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The Australian Brands Conquer The Chinese Market

The Chinese market is quite complicated and different from the various business of the western world. It operates in a different way in terms of consumption priorities, as stated by Ophenia Liang, co-founder, and director of Digital Crew “There is a middle class of 500 million people in China and growing, but these consumers are so different and the way to get their attention is unlike anything in Australia”.

China: A Great Opportunity for Australian Brands

 

A large variety of Australian brands have seen in this Chinese challenge a great opportunity and this has paid off, as the products overseas are well seen and appreciated by the Chinese population. Unexpectedly a range of skin care products has topped the list of the most trusted one, especially among men, in fact, five out of ten belong to the category of beauty products, while for Chinese women, four of the top Australian brands were related to tourism.

What surprised most of this survey, were also the various positions of the brands themselves because big brand names, like Qantas and Crown Group, were overcome by one smaller brand, Australian Creams that deals with cosmetics. Owned by family-run, G&M Cosmetics, and based in Sydney’s Sutherland Shire, this local brand has managed to win the trust of consumers. As a matter of fact and according to statistics, Australian Creams reliability of quality and supply were the keys for the success, because those are the main signs that consumers look for and care most about.

HOW THE AUSTRALIAN BRANDS CAN BETTER WIN THE CHINESE MARKET?

Australian Brands have a great opportunity in the Chinese market, but the way of communicating affects a little bit this huge market because platforms and social networks are not the same as the Westerners are used to know “There is no Google, no Facebook, no Twitter and nobody carries wallets anymore. They just use their phones and applications like AliPay and WePay.” With a background far different than the western one, Chinese consumers are characterized by uses and tastes that need to be able to intercept correctly. Starting from the digital world. Indeed, China is the country with the largest pool of web users

Get a strong visibility

Now the important question is: How to get visibility in China?

Let ‘s me give a better answer. In fact, in China, you have many ways to get visibility but it’s important to know how to start. We all know that there are no Google, Facebook, Instagram or Twitter in China, so if you want to get more visibility you have to adopt the Chinese digital platforms.

  • Get Your Chinese Website Ready: First of all, you should have your English website translated into Mandarin Chinese.

Baidu is the most Chinese Search engine, with more than 82% of the market share, so you have to be ready for Baidu through the SEO, PPC, and DSP. As Baidu targets Chinese consumers, the ad platform recommends Chinese language ads. Although English language sites are fine for Baidu ads. Don’t waste money on targeting consumers who can’t read your website.

  • SEO(Search Engine Optimization): Baidu optimization is unique with different rules due to heavy censorship by the Chinese government. SEO on Baidu requires creating high quality and quantity content, building a massive volume of links, and conforming to Chinese censorship laws.
  • Baidu PPC(Pay Per Click): Opening a Baidu PPC account is much more complicated than creating a Google Adwords account.  Baidu’s PPC is a great option to boost your ads campaign in China and ROI, get qualified leads, and increase your website traffic. More information don’t hesitate to contact us
  • DSP(Demand Side Platforms): By using a DSP for their campaigns, brands can access a wide range of inventory and choose from many targeting options. DSPs make the process easier by allowing brands/company to buy inventory across a wide range of sites, targeted to specific users and based on data on their location or browsing behavior.

Local Social Networks

A strong presence on social networks increases the chances that your brand is well perceived and shared among users. Social interaction with your potential customers is vital if we really want to build a relationship of trust with our potential client. Chinese Internet users spend most of their time on social networks like Weibo and Wechat (91% of Chinese netizens). These are two social networks to be privileged absolutely. It is essential to publish many multimedia contents on their social channels: beautiful photos, videos with “dreamy” images … all contents that can be used by agencies to attract customers, but also to direct them in choosing their destination. Be generous with content and do not skimp on information and details.

Wechat and Weibo are the most popular Chinese Social Media networks. It’s important to know how to leverage these platforms in order to increase your client’s engagement

E-commerce: China is the first country in the world

Since 2013, the world’s first market for online commerce, in 2016 China saw the e-commerce sector grow by 26%, reaching 5.16 “trillion” of RMB (about 757 billion US dollars) in terms of sales. Numbers that should not be surprising given that one in two Chinese visits at least once a month an online store and 45% buy at least one product. As with social networks, the e-commerce landscape in China is also different. Colossi like Amazon give way to local platforms like Tmall and JD, able to polarize consumers’ attention to real events. To understand the scope of these platforms, consider that last year, during the Global Shopping Festival, Tmall had a turnover of almost 22 billion euros in just 24 hours. More than what Cyber Monday and Black Friday put together.

KOL and Chinese bloggers

Culture influences people’s purchasing choices in a predominant way. In China it is an even stronger concept: with a collectivist and hierarchical background, Chinese users place great importance on the advice of those who esteem. Do you know who the spokespersons are for your brand and appreciated by your target? Involving the right Key Opinion Leader (or influencer, if you prefer) may be the missing and fundamental piece of your strategy. The main role of KOLs that, by definition, have the trust of their audience, is to make the brand perceive as reliable. This is why we consider them particularly important for companies, brands or products that are not yet very well known but also for those who think they are already strong.

The GMA is a digital Performance Agency based in Shanghai that helps foreign Brands develops their business in China; reach and communicate to their Chinese consumers with Digital Solution. Contact us for further information

 

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