Dos and Don’ts of Live Streaming in China

August 11, 2021

Live Streaming has become an amazing ecommerce business model. Retailers, KOLs, and celebrities sell products and services through streaming online where the presenter demonstrates the product and answers audience questions in real-time. The session can take place on any platform with live streaming support. Most of the Chinese e-commerce incorporated live-streaming features including Taobao, Kuaishou and more. WeChat is also rapidly developing its live streaming offering.

Livestream ecommerce has been surging dramatically, especially in China. According to Forbes, the industry is estimated to earn a little over $60 billion annually. In 2019, livestream purchases were made by about 37% of the online shoppers in China (265 million people), making it a highly sought out strategy for connecting with your audience. But since everything is done in real-time, there can be no post-editing as with any video. So obviously, there are some things brands and streamers should keep in mind.

Here are some of the dos and don’ts of live streaming in China:

Dos

Prepare Well

Check your camera/phone, phone sets, products, events preview, discount coupon and most important, NETWORK SPEED. Understand what time suits your target audience and last your live stream at least 2 hours. The longer the better.

Offer Special Discounts

This pushes your audience to purchase during the live streaming.

Presentation Is Key

Providing useful information in a proper, simple and engaging way is always recommended. Introduce products with a connection to the brand story. This brings forth a truly personal experience for the people.

Communicate

Always read the message from your audience and reply in time to make a good communication. Respect and protect yours and your audience’s private information.

Don’ts

Don’t Push Sell

When streamers are only talking about the products instead of the benefits it has on the user, audiences can get turned off.

Don’t Spam Respond

Immediate response to every audience member will make your streams disorganised and terrible for people who want to watch it again. One best time to reply would be the breaks between different presentations.

Don’t Talk About Controversial Subjects

Never talk about illegal content (pornography, gambling, drug abuse etc.). If someone else brings it up, guide them towards a better and more trustworthy source of information.

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Importance of Incorporating Guochao in your Marketing Strategy in China

July 30, 2021

Recent years have seen young Chinese consumers being increasingly interested in combining traditional Chinese culture and style with domestic brands and products.

This trend is known as ‘Guochao’ (国潮), which means ‘National Trend’. In a world greatly influenced by Western trends, youngsters are now looking for new ways to identify with their Chinese roots. Many domestic brands are focussing more on the nostalgia factor and this strategy is very appealing to younger consumers.

Emerging Fashion Trends

Most of the fashion trends in 1980s China came from foreign countries. But over the years, young people have begun to identify more with their Chinese roots and discovered the beauty of their tradition. This trend reflects the unexpected rise of domestic brands.

They creatively merged traditional culture with modern trends to make more fashionable styles, without increasing development costs. This allowed the Chinese youth to enjoy the rich heritage of their motherland without breaking the bank. Without the worry of price inflation, these domestic brands focused on design and aesthetic, thus increasing the appeal of their product.

How Brands can Hop on the Bandwagon

Guochao is not some brief trend that will go away. Arising from the longstanding Chinese culture, the rise of Guochao is inevitable as it only seems to be getting bigger, better and stronger. Even though many consumers still favour foreign products and brands, brands cannot ignore the fact that Chinese youths have started showing stronger national pride and forming their unique sense of culturally aesthetic style.

The youth are looking for something more meaningful rather than fast fashion.
It is important for new international brands entering China to embrace these values of Chinese pride in order to provide value to the consumers and connect with them.
Brands that emphasise their own heritage and culture need to find ways to integrate their ideals with Chinese cultural elements.
While the idea of Guochao does arise from deep rooted Chinese culture, brands can use this opportunity to innovate with their products and come up with new and unique messaging for their brand in China.

What to Infer

Brands, both domestic and international, have to think outside the box if they want to survive the changing paradigm of Chinese fashion industry. Guochao is here for the long haul, and while western trends and fashion are still relevant, the majority of youth in China will look towards brands that connect with them on a deeper level. Doing so can help brands build loyalty and trust with their customers, which goes a long way towards surviving the Chinese market.

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WeChat Marketing vs Website Marketing

July 15, 2021

Introduction

China has 574 million active mobile internet users and 668 million internet users. People in China spend about 50% of their daily time on digital devices. Going by these huge figures, there is a huge potential for digital marketing and advertising in China.

There is an uncapped potential for digital communication for companies to reach out to the masses and engage with them in innovative new ways. This phenomenon is taking place globally, but what makes China stand out is its massive tech savvy population who form a big chunk of the market.

