2023 is set to see China open itself up to more international businesses. What products will most likely succeed in this new landscape after China’s three years of relative isolation?

One trend that does not seem to be stopping  will be the accelerated development of e-commerce technology. The launch of the digital RMB signals the government’s commitment to positioning China as the world leader in e-commerce infrastructure. Loosening regulations on the previously heavily scrutinized tech space has already initiated a rush of investments into big tech. Tech products, both hardware and software, will likely see healthy demand in China’s market in 2024.

According to the 2023 McKinsey China Consumer Report, during China’s zero COVID policy, consumer confidence plummeted while the middle class’s savings grew. As China exits zero COVID, the government will aim to encourage consumer spending to prop up domestic consumption. Domestic and international brands offering products in the luxury and premium category can expect success provided their products are unique, high quality, and well localized for the Chinese market (think bio-active honey or products with established name recognition in China).

International brands looking to take advantage of this critical opportunity for establishing their business in China must create strategies for localized branding, communication, e-commerce, and traditional distribution. These will require a deep understanding of Chinese consumer behavior habits and consumer profiles as well as knowledge of local marketing and operation tools.

Wondering how to start building your China market entry strategy? To begin we suggest doing Chinese market research and reviewing local strategies and trends that have already been proven to work:

1. Establish a strong online reputation
   In 2022, over 1 billion Chinese people accessed the internet, making China’s digital population the largest in the world. Having a strong digital presence is a must for any brand looking to succeed in this landscape. Ensure your website is localized – this means fully translated including Chinese metadata and tags, with local domain and hosting, optimized for mobile (most people in China access the internet via mobile), and searchable on Baidu.
2. Marketing and ad placements on Chinese social media platforms
   Due to China’s great firewall, a strong digital presence on China’s domestic social media platforms is essential for targeting Chinese audiences. Understand the various demographics found on major platforms like RED (Xiaohongshu), Douyin, WeChat, Weibo, Kuaishou, and Bilibil before tailoring your marketing and ads for each platform.
3. KOL marketing
   A KOL, or key opinion leader, is the Chinese term for an influencer. KOL marketing is prominently used in China to not only increase a product or brand’s exposure but also to localize marketing for international brands, inspiring trust and familiarity among Chinese consumers.
4. KOC marketing and product seeding
   KOCs, or key opinion consumers, are influencers who review products within a specific niche. Unlike KOLs who are usually celebrities, KOCs provide consumers with a more relatable point of access for brand marketing campaigns, demonstrating to consumers how end users engage with a product. Brands reach KOCs via product seeding.
5. Establish your brand’s e-commerce sales channels
   As of 2023, China has the world’s largest e-commerce market, with an extremely mature logistics infrastructure to support it. China’s e-commerce has also become so closely interconnected with Chinese social media platforms that the term social e-commerce was coined to describe it. Major platforms include Alibaba’s Taobao and Tmall, JD.com, Tencent’s Weidian, and e-commerce integrated social media platforms such as Douyin and RED.
6. Livestream sales
   Livestream sales is a trend uniquely successful in China. In 2022, livestream sales accounted for over 10% of e-commerce revenue in China. It offers consumers an immediate and interactive shopping experience along with discounts and flash sales. Popular platforms for livestream sales include Douyin, RED, WeChat live, Taobao live, and Kuaishou, all of which offer seamlessly integrated livestream ecommerce functionality such as one click purchases.

Now that you’re familiar with localized Chinese marketing strategies, let’s talk about how to fine tune and optimize a complete China marketing strategy for your brand in 2023.

10 Tips from HI-COM to Optimize Your 2023 China Marketing Strategy:

1. Competitive Marketing Study and Benchmarking Analysis

Every marketing plan should begin with benchmark competitors, and the Chinese market is no different.

Often, the biggest mistakes foreign companies make in this market is a result of their lack of knowledge and/or underestimation of the local competition. For example, brands come to China with a vision to be a perfect fit in the Chinese consumers lives, but sometimes they do not take into consideration that similar products might already be present in the local market ( with a much lower price), or that the foreign version of the product is not appealing to the Chinese locals.

Mapping out the opportunities, exhibiting challenges and external development conditions are the elements you need to look at firstly. Here at HI-COM we can help you to do a full comprehensive research of these and more elements.

What are other elements you must pay attention to when doing market research in China:

• Market size and the size of your niche 
• Buyer persona in China, general rules of consumption in China 
• How can your USP be localized and presented on the Chinese market? 
• Communication strategies of your competitors 
• Distribution models of your competitors 
• Future trends and changes that might affect your business in the next 2-3 years. 
• Do the technical research on import and logistics, there are products forbidden for importing in China! 

Examples of Western and Chinese Market Differences:

In an interview to HBO TV Channel, influencer, Mr. Bags, mentioned that luxury brands often reach out to him for the promotion of “western looking” products for Chinese consumers.  However, he tells these brands to not launch their products in China or to instead create a different version of this product customised to the local taste.

In the automotive market, miniature versions of cars are very popular in heavily populated cities of Europe. Therefore, one would assume that in a city such as Beijing where there is lots of traffic, very few parking spaces, and pollution is a big concern, that smaller cars would be a big hit – but surprisingly they’re not. As a result of this, the Smart line of cars were discontinued in China, and are instead now in the process of improving their USP by working together with Geely on a brand new electric car – which will appeal to a completely different type of customer.

2. Localize Your Unique Selling Proposition

Bands should keep in mind that those products and services taking Instagram (or other foreign media channels) by storm, might not actually be very popular in China, and vice versa. The Chinese market is essential for most luxury brands, as well as digital product brands such as Apple, on-the-go brands such as Starbucks, lifestyle brands such as Ikea, and many more. However, it should also be noted that all of these brand successes came with experience and understanding of the different needs of foreign markets.

What can you do to assure your product or service is localized for the Chinese market?

• Understand the consumption habits and how business is conducted in China, especially in your category.
• Do not stop at desktop research, arrange focus group to really grasp the essence of Chinese consumer insight. Include as many questions about your product or service as possible, from packaging to usage, to customer journey and experience, to why would people would  recommend or not recommend your product or service to friends.
• Use the insight collected, change the product or service accordingly before entry to the market.

Examples of good localization strategies:

By understanding the concept of “面子/mianzi” or “keeping the face”, Apple made millions by providing Chinese people the opportunity to tell their friends that they are “rich” by only investing one or two thousand dollars on a new model of the phone. Of course there were many other reasons that made Apple so popular in China, but it is astonishing to see how the vast majority of citizens using the subway have the newest model of the iPhone every year – but each time no longer than a week after its official release.

When Starbucks came to China it realised that people were not interested in the coffee-to-go concept but rather the “here to stay” idea, so they immediately restructured their space into big comfortable communal areas so to accommodate their young customers. Starbucks also realised that in the larger cities, the younger generation needed a place to “hang out” with their friends.

As the country rapidly develops, the generations are growing up with very different values, which leads to a lack of common interest within families.

3. Localize Your Brand

It is important for brands to develop a reputation in order to enter the Chinese market. Many variables go into the making and localizing of a brand name, therefore, it is vital to come up with a name that associates the message that your company wishes to convey. It is also important for companies to be aware of how the name translates into other languages.

Brand name translation is implemented in 4 main steps: brand image consideration, knowledge of a target audience, benchmark of brand names of existing competition, and linguistic aspects of the new brand name.

This might sound obvious, but companies must know who their target audience is.

Next, you need to localize the communication when entering the Chinese market. Localization is the process of adapting or recreating a company’s marketing materials to fit another market so that it appears natural and effortless. This can include a variety of actions, from translating the content to changing fonts and images.

The purpose of localization is to make the product feel as natural as possible in the hands of the new users. Companies should make sure that their marketing strategies are aware of cultural customs/languages, because if Chinese marketing materials seem unnatural or unprofessional to the online user, chances are, they will be less likely to take an interest in the product or service.

Other elements to pay attention to when working on brand localization:

• Creation of communication strategy that answers the questions: who are you reaching, what message are you sending and what do you hope to achieve? 
• Creation of editorial plan using Chinese digital tools and SM platforms. 
• Creating localized content for your brand, including text and visuals. 
• Setting up measurable KPI.
• Reviewing your competitors communication strategies on monthly basis.
• Creating promotion strategy using paid (ads) and earned (KOL, PR) media channels.

Interested in brand localization services for the Chinese market? Shoot us an email!

4. Align Your Goals with Budget Wisely

One of the most common mistakes a brand can make is planning to go after a whole country, without realising its size. For example, a lot of brand owners can’t name more than 5 Chinese cities, but yet plan to target every person in China.

