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The Fundamentals of Advertising in China (2019 Guide)

Dragon Social > Marketing in China  > China Marketing Strategies  > The Fundamentals of Advertising in China (2019 Guide)

The Fundamentals of Advertising in China (2019 Guide)

Advertising in China can be hell for marketers looking to expand to the Chinese market. In this blog we’ll cover the various options available for advertising in China; from traditional channels like TV and radio to social media and advertising networks as well as how to advertise in China. Some of this stuff can get a bit technical, so if you have any questions don’t hesitate to get in touch!

 

 

Many foreign companies who move into the Chinese market fail to understand how advertising in China differs from their own domestic market. Advertising in China starts and ends with understanding how the Chinese consumer is different and how they behave, but it’s also important to learn about the channels available.  Learn about all this and more to get yourself prepared to advertise in China in this blog!

 

 

Table of Contents: The Fundamentals of Advertising in China

 

  1. China Advertising Laws and Regulations Read Now
  2. Digital Advertising in China Read Now
    1. Social Media Advertising in China Read Now
    2. Chinese Search Engine Advertising Read Now
    3. Programmatic Advertising in China / Chinese Ad NetworksRead Now
      1. Baiyi: The Baidu Ad Network Read Now
      2. Tencent Social Ads: Tencent’s Ad Network Covering Everything from the Top Apps in China to WeChat Read Now
      3. Alimama (Alibaba’s) Ad Network: E-Commerce Ads and So Much More Read Now
  3. China Online Advertising Trends Read Now
    1. Traditional Advertising in China Read Now
    2. Television Advertising in China Read Now
    3. Radio & Broadcast Advertising in China Read Now
    4. Elevator & Movie Theater Advertising in China Read Now
  4. The Cost of Advertising in China  Read Now
  5. The Best Way to Advertise in China Read Now
    1. How to Advertise in China: A Few Guidelines to Follow Read Now

 


China advertising laws and regulations: A Brief Overview

 

 

At times it can seem like the attitude of the Chinese government toward the advertising industry is outright hostile. Censorship of advertisement has been prevalent over the years and new regulations are seemingly always right around the corner.

 

 

Many entire industries face strict oversight of their advertising including finance, real estate, gambling, mobile games, and others. If your business is in these industries you’ll be more limited in your options for advertising. For more information on these contact our team directly!

 

 

 

 

The last big government update was a restatement of The Advertising Law of the People’s Republic of China. Below you’ll see a list of the biggest changes that were made as a result of this law (if you feel like you’re even close to coming in conflict with these contact a law firm before starting to advertise in China! This is not legal advice.)

 

 

  • Misleading Content false or misleading content is strictly prohibited
  • Superlatives the use of superlatives in advertisements such as “the most” and “the best” is prohibited.
  • National Flag/Anthem any use of the Chinese national flag or national anthem are prohibited
  • National Dignity any advertisement which contain anything causing detriment to national dignity or national interests are prohibited
  • Social Stability advertising interfering with social stability, causing detriment to social and public interests or interfering with social public order or going against good social norms are prohibited.
  • Internet Advertisements Internet advertisements must not interfere with the users “normal use of the internet”
  • Labeling advertisements must be clearly labeled so users can differentiate advertising and organic content (also applicable to search engines).
  • Pop-Up Advertisements must have a clear method to close the advertisement within one click
  • Tobacco advertising of tobacco products both online and offline is prohibited
  • Prescription Drugs  advertising of prescription drugs both online and offline is prohibited
  • Industry Approvals advertisements from businesses in certain industries now require approval before engaging in advertising; including medical treatments, pharmaceuticals, foods for special medical purposes (FSMP), medical devices, pesticides, veterinary drugs, and dietary supplements.

For more information on the details of the 2015 Advertising law check out this blog.

 

 

However, it’s not just the government that is keen to regulate advertisements. Tencent, the owner of WeChat, places an extremely high value on its user experience and places a lot of restrictions on advertisements to protect this. Tencent has been making advertising more available to marketers in recent years as it begins to make up a larger share of its revenues.

 

 

 

Tencent Revenue Breakdown Q3 2018-2017 - Dragon Social

Tencent has well-diversified revenue streams and has potential to grow each of these categories further.

