Recently updated on February 2nd, 2024 at 09:50 am
Many international businesses that are interested in expanding into the Chinese market might wonder where to begin with Chinese content marketing. There are many channels that any content marketer must build a solid presence to reach the Chinese audience, for example, Weibo, WeChat, Little Red Book, Zhihu, Kuaishou, Douyin, Bilibili, etc. Content marketing in China is more than SEO, blogs, Instagram, and Facebook.
What is Content Marketing?
Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing relevant, consistent, and valuable content to engage a specific audience. The ultimate goal of any content marketing is to produce a result such as a positive ROI.
There’s a diverse variety of content: web content (website, blog), social media, video, books, e-books, news releases, broadcasts, reviews, etc.
Why is Chinese Content Marketing Important?
In China, there are one billion internet users and almost everyone has a smart mobile phone. They spend an average of more than 2 hours on PCs or smartphones to check various news, videos, social media, and more every day. If you are doing business with China, digital marketing is a fast way to target the prospects who are most likely to purchase your products or services.
However, with China’s separate and unique eco-system fenced by the Great Firewall, most western websites and applications are only accessible with the use of a VPN.
💡Therefore, it’s essential for companies to create a presence on popular Chinese applications if they want to connect to the Chinese market. All content not only has to be in Mandarin but also formatted and amended for Chinese platforms, searching algorithms & keyword sets in Characters & Pinyin.
What Content Marketing Channels Are Popular in China?
Chinese content marketing occurs through several distribution channels and methods.
The following are the 11 popular content marketing channels in China:
- Toutiao
- Zhihu
- Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book)
- Douyin
- Kuaishou
- Youku
- Bilibili
- Douban
- Baidu Tieba
Top 5 Tips for Effective Chinese Content Marketing
Choose the Right Social Media Platform
Localizing your content strategy starts with an intelligent selection of Chinese social media platforms that fits your sector, audience demographic, KPI’s & end goals.
💡If you’re a cosmetic brand looking to sell beauty products to young females in China, then you can’t miss Xiaohongshu as the majority of users are females. It’s a great platform to create and distribute content that promotes brand awareness. The content should be geared at providing relevant and valuable information about beauty and lifestyle products or services.
Chinese content marketing that is localized to match the audience and platform can really make a difference in how well your brand does in China.
Optimize Chinese Keywords for Search Algorithms
It is essential to break into the Chinese market to be visible and well referenced. To do this, the company must translate and localize web content in Mandarin Chinese.
Using good keywords in Mandarin will allow you to increase your referencing and therefore your visibility to reach the largest possible audience.
💡Searching algorithms are not just confined to Baidu of course, WeChat has a search function, and Weibo has a discover section where trending news in specific categories is up ranked.
Cooperate with KOL
It’s no secret that KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders) are bigger in Asia.
In China, influencers are like celebrities and often have more followers than many Western celebrities. Utilizing ‘KOL power’ in China is a great way to get brand exposure and reach your target audiences. Chinese consumers tend to trust KOLs more for product reviews.
Use Localization Services to Target a Specific Persona
The Chinese market is vast and hugely disparate. It is also changing at a rapid pace, and younger generations often have very different influences, experiences, and ambitions from older generations.
💡Localization is particularly important in marketing to your Chinese audience, which is segmented into several diverse groups based on location and language.
Take Cultural Differences into Account
One major challenge in any marketing approach is the strategy for each country. Cultural differences can also affect customer behaviour.
For example, the red colour is considered to be auspicious in China, while yellow is often related to nobility.
Chinese Content Marketing Services by Chinese Copywriter
The Chinese Copywriter’s content marketing services help clients create bespoke Chinese content marketing strategy as well as an analytic measurement that is tailored to each client’s industry to help them reach the targeted Chinese audience.
From content marketing strategy planning to creating and distributing, our Chinese content marketing team will work with you through the whole process.
English-Chinese Glossary of Marketing Terms
| English | Chinese |
| media blast | 媒体造势 |
| at the height of the sales | 商店营业的高峰期 / 销售高峰时间 |
| audience | 受众 |
| banner ad | 横幅广告 |
| in amalgamated format | 合并的格式 |
| internal challenges | 内部挑战 |
| press tours | 宣传巡游 |
| selling arguments | 销售说辞 |
| Subcontractor | 分包商 |
| to bring the message to life | 形象生动地传达信息 |
| up and coming | 新秀 |
| value per se | 价值本身 |
| expect free 3-day delivery | 预期免费三天(内)送货上门 |
| Flash Sale | 限时促销 |
| flexible rates/prices | 弹性价格 |
| take orders | 接受订货 |
| English | Chinese |
| gross margin & gross profit | 毛利率 & 毛利润 |
| hat money | 运费补贴 |
| horizontal diversification | 横向多元化 |
| Immediate Sponsor | 直接赞助人 |
| “Specialties only” market | “特产专卖”市场 |
| brand loyalty | 品牌忠诚度 |
| co-branding | 品牌联合 |
| complimentary | 免费赠送 |
| customer event | 客戶(招待)活动 |
| customize offers | 量身定制 |
| promotional agreement | 推广协议 |
| rewards | 奖励 |
| shared vision | 共同愿景 |
| sense and simplicity | 精于心，简于形 |
| single purchase | 单次购买或单笔交易 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is China a Highly Targeted Market?
China is the second-largest economy in the world and the largest e-commerce market. With rising incomes, increasing consumer spending, and an increasingly open business environment, the Chinese market is very attractive to Western businesses.
How Big is the Chinese Ecommerce Market?
China retains global e-commerce leadership with a 9.9% growth in their e-commerce market, according to GlobalData’s forecast, which predicts the Chinese e-commerce market will grow to CNY15.2 trillion ($2.2 trillion) at the end of 2023.
What is Content Marketing for China?
Content marketing for China is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing content to attract and retain Chinese audience.
Translation Manager
Eva has 6 years of experience working as a News Editor and 5 years as a freelance copywriter. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English from the Guangdong University of Foreign Studies and a master’s degree in applied Linguistics from the University of Melbourne.