The State of Inbound Marketing in China
Findings and Recommendations for
Delivering Inbound Solutions
Presented by Gareth Jones
Technical Director, Oxygen 2.0
2
The State of Inbound Marketing in China10th September
2014
Executive Summary
• In this presentation Oxygen 2.0 will highlight both the problems and solutions in delivering Inbound Marketing Solutions in China including:– Overcoming the Firewall– Dispelling the Fear of the Cloud– Educating the Market– Dealing with the Inherent Mistrust of
Outsiders– Using the Right Channels
3
The State of Inbound Marketing in China10th September
2014
Agenda
• The China Opportunity– The Worlds’ Biggest Market– Transition from OEM -> Brands
• Unique China Challenges– Marketing or Sales?– The Great Firewall– Using the Right Channels– Influencing the Influencer
• Final Thoughts
4
The State of Inbound Marketing in China10th September
2014
4 The China OpportunityChina is the world’s biggest online market and it’s only going to get bigger…
5
The State of Inbound Marketing in China10th September
2014
6
The State of Inbound Marketing in China10th September
2014
The China Opportunity Cannot Be Ignored
• Growing by more than the UK population year on year• Already 2x the size of the US internet market• Has the capacity to be roughly 5x the size of the
US market!
7
The State of Inbound Marketing in China10th September
2014
7 The China OpportunityThe inevitable transition from Chinese OEMs into Global Brands and what it means for
8
The State of Inbound Marketing in China10th September
2014
OEM to (OBM) Brand
• Competition is getting more intense and margins are decreasing
• Korea once had 700 OEM toy manufacturers a few years ago- now it only has 1 OBM and 2 ODMs
• Similar disruption is likely to occur for OEMs in China from other markets like India and Vietnam
• This presents an opportunity to assist OEMs brand and market using marketing agencies with tools like HubSpot
9
The State of Inbound Marketing in China10th September
2014
9 The China OpportunityWestern companies are now beginning to see Chinese as consumers, not just producers of Western branded goods
10
The State of Inbound Marketing in China10th September
2014
West to China Marketing
• Increasingly, Western companies are attempting or have the desire to market to China– Given the irresistible market size, that’s
understandable!• Luxury brands have been particularly successful,
though with corruption crackdowns growth is slowing
• Increasingly however, foreign consumer products such as milk, beer and mid-range clothing are becoming more widespread
11
The State of Inbound Marketing in China10th September
2014
West to China Marketing
• Western companies are as fearful, if not more so, of entering China than Chinese companies are of marketing abroad– China is HARD, that’s understandable!• Foreign-owned, China-based marketing
agencies offering “Inbound with Chinese Characteristics” in China can bridge that gap
12
The State of Inbound Marketing in China10th September
2014
12 Unique China ChallengesMarketing or Sales? Why verbiage is important and how this differs considerably from Western concepts of sales and marketing
13
The State of Inbound Marketing in China10th September
2014
The Differences Between Marketing & Sales
• Marketing in China is “Sales Support”– Fliers– Banners– Magazine ads– Generic website content– Promotional items
14
The State of Inbound Marketing in China10th September
2014
Average Marketing Vs. Sales Spend
10%MARKETING
90%SALES
15
The State of Inbound Marketing in China10th September
2014
What is Marketing in China?
• “Marketing” in China gives people connotations of:– Branding– Promotion
• Like branding, it is considered a “cost” – there are literally no connotations between marketing and:– Lead generation– ROI– Increases in revenue
16
The State of Inbound Marketing in China10th September
2014
What is Marketing in China?