 

 

Weibo on the other hand, China’s version of Twitter, derives over 80% of its revenue from advertising, leading them to make it much more marketer-friendly. With a variety of different advertisements, competitive bid rates, and a wider acceptance of different media types, Weibo offers a lot more options for marketers than many of Tencent’s platforms.

 

 

Sina Corp / Sina Weibo Revenue Breakdown 2017-2018 - Dragon Social

Sina Corp, the parent company of Sina Weibo, depends heavily on advertising as its main source of revenue.

 

 

Given how dependent Weibo is on advertising though you can see why they’d want to make it an attractive platform for marketers. This makes Weibo one of the easier platforms to start on if you want to advertise in China.

 

 

Digital Advertising in China

 

 

Digital Advertising in China is far different from what you’re used to in other countries. One thing you have to realize before you advertise in China is that the entire digital landscape in China is much more fragmented, with users jumping from app to app and ecosystem to ecosystem making it difficult to track users effectively. China is also dominated by mobile so as we’ve said in other blogs previously: Mobile Comes First in China!
 

 

Social Media Advertising in China

 

 

Social media in China is often thought of as just WeChat and Weibo, when, in reality, there are hundreds if not thousands of social media platforms used throughout China. Nearly all of these platforms offer some form of paid advertisements.

 

 

Some of the most popular platforms for advertising include Youku/Tudou, WeChat, Weibo, Xiaohongshu, Douban, Zhihu, Toutiao, and Baidu Tieba. There is also a range of more focused platforms that focus on specific niches like Xueqiu, which focuses on investment/finance, and Mafengwo, which focuses on travel.

 

 

10 Most Popular Social Media Sites in China (2019)

 

 

One of the advantages of social media is that most offer support for video advertisements which are quickly becoming one of the most effective ways to advertise in China. Video is effective as compared to traditional banner ads as it is more eye-catching and offers the ability to demonstrate various product use cases.

 

 

Video advertisements can be placed across social media platforms and of course on video-streaming platforms. Tencent Video recently took the lead in the race to become the leading video streaming platform in China, ousting the former leader Youku-Tudou.

 

 

Many platforms, like Sina Weibo, also offer boosted content postings, which are also quite effective as they can come off as more organic than banner ads and other forms of advertisement. Combined with KOLs (Chinese influencers), these sponsored posts can have an outstanding reach and conversion rates. If you’re interested in KOL advertising we’ve discussed this in further detail on another blog you can find here.

 

 

For more specific information on social media advertising check out the following blog posts:

 

 

WeChat Advertising 101: All You Need to Know

 

The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Weibo For Business

 

 

 

Chinese Search Engine Advertising (SEM)

 

 

In China, like the rest of the world, search engine advertising can be incredibly powerful. Unlike in countries like the US and the United Kingdom, Chinese consumers do not have a huge aversion to clicking ads on search engines. However, Chinese search engines do feature a lot of advertising in search results, making competition higher than what you’re used to on Google.

 

 

 

 

When it comes to search engine marketing most businesses should be focused on Baidu as it still maintains the largest market share in terms of search. Advertising on Baidu is just like advertising on Google, you’ll need to bid for competitive keywords and pay on a PPC basis. If you’re looking for information on the organic search you can check it out our guide below:

 

Baidu SEO Guide 2019: How to Boost Your Digital Presence in China

 

 

The Go To Companies for Search Engines in China

The Top Companies for Search Engines in China

 

 

However, there are other search engines you can consider based on your business. For example, Haosou is often touted as a cheaper alternative for B2B companies looking to advertise in China as it’s commonly used in the workplace. For more information, statistics, and information on the Chinese search engine scene check out our blog below:

 

The Top 5 Chinese Search Engines You Need to Care About

 

 

Programmatic Advertising in China / Chinese Ad Networks 

 

 

 

 

If you’re an experienced advertiser you almost certainly have some experience with programmatic advertising platforms. The ones you’re likely most familiar with are the Google Display Network (GDN) & Doubleclick Bid Manager (DBM).

 

 

Both of these networks allow you to run advertising campaigns across platforms and offer advanced targeting to reach your ideal audience. However, while the Google Display Network has access to all the advertising inventory in the Adsense network, Doubleclick Bid Manager has access to 81 ad networks, meaning it has a vastly greater reach.

 

 

In this section, we’ll cover 3 of the top Ad Networks in China, which are of course owned by China’s largest companies BAT (Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent). While there are plenty more than these 3, these are some of the most notable, as they control nearly 80% of the programmatic advertising market (as well as a whole lot of other markets which you can see from the image below).