However, the problem with targeting a whole country like China, is the expense of such a large promotional campaign. China is also home to 56 different ethnicities each with different values, different everyday habits, and contrasting opinions. Therefore, it is almost impossible to target every city in China, unless your brand has a multi-million dollar annual marketing budget and an outstanding product/service retail price.

According to Jing Daily, In China in 2021, yearly marketing budgets on average have grown to around $100,000 on the low end and over $1,000,000 on the high end. This doesn’t mean that you can’t achieve any results if you don’t have these resources. It rather means that you need to be realistic with your goals and expectations. Set your marketing priorities and follow that list from most to least important.

Some of the advices HI-COM’s marketing team can give is:

• Learn what metrix to look at in order to keep your hand on the pulse of the business. For example, mid-size premium brands are not looking at amount of followers they have, but rather on engagement levels of their audience. 
• Have a clear idea of long term and short term marketing strategies and allocate resources (and budgets) accordingly. Overstocking products that have expiration dates in China can be a very expensive mistake. Even if it is more costly to produce and transport smaller amounts of products, it is still cheaper in the long term. 
• Make research on the most trendy marketing and sales ways. See what new media is suited for your brand. 

5. Accept that in China People Don’t Lack any Type of Products

This point is vital for any company aiming to enter the Chinese market. Brand’s should realise that China is not a third world country where imported products are being fought for, but it is actually referred to as the “factory of the world”, and has extremely rich resources – sometimes even things unheard of by Westerners, including imported and local items. Therefore, it is important to do thorough market research when planning to enter the Chinese market to have a clear picture of any gaps in the market and to understand why your product could benefit the Chinese market.

When working on your Chinese market entrance plan, be sure that your brand positioning doesn’t begin with “because we are an imported brand..”

6. Develop an Education Content Marketing Strategy

Many foreign brands have succeeded in China with products that were previously unknown to the Chinese population. At the beginning, McDonalds, Nespresso, and Rexona all struggled in the Chinese market and had do a lot of research and customer education in order to introduce their products/services into the habit of local people.

The benefits of products such as coffee, chocolate, imported wines and spirits, energy drinks, avocados, pastries, etc. had to be presented to the public in a sensitive and educational way. Brand still do this today, for example, influencer Viya, has recently been informing people on her livestreams why they “can’t live without” products such as dental floss and facial massagers, and selling thousands of items within minutes.

7. Use a KOC (Key Opinion Customer) and product seeding marketing tactics

There is no better marketing than “word of mouth”. A good (or bad) word of mouth message can be spread faster throughout communities than any type of advertising. To encourage this, it is not enough to just have a great product, but instead, brands must provide appealing offers.

Local Chinese brands are champions when it comes to word of mouth marketing. Chinese brand, Perfect Diary, uses a great scheme to stimulate its sales. For example, when a customer buys one of their items for 99 RMB (12 USD) he/she then has an option to get a second complimentary product for 1/10 of the price. Every order they process includes samples of their new products. Perfect Diary was one of the highest selling brands in 2019 after the Double 11 festival, and has only grown since. The sales revenue of the brand at Double 11 spiked up to 80,000,000 RMB, and the brand was 7th place in the list of most popular cosmetics of the Double 11 festival (the first among Chinese brands).

Foreign brands entering the Chinese market should consider providing a good deal or offer. Whether that means offering competitive prices, an extra service, or an upgrade – it will beat any other long-term marketing tactics.
Learn more about KOC marketing and how to get started with it here

Product Seeding is another way to use KOL and KOC marketing “on the budget”. Product seeding happens when brands send free products to influencers and content creators with the hope of getting free or law-cost media coverage. This means that the brand has no say in what will be published by KOL or KOC. Product seeding is a great way to earn low cost or even free word-of-mouth marketing in China. But there are some details you need to pay attention to. Here are some tips from HI-COM influencer outreach managers:

• Chinese KOLs and KOCs prefer working with known brands, and seeding campaign will be more successful for bigger international brands. 
• Chinese influencers are quite professionals, but select your talents carefully, there are still many fake accounts and agencies out there! 
• Sometimes the gifts sent to KOLs and KOCs are not published on their pages at all, but this doesn’t mean that the product was wasted. You have started to build the relationship with valuable resources and that’s what matters.
• Chinese KOL’s have their own style of reviewing and publishing content, so don’t be surprises by creative or overly traditional posts about your brand. 

8. Learn about the Customer Journey in China

When entering the Chinese market, it is very important to consider the conversion funnel and customer shopping habits for different products and services in China. Companies should make sure that their marketing strategies are adapted to the cultural customs and way of life of the market they’re targeting.

For example, is your product more suitable for RED (Xiaohingshu) or WeChat Mini-program customers? To answer this question, you need to find out who uses these apps and why.

It is important to be clear on the demographics of the most-used apps and platforms in China, for example, the business focus and the best-suited industries, etc.

When targeting a specific group of customers, brands must understand every aspect of the customers’ life and find a way to fit in with it.

9. Groups, Private Traffic and New Media Marketing Strategy

In 2021, the Chinese consumer is more service-oriented than ever before. For example, it is a well-known fact that Chinese customers are very demanding, as they expect amazing service 24/7 and this service must make the customers’ lives easier.  Customers are now expecting an even more personalised service.

In 2021, like many other brands, Luckin coffee in Shanghai began to increase its customers via private location groups (dependent on the store location). These groups are used for promotions, announcements of pop-up events and sales, weekly draws, mini-games, and other online products.

How does it work for most brands and why should they care? By the end of 2020, brands started to pay more attention to the customer journey and brand discovery of WeChat. A big problem for companies was their low following of WeChat official accounts.

However, WeChat doesn’t provide an option to view the WeChat ID of the followers, therefore, there’s little chance of having a private conversation or being able to check whether the follower is a “bot”. To overcome this, brands started adding potential followers, customers, and friends, to private group chats.

10. Be ready to react and adjust quickly

Have a flexible mindset when enter the Chinese market 

A unique feature of the Chinese digital market is its fast-paced development.  For example, something that was mainstream yesterday might be not an option tomorrow. However, a lot of foreign brands do not adapt to these changes, which leads to weaker product visibility and decreasing brand loyalty.

Today, in order to get a space on the Tmall platform, foreign brands must go through a detailed assessment by Alibaba’s representatives, in order to find out whether they’ll have a “fighting chance” on this platform.  This includes an analysis of the brand’s mindset. Only flexible and adaptable brands” are able to receive a green light and join the platform.

Another example that comes from one of our client’s in snack import sector. After being on the market for 2 years, they started to receive comments and requests from few large wholesalers about minimizing their packaging to a pocket size of 50g. and mixing all the flavors of snacks in these mini packages. Being able to handle such requests (that developed to orders), the brand was able to grow their sales a solid 39% within that year, and 80% in the year after that.

How to get a strong China market entry strategy that is tailored for your business, resources and KPIs made by professionals? Follow these few steps: 

1. Send email request to our managers, specifying your needs
2. Get a detailed proposal along with lead-time and quotation 
3. Confirm the proposal
4. Schedule a kick-off call with HI-COM’s strategist, where you can get knowledge on China market and your specific case, and provide the details of your business. 

Further Reading

 Banned marketing terms in China

What are the distributors in China looking for in foreign brands?  

Top livestreaming platforms in China

KOL (Influencer) marketing in China: costs and best strategies

HI-COM is a localization and multilingual communication agency dedicated to providing China-specific strategy, social media communication and e-commerce marketing services to businesses around the world. Working with more than 100 brands, HI-COM is the go-to partner of companies that want to enter China market!  Contact us for your free consultation today!

Scan QR code to follow Localization and The Chinese Market Entry News or Contact us on WeChat: 

They sell out stocks worth of millions of dollars in minutes, they make newest products trendy and famous, they are the most-watched Chinese influencers and internet stars in China, they are the king and the queen of Chinese e-commerce!

E-commerce in China is booming. In 2021, it is expected to grow more than 20%, versus a 7% growth in total retail sales. For the first time in history, anywhere in the world, the proportion of a whole country’s retail sales will be more than 50% online. The mountain is huge, and who sits atop? Chinese influencers, aka KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders).

We’ve charted the top KOLs for 2020-2021 elsewhere, but here we want to introduce a special kind of Chinese KOL. The kind that has the ability to sell out entire inventories in minutes in 2022!

Livestreaming has taken over KOL marketing in China. By year 2022, popular shopping dates like Singles Day and 12.12, hundreds of millions of people log on to shopping platforms to receive the best discounts of the year. To guide them towards which products to buy, they often tune into livestreams by beauty and fashion bloggers and KOLs in each and every product category. For the top KOLs, the products they feature invariably sell out in minutes.

Below, we want to talk about Influencer Marketing in China, the top 10 KOLs in China and how influential they have been on the Chinese e-commerce market.