• Most Chinese sales staff have no idea that a website is more than “letting people know about their brand”
• Current (China -> West) marketing activities carried out by sales people in China:– AliBaba– Skype– SPAM emailing contact lists from CRMs – Trade Shows– Initial website set up
17
The State of Inbound Marketing in China10th September
2014
Solutions to the Marketing Challenge
• All verbiage needs to be concerned with sales NOT marketing– The buyer persona is in fact a sales person
also performing what we’d consider “marketing activities” in the West
– Keyword selection and ‘branding’ of Inbound needs to be considered with “Chinese characteristics” in mind
18
The State of Inbound Marketing in China10th September
2014
Solutions to the Marketing Challenge
• Educating the Chinese market must start from the very basics of marketing and sales
• Blogs and content offers must use their existing channels as starting points (top of the funnel offers)
• Introducing something as simple as a blog as something that can gain leads and a measurable ROI is an alien concept– Blogs are generally used for describing personal feelings
rather than solutions to business a problems in China
19
The State of Inbound Marketing in China10th September
2014
Solutions to the Marketing Challenge
• It is very clear from the outset the preconceptions even about the very concept of ‘marketing’ and ‘sales’ need to be dispelled in order to be successful in China
• Similarly, any marketing or sales concept that works in the West MUST be re-evaluated in China based on local habits, technologies and knowledge
20
The State of Inbound Marketing in China10th September
2014
20 Unique China ChallengesThe Great Firewall provides a hurdle for those companies attempting to market either in to or out of China, but also a golden opportunity to those that can offer a ladder
21
The State of Inbound Marketing in China10th September
2014
Non-China Hosted Website Load Times
• Often over 2 minutes to load pages IF they load at all
22
The State of Inbound Marketing in China10th September
2014
China Hosted Website Load Times
• Top websites such as baidu.com < 1 second
23
The State of Inbound Marketing in China10th September
2014
Google is Blocked
24
The State of Inbound Marketing in China10th September
2014
Google is Blocked!
• No Google Search• No Gmail• No Google Apps• No Google hosted services such as– Fonts– JavaScript
25
The State of Inbound Marketing in China10th September
2014
Baidu is THE Search Engine in China
• Getting found in China (outside of social and other media) requires compliance with Baidu’s ranking criteria
26
The State of Inbound Marketing in China10th September
2014
Ranking on Baidu
• Paying for ads means you gain credibility and thus page rank juice– Paid ads are also seen as ‘credible’ sources of
information in China since paying implies wealth and authority
• Meta keyword stuffing is encouraged• “Black hat” back-linking is encouraged since
back links from any site carry a similar weight• H1 and H2 is critically import
27
The State of Inbound Marketing in China10th September
2014
Ranking on Baidu
• Website must be hosted in China to stand a chance for ranking (requires China company registration)• Website must be written in simplified Chinese
• www.o2-v2.com doesn’t rank at all on Baidu– HubSpot COS Hosted in the US (with global CDN)– Few back links– No Baidu Ads– No keyword stuffing (plus keywords too ‘high level’)
28
The State of Inbound Marketing in China10th September
2014
HubSpot and China
• THE online marketing solution outside China• Doesn’t load inside China due to the reliance on
foreign CDNs and Google APIs• Works with a VPN (when the VPN works)– However VPNs are not widely understood or
in regular use in China
29
The State of Inbound Marketing in China10th September
2014
29 Unique China ChallengesUsing the right social media channels in China is critical as conventional Western social media channels are all blocked
30
The State of Inbound Marketing in China10th September
2014
Chinese social media channels
• Tencent - WeChat, Qzone and Weibo• Sina Weibo, Renren, Kaixin and Baidu iQiy
31
The State of Inbound Marketing in China10th September
2014
DO NOT use these social media channels
• Chinese leads are not going to be using the following social media networks because they are blocked:
32
The State of Inbound Marketing in China10th September
2014
Strong Preference for Mobile Devices
33
The State of Inbound Marketing in China10th September
2014
Increase in Video Consumption
34
The State of Inbound Marketing in China10th September
2014
Decrease in Microblogging
35
The State of Inbound Marketing in China10th September
2014
WeChat and Mobile First
• WeChat is a: – Messaging app– Social network– Subscription service (for businesses to disseminate
content)– Payments service– Online store platform
• 75% of Chinese internet users prefer mobile…• WeChat is a massive opportunity for inbound
marketing integration
36
The State of Inbound Marketing in China10th September
2014
Sharable Content
• Netizens in China are far more likely to share content than create content– This is a great opportunity for any
marketing agency creating quality, relevant content IN CHINESE
37
The State of Inbound Marketing in China10th September
2014
The Power of Video
• Circa 70% of netizens are using their phones watch videos– Video marketing is a huge opportunity to gain
traction and thought leadership– However, this makes more difficult to capture
lead information if content is exclusively video
38
The State of Inbound Marketing in China10th September
2014
The Illusion of Choice
• Browsing habits ARE DIFFERENT– Crowded pages are the norm– Netizens spend longer on pages (up to 60
seconds as opposed to < 10 in the west)– Users don’t often search for media content-
instead are happy to scroll and click based on categories and recommendations by the site
39
The State of Inbound Marketing in China10th September
2014
Will Email Marketing Work in China?
