LOCALIZE B2B MARKETING IN CHINA

After Linkedin is shutting down in China, it is even more true that you need to localize B2B marketing in China.

Western companies should develop further their capabilities to use Chinese digital solutions to succeed in China. Linkedin was used for B2B marketing to generate and nurture leads through content posting, sharing and interactions. B2B marketing can be done using WeChat.

THE IMPORTANCE OF BRAND REPUTATION FOR B2B COMPANIES IN CHINA

When it comes to entering the Chinese market as a B2B company, reputation management must also be a key part of your strategy. As China is a digital market, on-line reputation is the one to develop.

Potential leads want to know they’re getting involved with a trustworthy, reputable company that is going to provide them with an exceptional product and service. One bad review can easily persuade any of those decision-makers to go with your competitor instead.

It’s important to remember that people talk about you online, even if you’re not yet online yourself. That’s why the first step to reputation management is monitoring online activity, so you know what is being said about you and where it’s being said.

Once you know what your brand presence looks like online, you can then communicate your brand message, give news about your company, establish yourself as a thought leader by publishing content on industry portals.

EFFECTIVE LEAD GENERATION AND NURTURING FOR B2B COMPANIES IN CHINA

As there is no Google in China, you need use Baidu for your SEO strategy to generate leads.

Baidu SEO

Then you need nurture your leads during a certain period of time, B2B purchasing cycle is rather longer than in B2C.

Instead of doing it in LinkedIn, you need doing it on WeChat, the most popular social media in China. It is used for daily life but also for business.

A company doing business in China must be visible on WeChat to exist. The first step is to open a WeChat official account (different from personal WeChat account).

Through a WeChat official account, it is the perfect touch point for your company to connect with Chinese businesses.

BASICS OF B2B MARKETING IN CHINA

While a strong online presence is vital, offline events such as conferences or meetings are still very important if it is possible– nothing beats having a conversation face to face.

It’s easy to keep in touch with clients – we recommend posting once a week about things like industry news, company news and company activities, all of which serve to show that you’re a thought leader in your industry, that you’re highly active and that you have a strong company culture.

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You will use also another Chinese platform, Zhihu. It is the largest Q&A platform which aims to provide in depth insights from industry professionals. It is a good place to do content marketing. The audience of this platform is quite educated.

You can develop your brand awareness, demonstrate your authority, and educate your audience.

Zhihu has also great authority on Baidu and Sogou search engines.

LOCALIZE B2B MARKETING IN CHINA: HOW TO DO WECHAT MARKETING?

WeChat is your Website

Do not forget that in China, WeChat is your website

If you are a big company, you can also set up a local Chinese Website, but Chinese people do not check them so much.

Create a comprehensive content to bring you the right audience and encourage sharing

Social media is about content. The right content will bring you the right audience. It has to be appealing, interactive and entertaining.
You need to encourage sharing the content to your audience.

WeChat should not be just company news. It must be also have educational and social features. To educate your audience is an excellent way to get leads in China.

Advanced search function

WeChat users can now search for any content using related keywords. Generally, Chinese people like to research, look at media articles or ask their friends about products or services they are interested in. This means that pushing out high-quality, useful content is essential to successfully market to other businesses. It allows you to showcase your brand

Personalised interactions

WeChat is a great for businesses to leverage if they are looking to build relationships and create stronger business partnerships in China. It is important to note that in with B2B, your target audience is not another business but rather someone who holds a certain position in that business. This means that driving a more personalised interaction is fundamental for WeChat B2B marketing.

Paid campaigns using WeChat Ads

For a new created account, utilizing paid options to give the account an initial boost is very effective, in particular for B to B

Join WeChat groups and Engage with your audience

WeChat groups are where people with the same interests exchange ideas. Find and join WeChat groups related to your industry, and share your best articles, cases studies and create stories to get more leads.

QR codes

Every WeChat official account has a QR code, which works as the “business card” of your WeChat account. The QR code can be used in exhibitions, brochures…

There are just some of the keys to do WeChat marketing for B2B and build-up your business community.

It is really important to localize your B2B marketing in China more than ever to get effective results.

NEED HELP TO LOCALIZE B2B MARKETING IN CHINA?

Emotion Digital has a strong understanding of the Chinese market― we want to help you unleash your business’s potential to one of the largest populations in the world. Schedule your free consultation today.

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Social commerce is now possible on Zhihu

Zhihu

有问题，上知乎 ! (For any questions, ask Zhihu) is the slogan of Zhihu, a Chinese platform where you can get answers for all kinds of topics.

With 220 million registered users, Zhihu is a real tool of trust since it creates interactions of questions and answers between a group of people around a subject. 

To begin with, why is Zhihu essential to brands ?

Online reputation management in China impacts so much on a brand’s image and visibility. Chinese search engine results and social media platforms are effective tools used for increasing online reputation. The best way to make a brand visible on the Chinese market is to implement a global marketing strategy on the main social media including Wechat, Xiaohongshu, Weibo, Douyin and Zhihu. Thus, by developing your strategy and raising brand awareness on Zhihu, you increase your brand’s visibility and build effective long-term promotion.