As the 

Taobao Live-steamer KOLs in 2022

It is worth noting that after Viya stopped live streaming, Viya’s live streaming assistants continued live streaming under the name of “Bee Joy Club”.

Bee Joy Club

At present, the live streaming room has accumulated 900,000 fans. Its popularity is still relatively strong even though its ability to sell goods through live streaming is not as strong as that in the Viya era.

Up and coming KOLs on Taobao update 2022:

This month’s top 3 KOLs – according to the Taobao native ranking platform are “Brother Hui”, “Pop Corn” and “Charlies’ Angels”. 

Looking for a partner to get your KOL Marketing in China right? Check out our Case studies: 

Top 1 Chinese Influencer & Livestream Sales KOL in 2020-2021 (off air at the moment)

Austin Li

Austin Li otherwise known as ‘The Lipstick King’ has some impressive accolades under his belt.

Q: How many followers does Austin have?

A: Austin has over 29 million followers on Weibo and over 44 million on Douyin

Disappearing from the public eye, the brand featuring in broadcasts of Li Jia Qi remains paused. While different sources provide different information of the true reason of his suspension, he did not give any official statement. 

For anyone even vaguely familiar with KOL marketing, Austin should need no introduction. For newcomers, here are the basics: Austin is a Chinese beauty blogger specialising in lipstick. Various feats of his, such as earning a Guinness World Record for the most applications of lipstick in a minute, and trying on 138 lipsticks in a 30-minute live stream, have garnered him the title ‘Lipstick King’.

While he’s able to pull in $145 million in a day in sales, like Viya, he’s also socially conscious. In 2020, he worked to promote products from Wuhan following its difficult period, and helped raise RMB 70 million on Chinese New Year’s Eve in aid of rural farmers and communities.

During the 6.18 shopping festival in 2019 , he broke his own record once again, he sold 150,000 lip glosses in one hour livestream. He also managed to sell 5,000 Shiseido Ultimunes within 3 minutes and 40,000 Sori Yanagi cast iron pans within 1 minute.

But his reach does not stop in lipsticks. Austin was featured in major campaigns of KFC, Uniqlo, Clear, Dr.Jart+, Paris fashion week sponsored by L’Oreal, Godiva and many others.

Forbes China 2019 recognized him as one of the most influential in their list of “30 Under 30”. He was also awarded various awards including “Man at his best” award, Esquire awards and many more.

Today Austin dominates the Chinese social media by having verified accounts on Weibo, Douyin, Xiaohongshu/Red and Kuaishou. Engagement of his posts on Weibo reach from 5K to 1.5 million reactions!

To be able to cooperate with Austin via livestream sales event brands shall have a store on one of the Alibaba’s platforms: Tmall or Taobao.

Top 1 Female Chinese Influencer & Taobao Livestream KOL in 2020-2022 (off air at the moment)

Viya

Viya is another fierce Chinese influencer / KOL star in China that was taken off the air. Former  No.1 Anchor on Taobao, her accounts were frozen by the platforms, following the tax evasion scandal.

Q: How many followers did Viya have?

A: Viya has over 17 million followers on Weibo, over 16 million on Douyin, over 1,5 million on Xiaohongshu, and over 12 million followers on Taobao’s Weitao.

Chinese influencers, despite stereotypes, are not vapid product-selling husks. Their rise to prominence is usually accompanied by a great deal of hard work, and often admirable achievements outside the world of selling. This is why they’re trusted by their followers.

Viya (薇娅) is was apex example of a Chinese influencer with substance and credibility. Her livestreams are a mix between variety shows, infomercials and casual chats with her viewers. In 2020 she sold $365 million in a single day, and drew more than 37 million simultaneous viewers.

But she also devotes her time meaningfully, becoming one of Alibaba’s 2019 Poverty Alleviation Campaign anchors, and frequently featuring products produced in poorer regions of China. She is also one of the ‘The Belt and Road Thailand Product Ambassador’.

The products she chooses to promote have been carefully selected by her. When selling any product, this Chinese influencer pays attention of the following things:

1. time limit (the offer is only valid for the time slot at the broadcast)
2. quantity limit (the amount of products available is limited, urging the viewers the make decision quick)
3. price limit (the price of the products must be the lowest when comparing to official channels of the purchase)

Wonder how much Viya charge per one livestream? Depending on the industry she charges from 40,000 to 200,000 RMB.

While doing her livestreams on Taobao, Viya, on average, creates a total transaction value of 66 million CNY / 10 million USD in one hour!

But to cooperate with Viya, brands shall be ready to go through an application and selection process and ready to provide up to 30% commission on sales she generates plus the production fees. Interested to get in touch with Viya? Email your request right now!

Where to start with the KOL marketing campaign? Check out our guide!

Fashion KOLs who Sell Products in Minutes – available KOLs in 2022

WeChat Chinese Influencer in Fashion: Becky Li

Record of selling 100 MINI cars on her WeChat official account within 4 minutes

Top fashion KOLs by Forbes China

Q: How many followers does Becky Li have?

A: She has over 7,6 million followers on Weibo, over 75 thousands on WeChat, and over 650 thousands on Douyin

When mentioning Becky, she is often described as “one of the most influential fashion bloggers” or a “shopaholic”. In fact, she was the chief reporter of the Southern Metropolis Daily, mainly reporting current affairs and movies, and was one of the best entertainment reporters in China before she managed the WeChat account “Becky’s Whimsical World” and became a fashion blogger, and of of the top Chinese influencers.

She was invited by Chanel to attend Paris Fashion Week, and has worked with Chinese A-listers such as Chen Yanxi for the promotion of the philanthropic projects organized by Louis Vuitton and UNICEF. She has cooperated twice with the Palace Museum on culture and jewelry projects, with a transaction volume exceeding 2 million RMB.

In 2017, Becky and MINI cooperated for the first time to exclusively sell the “MINI YOURS Caribbean Blue Limited Edition”. 100 custom cars sold out within 4 minutes. This achievement became a much-told story in the industry and was listed as a classic case by Harvard Business School. At the end of the same year, Becky launched her own clothing brand with the same name.

She has appeared in H&M advertisements, served as a mentor for Helena women’s entrepreneurial projects, became the first KOL partner of WeChat Pay, and acted as its overseas payment experience officer and a friend of the BALLY brand. Earlier last month, Forbes China released a list of China’s top KOLs, listing 50 Chinese key opinion leaders in five specific sectors, such as beauty, fashion, mother & baby, lifestyle, and e-sports. Becky was one of the leaders among them.

So, unlike other Chinese influencers fashion bloggers, and although Becky is a “shopping enthusiast”, people have the impression that she is real, sincere, and down to earth. Just like an everyday beautiful lady, she talks about all kinds of good things, and also builds an image of “I can also have it” from the perspective of an ordinary woman. Therefore, she draws a lot of attention from female customers.

She was “Miss Shopping Guide” in the newspaper office because she always had a good eye for unique and trendy shopping.

But, today, seven years has gone by since “Becky’s Whimsical World” was set up, a fashion WeChat Official Account that is now followed by nearly ten million women, with each of her posts generating over 100,000 views.

“A lot of people focus solely on the number of followers, but I would prefer to have 10 followers who really know an recognize me instead of 100 followers who disagree or do not engage with me.”

Is it possible to find a KOL that does not charge a crazy amount of money? YES! Here is the list of top 10 mid-tier KOLs!

WeChat Chinese Influencer in Fashion: Zola ZHANG

The WeChat Media channel “It was Zola” is undoubtedly one of the best WeChat channels that integrate KOL and WeChat e-commerce sales successfully.

Q: How many followers does Zola have

A: Zola has over 2,9 million followers on Douyin and over 200 000 on WeChat

On the other hand, Many individual products recommended in Zola’s WeChat articles come from her Taobao “Just Chilling” brands, which mainly focus on European and American niche brands. Zola and her employees use those brands, promote them and go one step forward; they determine the product’s price together with the supply chain after contacting the authorizing parties.

On the other hand, it is reported that “It was Zola” made annual sales of about 40 million RMB and monthly sales of 3 to 4 million RMB. The amount is not huge on Taobao, but for a We Media owner switching to e-commerce, it’s impressive.

However, unlike other Chinese influencers, Zola”s “It was Zola” channel does not specialize in a specific topic.

She provides a comprehensive guide to the fashion life circle from all aspects of life rather than being merely a beauty or fashion blogger. Now the number of her followers has reached 7 million on various social media, including 1.5 million for her WeChat official account, and 2.82 million for her Weibo. She has signed and incubated more than 40 bloggers, and the number of her network’s followers across 15 platforms has reached 75 million.

