available to brands for their marketing, depending on the social media platform. This can include anything from short videos and tip-sharing through to private messaging and group hosting, and direct e-commerce functionalities. As ever, the help of a Chinese digital marketing agency can be invaluable here, as ad campaigns on platforms such as WeChat and Baidu (see below) are created and managed in Chinese.

4. Run Baidu PPC campaigns

Baidu is the Chinese equivalent of Google, and just as crucial to your online marketing success. A good Baidu PPC campaign will allow you to rapidly build an online presence by showcasing adverts alongside relevant searches. In China, online advertising is seen in a positive light; as something of value, which denotes a reputable brand. A good Baidu PPC campaign will use your budget effectively to drive qualified traffic to your website – resulting in everything from leads to sales, depending on your objectives. However, the key to success lies in setting the right, targeted parameters in the system, which is of course in Chinese – and then constantly measuring the results of your campaign to implement ongoing micro-adjustments for maximum ROI.

Find out more

Market Me China works with Western e-Commerce brands. Our digital marketing experts blend marketing expertise with native Chinese language abilities to offer measurable value to our clients. Our team can work with you at every stage of your journey towards Chinese marketing success – from market research and campaign planning, through to post-campaign evaluation and analytics. We offer flexible, bespoke services according to every need, supporting your in-house resource where it exists – and delivering an entire marketing service for you where it doesn’t! During this current period of Covid-19, we are also working virtually with our clients to deliver the same high-quality marketing services, whilst maintaining safe business operations. To find out more, please contact us on a no-obligation basis to discuss your needs.

The post How Western eCommerce brands can compete with big brands in China appeared first on Market Me China®.

Research and plan

Brands which see a healthy return on their Chinese digital market activity will invariably have carried out a significant period of planning and research beforehand. Yes, the nature of online channels means that it is possible to adjust digital campaign parameters quickly and easily – but not before you have begun to spend!

To avoid this situation, really pin down the fundamentals of your campaign. Who is your target Chinese audience? What does the user persona of your customer look like? What are your audience demographics? What are the objectives of your campaign? Are you looking to sell online via an e-commerce model, or to generate enquiries for a more prolonged sales cycle (such as for a higher education brand or a B2B brand.) By answering these questions, you will have a strong starting point for your campaign planning.

Remember too that a Chinese marketing agency can add real value to this process, by guiding your research and planning and matching up the outputs with the right Chinese digital marketing channels.

Start with your Chinese website

A localised Chinese website is essential to act as a cornerstone for your digital activity. If your budget can stretch to a new build specifically for the Chinese market, then this is the recommended route. Chinese consumers tend to follow different user journeys online than Western consumers and they respond to different calls to action, content, graphics and presentation. If your budget doesn’t stretch to this, it is still possible to achieve good results with website localisation activity. For example, you could use localisation to accurately and contextually translate your existing content, and then create fresh ongoing content which really resonates with your Chinese audience going forward. Or, you could build a Chinese landing page or microsite to start with.

Look at Chinese social media

Chinese customers love social media! There are dozens of popular social media platforms in China and they are hugely sophisticated and engaging; often working as entire digital eco-systems where users can post and share content, leave reviews, create videos, network privately, engage with brands, buy in just a few clicks and carry out specific functionalities such as ordering food and taxis, creating digital avatars, enjoying online quizzes and ordering custom products which they design online. Whatever your creative marketing campaign aspirations, there will be a social media channel that can deliver it – and a Key Opinion Leader (KOL) who can help you…

Find your KOL

Speaking of Key Opinion Leaders, or KOLs’, these powerful social media influencers are a must for successful China digital marketing. KOLs have large followings of Chinese internet users who share interests and demographics, and KOLs will work with brands who are relevant to their follower base. The biggest and most prominent KOLs charge thousands for a single post, but there are always more affordable influencers who will have a relevant fan base and the ability to provide value for your brand. Market Me China can help you to find the right Key Opinion Leader for your brand and broker the relationship for the best returns.

Create your online advertising campaigns

For rapid incoming traffic to your landing pages, a good online marketing campaign on Baidu is a recommendation for many brands. When the right keywords and parameters are used these campaigns can be very effective and give good results. It’s worth noting that Chinese internet users are more responsive to online advertising than Western consumers and they see it as a mark of trust, credibility and quality. Chinese customers have usually been stung by counterfeit domestic products, so quality Western brands which invest in online advertising are seen to be attractive. Worried about getting lost amongst bigger brands? Careful targeting will make all of the difference, along with ad optimisation so that quality, relevant traffic ends up on the correct page of your website. Market Me China can assist you with the process, as Baidu advertising is all administered in Chinese!

Organic Search on Baidu

SEO is essential in China to rank favourably on Baidu and other, smaller, search engines. This is a longer-term strategy, but – again – with time, focus and consistent work, it is possible to build a good ranking for your target keywords.

Online PR

If your brand is new to China or if it involves a longer purchase cycle (think, higher education or travel as examples), good ePR can help to position your brand in reputable publications that your customers trust. From advertorials and press releases through to peer-to-peer content and Word Of Mouth (WOM) strategies, your PR activity will amplify the success of your digital marketing activities. Furthermore, it will build the visibility and credibility of your brand in a country when this kind of power translates into sales.

Measurement and results tracking

Of course, to know whether your marketing budget is being applied to the best effect, it is essential to measure the results of your digital marketing activity. Success in the Chinese digital market will depend on applying the right blend of tactics and activities at the right time and to the right people. With ongoing measurement across platforms and regular adjustment of your campaign tactics, you can optimise your results. Again, this can be best supported by a Chinese marketing agency who can carry out full reporting on your behalf, navigating the various digital platforms that your brand uses, and evidencing progress towards your marketing goals.