• Work generally takes place reactively as opposed to proactively, thus:– Business communication is traditionally
conducted via meetings, phone calls and WeChat messaging
– Outside of people working at foreign or trading companies email isn’t always used
– Combining content offers and messages with WeChat would really provide a powerful inbound tool with “Chinese characteristics”
40
The State of Inbound Marketing in China10th September
2014
40 Unique China ChallengesInfluencing the decision maker has different rules in China to the West…
41
The State of Inbound Marketing in China10th September
2014
A Culture of Mistrust
• Business starts from a position of “I don’t trust you at all”
• Implications:– Sales cycles can be extremely long– Building trust involves “making friends” and
going out for dinners, karaoke etc.– Even if inbound has educated the lead on
inbound marketing they still don’t trust you and the cooperation is with you not the concept
42
The State of Inbound Marketing in China10th September
2014
China Company Structure
43
The State of Inbound Marketing in China10th September
2014
China Company Structure
• The company owner is THE decision maker• If you don’t have his (it’s usually a male) buy-in
you will not succeed
44
The State of Inbound Marketing in China10th September
2014
Overcoming the Fear of Outsiders
• As humans we instinctively distrust what we don’t understand• Inbound and marketing platforms are Western
tools sold by Western companies• Making inbound as a Chinese concept and
marketing platforms in Chinese in China can overcome those fears
45
The State of Inbound Marketing in China10th September
2014
Overcoming the Fear of the Cloud
• There is a legitimate and inherent fear of data being stolen if it’s in the cloud
• Staff stealing leads, starting their own companies or selling leads to their new factory fuels this fear
• Many Chinese CRM companies still produce installable versions of their CRM to be hosted on the intranet
• The truth however is that hosting software in-house on a cracked version of Windows XP is certainly NOT safer than being in the cloud
46
The State of Inbound Marketing in China10th September
2014
Avoiding Competing on Cost
• Chinese companies often want the cheapest price at the expense of quality
• “ 差不多” - chabuduo is an often uttered phrase regarding quality meaning something is more or less acceptable, this leads to cost and corner cutting
• Leads will often ask for extended trials to prove ROI• Trials on marketing solutions could be
extended beyond one month in China to build trust
47
The State of Inbound Marketing in China10th September
2014
Proving Tangible ROI
• Like every business globally, ROI spent on services and increases in revenue are critical in China
• In China this is often the only metric as many business owners and investors don’t understand their businesses or investments and are simply looking for quick returns
• In order to close leads, ROI must be proved quickly – Within 3 months is often deemed “acceptable”
48
The State of Inbound Marketing in China10th September
2014
48Conquering the Chinese MarketFinal thoughts and conclusions on how inbound can succeed in China
49
The State of Inbound Marketing in China10th September
2014
Conclusions About Inbound
• One does not ‘conquer’ anything in China, one must cooperate and submit to Chinese rules and cultural norms
• Inbound marketing in China does not exist as a concept
• Marketing itself is a very immature industry and poorly understood
• Education on marketing to the West can easily be provided, however, must start at a very low level in Chinese
50
The State of Inbound Marketing in China10th September
2014
Conclusions About Inbound
• Marketing and selling in China needs to be re-learned by Western marketing agencies and marketing solutions providers
• Relationship building, long and expensive sales cycles need to be accepted, embraced and accounted for
• However, there is huge scope to be number 1 in China if inbound principles are applied and adjusted around how people think, act and do things in China – – “Inbound with Chinese Characteristics”
51
The State of Inbound Marketing in China10th September
2014
Conclusions About Inbound Platforms
• Western marketing platforms must:– Be hosted in China– Use Chinese social media channels– Reconsider the entire inbound process and
channels of communication to fit with Chinese internet habits i.e. is email marketing the right choice for follow up offers?
52
The State of Inbound Marketing in China10th September
2014
Final Thoughts
• China is a tough market, but it’s THE biggest market• It is not only possible to succeed, but much
like Jack Ma at Alibaba, be wildly successful providing:– Solutions and products are in Chinese and
tailored to local market conditions
GOOD LUCK!