“On WeChat, we are one of the first of several WeChat advertising test accounts. In the WeChat Alternative Advertising case in cooperation with BiOil, we completed 417% of the KPI, reaching 62,700 ad exposures and 177,000 views. On Taobao, we have cooperated with EVE LOM, a niche skincare brand prices 50 – 100, in the CPS advertisement of Guang.taobao.com, in which we sold out 200 fortune bags in 19 seconds.”

Top Fast Sale Chinese KOLs in Kuaishou

Xin Youzhi

Q: How many followers does Xin Youzhi have?

A: Xin Youzhi has over 1,3 million followers on Weibo and over 3,5 million followers on Douyin,and over 70 million on Kuaishou.

Xin Youzhi (辛有志辛巴), is a livestreaming entrepreneur, with over 70 million followers in Kuaishou. He streams less frequently than others, because he maintains a team of livestreamers that do so on his behalf. Still, when he does, he can generate more than $50million of sales in a single day. Unlike many other Chinese influencers, he does not specialise in one product category, but rather sells across many.

Sanda Brother

Q: How many followers does Sanda have?

A: Sanda has 2 million followers on Weibo and 50 million followers on Kuaishou.

With 50 million followers on Kuaishou, Sanda Brother (散打哥) is also known as ‘Fast Sale King’ in China. He’s garnered several awards for his livestreams, and broken records here, there and everywhere, proving the might of KOL marketing. In a single day in 2018, his sales totalled RMB 160 million.

Yu Childe

Q: How many followers does Yu Childe have?

A: He has over 57 thousands followers on Weibo and over 23 million on Kuaishou.

Anchor of Kuaishou’s beauty products platform, Yu Childe (瑜大公子) is considered a pre-eminent beauty KOL and celebrity in his own right. On January 5 2021, he joined several other celebrities to livestream the ‘Stars Giving Back’ event, which was watched by more than 10.2 million people. As part of the broadcast, he set a record by selling RMB 368 million in a single broadcast, putting him in the top ranks of Chinese KOLs.

More KOLs from China who Sell Products Fast

Cherie

Q: How many followers does Cherie have?

A: Cherie has over 12 million followers on Weibo, also she has about 1 million followers on Douyin and on Xiaohongshu.

After opening a Taobao store in 2011, Cherie (雪梨Cherie) has grown a following of more than 200 million fans for her livestreams, making her one of the most popular KOLs in China. Featuring more than 30 brands, in 2020, Cherie set a record for the highest number of transactions in a single live broadcast; in five hours, her sales exceeded RMB 300 million.

Dandan Kid

Q: How many followers does Dandan Kid have?

A: She has over 3 million followers on Douyin

A relatively new kid on the block, Dandan Kid is making waves on KOL platforms. In 2019, 30 livestreams generated a sales volume of RMB118 million. In 2021, she racked up RMB 120 million of sales in one hour, with one broadcast exceeding RMB 330 million in sales.

Kiki

Q: How many followers does Kiki have?

A: Kiki has over 5,8 million followers on Weibo and over 3.5 million on Douyin

Chinese influencer Kiki (陈洁) once sold RMB 177 million in three days. She made a name for herself in a cooperation with actor Lei Jiayin to promote Borward Auto. In two and a half hours, the duo pulled in more than 220 million orders, helping Borgward become the car manufacturer with the most live broadcast bookings in 2019.

LieEr Baby

Q: How many followers does LiEr Baby have?

A: She has over 4,5 million followers on Weibo and over 3 million on Douyin.

Another record-breaking Chinese influencer, on Singles Day 2017, LieEr Baby (烈儿宝贝) had sales of RMB 10 million in just five minutes. Her live broadcasts, even back then, before China’s KOL hayday, garnered view counts of millions. In the following year, 2018, her annual sales exceeded one billion RMB. Fast-forward to 2021, in January she won the 13^th spot on the list of ‘Hot People of the Year’ according to Sina Weibo.

Hasi Food

Q: How many followers does Hasi Food have?

A: She has over 5 million followers on Douyin

A Chinese food and beauty blogger, Hasi Food (哈西美食) did a whopping 303 live broadcasts in November 2021 alone, achieving sales of RMB 418 million. Her content is generally aimed at demonstrating recipes, but she accompanies this with selling beauty and body products.

In conclusion, according to most brands, KOL marketing is one of the most effective ways to promote in China. Here at HI-COM we understand the Chinese market. If you want to learn more about Chinese KOL marketing or need help with your Chinese marketing? Drop us a line!

If you’ve had any contact with China in the past five years, you’ll know just how embedded WeChat is in daily Chinese life. With 1.4 billion monthly users according to Tencent’s 2021, WeChat has almost complete penetration of the Chinese market.

WeChat was launched in 2011 by Chinese tech giant Tencent. Literally meaning micro message (微信), it was launched as a messaging app and soon replaced texting in China. Since then, it has grown to become a full suite social-media app encompassing all aspects of daily life.

Its WeChat Pay function has eliminated the need to carry cash in most cities in China. Its WeChat Mini Programs function means users often don’t even need to leave the app to access other utilities and applications, such as ride-hailing (Didi taxi) or booking plane/train tickets. Its WeChat Store function, while not able to compete with larger Chinese e-commerce platforms like Taobao, means e-commerce is also covered within the app’s ecosystem.

As a complete ecosystem with ubiquitous reach in China, it is imperative for any business looking to break into the Chinese market to have a strong WeChat presence. Below we detail a list of WeChat marketing best practices for businesses:

Types of WeChat Official Accounts

A WeChat Official Account is similar to a Facebook page. It allows brands to publish content for their followers to see as WeChat newsletters. This replaces email mailing lists common in Western marketing campaigns, as most people don’t use email in China. There are two types of WeChat Official Accounts: service account and subscription account.

Following these three steps in setting up a WeChat Official Account:

1. Go to https://mp.weixin.qq.com/?lang=en_US and click Register Now
2. Choose the account type most suitable for your business
3. Enter your email and click the Register button

Prices for Influencer Campaign on WeChat

Now that you’ve set up an Official Account, it’s time to reach your audience. In China, influencer marketing is widely known as KOL (key opinion leader) marketing. By partnering with local KOLs, you are able to localize your brand messaging in China while getting access to their network of followers.

Some KOLs run their own WeChat groups, which have a maximum capacity of 500 members. These groups usually revolve around specific interests, and engagement can vary depending on their quality. Other KOLs have their own Official Accounts with large followings due to their reliable content. Below is a rough guide for industry standards for WeChat KOL marketing:

All about WeChat Mini Programs

Depending on the scope of your business, it might make sense to dive into making a mini-program specifically for your brand. WeChat Mini Programs are applications built within the WeChat platform, providing advanced features with smooth integration with WeChat. WeChat features such as WeChat pay, geo-location, contacts, and notifications can all be smoothly integrated between WeChat and its Mini Apps.

Loyalty Programs on WeChat mini programs

Brand loyalty is still important in China. After a strong marketing campaign, you now have an influx of customers. Loyalty programs are essential in retaining them. WeChat Mini Programs allow you to build a loyalty program for your brand easily.

Build your WeChat loyalty program by rewarding points to potential customers for proactively linking their WeChat accounts and filling out their profile on your Mini Program. Giving points for daily check-ins will incentivize your followers to keep up with your brand’s latest news and offers. You can then allow users to use these points towards discounts when they shop for your brand.

Using WeChat as H5 Mini Website

While WeChat Official Account pages have limited customization features, an H5 landing allows for providing users a professional and unique experience for your brand to stand out. H5 is a Chinese buzzword that essentially means HTML 5, or a single HTML 5 landing page. It allows for illustrations, artwork, and animations perfect for mobile experiences.

Get started with building an H5 page with services such as MAKA, Renrenxiou, Yixiouwang, but do keep in mind the interface is in Chinese.

How to do WeChat Live-streaming

Livestreaming is a huge aspect of the Chinese trend of social e-commerce. It allows for engaging with audiences and potential customers in real-time to answer their questions about your brand and products. Leverage the immediacy of see-now-buy-now mentality with WeChat’s recent livestream feature.

WeChat allows for two main options for livestreaming: via Tencent’s native livestreaming solution and via WeChat Mini Program feature. Both offer a variety of integrations with WeChat’s native WeChat Shop feature for a smooth e-commerce experience.

Want to leverage livestreaming in China? Contact us today!

WeChat Ads

WeChat ads is a Tencent program that sells ad space under other WeChat Official Account posts (WeChat banner ads) or in users’ timelines, or Moments (WeChat Moments ads).

To apply for WeChat Moment ads, there is a minimal entry price of 50,000RMB for both Chinese and foreign companies. It requires verifying your WeChat Official Account and applying for the right to advertise on WeChat in the backend of your Official Account. Only after approval can you start creating campaigns. The CPM for WeChat Moments ads is between 60-150.

