Without a team of Chinese specialists, it's virtually impossible for Russian businesses to effectively promote their products on China's national online channels. Expert Ivan Sinitsyn spoke about this ahead of the 7th Russia-China Tourism Forum (RCTF). CEO of the Russian-Chinese marketing agency Solver.
"Given the high cost of direct offline advertising in China, most only multinational corporations can afford it. The remaining players focus on online channels to communicate with potential customers. Here, the quality of work on social media and specialized platforms plays a major role. This quality cannot be achieved without Chinese specialists who understand the market. This work includes both the brand's independent digital presence and its collaboration with opinion leaders—bloggers," says Ivan Sinitsyn.
At the 7th Russian Conference on Marketing and Technology (RCTF), Ivan Sinitsyn will discuss must-have communication channels, their structure and promotion formats, and the typical mistakes companies make when entering the Chinese market. Participants will learn how to avoid wasting their online promotion budget in China, what practical steps can be taken with a reasonable budget, which channels to use at what stage, and what risks to consider before entering the market.
According to the expert, to effectively engage with an audience online, a brand must speak the same language. This requires not only strong copywriting skills and the use of modern Chinese internet language, but also immersion in a unified information context so that brand communications appear "live" rather than dry and formal.
Working with various online channels requires negotiating with their representatives and reaching agreements on collaboration formats, from acceptable placement terms to joint promotions, etc. Doing this outside of a cultural and linguistic context, especially with a time difference, is quite difficult, the expert believes.
"The Chinese market is extremely dynamic. New communication channels are constantly emerging, and audiences are switching between them. Due to intense competition, brands are constantly developing new features. As a result, the Chinese consumer is extremely spoiled and demanding. To capture their attention online, you need to constantly keep your finger on the pulse and monitor trends, new channels, and features," says Ivan Sinitsyn.
The expert cites an example: just two years ago, no one could have imagined that the video blogging service Douyin would capture a significant audience from Chinese YouTube (Youku), create a new trend in content consumption, and create a new cohort of video bloggers that brands absolutely need to engage. Today, the service has 500 million users, has expanded beyond China, and operates in 150 countries under the TikTok brand.
The 7th Russian-Chinese Tourism Forum, where I. Sinitsyn and other experts will discuss the latest trends in promoting Russian business on Chinese social media, will be held on March 11, 2019, in Moscow.
This is just one of the topics on the extensive business program of the 7th Russian-Chinese Tourism Forum, which includes meetings between Russian and Chinese government officials, leading Russian and Chinese tour operators, heads of top-ranked museums from both countries, representatives of global search engines and social media, and Chinese and Russian bloggers.
The Russian-Chinese Tourism Forum is held with the support of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation and the Federal Agency for Tourism.
Source: trn-news.ru