Besides, using Zhihu is also a tool to improve a brand’s Search Engine Optimization thanks to a high domain authority on Baidu, consequently one Zhihu page will be displayed on a Baidu search engine result page, no matter what the date of publication is. 

But except from being a community-based platform, Zhihu is now seen as a lever for doing business.

Here are some new functions added on Zhihu :

Brands and Product Recommendation Program :

Brands (Chinese or foreign brands) can post articles or answer questions related to their products by linking to a product on their websites or e-commerce platforms such as Taobao, Pinduoduo or Sunning. It is the best way to drive traffic and to help effectively potential customers.

For example, on the pictures below, a user asked for a liquid foundation. After describing her bad experiences with luxury brands like Armani, Lancôme or Estée Lauder, she is looking for any recommendation for other liquid foundations adapted to dried skin.

Among the answers she received, several products like Make Up For Ever’s foundation were recommended with the product’s details and application advice. If the user clicks on the button “去购买” (purchase) on the right, he is redirecting to the product page. 

  • Zhihu
  • Zhihu
  • Zhihu

Recommendation on cosmetics products with product’s links

Creators can also link their products to the shop (商品橱窗) on their Zhihu account main page. Besides, livestreaming sessions now include a shopping icon that leads the users directly to the product page on e-commerce platforms or leads to the creator’s store on Zhihu. Briefly, everything is done to facilitate the customer journey within Zhihu.

Zhihu

Creator’s jewelry store clickable on the creator’s main page

Raising trust through experts’ insights :

Zhihu uses knowledge, information, and personal experience that could influence the decision-making process of any potential consumer before purchasing. But the other main point of Zhihu now is the presence of experts including writers, scientists and businessmen that show legitimacy to the users.

Entertainment and inspiration on Zhihu :

If some users are looking for answers to specific questions, others just want to have fun on Zhihu. Films, videos, documentaries, and even TV series can be streaming and creators can receive a commission based on video views as well. 

The following picture shows a video introducing the interior design style from North European countries. By displaying a series of pictures, it gives inspiration on house decoration for fans of design.

Video introducing the interior design style from North European countries

VIP access

Zhihu is a free platform but users can take advantage of special contents or flash sales if they belong to the VIP club.

According to the topics you are interested in, a selection of articles or most popular contents is recommended on the membership tab. 

Other articles accessible only on VIP access

For more information, do not hesitate to contact us at project@emotionchina.cn

We can propose you customized digital marketing services according to your needs.

For more information about Digital marketing and business in China, subscribe to our newsletter : https://www.subscribepage.com/chinabusinessletter

Digital marketing is also for B2B in China

Digital marketing is also for B2B in China. With WeChat marketing, you can build your brand in China.

If you are not present on Chinese Social media, you do not exist in China. And this trend is even more true post Covid-19.

In B2B, the communication between companies is also between people who are used to consume and be on digital for their life.

(read also Is WeChat worth using in a marketing campaign for B2B ? )

China is a digital and mobile country.

Email is not the right channel to communicate with customers or suppliers. And employees are also using platforms such as WeChat for work and communication.

At the foundation of a good marketing strategy, there is the education of the market to create awareness of your brand and products and services. Social media are also the right solution for market education. Then seminars, fairs can be run together to increase touching points when back to normal time after Covid-19 crisis.

Herein the basics of a marketing strategy:

The double We: Weibo and WeChat for lead generation and to nurture your leads.

You need to open official accounts for both Weibo and WeChat. Official account is a trusted account which has been certified.

Weibo is good tool to attract leads to your WeChat account. On WeChat, you will nurture your leads through personal interactions.

WeChat groups will help you to educate the market thanks to the sharing function. Companies can communicate and answer to their leads and customers on the WeChat platform.

It is also easy to show your products on WeChat thanks to H5 pages or mini programs.

Make sure that the accounts are manned, that questions are answered quickly.

Baidu: the search engine to implement SEO and SEM strategy .

Google does not work in China. Potential customers need be able to search for your products on Baidu.

You need run a Baidu PPC campaign to make sure that your ads can show on the top position where you target your leads. This will drive traffic to your website or platforms.

You can invest in a quality chinese website that meet B2B customers just to be ranked on Baidu to let customers find you. The website can be done after few months from China entry.

Zhihu: equivalent to Quora.

It is the professional platform in China and also quite a good place to educate market. Many experts are using Zhihu in China. You can ask questions to get answers

Linkedin:

For leads generation if your community is very well connected with Western world. Linkedin is a good B2B platform, unfortunately many Chinese companies are not using it

Digital marketing is also for B2B in China such as WeChat marketing. And this is different from western countries.

Find out more:

Emotion Digital can help you define your B2B digital marketing roadmap and implement it effectively. You can follow us on Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/company/emotion-digital . And contact us for a first free consulting call to support you about your Chinese B2B journey.Book your call here: https://bit.ly/33oADAg

For more information, do not hesitate to contact us at project@emotionchina.cn

We can propose you customized digital marketing services according to your needs.

For more information about Digital marketing and business in China, subscribe to our newsletter : https://www.subscribepage.com/chinabusinessletter