Launched in August 2014, these type of WeChat ads have notoriously low performance. Advertisers are only able to choose rough target demographics and cannot control which specific accounts their ads appear. The CPM for WeChat banner ads is between 2-5RMB.

Learn more about advertisement on Wechat in our WeChat Advertising: Types of Ads, CPM, PPC Prices guide!

WeChat Channels

WeChat Channels is a new feature that just launched in 2020 for businesses and personal accounts. This feature is similar to Douyin (China’s counterpart to Tik Tok) in that these accounts can now share short video content (3 seconds to 1 minute long) under a branded profile. Video and static images are accepted, with a maximum of 9 static images laid out similar to Moments posts.

Read more about the latest features on Wechat

Regardless of how many different WeChat features your business chooses to include in you campaign, content is still king. A solid localization plan is essential in making sure your brand and product messaging resonates with Chinese consumers and their culture. Remember to post often to keep you followers engaged.

WeChat Update of 2022

WeChat has updated its app ones again and this year the users can enjoy the functions of music share, pausing and resuming voice messages, blur of the background during video call, channel videos in a floating window and some other minor ones.

 Foreign brands using WeChat to drive conversion in 2022

As WeChat is unavoidable tool for everyday life in China, brands big and small are taking advantage of the functions of WeChat to drive traffic and conversion. Here are some of the rules you need to follow when planning your WeChat marketing strategy.

1. Have a strong visual identity. This means using professional software to create long page design, using high quality photos.
2. If you are a tangible/product oriented brand, you don’t need to write lots of text in your post. Focus on visuals to stimulate desire in your readers.
   
3. To drive traffic to your WeChat mini program or WeChat store, do not forget to link products from posts.
   
4. To drive traffic to Tmall or other marketplace, use customized codes (specific per platform)
   
5. WeChat now allows redirection to other social media platforms – use links to mention them! This includes the mention of your website in China.
   
6. Don’t forget to include “read other articles” at the bottom of your post and link these posts.
   

WeChat Official Account Promotion in 2022

One of the best and quickest ways to promote your account on WeChat is to use the help of KOLs, influencers and buy advertising. But not every brand is as big as Zara, and many young brands are keen to promote themselves without using large budgets. But in this case “small budget” means “lot’s of working hours”.

In the year 2022 one way to do so is to “break the closed circle” of WeChat and start using WeChat Channel – a video platform where people are exposed to all content published, not only the content of people and accounts you follow.

Another way to promote your WeChat official account “on a budget” is to invest in community building and private traffic. This means inviting every person who might be interested in your brand one by one to groups you manage and communicate with them via these groups. You can hire a manager to do this full time, or an agency like HI-COM, to save cost and time.

For some foreign brands offline activities work wonders. pop ups, expos, collabs with offline partners, event sponsorships and more can help you to achieve more than one goal at a time! Guests will be exposed to your WeChat QR codes and fulfill the commercial purpose of the event you hold.

Learn all the ways to promote your WeChat account here!

Conclusion

WeChat for business is a part of any strong Chinese marketing plan. While the above is a list of current best practises for WeChat for businesses, the Chinese tech landscape moves rapidly. Keeping on top of the newest features being rolled out on WeChat will give your business the edge over the competition in this fast-paced market.

HI-COM is a localization and multilingual communication agency dedicated to providing China-specific strategy, social media communication and e-commerce marketing services to businesses around the world. Working with more than 100 brands, HI-COM is the go-to partner of companies that want to enter China market!  Contact us for your free consultation today!

Scan QR code to follow Localization and The Chinese Market Entry News or Contact us on WeChat: 

As the Chinese internet has matured, netizens have already grown wary of click ads. KOL marketing represents a type of digital advertisement users can resonate with, as it is brought to them by someone they enjoy following. Today in China, KOL marketing has become a highly effective tool in any brand’s digital marketing arsenal, regardless of industry. For overseas brands entering the Chinese market, KOL marketing cannot be overlooked.

All You Need to Know Before Starting a KOL Campaign

China’s internet population is the largest in the world. At 939.9 million internet users in January 2021, China’s internet population is almost three times the US’s total population and makes up just over a fifth of the world’s total internet users. This massive environment has seen KOL marketing rise up as one of the most effective digital marketing tools in China.

What numbers can we expect with KOL marketing? As a result of the massive scale of the Chinese internet, top-tier KOLs in China usually have upwards of one million followers. In June of 2021, one post from KOLs in the top tier generates an average of 1.2 million impressions on short video app Douyin. The impressive exposure afforded by KOL marketing can help new brands generate the buzz and name recognition to reach new audiences.

KOLs Types According to Their Follower Size

According to Quest Mobile, KOLs in China can be ranked in five main groups according to their follower size.

• Mega KOLs: over 10 million followers. These are usually celebrities and highly successful personalities, working only with larger established brands. They appeal to not only the general Chinese public but international audiences, and their followers do not fall into any one category of consumer.
• High-tier KOLs: 1 million to 10 million followers. These KOLs are usually the most prominent influence leaders in the industries they work within and are able to set trends within China. Their rates reflect their influence. It’s also important to note that some platforms like WeChat do not show statistics higher than a certain number, limiting the ability to track campaign performance accurately for larger KOLs.
• Mid-tier: KOLs: 500 000 to 1 million followersKOLs in this tier usually have dedicated followings and generally have strong influence over a specific segment of the industry they work in. Their followings are therefore also a more specific demographic with tastes that more closely match the KOLs themselves.
• Micro KOLs: 100,000 – 500,000 followers. Like mid-tier KOLs, this tier of KOL has strong influence over a specific demographic within an industry and have more grassroots appeal. With lower rates than mid-tier KOLs, it makes sense to work with multiple micro KOLs to thoroughly reach your target audience.
• Nano KOLs: 20,00 – 50,000 followers.This tier of KOLs can also be considered KOCs, or key opinion consumers. They may have a dedicated following from a specific niche in the broader industry who trust their highly personalized product recommendations. This makes nano KOLs perfect for product seeding campaigns.
  

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Best Platforms for KOL Marketing in China

Before we start reading about the best platforms for your next KOL campaign you might want to see some interesting and helpful data. We hope this info will help you design or adjust a better KOL campaign.

Douyin

The dominant short-video platform in China, Douyin is a popular platform for KOL marketing, attracting a balanced mix of KOLs from each tier. The largest portion comes from mega KOLs, at 36.5%, and each tier of KOLs comprise at least 10% of Douyin’s KOLs.

This makes it easy to find the right KOL for your budget and goals. With a KOL penetration rate of 98.1% on the platform, it’s one of the best platforms for effective KOL marketing. Douyin’s demographics skew younger and 24% come from tier-one cities, making it perfect for brands looking to appeal to trendy urban youth.

Kuaishou

One of the most popular livestreaming platforms in China, Kuaishou KOLs predominantly come from the highest tiers, with 37.7% being mega KOLs and 39.8% being high-tier KOLs.

Only 10% of Kuaishou users come from tier-one cities in China, compared to Douyin, giving it more geographical coverage across the Chinese market, albeit with a userbase possessing lower purchasing power. Another difference setting it apart from Douyin is its recommendation algorithm, which recommends more content from accounts users already follow.

With a KOL penetration rate of 97.6%, it’s a highly effective KOL marketing platform for brands looking to expand outside of tier one city markets.

Weibo

As China’s answer to Twitter, Weibo is a microblogging platform known for its strong user communities. As such, the majority of KOLs on Weibo fall into the nano KOL tier, at 72.5%, with mid-tier and higher KOLs only making up less than 5% of the platform’s KOLs.

Its median user profile is a millennial middle-class woman living in a tier-one city, making it a platform with one of the most educated, highest-earning demographics. As such, Weibo’s userbase prioritizes in depth discussion around products.

It has a KOL penetration rate of 79.7%, making it a platform more suited to product seeding, brand outreach, and community building.

WeChat

The most ubiquitous platform in China, WeChat is a whole ecosystem in one app. As the only Chinese platform with over one billion users, it has the highest user adoption of any other platform in China.

However, WeChat only shows content from friends and official accounts users follow, making KOL penetration on WeChat the lowest out of all platforms at 31.6%. The platform infrastructure creates a KOL distribution very similar to Weibo, with 72.9% of WeChat KOLs belonging to the nano KOL tier, while mid-tier and higher KOLs only make up around 5%.

KOL marketing on WeChat is still necessary, considering its near-universal adoption in China and its massive ecosystem perfect for conversion tracking. Considering its fragmented nature, the best WeChat KOL strategy involves working with multiple lower-tier KOLs to reach as wide an audience as possible.

Bilibili

Another great app for KOL marketing in China. With a KOL penetration rate of 80.4% and a balanced gender ratio (52% male and 48% female), Bilibili is definitely worth attention.