 

 

BAT (Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent) China Internet Companies - Dragon Social

BAT (Baidu, Alibaba Tencent) are the 3 largest internet companies in China. Often compared to the FAANG companies in the USA

 

 

In China, programmatic advertising makes up a significant proportion of advertising budgets for most advertisers, as they provide access to some of the most desirable placements and formats. They also provide advanced targeting due to the data that these platforms are able to collect through their various platforms.

 

 

This has been particularly valuable for companies investing in short video advertising. As these networks offer access to some of the most attractive placements for short video content.

 

 

Programmatic Digital Display Ad Spend China - Dragon Social

Amounts in USD (Source: E-marketer)

 

 

Programmatic buying makes it much easier for advertisers to market to mobile users as well, as it can allow advertisers to buy placements across various apps to reach the target audience. Due to these many benefits spending on programmatic has been increasing drastically, with USD $22.81 billion spent on advertising in 2018. It is anticipated to reach USD $29.61 billion by the end of 2019 according to e-marketer.

 

 

Baiyi: The Baidu Display Ad Network, The Right Choice for Targeting Users on Desktop

 

 

The Baidu ad network is called Baiyi (百意投放平台). This can get a bit technical so I’ll just give a brief overview of what is possible on the platform. If you want to learn more you can consult their website here.

 

 

The Baiyi Network is capable of helping advertisers run campaigns on PC, Mobile, Transportation (Subways, Taxis, etc.), and Television. This makes the network incredibly powerful for targeting users across platforms. Like most platforms, it uses tags to collect data on users and build out profiles for each unique user based on their interests, behavior, and demographics. Advertisers can use this information to target their audience far more accurately than with one stand-alone platform.

 

 

On PC the network covers over 550 million users. The network is capable of advertising on over 600,000 websites which have traffic numbers of over 10 billion users daily. With this massive number of websites, you can choose to display ads on niche websites that your target audience is most likely to visit.

 

 

 

 

For Mobile, the network covers 450 million users and over 1.5 million mobile websites & apps. All told these websites and apps generate traffic of 10 billion daily. The mobile network offers a range of ad formats including banner ads, full-screen ads, floating ads, opening advertisements (when a user opens an app), and video ads. There’s a range of variables for each format allowing you to place different types of ads.

 

 

Examples of Baidu Baiyi Ad Placements on Mobile - Dragon Social

Examples of Baidu Baiyi Ad Placements on Mobile

 

 

The network also covers some of the top video platforms for video advertisements. However, notably, some of the biggest platforms are missing as they are owned and operated by Baidu’s competitors, such as Tencent Video and Youku-Tudou (owned by Alibaba). IQiYi is present in the network which consistently ranks in the top 3 video streaming platforms.

 

 

 

 

Like other ad networks audience targeting on Baiyi is quite advanced. You can target users based on interests, keywords, relationship status, geographical information (with real-time location support), industry, device, OS, device price, device type, and a range of other categories.

 

 

Baidu Baiyi aims to be a solution for omnichannel marketing campaigns. It’s still being further developed and it is expected to continue playing a major role in the advertising industry in China.

 

 

In order to register on the network, you will need a Chinese business license as well as several other documents. As per Baidu’s website “you will need to provide materials including business license, ICP record, industry qualification and so on.” It states that different types of businesses have different qualifications, so you will need to speak to them directly to determine what you require, or you can find a Chinese marketing agency to help with the process.

 

 

Tencent Social Ads: Tencent’s Ad Network Covering Everything from the Top Apps in China to WeChat

 

 

This is likely the most well-known of the three big advertising networks due to its unique capability to place advertisements on platforms owned by Tencent, which includes WeChat, QQ, Tencent News, and Tencent Video.  As some of the most popular platforms in the Chinese digital ecosystem this makes this ad network very attractive for many brands.

 

 

Outside of Tencent’s own products, Tencent also created The Tencent Alliance Ecosystem, which is an ad network that focuses heavily on mobile advertising. However, given the trend in China of mobile being the dominant force for advertising, it makes sense that Tencent would focus on mobile.

 

 

The Tencent Alliance is a network of over 100,000 apps that collectively have over 500 million users. Tencent claims that 75% of the top apps have joined the network, and I would trust this claim considering Tencent also owns the most popular app store in China (which the ad network also covers)! 

