Multi-Channel China Marketing Part 1 – See the wood through the trees.

China is not cheap. A successful campaign requires commitment. A commitment in terms of both resources and time, and the most successful brands can identify which will be the most effective channels to prioritize and into which they should invest those resources. Unless you are Apple, Nike, Alibaba, or the like, your brand is unlikely to be able to maximize the impact, and therefore the opportunity, of every single one.

This then goes back to the importance of China market insight research. A vital step in any successful marketing strategy yet one that so many international brands, of all shapes and sizes, neglect to take, and then wonder why their marketing campaigns aren’t hitting as expected and their China growth has stalled.

We’ve broken down what a successful China market insight research project looks like in recent videos and blogs, and whichever channel you are looking at, you can see the value that it brings.

If your strategy is based on China social media channels, how do you know you are reaching your target audience via the right platform, in the right way, at the right time? If you can’t answer these questions, why plow all your money and time into a Douyin or Weibo activation if all your consumers’ purchasing decisions are based on WeChat content?

If you are setting your stall out behind a KOL-centric strategy, which can be an expensive enterprise, are you sure that you are choosing the right KOLs to work with? Big isn’t always better when it comes to profile and total audience reach for your return on investment.

Multi-channel marketing is an extremely powerful set of tools for international marketers looking to make their brand successful in China, but you have to know which is the best tool and when it’s the right time to use it.

In future blogs and videos, we will be continuing to look at multi-channel marketing in China and will pick apart each aspect of it in more detail. For now, though, the key takeaway here is to put your brand in a position to identify which are the right channels for your business before you start investing time and money in costly China marketing activities that aren’t necessarily the best route to success.