Find out more

Ready to get the most from your marketing budget and to plan a highly-performing digital marketing campaign in China? Our team of digital marketing experts can help you to leverage your spend for the best possible results. We work on a flexible, responsive basis according to your needs and can support all elements of your online marketing activity, from campaign planning through to delivery and post-campaign evaluation. Please contact us on a no-obligation basis to find out more.

The post How to enter the Chinese digital market on a budget appeared first on Market Me China®.

Timing-wise, it’s also interesting to note that China is already starting to come out of its quarantine period, and early economic indicators suggest that it is experiencing a rapid market rebound, with pent up demand and supply both being released at speed. Just look at the flagship Hermès boutique in Guangzhou, which raked in a whopping $2.7 billion in one day of re-opening, as VIPs flocked to the designer store for bags, shoes and other high-end fashion items.

With this in mind, let’s take a look at how Western brands can position themselves for success in a world adapting to Covid-19.

Which sectors can benefit?

A sizeable number of sectors can migrate from offline to online delivery. For example:

– Retail businesses can grow their e-commerce provision
– Education establishments can offer online courses, such as MBAs which are always popular when delivered flexibly online.
– Brands can create profitable new revenue streams by selling digital assets such as images.
– Travel brands can encourage Chinese customers to start thinking about their post-lockdown travel and holiday plans.

Case study: JD.Com

Already, around 20 Western luxury brands have taken steps to open e-commerce stores on JD.com, the Chinese e-commerce platform, since concerns about Coronavirus began to take hold across the world. For example, by far, the Italian designer fashion brand, sold 65% of its stock in just four days, and around 90% within a month of creating its online store at JD.com.

Practical steps to take

Do your research

The lucrative Chinese market is growing and changing all of the time, with demographics that evolve as the economy becomes more globalised. The impact of the Coronavirus is likely to change these factors again; particularly when it comes to factors such as disposable buying power and attitudes towards media content. Now is the time to carry out research to better understand the unique needs, wants and desires of your target Chinese customers.

Choose the right platforms for e-commerce

Chinese e-commerce marketplaces such as Tmall,  JD.Com offer various advantages to Western brands wishing to develop their e-commerce capabilities fast, from ready template stores through to flexible fulfilment options and bespoke Covid-19 support programmes for their business customers. Chinese social media platforms also offer ecommerce integration; whether that’s through an in-app prompt within Little Red Book, or linked via advertising on a platform such as WeChat. Assess which platforms are right for your brand and set up your store for a ready route into Chinese e-commerce.

Think social

Every Western brand needs a strong presence on Chinese social media. Chinese customers will spend hours on their favourite platforms, whether that’s to consume, create and share content, network, post reviews, contribute to forums or engage with brands. There are dozens of Chinese social media platforms, from the giants such as WeChat, Weibo and YouKu through to Little Red Book and DouYin (TikTok). It’s important for Western brands to create official accounts on the platforms that their Chinese target audience and to create fresh, relevant and meaningful content. Remember, content is arguably even more important in China than it is in the West, so it’s a time investment well worth making.

Pick your KOLs

Use this time to think ahead and assess whether you are getting the most from Key Opinion Leaders. Whatever your industry and budget, there will be a KOL for you. These powerful online influencers work with brands on a partnership basis to carry out a variety of promotional activities, such as product placement, reviews, recommendations, competition launches and so forth. A Chinese marketing agency can help you to find the right KOL and broker a sponsorship arrangement that will give your brand the right exposure and return.

Get your website in shape

Do you have a Chinese language website that has been built for your Chinese audience? Are you creating bespoke content or translating your Western brand content? Do you have an app for your Chinese audience? Are your landing pages working, and are your user journeys optimised for Chinese user needs and online behaviours? Now is the time to develop your digital assets so that they are primed and ready to go once the Chinese economy is fully open for business again.

Look at Baidu PPC and SEO

Now is also a good time to ramp up your PPC advertising and SEO activities with Baidu. Once your website is optimised, set up targeted online PPC campaigns and begin to invest in long-term white-hat SEO that will build your brand’s rankings against relevant search terms. Again, a Chinese marketing agency can help you to do this in the right way, to set goals and to measure the effectiveness of your campaigns with performance analytics.

Consider your ePR

Chinese customers tend to distrust official media outlets but they are keen to consume quality content that adds value to their lives, and they enjoy excellent branded content that is fun, relevant and meaningful. A good Chinese ePR strategy can place your brand and its messaging in the right print and online media publications and ensure that it is seen by your target audience. This is essential to build your brand sustainably and to gain credibility and a strong reputation.

The Chinese marketing help that you need

Market Me China works with Western brands who are keen to build their presence profitably and successfully in China. Whether you operate in education, travel, retail or another sector, our team of digital experts can help you to craft and deliver a Chinese digital marketing strategy that provides measurable returns. Please contact us to find out more.

The post How to market to Chinese online users in the Post Covid-19 world appeared first on Market Me China®.

Preparatory steps

Do your research

It’s important to research the Chinese student market to identify key demographics and market segments which are likely to be a good fit for your institution. For example, in the UK, most Chinese students choose business-related subjects and the largest numbers are found at London universities. Most will typically be doing undergraduate degrees, although a significant proportion will be studying at post-graduate level.