 

 

Examples of Ad formats on the Tencent Alliance Network - Dragon Social

Examples of Ad formats on the Tencent Alliance Network (the text was translated with Google Translate so forgive any weird grammar)

 

 

Utilizing this network allows you to access some of the most popular advertising channels in all of China (like WeChat) with budgets starting as low as RMB 1,000 (~ USD $150). Different types of ads vary in price but allow users to control costs and use formats with different cost structures CPM/CPC/etc.

 

 

Another factor that gives the Tencent Advertising Network an advantage is the fact that Tencent has data from user data obtained from its own platforms like WeChat, QQ, etc, which of course it doesn’t share with other networks. Given how much time users spend on Tencent’s platforms it’s likely that Tencent has the most data of all the BAT companies.

 

 

With more than 800 million users using Tencent products and third-party applications on a daily basis, this advertising network is incredibly powerful.

 

 

All the platforms/networks on Tencent's Ad Platform - Dragon Social

All the platforms/networks on Tencent’s Ad Platform

 

 

However, a Chinese business license is required to use the network at these price points. For foreign businesses you can work with a Chinese agency to handle your ad buying at lower rates or you can take the big step of opening a business in China

 

 

As per Tencent’s official agreement, this is what is required to open an advertiser account on the network.

 

 

(1) Business license, ID card, and other identification documents and other documents of production and business qualifications.

(2) Complete, legal and effective contact information, such as mailbox, telephone, address, etc.

(3) Other necessary supporting documents, including but not limited to product quality inspection certificates, authorization documents, advertisement review forms, etc.

 

 

AliMaMa 阿里妈妈 (AliBaBa’s) Advertising Platform: E-Commerce Advertising an So Much More

 

 

This one’s name is pretty funny if you know some simple Chinese.  As you might expect, Alibaba’s Advertising platform, Alimama, places a heavy focus on E-Commerce. It is the ideal platform for businesses selling products through Alibaba’s various marketplaces like Taobao and T-Mall.

 

 

The platform offers a range of advertising products for use on these platforms and more, the most popular being Train advertisements and Diamond Display Advertisements.

 

 

Train advertisements refer to paid placements at the top of search results on Taobao/T-Mall for desired keywords. These can be incredibly effective for sellers on Taobao and T-Mall.

 

 

Taobao Train Advertisements - Dragon Social

Taobao Train Advertisements

 

 

Diamond advertisements have various functions allowing users to place ads on various apps and websites including platforms like IQiYi, Sina Weibo, Netease, and Youku-Tudou. However, there most commonly known for the ability to place display ads on Taobao which can be in the sidebar or even on the homepage!

 

 

Alibaba also has other advertising products to further expand its reach outside its main e-commerce platforms. For example, it launched TANX (Taobao Ad Network and Exchange) which provides both an SSP and DSP service for publishers and advertisers. It also has the Taobao Affiliate Network which runs ads only purchased through the Alimama platform.

 

 

 

 

The Taobao Affiliate Network and TANX, are most comparable to the Google Display Network and Doubleclick respectively. Both networks claim to cover the most popular websites in China, offerings similar functionality to Baidu’s services.

 

 

Getting started with these platforms can be difficult for non-Chinese businesses, and each platform that Alibaba offers has different requirements. If you’re looking to get started using these platforms you’ll want to speak with Alibaba directly to see what’s needed or get a marketing consultant to handle it for you.

 

 

China Online Advertising Trends

 

 

China’s online advertising market has seen tremendous growth in recent years, with revenues reaching approximately USD 100 billion in 2017. In this part we’ll cover the 3 different types of ad formats that make up the largest portions of the company’s advertising budgets to help guide your advertising strategies in China. For more on trends in 2019 you can check out our blog below.

 

Related Article: Top 10 China Digital Marketing Trends (2019)

 

 

 

 

Search Engine Advertising in China

 

 

Search engine advertising seems to be on the decline in China, with smaller proportions of advertising budgets being spent on this ad format. These advertisements made up over 1/3 of online advertising budgets back in 2013, but with the rising popularity of China’s social media, search is becoming less and less of a factor. So much so, that it only made up 22.75% of advertising budgets in 2017 according to iResearch.