For those new to the platform, they should know that its users are still very much tied in with its fandom history, however, step by step other industries becoming popular on the app as well.

Xiaohongshu

When thinking of KOL marketing, Xiaohongshu probably the first platform that comes to mind for most marketers in China. As a social recommendation platform, it was built with product recommendations as its defining feature.

While mega KOLs only make up 0.7% of Xiaohongshu KOLs, the remaining tiers are very evenly distributed. It’s KOL penetration rate is also high, at 94%. Like Douyin, this makes finding the perfect KOL for your marketing strategy and budget a simple process and KOL marketing highly effective.

Xiaohongshu’s demographics skew highly female, with women making up 90% of the userbase. They predominantly come from tier-one cities and are highly educated with expendable income. As a platform, Xiaohongshu’s algorithms prioritize in-depth high-engagement content, lending itself well for high-quality KOL marketing that thoroughly presents a product or brand.

What Type of Cooperation Should You Propose or Consider when Working with Chinese Influencers?

Brand Advocacy

One of the best ways to make Chinese influencers advocate for your brand is to make him/her the face of that brand.

The price of such cooperation will be lower than if you worked with small-mid size celebrities, and the coverage you get might just be what you were looking for! While lots of different types of agreements can be made, brand advocacy is one of the most profitable and effective ways to spread the word in Chinese market.

Direct Purchase

Direct purchase – as in “please post this product review on that platform” type of cooperation. This is one of the most simple and easy ways to cooperate with Chinese Influencers. But remember, if you only use a one time post on one influencer’s account no matter how big (excluding huge celebrities of course), it might not bring you the result you were hoping for.

Co-branding

This is the one type of cooperation that Influencers love the most.

Of course, not every influencer is fit for such project, as the he/she must have a very high commercial audience profile (with an audience that is constantly purchasing the endorsed products). But this type will not suit new or lesser known brands, as it could be too difficult to convince the KOL of the value of such a cooperation.

The brand must be careful when choosing who to approach. Naturally, the brand’s reputation will be tightly connected to a co-branding KOL’s profile, and any scandal around that persona might affect the brand as well.

Collaborations and Omni-channel Approach

Collaborating with Chinese influencers in order to create multiple campaigns and run them on multiple channels is one of the most effective ways to gain some tangible results.

Keep in mind that to cover the whole of China might not be an easily achievable goal if you only plan to run one omni-channel campaign. The strategy here could be to start with a few larger influencers, who will influence their “smaller” colleagues, as well as the audience they talk to. Then you can continue to a higher number of mid-tier and micro-KOLs.

This way you will create a “buzz” and no matter where your potential client looks, they will see your product. This will instantly create interest and a “must have” feeling.

Regarding numbers, to cover, let’s say, the cosmetics market, we recommend working with top-tier and second-tier cities, and doing monthly campaigns for at least one year, with a total of around 50 – 100 influencers per month and at least 3 platforms.

Product Seeding

Many brands are convinced that KOLs will talk about the brand for as little as a free gift.

Whilst this might work in the West, in China it’s all about cash. Of course, if an influencer receives a special edition luxury brand product packed in a way that flatters his/her ego (name on a box, special appreciation note), this may have the desired effect.

But it is highly unlikely that an influencer will “do his job for free” for an unknown (in China) brand.

KOL Marketing in China: How Much Does it Cost?

Depending on the type of cooperation, your niche, the market reach, and your goal, your budget will vary.

Another factor you should keep in mind is that the reach of an influencer does not mean engagement. Most influencers in the same reach or audience size have different levels of engagement.

Some have “sticky” fans, some have non-interactive accounts, some have high commercial profiles and some are buying their fans. If your goal is to engage with the audience and have more coverage by “shares” and re-posts, you might want to know how much you will pay per engaged person, and this information is listed here.

You could work with lots of different KOLs depending on the objectives and budget available. Some KOLs would work with low budgets – 300-500 USD, some even 100 USD, but don’t forget that you get what you pay for. You would immediately notice the difference in preparation, image, style, quality of content and amount of impressions/leads you get from it ones you work with more experiences bloggers.

In terms of  targeting and covering “a market” on average, to cover 1 top-tier city, you should work with a budget of 200,000 to 300,000 CNY or up to 45,000 USD per month. To cover “the country”, you should run monthly campaign in 15-20 cities. Major players like L’Oreal, Apple, or Unilever spend 1 to 2 million CNY (150 – 300 k USD) per campaign per platform (Tmall/RED/Douyin) on new product launches, major digital holidays and general promotion.

When it comes to simple calculation, you can take as reference the following rates:

Chinese Social Media traffic average cost:  CPM 50 CNY ( apx. 8 USD), CPF 7-10 CNY (1-1.5 USD).

How to Start KOL Campaign in 2023

Ready to include KOL marketing in your digital marketing campaign? Below we’ll walk through key tips and strategies to ensure your KOL campaign is a success.

Step 1. Define Your Target Audience

As with any form of marketing, identifying and defining your brand’s target audience is the cornerstone of any campaign. Understanding their habits and aspirations lets you craft an effective campaign that will resonate with your target demographic. Having narrowed down the type of people you wish to reach, you then can more easily identify the KOLs who have the most influence on them.

Step 2. Match Your Product and Platform

If you run a swimwear brand, you probably wouldn’t buy billboard ad space at a ski resort. For online digital marketing, it’s no different. Choosing the right platforms for marketing your product is crucial.

Each digital platform attracts different demographics, resulting in different industries thriving on different platforms. It’s important to research which platforms your target audience is more active on and what the leading industries are on each platform.

Below, we’ve listed a few industries and the platforms where they are most successful on:

Beauty/Fashion

– Xiaohongshu, where 90% of the userbase is female, is the prime platform for cosmetics and fashion

– Weibo for general lifestyle content

– Bilibili for makeup tutorials

Education

– WeChat. As the education industry has a stronger emphasis on longer persuasive essays, WeChat is the most preferred platform, thanks to the platform’s emphasis on articles.

F&B

– Dazhong Dianping. For restaurants and cafes, having a presence on Dianping, China’s go-to review website, is a necessity.

– Douyin. For brands selling food and drink products, visual platforms such as Douyin provide large communities for recipe sharing and food challenges.

– Xiaohongshu. The same applies to this app.

Parenting

– Weibo and WeChat, with a userbase that skews older, are the best for marketing parenting-related content.

– Xiaohongshu, as a more visual platform for product reviews, is also great for marketing parenting products.

Entertainment

– Dianping/Xiaohongshu/Weibo. These platforms provide real-time location-specific recommendations for users for popular sights and attractions.

– WeChat. For events, people in China check WeChat for events happening in their social circles.

Step 3. Match Your Product and KOL

Finding the right KOL for your brand in a foreign market can be a daunting task. Brands need to keep in mind the three R’s of influencer marketing when choosing a KOL: relevance, reach, and resonance. Make sure the KOL you find is relevant to your industry, has strong reach paired with healthy audience engagement, and resonates with your brand identity.

Below, we have listed a few resources to help you start your search for potential KOLs for your campaign:

• Newrank
• Weibo Rank

Also, you can check these articles:

• Top 34 KOLs KOLs in different industries
• KOLs that sell out all kids of products under 5 minutes
• Top mid-tier KOLs on Different social media platforms 

While these users may be KOLs on one platform, that doesn’t mean they aren’t KOLs on other platforms. With many KOLs being cross-platform, it is important to cross-reference different platforms to see where your KOL has the highest followings. Look for KOLs that match your brand identity with strong followings on platforms that suit your industry.

Step 4. Contacting KOLs

A successful KOL marketing campaign is the result of a KOL fully grasping your brand identity and putting their personal touch on it to achieve your stated campaign goals. This requires effective communication.

However, working cross-culturally presents some obstacles. Most Chinese KOLs don’t speak English with enough proficiency to fully understand the nuances of your brand message. Furthermore, cultural differences between KOLs and brands contribute to misunderstandings.

In China, people often do not tell you directly if they don’t understand what you want and will just agree so as to not “lose face”. This results in time wasted in determining what the KOL didn’t understand.

On the flip side, oftentimes Western brands come in confident that their tested-and-true content approach from outside the China market will work in China, only for it to fall flat. A KOL worth their rate will tell you what works and why – it’s their home court after all.

That’s why for overseas brands working with Chinese KOLs, it’s helpful to go through an agency like HI-COM to ensure nothing gets lost in translation.

How to Measure Your KOL Campaign in 3 Simple Steps

Now that you’ve launched your KOL campaign, it’s time to crunch some numbers to gauge its effectiveness. This is one of the most important steps, as it helps you calibrate your campaign strategy towards what works.