Know what matters

Chinese students choose Western universities because they have connotations of value and prestige. A university degree from a reputable Western institution will be a valuable asset to a Chinese graduate’s CV and position them well for employment in any part of the world. Remember that younger Chinese are increasingly outward-looking and keen to experience the world.

Think about naming

Chinese students and parents alike value names greatly. For this reason, they will look at Ivy League universities in the USA, Oxbridge in the UK most obviously. But other links are also important. Manchester University appeals because of its links with the world’s most famous football teams. The University of Toronto is associated with successful immigrant families, for example. So consider the name and associations with your university. If it has accreditations, awards and other status symbols, be sure to promote them. If it is in a city with a claim to fame, then make the most of it!

Market to parents

Chinese parents see a quality Western education as an investment in their children’s future, so the question of ROI is key for their decision making. Perceptions of value are based on the physical qualification on offer, as well as the prestige and status of the institution itself. Chinese parents will want to see attractive buildings, heritage symbols, quality accommodation and excellent facilities. Ensure your marketing imagery really sells the quality of your physical offering, with strong ‘hero’ images and photographic quality which gives an editorial feel and a strongly aspirational edge.

Practical steps to creating your Chinese student targeted marketing campaign

Digital channels are your obvious best bet here, with your target market in China inevitably active online. Many institutions will also do in-country visits, talks and events, but these are expensive, resource-intensive and will only engage with a tiny proportion of the target audience.

Create your Chinese language website

Website localisation is vital and the best approach is to create a bespoke Chinese language website for your HE institution that is hosted in Mainland China or Hong Kong, which has a .cn domain and which has been built, written and tested specifically for a Chinese audience. Some universities will choose to translate existing content, but it is usually better to re-create content specifically for the needs of this distinct market. Remember that translation is more than simple word replacement; concepts and idioms must be perfectly conveyed for your university to be credible in this market. Consider the practicalities too. Chinese characters tend to take up 25% less space on a screen than Western characters, so the overall screen graphic presentation and UX may need re-working. Ideally, create a bespoke website with the help of an expert Chinese marketing agency, create content that really resonates with your target market (students and parents alike) and integrate all necessary elements such as your Chinese social media accounts, online advertising and other integrated features such as online chat.

Go mobile

Remember that over 98% of Chinese internet users choose mobile devices, so your academic institution also has the opportunity to create targeted campaigns and dedicated apps, featuring valuable information such as study programmes, chat facilities, key facts and success case studies. And of course, your HE institution’s website must be optimised for mobile as an absolute basic!

Use social media

Social media is your friend within this hyper-linked audience. WeChat is the most obvious platform, but others may be appropriate too for your HE brand, including Weibo and YouKu. Your content must be optimised for mobile and be planned strategically. For example, you will want to promote hard facts such has rankings, exam results and employment outcomes. Use learner-generated content that talks about learner experience and pastoral care. Interview successful graduates to explain what support is available for onward careers. A Chinese digital marketing agency can help you to build your brand on Chinese social media and to engage in the right way with your target audience. Remember that WeChat and other Chinese social media platforms also allow you to advertise, using a blend of in-app advertising (such as WeChat moments or banner ads) and KOL partnerships for ‘softer’ promotions, referral marketing and brand building.

Use Baidu PPC and SEO

With 70% of China’s search market, Baidu cannot be ignored. Set up the right Baidu PPC campaigns and you can drive qualified potential students – and parents – to your Chinese language website. It’s worth knowing that Baidu PPC usually offers better returns than Google PPC in the West, and it can accelerate the volume of incoming traffic to your landing pages rapidly, so that you can begin to engage your target audience. Similarly, invest in Baidu SEO for the longer-term, to drive your organic search volumes and accuracy.

Invest in online PR

A sound online PR strategy will amplify the effects of your digital marketing by placing your HE institution in the right publications for your target student and parent audience. Remember that Chinese people respect authority and seek out voices of trust, so your institution needs to be implicitly endorsed by appearing in the right media channels and outlets. A solid strategy will build your reputation across national media, educational publications, sector and vertical portals. It will need to include a rich mix of content, including thought leadership, reputation, case studies and so forth to brand build successfully and to stimulate enquiries.

Find out more

Market Me China works with Higher Education providers in the UK, USA, Europe and beyond to help them to attract Chinese students successfully to their institutions. To find out how our team of expert digital marketers can help you, please contact us today for a no-obligation chat about your needs.

The post How to target Chinese students who want to study in the West? appeared first on Market Me China®.

Baidu key facts

So what are some of the key things to know about Baidu?

– It is China’s leading search engine with over 60% of the market (and 5% of all global searches; amazing when you consider that it is only used within China!)
– Its search capabilities extend beyond text to images, books, maps and mobile searches, as well as local, blog and patent searches.
– It has its own mobile entertainment platform, a dictionary, encyclopaedia or Wiki plus an anti-virus platform, plus more.
– Baidu is heavily regulated by the state, and for Western brands to use it, the paperwork is extensive and can be time-consuming. A Chinese digital marketing agency can greatly simplify and expedite the process.
– Chinese website or landing pages are advised when running Baidu PPC campaigns, and these perform better than English language landing pages.
– Cultural, social, geographic, language and other local factors must be considered. For a successful campaign, website or landing pages must be localised beyond basic language translation, so that trends are represented and the unique needs of Chinese customers met.
– The potential audience is vast, with more than 800 million tech-savvy Chinese people online.