 

 

According to forecasts made by China Internet Watch, a research organization that monitors various aspects of the Chinese economy, it is expected that search engine advertising will fall even further by 2020 to around 15% of advertising budgets nationwide.

 

 

While overall online advertising budgets in China are increasing and search engine advertising is still a part of most companies’ marketing mix, this data shows that search engine advertising is becoming less of a priority in China going forward. It also plays a bigger role for some businesses over others, for example, for those in B2B, search is still an incredibly effective channel. Depending on your business you should definitely consider adding search as a channel for your online advertising in China.

 

E-Commerce Advertising in China

 

 

E-Commerce advertisements in China are expected to make up nearly 1/3 of total advertising spend in the country. This is no surprise given the popularity of e-commerce in China. According to statistics on Statista (which I always take with a grain of salt),  E-commerce sales made up 28.6% of retail sales in China. Compared to the US, where only 14.3% of retail sales were made online according to digitalcommerce 360. It’s clear to see why these are becoming such an important part of online advertising in China.

 

 

E-commerce in China is only expected to continue growing as E-tailers have begun moving into other segments traditionally dominated by brick-and-mortar, like groceries and perishable goods.

 

 

HeMa Alibaba - Dragon Social

HeMa is the face of Alibaba’s “New Retail” initiative aiming to create an Omni-Channel Retail experience

 

 

Pinduoduo’s rise to the top of the charts this year also showed us that e-commerce is beginning to take a firm hold in tier-3 and tier-4 cities. These outer lesser-known cities have been responsible for huge growth in a number of areas so we’ll likely see E-commerce advertisement spending to continue to see double-digit growth for at least the next few years.

 

 

In-Feed Advertising In China

 

 

In-Feed Advertising, otherwise known as News Feed Advertising has seen tremendous growth in China over the last few years. In 2017 alone, spending on in-feed advertising grew by 91.5%. It’s expected to continue growing at well over 50% for the next few years. This has become one of the most powerful formats in online advertising in China.

 

 

The most popular platforms for news-feed advertisements are WeChat, QQ, and Tencent Video. There was also huge growth for smaller platforms like QuToutiao, Sina Sports, and Hilamaya FM.

 

 

Since these advertisements are Native advertisements, their use depends heavily on the platform they are featured on. That makes understanding the demographics and user behavior of the platform you choose to advertise on incredibly important.

 

 

For example, one platform popular with advertisers is MeiYou, an app for tracking menstrual cycles and discussing women’s issues, as the audience on the platform is clearly defined. For advertisers who want to target women, advertising on the platform makes sense.

 

 

One issue with News-Feed ads is they tend to be more expensive than traditional banners or other forms of advertising. However, they’ve proven to be quite effective to the point that experts predict that they will make up 35% of online advertising spending in the coming years.

 

 

Traditional Advertising in China

 

 

While online advertising in China is growing incredibly fast in terms of advertising spends, traditional advertising channels still make up nearly 50% of advertising spend in China. The entire advertising category saw 5.7% year on year growth in the first 9 months of 2018 according to CTR Market Research.

 

 

Online advertising in China saw double-digit spending growth in many categories while traditional advertising grew by 2.1% YoY, which is still respectable considering how dominant it seems online has become. We’ll cover a few formats in the traditional advertising market below. While digital channels are seeing tremendous growth and it might seem like the most expensive option if you want to advertise in China consider traditional channels before jumping straight to digital.

 

 

Television Advertising

 

 

Television advertisements were one of the primary drivers of growth in the traditional advertising industry with spending growing by 3.6% as of Q3 2018. The top 5 industries investing in this format were beverage, pharmaceuticals, Food, and cosmetics/toiletries, and alcoholic beverages.

 

 

Alibaba - Taobao - Double 11 Night Carnival - Dragon Social

The Display Outside Alibaba’s Double-11 Night Carnival

 

 

Aside from these 5, e-commerce companies like Pinduoduo have been investing heavily in TV advertisements to drive users onto their platforms. Alibaba also invests in TV to host its Double-11 Night Carnival, a TV event that promotes the e-commerce holiday Double-11.

A Voice of China Promo with the Iconic JVB Red Can - Dragon Social

A Voice of China Promo with the Iconic JVB Red Can

 

 

Viewers of the program can purchase all the items featured on the show through T-Mall and Taobao. The program has huge viewership numbers and features celebrities from China and around the world.