Data shows KOL marketing works best as a long-term strategy. This requires adjusting focus to different KPIs along the sales pipeline at different stages:

Step 1. Defining Reach

Reach is a metric that should be considered before, during, and after your KOL campaign.

Before the campaign, choosing a KOL often revolves around follower count. However, more important is how many of their followers are from your target demographic and how many of their followers actually engage with their posts.

During the campaign, success can be determined by how many more impressions the campaign nets than regular posts.

After the campaign, it’s important to measure the lasting effects of the campaign. How much higher is rate of follower and impression growth compared to before the campaign?

Step 2. Measuring Engagements

Impressions are the first step in the pipeline towards your campaign’s ultimate goal: sales. Engagement is the second step.

Engagement varies across platforms, but key metrics include likes, shares, comments, tags, and hashtags, all of which are easily accessible via every platform’s analytics. All of these figures allow brands to calculate the earned media value of their campaign.

Step 3. Tracking Conversions

Now let’s measure the bottom-line effectiveness of your KOL marketing campaign – conversions. Where Chinese internet infrastructure differs from that in the West is the walled garden nature of most platforms, with most platforms restricting third party links.

For example, Douyin and Xiaohongshu do not allow third party links. WeChat, as a Tencent platform, does not allow links to ecommerce platforms of competitor Alibaba.

However, conversions can be tracked if sales are made within each platform’s own ecosystem.

HI-COM is a digital marketing agency dedicated to providing China-specific strategy, social media communication and e-commerce marketing services to businesses around the world. Working with more than 100 brands, HI-COM is the go-to partner of companies that want to enter China market!  Contact us for your free consultation today!

Scan QR code to follow Localization and The Chinese Market Entry News or Contact us on WeChat: 

In 2021, Xiaohonshu has become a focal point for digital marketing campaigns of lifestyle brands in China. With approximately 100 million monthly active users, of which just under half are 18-24 and over 70% being born after the 90s, this booming Chinese platform is a crucial for reaching the next generation of China’s consumers.

What is Xiaohongshu?

Translated from the Chinese “Xiaohongshu” the term means “Little Red Book”. The English app is also called “RED”. “Xiaohongshu” is an app created in 2013 by Miranda Cui Fan and Charlene Mao Wenchao. It was originally intended for users to post reviews of products and services purchased abroad. It was made at a time when travel was usually made by only wealthy people. The app formed a community of residents of first and second tier cities.

In 2021, the app boasts over 300 million users, including over 100 million monthly active users. The app spans 200 countries and regions, providing its customers with an efficient service to deliver the best products from around the world.

What Is the Userbase of Xiaohongshu Like?

Xiaohongshu’s userbase is overwhelmingly female, white-collar, and young. A staggering 87% of users on Xiaohongshu are female and 61% are under the age of 30. In addition, close to 40% of the userbase hails from China’s tier-one cities.

This demographic, with its high levels of disposable income and cultural openness, makes Xiaohongshu a prime platform for attracting young and wealthy customers.

What Industries are Most Suited for Xiaohongshu?

While the userbase’s interests vary widely, due to the demographics, the most popular content on Xiaohongshu predominantly caters to the interests of the demographic segment mentioned above.

According to a 2021 report from qian-gua.com, the most active interest categories for Xiaohongshu users are makeup (6%), skincare (6%), and fashion (5%). The next seven most popular categories are meals (4%), weight loss (3%), hairstyling (2%), photography and videography (2%), fitness (2%), personal hygiene (2%), and restaurants (2%).

Therefore, brands operating in beauty, healthcare, fashion, lifestyle, food and beverage, sports, hospitality, and parenting sectors the most suited for Xiaohongshu. This is not to say other sectors should not consider marketing on Xiaohongshu – the “other” category makes up the remaining 66% of interests.

Is Xiaohongshu Good for Foreign Brands?

For foreign brands entering China, Xiaohongshu’s recent dominance of the social recommendation market niche means it’s important to build a strong presence on the platform, especially if your brand plans on reaching younger audiences.

Being a social recommendation platform, Xiaohongshu is extremely suited to KOL marketing. Major international brands such as Louis Vuitton, L’Oréal and Haagen-Dazs have already been working with Xiaohongshu KOLs to stake out their brand presence on the platform.

Are there any other platforms good for foreign brands? Of course! Check best Chinese social media in 2021 for your next marketing campaign!

What is Xiaohongshu’s Place in the Chinese Cross-Border E-commerce Market?

Xiaohongshu’s share of the cross-border e-commerce market has skyrocketed to 25.9% in 2021 from 6% just two years ago.

As a social recommendation platform with e-commerce features, Xiaohongshu is more similar to Douyin than it is to its other cross-border e-commerce competition such as Kaola and VIP.com. As such, its influence in the cross-border e-commerce market goes well beyond the market share of goods sold.

In the cross-border e-commerce market, Xiaohongshu has positioned itself as the go-to review website. KOL and KOC (key opinion consumers) on the platform review products and users engage with their posts. It’s in this metric we see Xiaohongshu’s impressive reach – 8 billion post impressions per day.

Not only is it popular amongst brands and consumers, it is also backed by a variety of big names and institutions. In June of 2018, Xiaohongshu completed a US $300 million funding led by digital Chinese giants Tencent and Alibaba, with major firms such as GGV Capital, ZhenFund, Tiantu Capital, K11 Adrian Cheng, and Genesis Capital participating. In 2020, the platform launched talks to raise a further US $400 million to $500 million in new funds.

How does Xiaohongshu Work?

Xiaohongshu is a visually-oriented social recommendation platform, with picture and video posts, which are dubbed “notes”. Its homepage layout is visually similar to Pinterest, with an infinite scroll of double-columned tiled visual notes. Pages for accounts are laid out similar to Instagram, with basic account statistics, a follow button, and a self-description.

The platform itself has four main functions

1. E-Commerce

Xiaohongshu’s e-commerce functionality can be accessed in app via the shop feature. It has similar functionality and layout to its competitors Taobao and JD.com, supporting payments via both Alipay and WeChat. Livestreaming is an important component of its e-commerce feature, with recommended product livestreams on the homepage.

2. Browsing and Searching

The homepage of Xiaohongshu provides three tabs for browsing for content, “follow” for your network’s content and “explore” for nearby or recommended content. The search function allows for searching by keyword and hashtag, with results split into content and products.

3. Socialization and Interaction

As a Chinese counterpart to Instagram and Pinterest, Xiaohongshu’s socialization and interaction features are similarly oriented towards liking, sharing, tagging, and messaging. The app includes story features similar to Instagram and allows for pinned posts for accounts. Verified brands can also promote their brands and engage with customers through their official accounts and hashtag campaigns.

4. A Product Discovery and Recommendation Search Engine

In public interviews, Xiaohongshu representatives have stressed that it is a social recommendation platform first and foremost, not just an e-commerce platform.

As a social recommendation and product discovery platform, the app is driven by a strong product recommendation search engine. During 2019’s Double 11, activity on Xiaohongshu skyrocketed as it became the top search engine tool for consumers looking for products reviews and recommendations.

To develop an SEO campaign that takes advantage of Xiaohongshu’s recommendation engine, brands need to understand why users flock to the Xiaohongshu platform – to make rational and informed decisions when buying products. Content that succeeds on the platform is high in both utility and entertainment.

In many ways, Xiaohongshu can be compared to Pinterest. Users search for key terms or specific items, and when they engage with posts they like, the platform’s algorithm will immediately customize the feed to show similar posts. The bottom of every post also shows further recommended similar posts.

To appeal to on-page SEO algorithms for Xiaohongshu, you should formulate one to three keywords or a keyword phrase and have them appear in the title and first paragraph of your post. Just like the SEO of traditional search engines, long-tail key words can help companies occupy their niche in the market.

Off-page, the Xiaohongshu SEO algorithms take into account shares, collects, likes, views, and especially comments. Ensuring high engagement within the first 24 hours of your post is the key to an effective SEO campaign on the platform.

Why is Xiaohongshu the Most Trusted Platform in the Chinese Digital Ecosystem?

In the last few years, Xiaohongshu has successfully carved out its own niche in the highly competitive environment of the Chinese digital ecosystem. By appealing to a high income, high education demographic, Xiaohongshu has been able to attract a userbase that provides high value user generated content.

As a product review platform, it has created an environment encouraging detailed and reliable reviews of services and products. In addition, with its mature social networking features, users are able to spend time on there even if they’re not looking for specific products or services to buy, as the platform contains a wide range of interest-based educational content as well.

Due to its success as a review platform, Xiaohongshu has grown into a general entertainment app combining social media and ecommerce. With a highly active userbase due to the platform’s plethora of engaging features and strong algorithm for up-to-date content, Xiaohongshu has become the go-to app for many of China’s urban middle-class youth.