Moving beyond Baidu account setup

We’ve covered the administrative complexities of setting up a Baidu account as a Western business in previous blogs. So, assuming that you have moved past the initial stages of creating your Baidu advertising account and have created your Chinese language localised website… what next? These steps will move you onwards…

Optimise your Baidu PPC campaigns

There are various strategies that Western brands can take to optimise the success of their Baidu PPC campaigns. For example, the initial focus is on driving traffic to your Chinese website or landing pages. These three activities will help:

1. Promote your target keywords using Baidu’s search engine

A Chinese marketing agency can help you to identify the correct Chinese keywords and ensure that your campaign is set up to target mobile and desktop customers alike, along with multi-unit keywords. Remember too that you can time campaigns for locations and use your keywords for click generation on Baidu Zhidao (its Q&A platform). This is relatively cost-effective and begins to direct traffic to your Chinese website or landing pages. If you run an eCommerce business especially, it is vital to be optimised and set-up for M-Commerce (including a mobile-friendly website, integrated Chinese payment platforms and so forth).

2. Get better lead results with Baidu News Feed and Baidu Brand Zone

Western marketers can also leverage the power of Baidu news feed advertising and the Baidu Brand Zone.

The Baidu new feed ad is similar to Google Discover and available on mobile devices (essential in China!). The service is discreet and targeted by the audience rather than keywords. Multiple ad formats are on offer, including video, with CPC and Cost Per Time advertising models available. Baidu news feed adverts are useful for brand awareness and to generate website clicks, especially amongst target audiences who may be new to your brand.

With the Baidu Brand Zone, Western brands can capture online traffic via search engine results. Advertisers pay on a monthly basis for the service, in return for adverts and brand information in SERPs. Used with Baidu PPC campaigns, the Brand Zone can greatly enhance brand advertising performance and the service is already used by Audi, Dell, BMW, Apple, British Airways and other big brands. Although expensive, the product offers incredibly high rates of conversion, with 50%-80% click-through rates reported by AC Nielsen, and up to 78% boosted purchase intent (source: China Internet Watch). Compare this to average 1% for Baidu PPC, and the rationale for Baidu Brand Zone’s premium pricing becomes clear.

3. Build brand trust with Baidu Verification

This service displays your business in Baidu search results, accompanied with verified company information. The results also show a ‘V’ against your listing, to signal that you have been verified as a trustworthy and reliable business. This is important for positioning your brand within the mind of the Chinese customer and gives you credibility. Such credibility is particularly important for Western brands who need to build a relationship to begin a longer sales cycle; for example those in B2B or Higher Education markets.

4. Ways to improve your Baidu PPC results

Once you have set up successful PPC advertising campaigns and are seeing positive results from your analytics, you can use tools that help to maximise your exposure. For example:

1) Chat with your customers to drive conversions

Use the Baidu Shangqiao (Baidu Bridge) Live Chat tool, which is extremely popular in China and now seen as a ‘given’ by Chinese customers who are keen to chat with sales reps in a live scenario when they are considering a purchase. By having a Chinese language representative online to answer questions as they are posted, your brand has the chance to convert leads to sales. Consider the value of this immediacy if you operate an e-commerce business! The tool is simple to use and embed onto your Chinese website or landing pages. This means that all customers can access it from across your website. The tool also comes with an external dashboard which provides useful site visit data. Remember that your live chat must be manned by a fluent or native Chinese speaker to be successful.

2) Send automatic customer service messages when you’re offline

Use Baidu Lixianbao as a call back service that provides a vital link to your customers when you’re offline. When the live chat isn’t being manned, users can leave their contact details and request a callback at a time that suits them. This degree of individual attention and communication is key to many successful purchase processes in China, especially in the travel industries, where proactive service can make all the difference to a sale.

3) Create your Baidu business card

Western brands can also build their own business cards into the search engine. This boosts trust and shows that your brand is reputable and well established; all of which are vital attributes in China for successful business. This card will be displayed as a series of links with your company logo on the SERP page. Each promotion lasts for six months maximum before the service must be refreshed. You can tailor these displays according to a search query, location and other factors to tighten up the targeting.

4) Manage your brand reputation

Think of Baike as China’s own Wikipedia. Owned by Baidu, the site is used by businesses successfully as a reputation management tool, by anticipating questions that customers might have and providing proactive information and answers to these questions. Western brands pay an annual fee to have their own page which they can then build and administer from their Baidu company account.

Ready to find out more about how to advertise on Baidu?

Market Me China manages Baidu advertising for a number of Western brands, particularly in the B2B, Higher Education, Travel and E-Commerce industries. From account set-up through to campaign management, results tracking and evaluation, we can smooth the path to Baidu success – and evidence the results of our support. Please contact us for a no-obligation chat about how we can help you.

The post How to advertise on Baidu as a Western brand appeared first on Market Me China®.

Why is Baidu so important?

Baidu is by far the largest search engine in China, with 70% of the Chinese search market. Furthermore, Chinese buyers aren’t resistant to online advertising in the way that Western audiences are, so it tends to offer a better return. However, online marketing is more heavily regulated than in the West in order to maintain its quality, and the Baidu account set-up can be challenging. To successfully promote your higher education institution to your Chinese audience via Baidu, these are the steps required:

Set up a Baidu advertising account

The Baidu PPC platform has similarities to Google, but the set-up process takes around a month. Many of our clients prefer to outsource the set-up administration entirely to Market Me China to speed things up as far as possible. Broadly speaking, the steps are:

1. Submitting registered website details and company name, along with other required company documents (such as financial information) and a government-issued business licence. (We check this for our clients beforehand, so that all necessary information is gathered and provided in the correct format, and with Chinese language translation included as necessary.)
2. Waiting for Baidu to review all documentation and confirm that it will issue a PPC account.
3. Making your payment to begin PPC advertising. This payment can vary by region and countries, and in some cases, an annual fee is levied.
4. Receiving your login details upon receipt of the Baidu PPC advertising payment, and begin running your campaigns, using Baidu’s PPC tools to target your advertising as far as possible.