This article will provide tips on how and when to utilise WeChat as well as websites to market your product to this market in China.

1. WeChat Marketing Practices:

WeChat, the Super-App

WeChat was launched in 2011 as a messaging platform but transformed into an app for both personal as well as professional use. Along with its basic social networking features like news feed and messaging system, it also has a digital wallet, gaming center, and options for businesses to promote themselves.

WeChat is (or should be) any company’s first choice to engage with Chinese audiences.

Best Practices For WeChat Marketing

Timely Activities

Like any social media platform, people check their WeChat on the go, so it is a good idea to keep tabs on the times when users are most active and optimise marketing campaigns around those times. Agencies like TheWeChatAgency can help you monitor your engagement and ensure all posts and responses are on time.

Interesting Snippets

WeChat marketing strategies usually work if the information is short, simple and interesting as attention spans vary in effectiveness from user to user. Forbidden City & Tencent had launched an interactive campaign which featured Zhu Yuanzhang, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, coming to life from an ancient painting. It involved users by taking selfies, singing songs and navigating through various features of WeChat. Within two days, it had around 800 million downloads.

Connect Your Website To WeChat

It is a good idea to connect your product catalogue or website to your WeChat account. This will lead to automatic updates on WeChat whenever you post or update your website.

2. Website Marketing Practices

First things first. Hosting a website in China requires an Internet Content Provider (ICP) license. These are issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. ICPs are only given to companies with an established Chinese legal entity such as a Wholly Foreign-Owned Enterprise (WFOE) or a Joint Venture (JV).

It’s also essential to register a “.cn” domain name with the Chinese Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC). This domain name also gives an impression to your potential customers that you have a brand presence in China.

Lastly, companies need to register with Baidu, China’s online search engine, for visibility.

Best Practices For Websites In China

Mobile Over Desktop Websites

Most websites in China use a phone number instead of an email ID, and for users their phone number is linked to their e-commerce accounts, digital wallets, social network accounts among others. So it makes sense that a mobile website would be your first priority.

Designing The Website

The next hurdle to cross in your efforts to reach the masses is to create a user-friendly mandarin-based website aimed at Chinese consumers. In designing your Chinese-language website it’s also important to consider the role of space.

In most Chinese websites, the font size is large as there is no space between Chinese characters.

Other important website design features involve choosing the right colours and symbols which appeal to Chinese audiences.

Although Chinese websites are not as fancy as their English-language counterparts, they have more text and updates on promotions and offers. The visuals are also different to keep it localised and these visuals play a large part in attracting Chinese consumers.

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The Accelerating Growth of Niche Perfume Brands in China

July 8, 2021

Introduction to Niche Perfume Market in China

According to research put forth by Forward, the global perfume market in 2017 consisted of only 1% Chinese consumers. Even though it would seem like a small number, the Chinese perfume market has been growing by more than 15% annually – a rate far higher than any other category in the beauty sector. The report also forecasts the sales volume of China’s perfume industry growing from 25.2 billion RMB (3.7 billion USD) to over 50 billion RMB (7.4 billion USD) by 2023. That is double the revenue in a span of under 7 years which is extremely impressive by all standards.

Foreign brands dominate in China, and the big beauty companies you’d expect to see are all leaders in the arena: LVMH, Chanel, Coty, L’Oréal, and Estée Lauder. Today, many Chinese consumers have since developed the habit of using perfumes and consider it an essential part of their daily routines. Let’s look at the market factors that are accelerating the growth of niche perfume brands in China.

Gen-Z Perfume Trend Preferences

When fragrances first started gaining popularity in China back in the 2000s, consumers were most attracted by the classics (Chanel’s No.5, Yves Saint Laurent’s Black Opium). But a few years ago, a different opinion started emerging from China’s younger, more discerning generation – Gen-Z. Fragrances by luxury brands were viewed as too pedestrian and common. Many young consumers referred to them as “街香” (which literally means “street scents”). The traditional marketing method for perfumes – beautiful, glossy ads and endorsements by A-list celebrities – also started coming across as passé to this consumer group.

According to industry experts like Allie Rooke (beauty consultant and the founder of Clean Beauty Asia), post-90s generations are driving the demand for niche names, and Gen-Z trends are shaping new perfume preferences. Furthermore, they are using it as a way to express their identities, and gender-nonspecific scents are particularly appealing.