 

 

As most familiar with the Chinese market will know the number one player in the TV advertising market is China Central Television (CCTV). According to PWWC, among the top 10 channels in the country 6 of them were owned by CCTV.

 

 

In Recent Years, companies have also been investing in sponsoring TV shows rather than buying traditional advertising time slots. For example, JDB, a Chinese herbal tea brand, spent more than USD $120 million on exclusive naming rights to the past 4 seasons of Zhejiang TV’s “The Voice of China.”

 

 

Radio & Broadcast Advertising

 

 

This is one category that is still performing remarkably well according to statistics released by CTR Market Research. In the first three-quarters of 2018 advertising spend on broadcast advertisements increased by 8.3%, which actually puts its growth rate above some online advertising formats.

 

 

Broadcast/Radio Advertising in China Growth - Dragon Social

Broadcast Advertising is Showing Steady Growth

 

 

The total broadcast listener audience is speculated to be between 420 million and 685 million in China. The stability of radio has been carried primarily by the growth of car ownership. Statistics from Seychelles Media Research showed that there are 378 million in-vehicle radio listeners, with more than 300 million of them being considered loyal. This makes the radio listening population in China similar to the size of the entire United States.

 

 

China In-Vehicle Radio Listeners - Dragon Social

Imagine all these drivers hearing your advertisements

Radio has also become more accessible to smaller sized businesses, with many networks now offering small business packages for local enterprises. Overall the top 5 industries in China investing in broadcast advertisements were Commercial & Service Industries, Transportation, Food, Communication, and Finance.

 

 

Fortunately, it seems like broadcast is alive and well in China and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future. As more and more Chinese purchase vehicles it’s likely the audience for broadcast will only increase going forward.

 

 

Elevator & Movie Theater Advertisements

 

 

I bet many of you didn’t realize just how big of a market these places are for advertisements. These two areas have seen tremendous growth in recent years as they claim to advertise to a “Captive Audience,” in that viewers can’t really escape and are forced to watch advertisements placed in these venues (I do get sucked into watching them pretty frequently myself).

 

 

We’ll first go over elevator advertising which has gotten to be an absolutely massive market. So much so that the market leader, Focus Media, generated over 12 billion renminbi in 2017. The second-largest company Xinchao Media has received a USD $300 million dollar investment from Baidu in late 2018.  This kind of market activity shows that this form of advertising is certainly raising eyebrows.

 

 

Elevator Advertising Spending Growth China - Dragon Social

Elevator Advertising is showing the strongest growth out of all traditional advertising channels

 

 

However, elevator advertising isn’t as traditional as other traditional advertising channels. Companies providing this form of advertising monitor consumer reactions and behavior via in elevators to optimize advertisements. They can also provide data from consumer devices through NFC and Wifi technology (that’s kind of scary). These LED screens are being placed in elevators in both residential and commercial buildings and are one of the fastest-growing segments in the advertising industry.

 

 

Elevator Advertising China - Dragon Social

It’s easy to get sucked in when you’re bored on the elevator

 

 

The growth of the cinema industry in China has been propelling investment in theater advertising into a major channel.  As of November 30th, 2018 China had 59,009 movie screens according to the Global Times.

 

 

According to market research, The average cinema goer is 24 years old and visits the cinema once every 3 weeks. In terms of gender, viewers are 59% female vs. 41% male. With 86% of viewers holding bachelor degrees this makes theater audiences an attractive target for advertisers.

 

 

 

 

The proof is in the numbers again, with Theater Video Advertising Spend increasing by 22.6% as of Q3 2018.

 

 

The Cost of Advertising in China

 

 

 

Most companies severely underestimate the cost of advertising in China when they begin their initial planning and research. Just because you can get plastic doo-dads cheaply made in China doesn’t mean that everything is cheap. In fact, advertising costs in China are often equal or more expensive than those of Europe or the United States.

 

 

Getting started can also be incredibly tough and requires a significant time investment. It’s not like Facebook, where you can just sign up throw USD $5 in and see what happens. Almost all Chinese advertising platforms require you to present a list of documents just to get started. Many also have daily budget requirements (they really want you to spend!) While companies might be used to this in the traditional advertising space, most don’t expect it when they begin looking into online advertising in China.