– Create your Chinese language website

It isn’t essential to have a Chinese website, but it is highly recommended that you build one before you advertise on Baidu. Without this, the bounce rate will be extremely high. Remember that your audience of Chinese students and their parents will naturally want to learn more about your institution in Chinese.

Depending on the timeframes and resources that you have at your disposal, you could simply translate your existing English language website into Mandarin Chinese. Alternatively, you could invest more and create a dedicated Chinese language website with content, design, user journeys and a payment platform specifically designed for Chinese users – and testing to verify that it hits the mark. This is likely to result in the highest conversions.

– Create your Chinese language adverts

Similarly, Baidu recommends that its advertisers create Chinese language ads. If you use an English language ad, the bounce rate will be high and you’ll be frittering away your precious budget on Chinese readers who can’t understand your content.

– Prepare your hosting

It’s not necessary to host your website in Mainland China, and neither do you need to have a Chinese ICP licence or .cn domain. However, you must be sure that your Chinese audience HE website can operate quickly there. Remember, savvy Chinese consumers are used to browsing online via their smartphones, so speed is of the essence. Baidu also penalises slow-loading websites in search results.

Baidu PPC

As China’s leading search engine, Chinese internet users choose Baidu to find answers to their search queries. With the right PPC campaign, your HE institution can grow its brand awareness, generate instant traffic of pre-qualified Chinese students and deliver conversions. Baidu PPC (Baidu SEM), is the standard approach for paid search advertising. Key things to know here are:

– Baidu offers rich formats such as text, sitelinks and images, which operate seamlessly across desktop and mobile platforms.
– It subtly places natural organic results and paid for advertisements; merging the results for users
– Analytics tools are available that allow daily campaign tracking and adjustment of advertising parameters for best effect.

Baidu display ads

The Baidu display network works holistically with the PPC activity to leverage the results of your campaign. Because 90% of Chinese customers will not immediately deliver the desired conversion/call to action, Baidu display network offers retargeting. These display adverts can be run as a campaign through your Baidu PPC account to supplement this activity and to grow brand exposure and awareness, whilst retargeting lost customers.

Baidu display advertising is open to any brand which has a Baidu PPC account and it sends targeted display ads to over 650,000 partner websites and software providers. Its coverage is vast – making 18,000,000,000 daily impressions across mobile, video and desktop. Again, display ads can be demonstrated in a variety of forms – including flash, images, floating and text to make banners, video ads, news feeds and more.

The real power here is down to the AI that Baidu display ads employs to effectively target each audience – using its ‘Baidu Brain’ database which contains rich data on Chinese consumer behaviour to deliver a range of multi-targeting methods, from demographics to interests and including keyword targeting and retargeting.

Marketing strategy

Careful thought needs to be put into an effective HE marketing strategy in a country of sophisticated middle-class consumers who greatly value education and prestige Western universities. Things to consider include:

– Timing PPC campaigns to time with main academic recruitment periods; typically after exam results are released in China and during holiday periods.
– Producing rich and engaging content that resonates with Chinese students and their parents. Content needs to demonstrate the quality of the institution, the onward employability of graduates, elements of prestige, the student experience and so forth. Trust is very important here, so content which shares the experiences of Chinese alumni and successful graduates is a good way to engage your target audience. Remember too that Chinese parents will be co-decision-makers, so content must meet their interests and answer their questions and concerns. Targeted market research here can be very useful.
– Regularly assessing and monitoring campaigns so that adjustments can be made on the back of analytics.
– Considering engagement and response to the enquires that you receive through your digital campaign. Students and their parents may have different levels of English ability, so if you can use Chinese where necessary to engage, this can build trust and credibility.
– Effectively managing Baidu PPC campaigns with adequate resource from end to end. HE institutions need to research keywords (using the Baidu keyword planner), create search ads, monitor campaign progress, use Baidu Tongji to deliver analytics (only available in Chinese) to assess performance data, produce regular reports with suggestions to further optimise the campaign – and then implement these refinements. Market Me China can deliver this service on a flexible and expert partnership basis.

A note on Baidu SEO

Baidu SEO can be challenging, as around 20% of its traffic is directed to Baidu-owned sites, such as Baidu Zhidao, Baidu Baike and Baidu News. To build a good SEO presence for relevant keywords, excellent content, authority site backlinks, reciprocal linking and other tactics must be used in the right way. Typically, HE institutions will begin with online advertising and grow SEO over time.

Getting to grips with Baidu

Baidu can seem daunting to a Western audience, but its regulated nature does help to safeguard the quality of advertising for the vast audience of Chinese internet users; something that can only be good news to Western HE institutions looking to advertise on the platform. As ever, Market Me China is here to help smooth the process for you and get your PPC marketing up and running as soon as possible.

Find out more

Market Me China works with Western higher education institutions of all sizes to help them to leverage their digital marketing capabilities for greater conversions. To discuss how we might help your HE institution to market more effectively to the Chinese market, please contact us for a no-obligation chat and we will be delighted to assist.

The post Top tips for using Baidu advertising in higher education appeared first on Market Me China®.