Online Opportunities

Online platforms like Tmall and JD.com are key outlets for fragrances. Hermès Fragrance opened up recently, along with the launch of Gucci Beauty, featuring fragrances. Both of these were seen in 2021 itself. Cartier added itself to the category by offering names like Panthère and Carat.

Popular niche brands to drop on Tmall Global during the pandemic were Replica and L’Artisan Parfumeur. These two brands were backed up by social media, which was vital for their amplification. Baidu optimization is also essential for brands to improve their visibility.
Perfume KOLs and bloggers are on the rise too. Weibo’s top KOLs include names like Sunillusion, Initialscent, and The Perfume World of CC (CC的香水世界).

Home Fragrance Market

Home fragrance is booming in China. There are more home fragrance choices than ever before and the marketing strategies for perfume and fragrances has been very strong lately, with lots of celebrities and KOLs sharing their decor and candle purchases on Chinese social media. Not to mention The Chinese have burnt incense ever since the Han Dynasty.

Chinese luxury consumers only bought perfume and fragrance because of their brand names. These purchases were less about the scents and more about the status quo provided by the brands. But now, Gen-Z consumers want to know how to change their interior fragrances as part of their holistic luxury lifestyles. This demand continues to grow thanks to social media platforms like Douyin. Find out more about how to leverage Douyin for your brand.

What To Infer

It is safe to say that Chinese consumers today no longer desire to smell like cookie-cutter bottles of designer perfume. Many of them are looking for something a little more personal and complex – be it in the form of their favourite tea, or the scent of freshly cut grass. They need variety to pick the right one that suits their needs. While it remains to be seen if this category will continue to grow exponentially, it is certainly one to watch.

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MONTAGUT reappoints KRDS to handle Chinese Social Networks for the 6th consecutive season

April 13, 2021

MONTAGUT has renewed its contract with KRDS to manage its strategy and presence on Chinese social networks, WeChat and Sina Weibo, following a fruitful 3-year of content creation.

The digital and mobile agency is tasked with creating content strategies and adaptations across the market along with the duty of increasing engagements and fan growth on the page.

According to Candice Meyer, Head of Marketing and Communication at MONTAGUT, “KRDS has been a valuable partner of MONTAGUT over the past 3 years. We chose Brice and his team because of their deep knowledge of the China social media landscape combined with great strategic and creative capabilities. On a day to day basis, it’s both very efficient and super pleasant to work with a trustworthy team such as KRDS. They are expert, flexible, diligent and always looking to achieve the best results. A perfect recipe for success!”.

Brice Le Guen, Director at KRDS Greater China, said: “We’re thrilled and honoured to work with a reputed brand like MONTAGUT once again. In the last few years, we have helped them build their online community, amplify their voice across channels to strengthen their relationship with their audience and drive footfall to their physical storefront. We believe our long term partnership is effectively growing MONTAGUT’s presence as a unique clothing brand with our digital expertise”.

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How Douyin is Different From TikTok?

March 24, 2021

Context: In October 2017, ByteDance bought Musical.ly for around $1 billion. After the gigantic acquisition, the mother company merged Douyin (International version) with Musical.ly and, thus, TikTok was born.

So while they are essentially the same platform, there are still some differences between Douyin and TikTok.

Let’s discover some of those now!

(more…)

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How To Setup A Toutiao Business Account

January 8, 2021

Launched in 2012, Toutiao is a news aggregation app by Bytedance. It has an average of 120 million daily users who spend an average of 73 minutes a day on the app, even surpassing WeChat.

It’s sophisticated targeting AI offers personalized content, making it a great platform for advertising where the ads can appear in the users’ feed. Content creators get a certain percentage of Toutiao’s ad revenue along with rewards for hitting certain targets. Over 200,000 articles and videos are published on a daily basis on the app.

It’s a very lucrative market for brands to tap into. But first, you have to setup your official Toutiao Business Account to do so.

A STEP-BY-STEP PROCESS TO CREATE A TOUTIAO OFFICIAL ACCOUNT

Unlike WeChat, this app is focused on content creators and there are no functions in the app that can get your readers’ attention apart from the content. The content is ultra-targeted, allowing you to reach an audience that actually cares for your content. There are a massive amount of publishers and clickbait on the platform, but you can still work on publishing great content to set yourself apart.

