Which factors play a role in successful marketing in China? What are trends and what must advertisers from Germany pay attention to? We give five tips for the Chinese advertising market.
With 1.4 billion inhabitants, the Chinese market offers enormous potential for German companies. However, local events and marketing opportunities are a seven-seal book for many marketers. Despite different products and target groups, general trends and tips can be derived that make marketing in China a success.
1. Regional and local conditions
First, it is important to have a basic understanding of local habits and regulations. Compared to Germany, China has no strict data protection rules that would be comparable with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). There, each user can be identified individually, which in turn enables 1:1 targeting.
However, Chinese top dogs, such as Alibaba and Baidu, do not share their user data with demand-side platforms (DSP). As a result, advertisers are still dependent on the purchase of targeting segments. In China, however, these are very accurate and show little diversification.
Another important factor in planning marketing activities is that the Chinese are a mobile-first company. More than 95 percent of Chinese Internet users use mobile devices to go online. This in turn means that mobile advertising accounts for almost 70 percent of digital ad spending. In 2021, this figure is expected to be 84 percent. Traditional media, such as print and linear TV, play a secondary role, while digital-out-of-home is also a relevant channel.
2. Geo-targeting
In the fourth largest country in the world, there are numerous regional features. It's important to note which regions are considered for geo-targeting. Because of political inequality, there are large income disparities between urban and rural areas, West and East, and coast and inland.
The major cities and coastal provinces are very developed, similar to the USA and Europe. By contrast, inland cities and rural areas are still underdeveloped. Depending on your budget, you should therefore be absolutely aware of what the goal and target group are. With a larger budget, geo-targeting the largest ten to 20 Chinese cities is most suitable.
However, this should ensure that, for example, certain purchase intentions can be addressed more precisely or in a more targeted manner. With a smaller budget, hyperlocal campaigns in the immediate vicinity of shopping centers, for example, make sense.
3. Cultural motives in creation
When creating marketing tools, cultural differences in China should also be considered. In this way, German commercials or other marketing tools can rarely be adopted 1:1.
While the western advertising world (including Germany) has a factual culture, the Chinese is emotion-oriented. Motives in Chinese advertising also include tradition, national pride, harmony and harmony with nature. The advertising messages in China are often highly symbolic and emotionally charged and have a playful character.
In comparison, advertising in Germany is much more factual, sober and reputable. These findings should be taken into account and implemented when creating advertising material.
4. Apps in the marketing mix
Apps play a decisive role in successful marketing in China. Overall Chinese app and Internet usage is fundamentally different from that in America or Europe. In China, for example, there is a local equivalent and a market leader for every American app.
The best known of these include WeChat (WhatsApp alternative), Alipay (PayPal alternative) or Alibaba (Amazon alternative). Their use in the marketing mix is therefore essential. In the apps, for example, company profiles can be created or native ads and moving image advertising can be displayed in an eye-catching way.
The intensive use of the apps by the Chinese population also results in a lot of data that can be used for targeted communication. Communities in particular are decisive for success, as many Chinese people use them to specifically obtain opinions about products and are thus influenced in their brand preferences and purchasing decisions. Of course, the use of KOLs (“Key Opinion Leaders” or influencers) is also very successful and should play a role in B2C topics in particular.
5. Expenses and investments
China is a highly attractive market. Building up or increasing awareness among such large Internet users not only sounds very expensive, but is actually associated with major investments. But it is also much more effective.
As a brand, you should first focus on the regions with the highest purchasing powers and evaluate the right target group. A mix of awareness and performance is absolutely necessary. As a company, you have to ensure that the brand and the products are relevant to consumers. As is often the case, long-term campaigns are more effective than short-term marketing measures. The aim should be for consumers to have an emotional response and to make the customer feel understood and taken care of in their cultural identity.
The decisive factor is that the right consumers for the brand are addressed and reached with the appropriate (relevant) product. Brands should ideally set up their own platforms - taking regulatory requirements into account, of course - for their target group or target groups so that the company can get in touch with customers and users can exchange ideas with each other.
In particular, the “Made in Germany” label offers great opportunities to be successful as a brand in China in the long term, provided that the marketing mix and media strategy are correctly selected and geared to the special features of the market.
This post is first posted at Internet World Business appeared.