Desktop search engine market share in China Feb 2019:

• Baidu: 69.67%
• Haosou 360: 9.77%
• Google: 8.04%
• bing: 5.66%
• Sogou: 5.63%
• Shenma: 0.67%

Mobile search engine market share in China Feb 2019:

• Baidu: 75.67%
• Shema: 17.55%
• Sogou: 4.61%
• Haosou 360: 1.3%
• bing: 0.53%
• Google: 0.29%

Download: Baidu market share in China Feb 2019 | Market Me China®

Baidu PPC advertising

Baidu is the first choice of search engine marketing in China. Baidu PPC advertising is a result-driven marketing solution for your brand to enter China, helping you to enhance your brand exposure, drive instant traffic and generate conversions on the biggest search engine in China. To get started, please find out more here: How to create a Baidu PPC account?

If you are looking for an expert to run your Baidu PPC campaign, we are happy to help. Why not contact us today for a free chat?

The post Baidu market share in China Feb 2019 appeared first on Market Me China®.

About Women’s Day in China

Women’s Day is celebrated in China on 8th March. It celebrates the achievements of women, and also allows Chinese men to express love for all the women in their lives. Naturally, Women’s Day is also a huge marketing opportunity and Chinese people greatly enjoy the occasion, with males across the country lining up to buy gifts for their partners and female relatives.

The good news for the women? They often get treats from their employers such as a dinner party or spa trip, and a half-day holiday – which they often use to hit the shops and support the increasingly powerful ‘she’ economy. Boston Consulting Group found in 2016 that 62% of leading consumers in China were women, and female consumer markets were worth $2.6 trillion. This means a huge potential female-focused market for savvy western brands.

Case study examples

It’s important to remember that Chinese Women’s Day looks slightly different to Western Women’s Day, particularly with its unique blend of Valentine’s and Mother’s Day gifting elements. JD.com has its own ‘Butterfly Day’ (蝴蝶节) which has been running successfully since 2014 with deep-discounting across its clothes, cosmetics and electronics range. Beauty products are a particularly popular category, and Olay, Maybelline and L’Oréal have all produced hugely successful customised gift boxes to celebrate the occasion. Amazon China also partners with high-end beauty brands such as Borghese to host themed flagship stores.

Last year, Secoo worked with Parson’s to host a 10-day Goddess festival, marketing luxury brands such as Chanel, YSL, Gucci and Hermes to its affluent female customers, with targeted Women’s Day ‘treat’ campaigns, special wrapping and limited edition products.

Defining your ‘hook’

As an example of a successful Women’s Day campaign hook, Lancôme ran a Women’s Day event called ‘unafraid of ageing, speak up bravely’, featuring famous Chinese actresses of different ages who spoke about their view of bravery. A competition tie-in offered the chance for participants to win a high-end beauty product. Similarly, Dior China appointed female ambassadors from the acting, jewellery design, art and culinary worlds, reflecting its customers’ high-end, sophisticated and elegant tastes.

The Chinese digital marketing tips you need to know

1. Plan ahead

Chinese consumers love fun, interesting and inspiring content that they can share. Why not leverage the Chinese love of smartphones with a quirky game for Women’s Day that offers special offers for winners and participants? Consider digital Women’s Day cards and a story-led, inspirational social media campaign that ties into the messages of Women’s Day and which positions your brand favourably in the hearts and minds of your female audience. You may even want to release a special women’s edition of your product range or offer special gift-wrapping for the occasion. Digital cards are also great for ‘share-ability’.

2. Get your digital marketing platforms in place

You might already have an official presence on WeChat, Weibo, Baidu, but if not, you’ll need to set these up. The processes can be complex and time-consuming. Happily, a Chinese marketing agency can take this task off your hands and speed up the process! Consider other, more niche, social platforms too, depending on your audience and product offer, seeking advice where necessary to allow you to best target your efforts.

Alongside the set-up of your platforms, it is helpful to work with Chinese experts to create compelling, meaningful and culturally-sensitive content that celebrates Women’s Day from the perspective of your Chinese market; being sensitive to local contexts, language and superstitions and ensuring it has the necessary ‘wow’ factor that encourages plenty of shares and conversions!

3. Consider your partnerships

Remember, this special calendar date celebrates the empowerment of women. This could encompass an admiring focus on women who are financially independent and in a position to treat themselves. For Western brands, it also means using brand ambassadors that women respect and look up to. Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) work with Western brands in a variety of sponsorship and partnership arrangements, from launching competitions through to delivering recommendations, subtle product placement and explainer videos. The trick here is to find the right KOLs for your brand and arrange a sponsorship partnership that will work for your product and audience. Again, your Chinese marketing agency can find the right KOLs and make the necessary arrangements.

4. Optimise your commerce channels

Some brands will simply offer Chinese language translation of their existing Western website, but others will go one step forward and create targeted Chinese microsites, social media stores and apps. An offline store can also be a bonus for a B2C market so that your female audience can experience your products first hand. Remember to create that rich, joyful and engaging experience at all times, adding value with tactics such as expert demos and explainer videos that bring your products to life.

5. Make sure you are seen…

Plan a Baidu PPC campaign so that any adverts you run are placed on the correct platforms for your Women’s Day campaign. The use of targeted online advertising in China is also a channel to allow you to be seen.

6. Evaluate

All activity should be reviewed and evaluated to demonstrate progress against your original goals. This means capturing a range of metrics which evidence success and areas for refinement in any future Chinese marketing campaign.

The Chinese marketing experts

At Market Me China, we know that Western brands seeking to do business in China want access to local marketing experts with the knowledge, language skills, cultural awareness, expertise and contacts needed to launch a successful campaign. We act as strategic partners to work with brands of all sizes and at all stages in their Chinese marketing journey, offering measurable value and access to specialist skillsets at all stages.

