In China, cross-border e-commerce holds a specific distinction. Through cross-border e-commerce platforms, international companies are able to sell their products to Chinese customers at reduced duty fees, without needing a Chinese business license.
It can often be intimidating for international marketing professionals to learn that the digital tools they’ve grown to understand and use in Western contexts are either not used in China, or have analogues that require extra time to learn. Some are familiar, and relatively easy to get to grips with – Twitter to Weibo, Amazon to Taobao, WordPress-based blogs to WeChat articles. A less-understood, but no-less vital analogue, is HTML5 to H5.
Dazhong Dianping has been called the Chinese version of Yelp. However, its services go well beyond its counterpart, incorporating elements of Groupon, social media, delivery apps, and more.
Starting out as a movie and restaurant review platform in 2003, by 2015, Dianping merged with Meituan, one of China’s largest food delivery networks, integrating the functions of both companies while retaining separate apps. With backing from Tencent, Dianping has also become part of the WeChat super eco-system.
If you live in China or visit from time to time, you have probably already heard of Sina Weibo. It is one of the biggest tools for digital social networking, interaction and entertainment, and is one of the main players in digital marketing. Hosting more than 521 million monthly active users, Sina Weibo is celebrating it’s 12th years this year (2021). Some say the development was inspired by Twitter, but today it is more like a Chinese Facebook, featuring personal wall, photo and video sharing.
In 2021, Xiaohonshu has become a focal point for digital marketing campaigns of lifestyle brands in China. With approximately 100 million monthly active users, of which just under half are 18-24 and over 70% being born after the 90s, this booming Chinese platform is a crucial for reaching the next generation of China’s consumers.
Advertising law in China has taken a new turn, and is now going after the official WeChat accounts of companies and artists. More and more companies, both local and foreign-owned, are being handed penalties for using terms such as “the best”, “one hundred percent”, “first”, “most advanced”, and “lowest price” on their social media accounts.
One of the hottest topics of the year is about the development of the Chinese government project to create new Free Trade Zones, and bring more foreign investments into the country. With the recent rise of Hainan FTZ, there is some confusion with the GBA. It is time to lift the veil, and discover what it is about !
Anyone engaged in marketing in China could be forgiven for wanting to smash their head against the wall every time that KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders) are brought up in conversation. Everyone knows how essential they are, how they’ve come to feature in virtually any campaign worth its salt, and how keeping track of which KOLs are hot right now is vital. But their sheer ubiquity, the way that they work their way into almost all campaign-related discussions, could drive a person mad from boredom. Not to mention, when you have a hammer, every problem starts to look like a nail. KOLs are not the solution to all marketing problems. Enter, KOCs.
The penchant in China for KOLs continued unabated in 2020, and into 2021. Hardly a marketing meeting goes by when the acronym doesn’t pop up once or twice. Having ascended marketing geek buzzword-territory into a generally understood concept, the question on the lips of brands operating anywhere in China is no longer if KOL marketing is a good idea, but how best to do it.
WeChat has become deeply integrated into daily life China. Besides being a social media app, it functions as a wallet and serves as a portal into various different mini-programs within it for everything ranging from booking plane tickets to paying utility bills. With more than 1 billion monthly users, WeChat has 78% penetration in China among those aged 16-64 years old.