If you’re a small Western brand, you’re probably tempted by the hugely exciting Chinese market!

After all, it’s vast, growing, and extremely lucrative; especially as Chinese customers are sophisticated, tech-led and motivated to buy quality Western brands.

But in a complex, fragmented and culturally challenging market like China, can your small Western brand compete and carve out a successful niche?

The short answer is… yes! Let’s look at what you need to know and do next.

Why Chinese Digital Marketing Matters to Small Brands

One of the many exciting things about the Chinese market is its accessibility. Get your Chinese digital marketing strategy right, and your small Western startup can find a profitable niche in China!

The trick lies in being extremely strategic in what you do, as random tactics will simply dissipate your budget without a return.

Invest in Research

It’s vital to deeply understand China’s cultural, social and technological landscape before you launch into marketing.

This means knowing what your Chinese target customer looks like and their demographics. User personas can help greatly, so invest in quality market research to maximise your chances of success.

Understand The Social and Cultural Landscape

Are you aware of Chinese censorship? Do you know if the colour white is considered lucky or unlucky in China? Do you know the various exciting Chinese shopping festivals and what they mean? How about livestreaming? Do you know how Chinese customers read and access websites?

If you don’t have these answers, stop and research carefully. It can be very tempting to rush your Chinese digital marketing activity, however, the more time you spend understanding Chinese customers and the marketing landscape, the better your marketing strategy will be.

Learn Chinese Digital Marketing Technology

The Chinese are true digital netizens and far ahead of Western customers in online expectations and sophistication. From gamification to immersive and personalised experiences, Chinese e-commerce and social media technology is a step up from Western equivalents.

Remember that the sites we use in the West for marketing, such as Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest aren’t accessible in China. Neither is Google or YouTube!

But with hundreds of local social media sites in China, pick carefully.

Choose the right ‘fit’ platforms and channels, understand how brands use them successfully and then build your brand presence in a very targeted, careful and creative way.

Focus will pay off here, especially if you fully resource your account with ready customer engagement and service, and get creative with your social content!

Tips For Launching A Small Western Brand in China

Once you have carried out the research mentioned above, consider how you might best create your Chinese digital marketing strategy for success. Here are some key points and steps to take:

Pin Down Your Niche

Be clear on your target market and niche market position in China. Use this to clarify your value proposition, USPs and key messages, and tailor these to your audience.

For example, millennial and Gen Z customers are passionate about sustainable brands with strong ethics. Gen X Chinese customers love high-quality (and luxury) propositions.

Get the Basics Right

Don’t try to do everything all at once! To conserve your budget and make it go further, focus on the basics such as getting your mobile-optimised Chinese language website in place. Make sure your localisation efforts are spot on for the best results.

Alternatively, go one step further and create your Chinese site and content from scratch, so that it’s fully and naturally targeted to your Chinese audience,

Remember to add in features that Chinese customers value, such as reviews.

Pick Social Media Platforms Carefully

Start with the Chinese social media platforms that resonate with your target audience in China. This might be Weibo, WeChat, DouYin or Little Red Book.

It could also include more ‘niche’ sites designed for your particular market. (Remember that a ‘niche’ platform in China can still be huge!)

Start small, get creative and measure results. You can then keep refining your approach.

Find the Right KOL

A Key Opinion Leader, or KOL, can help your small brand’s Chinese digital marketing by accelerating a path to your potential Chinese customers.

Find a KOL that ‘fits’ your brand and broker a partnership or sponsorship arrangement that works for your objectives and budget. This channel can be hugely effective for Chinese digital marketing success!

Consider Baidu PPC

While you build your Chinese SEO efforts with consistent, quality content, look at Baidu PPC advertising campaigns to drive qualified leads to your landing pages. Carefully optimise landing pages with Chinese user journeys in mind and integrate Chinese payment platforms.

A bonus tip? Chinese customers expect to sign up with phone numbers rather than email and QR codes are far more widely used in this market.

Look at Partnerships

Commercial brand partnerships can work well in China, especially where there is a complementary element to your respective market offers. For example, a cosmetics brand might partner with a skincare or supplement brand.

Smaller brands can use strategic partnerships to amplify their messages and build brand awareness by pooling resources and marketing tactics. The key to success lies in finding the right partners with the right strategic fit for a campaign. With this in mind…

Pick a Great Chinese Digital Marketing Agency!

Because Chinese digital marketing is so complex and vast in scope, it helps to use an experienced Chinese digital marketing agency with a great track record of success.

Market Me China can help your small Western brand enjoy measurable success in the Chinese market, handling everything from Baidu campaigns (managed in Chinese) to KOL negotiations, website localisation, ePR and more.

Our team of native Chinese language specialists have years of Chinese digital marketing experience and work with our clients flexibly to support their needs, working as trusted and friendly extensions of their own businesses to deliver clear results.

Why not contact us for an informal chat about your needs and see how we can help your Western brand enjoy success in China?