Whether you want Chinese digital marketing tips for a product launch or a fully-managed programme of annual campaign delivery and brand-building with evidenced results, we are here to help. Please contact us for a no obligation chat about your needs and we will be delighted to help.

The post How these Chinese digital marketing tips will help your brand to get noticed for Women’s Day appeared first on Market Me China®.

Valentine’s Day brightens up an otherwise quiet event calendar in the West. However, in China, it sits within a busy New Year period and is just one love-themed event on the calendar for festival-loving Chinese, with Qixi and ‘520 Day’ making up the romance event trio! So the work that you put in now for Feb 14th could stand you in good stead for May and August too…

Digital campaigns for Valentine’s Day

With this savvy and connected audience of luxury-loving Chinese consumers, Western brands need to be innovative, smart, insightful and quick to act. A great digital marketing campaign can be crafted and delivered in time for Valentine’s Day, especially with the help of a Chinese marketing agency to smooth the path and speed up the process.

A Valentine’s Day campaign case study

Gucci, Dior and other big brands have used KOLs – or Key Opinion Leaders – to launch Valentine’s Day and Qixi special edition luxury goods. For example, Burberry fans had the chance to take part in an online ‘just for fun’ romance quiz which gave them insights into their relationship style, before receiving a special offer on a Qixi-edition bag. Dior also launched its special ‘Dior Amour’ bag to female customers with a lead-up social media campaign to create serious hype about the limited edition release (it sold out within seconds!) Michael Kors partnered with Yang Mi, its KOL partner, to co-design a special line of red bags which were equally popular.

Creative campaigns work for non-luxury brands too. For example, Starbucks used Weishi, the short video app, to launch the ‘Show Your Love’ campaign. They created special filters available to customise and theme each short vid, with prizes available to posted videos that gained a certain number of likes. The campaign sat particularly well with the younger Chinese audience, who love short video as a means to be expressive, individual and creative.

So what does this mean for Western brands?

There are plenty of digital marketing tactics that Western brands can blend together to make an effective Valentine’s Day campaign. For example, Western brands could:

– Create a WeChat mini store, branded and illustrated with fun Valentine’s Day graphics.
– Produce a fun digital game which will ideally have viral appeal and encourage users to share their scores. This could result in a special offer for the user.
– Release digital Valentine’s Day cards for Chinese customers to share; again with a link to a conversion incentive such as a discount.
– Work with a KOL within a brand sponsorship/partnership arrangement, to promote your offering to their audience and to grow your reach and customer base.
– Create a special product for Valentine’s Day itself as part of a limited release line, to create desirability and to help Chinese buyers delight their loved ones with something exclusive.
– Consider hosting an offline store to drive interested buyers to experience your products in person and to drive forward conversions.
– Craft a beautiful, compelling and aspirational social media campaign that works across different platforms, such as Weibo, Weibo, and which resonate with your target audience through story-telling, heart-warming imagery and meaningful messages.
– Launch an accompanying Baidu PPC campaign to ensure your adverts place on the right platforms.

Things to bear in mind:

1. China is a vast and complex market, with sophisticated buyers who sit in distinct consumer segments. Western brands must ensure that they deliver the right experience by creating digital marketing campaigns that genuinely resonate with their target audience/s. This means really understanding Chinese consumers and getting to the heart of what matters to them. Local research and contextual understanding are essential to create user personas and expert targeting of campaign materials.

2. Websites must be optimised for mobile and translated into Chinese as a minimum. However, many Western brands will want to maximise their ROI by setting up bespoke social media stores, creating apps and producing digital assets that are made entirely for the Chinese market. Investment in this lucrative and middle-classed market will reap rewards, but only if it is expertly deployed in order to stand out from the competition.

3. Content is key and ideally, it should be fresh and targeted. Once social media campaigns go live, you should have Chinese-speaking brand representatives on-hand to answer questions, support buyers, engage with audiences and monitor the progress of the campaign itself.

4. Targeted online advertising can be complex to manage in a country as big as China and with so many leading internet platforms offering promotional space. An automated system can facilitate this process and provide conversion tracking and intra-campaign results for adjustment as needed.

5. All activity must be measured and evaluated against original goals to quantify success. Lessons learned then be applied to the next big event and digital marketing campaign for even stronger results and ROI!

6. The administration involved to set up accounts for platforms such as Baidu PPC, WeChat official account, Weibo verified account, can be onerous and time-consuming to say in the least, with complex processes to follow and no use of English!

In all instances, Market Me China can assist you.

Working with a Chinese marketing agency

From superstition around numbers and luck through to the concept of ‘saving face’ and the importance of relationships in business, there is much to learn – and many Western brands simply don’t have time or resources to acquire this expertise in-house.

Your Chinese marketing partners

Market Me China can provide that vital partnership of insight, experience and knowledge that you need to gain a valuable ROI on your Chinese Valentine’s Day marketing campaign. From expert local content creation and liaison with Chinese partners through to campaign delivery that nets those all-important conversions, our track record speaks for itself. We act as strategic marketing partners to Western brands in all stages of their Chinese business journey, from new entrants looking to break into their market through to more established brands looking to consolidate and grow their presence and sales.

Contact the team at Market Me China to find out how we can help you to enjoy a successful marketing campaign for Valentine’s Day in China this year!

The post Chinese digital marketing tips on Valentine’s Day appeared first on Market Me China®.