 

 

Entering the Chinese market is not for the faint of heart. Chinese companies frequently lose money to gain market share, and if you’re not willing to go toe-to-toe with them you’ll likely lose. That’s not to say you need to get into a spending war, but you need to be prepared for a lower ROI than what you’re used to initially and have the patience to see your efforts through. Through careful testing and patience, you can achieve strong ROI figures, but you can’t expect to just show up, advertise in China, and start dominating.

 

 

Check out this quote from Michael Lin from Mailman X featured on Jing Daily below for some perspective on the budgets of multinational companies:

 

 

“For multinational brands, yearly budgets are typically around 100,000 USD on the low end and over 1,000,000 USD on the high end which can cover full digital scopes including SEM, PR, Website, Social, and Media. For a campaign or specific promotion, the budget will be dependent on which channels are used for promotion and what kind of audiences the brand is trying to reach.”

 

 

What’s The Best Way to Advertise in China?

 

 

So after all this, I hope you seriously don’t think there’s a one size fits all answer to this question. If you want to advertise in China and start building your business there, you’ll need to come up with a plan of attack and understand the market. As we said at the top of the post the best strategies are always created with the end customer in mind.

 

 

If it’s your first foray into China, I always recommended either bring on full-time Chinese staff who understand the market or employing a Chinese marketing agency. While it’s tempting to also only consider online advertising in China, depending on your business traditional channels might even be able to offer a better ROI. If you come into the market without bias and take the time to evaluate each channel effectively you’ll definitely be on the path to success!

 

 

How to Advertise in China: A Few Guidelines to Follow

 

 

There a few guidelines to follow when thinking about how to advertise in China to consider always:

 

 

  1. Understand Your Audience: Advertising in China requires a high degree of cultural intelligence. Run every advertisement you put out by a few native Chinese to make sure you’re not stepping on anyone’s toes. If you have the resources do some market research prior to initiating any advertising campaigns to better understand your target customer.
  2. Use Professional Chinese Copywriters: Good marketers know the difference between a writer and a copywriter. Simply translating content is often ineffective and fails to convey the proper message to your target customers. Get a professional to expertly craft your marketing message.
  3. Choose the Right Format: Ad formats can have a significant impact on key metrics like click rate, impressions, and ROI. Take the time to research which ad format fits your goal best. For brand awareness, you might choose banners, but for engagement, it might be best to go with video! Do your research and choose the right format for your unique goal.
  4. Focus on Mobile: Nearly every company in China understands that mobile comes first. In a recent survey, nearly 90% of advertisers said they would increase their budget on mobile ads while only 11% said they would increase spending on desktop. There is a reason for this. Desktop usage in China has been steadily declining, so focus on mobile-first!
  5. Take The Time To Understand The Customer Journey: Think about how potential customers in China would hear about your brand and potentially convert. Is your contact form in an inconvenient place? any barriers to conversion? The key to successful advertising is being in the right place with the right message at the right time while making sure the conversion process is as easy and seamless as possible.
  6. Analyze Your Current Customer Base: Take note of the demographics and psychographics for your audience.  They might not exactly match your audience in China, but it’s often a good place to start.
  7. Test, Test, & Test some more: A good advertiser should always be measuring, testing, and optimizing advertisements. Find which channels convert the best and deliver the best ROI  to create a clear path to growth for your business.

 

You can be the best marketer in the world and still end up getting crushed in China if you don’t properly prepare and strategize to make the most of your investment. With the ecosystem being as fragmented as it is it’s essential to have an experienced China marketing team on your side! Hope this information helps and best of luck to all you marketers preparing to advertise in China! To help you get the lowdown on some of the ongoing E-commerce trends in China check out our blog here!

 

 

Dragon Social is a China Digital Marketing Agency dedicated to providing expert solutions to businesses around the world! Our team of professionals will take a deep dive into your business and determine the optimal channels and strategies for promoting your business in China, so be sure to Contact us for a free consultation!

 

 

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Tony DeGennaro
Tony DeGennaro

Tony is a passionate marketer with interests in social media and search engine optimization. He specializes in Chinese Social Media and Advertising. After getting his MBA in Marketing at CUHK he became one of the founding partners of Dragon Social in Hong Kong.

2 Comments
  • Avatar
    Abhay
    Reply
    Posted at 4:23 pm, September 25, 2017

    Nice article all explained in detail very nicely

  • Avatar
    Mik21
    Reply
    Posted at 2:43 pm, September 28, 2017

    Interesting and very useful postings.

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