China is more important than ever in many multinational B2B marketing business plans. It’s a great time for foreign brands to expand into China and establish loyal audiences of customers. Furthermore, iMedia estimated the cross-border B2B e-commerce market in China to be close to $3 trillion in 2019. And it will increase to $33 trillion by 2025. So it is so important to learn how to do B2B marketing for 2023.
However, it is not straightforward for international businesses to break into the B2B market in China. There are the persistent cultural disparities, language barriers, and distinctive digital marketing platforms between East and West. Also, remember the incredibly competitive field for companies of all sizes. So, how can a B2B marketer perfect their strategies to succeed in China?
What should you learn before planning your strategy?
- Planning and Searching
Before international enterprises enter the Chinese B2B market, you must thoroughly examine the distinctiveness and dynamic environment, especially the Chinese culture when conducting investigations.
Cooperating with specialists that specialise in local marketing is essential and efficient to understand the China market. Furthermore, they will assist the businesses in assessing the risks associated with carrying out a series of decision-based actions and choosing the appropriate market segmentation and targeted customers.
For your digital marketing strategy to succeed you must emphasise delivering websites such as:
Optimise your website for Baidu rather than Google: Baidu is a China Search Engine with its own distinct search algorithms that affect your website ranking. Therefore, to get a high ranking in Baidu, you will need to tailor your website to fit Baidu.
Match the language to your target audience: In China, it’s extremely crucial to use the local tongue so buyers can easily understand and believe your words. In addition, it demonstrates your commitment and respect for this market.
Design a responsive and mobile-friendly website: Since 98% of Chinese internet users access the website through mobile devices, developing a mobile-friendly website is essential. Also, it results in increasing brand awareness and potential customers.
Steps that you need to TAKE for B2B marketing in China
1. Branding Is Everything, You Should Build Your Brand Awareness In China
2. Sourcing To Have A Local Partner To Guide Your Business
3. Adjust Your Strategy To Suit Your Target Audience
4. Measure Your Result With Metrics And Analytics
Top platforms for B2B businesses in China
WeChat is China’s largest social network and instant messaging service.WeChat is the primary communication method, which is an irreplaceable marketing channel. Moreover, it has over 1.15 billion active users.Although WeChat is a social media network where users can only see postings from friends and accounts they follow, brands may still have individualised interactions with subscribers and other businesses. Especially for sharing long-form informative material with the subscribers. Such as email newsletters or blogs. Also, businesses should build brand awareness with a close relationship with their subscribers/potential customers and identify leads.
Baidu is renowned for having a better algorithm for understanding the Chinese language than any other search engine. However, since you want your brand to be seen and rank high in the search engine, you must know how to play the game.
That being said, it’s not too difficult to attain an organic search engine since your content is already tailored and localised to your audiences. Remember to use Chinese-targeted keywords throughout your pages, including the title and meta description, without looking too intentionally.
As a result, it should come naturally for you to increase your search authority and ranking. However, compared to Google, high-quality websites are wary about giving out links, so do not expect it to be as easy as western places.
Top 3 challenges of B2B marketing in China
- Lack of knowledge and time
- Regulations enforced by China
- Different regions have different personalities
We know that stepping into a new market is scary because you must avoid many potential traps.That’s why you need a local partner to help you avoid those challenges and give you a clear direction in the long journey. If you are making plan for or interested in China market, just contact Deep Digital China for further B2B marketing guide to China market for 2023.