Christmas in China

Far from being a purely Western celebration, Chinese consumers are embracing their love of festivals to add Christmas to their annual calendar – with three million decorations and over 600,000 Christmas trees purchased last year. Additionally, Tmall – the B2C e-commerce platform owned by Alibaba – had 20,000 Christmas themed products listed for sale last year. There are also 100 million Christians in the country, but the festival is already seen as a perfect commercial opportunity for all retail-loving Chinese customers, regardless of faith! Just one look at the huge queues in China’s big cities last year for Starbucks’ Christmas drinks and merchandise tells you all that you need to know about the opportunities – Pine Nut White Chocolate flavoured mocha anyone?

In the Chinese marketing calendar, Christmas also fills the gap nicely between Singles Day and the New Year and it is already being adopted heavily by brands who are using their Christmas campaigns to position themselves as being modern, fun and innovative; all attributes that appeal to smart Chinese millennials in particular. For example, in cities such as Shanghai, European-style Christmas markets are brought to life with branded-decorations and a billion WeChat users are hit heavily with Christmas marketing during December.

Choosing your digital marketing channels

Now is certainly the time to organise your Christmas marketing campaigns to China’s online shoppers, and you’ll have to move fast. Remember, Chinese buyers are enthusiastic and excited about engaging with foreign trends, Western brands and international lifestyle markers; all factors that can be used to a marketer’s advantage.

1. Baidu PPC

The right Pay-Per-Click advertising campaign on China’s biggest search engine is essential. Firstly, make sure your e-commerce site is optimised for mobile and – ideally – have a localised Chinese website ready for your campaign. At the very least, your content must be translated by an expert who understands the nuances of the language and the social factors, that impact messaging. Remember too that China is home to over 550 million smartphones and consumers that browse for nearly two hours a day! The process to set up a new Baidu PPC account is difficult for Western brands and can take some time, but your Chinese marketing agency can ensure a speedy setup.

Once you have your account, you will need to create Chinese language adverts, plan and book their placement and use Baidu Tongji (analytics) to assess the results of your Baidu PPC campaign, adjusting your advertising schedule and parameters as necessary throughout. Market Me China can assist you with each stage of this, in order to deliver the ROI that you need and to get everything up and running swiftly in time for the China Christmas marketing rush.

2. Chinese Social media

For your Christmas marketing campaign China KOLs, WeChat and Weibo advertising are all essential to support your digital activity.

The link between commercial marketing opportunities in China and Key Opinion Leaders is undeniable – and last year saw plenty of social media stars putting their name and recommendations behind Christmas brand campaigns. Li Beika is one key example who partnered with Swarovski to promote their Christmas line to her WeChat following of 1.3 million. The brand chose a story-led campaign that focused on educating the audience on the history and tradition of Christmas, with ideas for food and decorations. Of course, the real objective was to product place the limited edition Swarovski gift line which were presented as Advent Calendars and which sold out rapidly through WeChat as a result. Another good example of effective KOL engagement is shown by Mimeng, who worked with brands such as Michael Kors, Hermes, Phillips and Tiffany to post a sponsored series of gift ideas for friends to her following of 1.4 million fans. The most comments received luxury lipsticks and some garnered as many as 10,000 likes.

Bear in mind though that Chinese e-commerce brands will also be cashing in on Christmas, and not simply Western competitors. Chinese brands are keen to leverage the Western festival to show that they are worldly and international in nature. For example, DJI, which sells over two-thirds of the world’s drones and which is a hot brand in China, uses a multi-channel strategy to promote their product line with special Christmas discounts and festive illustrations which will be familiar to Western customers at home.

You’ll need to choose the right KOL swiftly and engage with their booking agency to secure a contract for your Christmas marketing campaign in China and prepare plenty of engaging, exciting and value-adding content for your Chinese social media platforms. Remember that your content strategy should allow the repurposing of content across different digital channels and you must also plan in a marketing resource to monitor the accounts for engagement and to manage viral campaigns such as seasonal competitions.

3. Targeted online advertising in China

The right targeted online advertising campaign can place your brand and your Christmas China marketing campaign on the right websites, using engaging rich media adverts that are designed to meet the values, needs and interests of your target market. This process can be made easier through a powerful advertising management platform which optimises your demographic targeting, ad placement and campaign management, with the provision of in-depth analytics in real-time. The platform also uses cookie-based audience targeting which helps to drive conversions and grow brand awareness, ensuring that your budget is put to best use and without waste.

4. Other things to factor in:

ePR: Depending on your industry and market, the right media placement of editorial, advertorial and other pieces can form a vital part of your integrated marketing campaign, raising awareness of your brand and interest in your product offer.

Forums / Q&A platforms: Tieba, Zhidao,and Zhihu are consumer opinion forums/ Q&A platforms where reviews and insights are shared between users. Remember, peer-to-peer marketing is powerful in China, so monitor these channels for conversations about your brand and input where you can. If you can offer a fantastic customer experience alongside your product offer, you will gain recommendations on Weibo, WeChat and private groups. Social conversion is a specialist topic here and something that Market Me China can support you with.

Get the help you need

Whether you’re new to launching campaigns for Christmas marketing in China, or already enjoy a position within your target Chinese market that you want to grow, our team of experts is here for you. We have highly-experienced Chinese marketing experts that will help you to achieve your goals and targets. From social media campaign planning through to the delivery and analysis of your Baidu PPC and/or targeted online advertising, we ensure that your budget goes further and that your goals are met. Contact us for a no obligation chat and find out what we can do for you.

圣诞快乐 Shèngdàn kuàilè – Merry Christmas!

The post How to succeed at Marketing Christmas to China 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®.