Let’s check step-by-step on how to create a publisher account by yourself:

On the top-left, click on 头条产品 (Toutiao Product). Select 头条号 from the drop-down menu and click on it.
Then click on 注册 (Register).
Enter and confirm your Chinese phone number. To register with an email address click on 邮件注册.
Next, you’ll have to fill in your personal information – account type, account name, etc.
Write a short intro. It needs to be 10 to 30 characters. Emoji and special punctuation are not allowed.
Add contact information or your website link.
Upload a profile picture and keep in mind that QR codes are not allowed
After completing your profile, you will get the option to upload more documents about your business. Mandatory documents are a Business license in .jpg or .png format.
The app requires you to download, fill in, and reupload a business information form. Click on ”download the file” and fill in: company name, website, account name, ID for person-in-charge of managing account, date, signature, and seal. You then need to upload the document.
On the same page, fill in the URL (optional), location, and email ID to receive notifications. Click on agree 请同意. You will receive another verification ID in order to complete the registration.
Once you are done on the desktop, finish your ID verification via the mobile app. In order to download the app, look for 今日头条.
Enter the same phone number that was previously used for the desktop. Wait for the verification code or log in with your phone and password.
Once in the app, click on 我的 (mine). Upload a picture of your ID card and confirm through face recognition. You’ll be shown 4 digits that you’ll have to read in Chinese mandarin in a 3 to 6-second video.
In the next 5 minutes, you will get a notification if your application is successful or not. Once your account is validated you can start publishing.

After getting set up, you can start publishing amazing content immediately. Also, you will need someone to manage your Toutiao account the same way someone manages your Wechat account.

Digital marketing is very dynamic. It’s not always easy to keep up with the changes, but if you are looking into new opportunities for your digital marketing strategy in China, then Toutiao will definitely set you for success.

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Toutiao Marketing Basics

November 13, 2020

Toutiao is an information and news aggregator where users can search for interesting and news-worthy content and subscribe to their favorite channels. It can also analyze and suggest a user’s interests based on their past enquiries, similar to what Google does.

Toutiao had 260 million monthly active users and 120 million daily active users in June 2019, with over 70% of its users aged at 19-35. Users posted 450 million posts on Toutiao with 9 billion likes for content creation.

The difference between Toutiao and other platforms is its huge traffic. Their AI assesses individual preferences based on interests and hobbies and accurately targets relevant content to its users, tailoring a user’s feed to include topics related to their likes.

The stats, tech and traffic on the platform makes Toutiao one of the best platforms to market on.

MARKETING ON TOUTIAO

1. Advertising

Based on big data and AI, Toutiao ads can accurately reach target customers. Toutiao can also support multiple advertising formats and purposes.

Open Screen Ads

Offers premium exposure and placement with a full-screen ad, providing a strong visual impact. It can also display advertising materials or landing pages in designated time slots.

Information Flow Ads

The most common ad format on Toutiao, information flow ads are native ads that appear interspersed in the user’s information stream on their feed. They can be text, image, GIF or video format. Also available in multiple sales models, such as CPM, CPT, GD and CPC.

Detail Page Ads

Ads displayed on the article or video details page that appears when people finish the content. They also support multiple formats.

For more information on Toutiao’s advertising potential, check out this blog on Toutiao Advertising.

2. Content Marketing

Toutiao creators and KOLs

Brands can collaborate with Toutiao creators to attract target consumers through trustworthy content. Cooperating with creators who create content that is recognized as relevant and high quality by the users and the platform is good for brand awareness and exposure.

A Toutiao Brand Account

Brands can set up and manage their own Toutiao brand account and use it to publish high-quality content and engage with users directly.

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How Brands Can Get Started With WeChat CRM

November 10, 2020

With China becoming a bigger and bigger opportunity for brands by the day, more and more companies gear towards tapping that market, which means bigger competition. Therefore, brands need to deliver experiences that create authentic customer value. They want continuous growth but they forget to utilise the tools that can help them achieve that goal. In order to achieve the best ROI direct engagement and interaction, they need good social CRM.

💼Why should brands use CRM Integrations on WeChat and how about Salesforce? [UPDATED 2022]

(more…)

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Baidu SEO for Beginners

October 30, 2020

Baidu is without doubt the leader amongst Chinese search engines. But optimizing for Baidu is not the same as for Google, and by doing so it’s unlikely you’ll find your site ranking near the top of page 1. Baidu SEO strategies come with their own challenges like complex language issues, cultural differences, user behavior, censorship, and technicalities.

(more…)

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