How Do You Register a Store on Xiaohongshu?

Xiaohongshu first set up e-commerce functionality on its platform in 2014, focused on connecting its platform’s userbase to retailers from around the world as a cross-border e-commerce platform. Since then, it has fully integrated e-commerce functionality with the platform’s various social media and search functions.

To take advantage of Xiaohongshu’s native e-commerce capabilities, you’ll need to register your store on the platform first. The prerequisite to registration is having opened an official account for your brand on Xiaohongshu.

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Step 1: Opening an Official Account on Xiaohonshu

To open an official account head to Xiaohongshu’s official account application page.

The main documents required for opening an account on Xiaohongshu are

1. Business registration papers
2. Certificate of incorporation
3. Customs registration form

In addition, you’ll need to provide the following supporting documents

1. Company information
   • For businesses registered outside of China: You must download the authorization letter from Xiaohongshu. Once you have filled out the form with basic information regarding the company name, holder’s name, and company address, you must scan it and upload it. Once that is complete, you will be able to download the other documents, which must be filled out in Chinese
   • For businesses registered inside China: You must download the commitment letter, fill it out, scan it, and upload it.
2. Logistics commitment letter
3. Store operation authorization letter
4. Brand information
5. Application form
6. Authorization form
7. Trademark authorization

While there are many documents listed above, many are provided by the Xiaohongshu platform. Note that the registration process is only offered in Chinese.

Once you have submitted your documents, Xiaohongshu will process and audit the documents before providing a contract for you to sign.

Types of accounts you can register on Xiaohongshu:

When you register for an official account, you will be asked to select the type of account you wish to open: Enterprise Account, Advertising Account, Merchant Account, and KOL account.

Enterprise Account on Xiaohongshu

An Enterprise account allows for companies to establish their official brand presence on Xiaohongshu, with their account displaying a blue checkmark indicating an enterprise account. Other privileges include being able to enter the Brand Cooperation platform on Xiaohongshu, gaining extra functions and tools to interact with fans, and gaining access to multidimensional data reports and analytics.

How to submit an enterprise account on Xiaohongshu

You will need a Chinese mobile phone number. Account name shall be based on trademark, website, or software application.

Documents needed:

• Trademark registration certificate or ICP record screenshot, or computer software copyright registration certificate.
• For Chinese Enterprises: Coloured Scan of Business license.
• For Overseas Enterprises: the original color scan of the valid business registration document, which shall be stamped with the company’s (colored) official seal or signed by the company’s person in charge and indicate the position in signature.
• For all: Letter of authorisation filled out account to the provided draft and sealed with company seal.
• Other information: Other documents might be needed according to specific industry qualification requirements.

Application validation shall take 3 business days.

Advertising Account on Xiaohongshu

An Advertising Account is a Brand Station account with an additional function for running ads. Advertising accounts are charged a minimum non-refundable capital of 20,000RMB, with ad payments being deducted from this account.

How to submit an ad account on Xiaohongshu

Log in to business.xiaohongshu.com, enter “advertising qualification certification” in “qualification management”, and submit relevant qualifications for review. After the approval, the right of advertising can be obtained.

This function is available for cross-border account, but you might need to contact customer service.

Advertiser can be registered as a brand itself or a brand representative/agent.

This process takes up to 5 business days.

Merchant Account on Xiaohongshu

A Merchant account allows brands to start selling products and services with Xiaohongshu’s native e-commerce functionality. In 2020, Xiaohongshu has loosened restrictions to opening a merchant account, which previously only were open to companies with a registered trademark. Today, as long as a company has a valid business license, either in China or abroad, the platform will allow them to open a merchant account.

How to submit a merchant account on Xiaohongshu

Brands can create a merchant’s account directly or via an agency. One can start by registering using an email account via this link.

KOL Account on Xiaohongshu

A KOL (influencer) account on Xiaohongshu can be identified by a red check. On a KOL account profile, the red check will be followed by the occupation of the account owner. For example, Fan Bingbing’s account lists her as an actress while lipstick KOL Austin, aka 口红一哥, has makeup blogger listed next to his name.

Step 2: Opening an Online Store on Xiaohongshu

Now that you’ve successfully registered for an account, you can begin the process of opening your online store on Xiaohongshu.

Before you open your online store, you need to choose the type of business model that your company will run on the platform.

There are two options:

• Xiaohongshu supports your products and buys them in advance

• The company creates its own store

Below we list the steps leading to the opening of your store on Xiaohongshu

1. Sign up for Xiaohongshu via company email.
2. Fill in registration information, including:
   • Basic information about the company (responsible person, trading model, headquarters address)
   • Company qualification (business registration or registration certificate)
   • Financial information (bank name and address, currency for calculation, SWIFT code and IBAN)
   • Additional documents for companies selling products of various brands: power of attorney from brand owners to sell products on Xiaohongshu (with the official seal of the company)
3. Once these steps are complete, Xiaohongshu will analyze your registration application and process it.
4. The final step is to sign the agreement online and the paper version.
5. The company has access to its online store, as well as to various training modules on the management platform Xiaohongshu
   

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How Will the Official Account and Store on Xiaohongshu Look Like?

In general, this trading platform is similar to any other platform. The real value of posts on the platform is that the products placed on it are directly related to the online store. This is the home page of the brand’s official account with a small entry, consisting of its history and products, as well as posts and articles from buyers.

Best Marketing Practices on Xiaohongshu in 2021

KOL marketing on Xiaohongshu

A ubiquitous marketing term in China, KOL stands for key opinion leader. They are the Chinese counterpart to influencers in the West. Their audiences trust their taste and recommendations. They serve as a bridge between brands and their massive following, often from a specific demographic.

As a social recommendation platform, Xiaohongshu is the perfect platform for KOL marketing. Not only does Xiaohongshu have a platform culture that encourages authentic and in-depth content, but also an algorithm calibrated to connect audiences to exactly the content they want to see. This has made KOL marketing on this platform a highly effective digital marketing strategy for brands.

Xiaohongshu lets your brand interact directly with KOLs

In 2019, to combat a rise in fake products and reviews on the platform, Xiaohongshu implemented higher standards for KOL accounts. This led to what was eventually termed the “KOL purge”. Along with these new guidelines, Xiaohongshu launched a new tool to help brands and KOLs find each other, the Brand Cooperation platform. KOLs now are managed through multi-channel networks, or MCNs, registered with Xiaohongshu to guarantee quality.

Why choose KOL marketing on Xiaohongshu?

KOL marketing is one of the most important aspects of making Xiaohongshu work for your brand. KOLs have an audience that trusts their taste and recommendations. As consumers in China are shifting more and more to word-of-mouth recommendations when they look for products to buy and trends to follow, KOLs provide the leverage for your brand to become one of their audience’s talking points.

To get the most out of KOL marketing, it’s important to pinpoint your product’s target demographic. By choosing a KOL that belongs or is influential to that target demographic, your brand messaging will resonate with audiences through your KOL’s own image and style.

Advertising on Xiaohongshu in 2021

Xiaohongshu offers two types of native ad placements: pop-up and integrated advertisements. With the recently announced Athena ad system on Xiaohongshu, brands now have more marketing options, such as bidding on top rankings for keywords. However, it is important to note that Chinese consumers, and especially the demographics on Xiaohongshu, rarely trust in-app ads – they trust their KOLs.

Sales Strategies on Xiaohongshu for 2021

There are endless marketing possibilities on Xiaohongshu, and international companies are advised to partner with local marketing and communications agencies to ensure the best results. New to Xiaohongshu? Check our Most Cost Efficient Marketing Strategies on Xiaohongshu guide

1.Use both components of the platform

As noted, Xiaohongshu is both an e-commerce platform and a social network. In this regard, one cannot separate one from the other: it is important to use a single marketing strategy that includes both components of the platform – social and commercial.

Work with Xiaohongshu is divided into 4 stages.

An average user behaves in the following way: First, viewing of the platform.

Then, identifying interests (certain posts/articles). This leads to the third step – buying.

Finally, once the product has reached the recipient, the final stage of the cycle is writing a review/comment regarding the purchase.

2. Know your target audience

The company should know its target audience well. The Little Red Book Community is mostly young women.

And although this trend is beginning to change, as the number of users from third tier and lower tier cities is increasing, brands still need to adjust their products to the needs and interests of their target audience.

3. Attract Key opinion leaders to your marketing companies

As explained earlier, Xiaohongshu is the best platform for holding KOL companies and getting quality content tailored to your target audience.

Firms should therefore work with influential media personalities to ensure that their target audience receives quality and relevant content.

4. Focus on creating your content

On Xiaohongshu, content plays a crucial role. Companies should make sure the content is of a high quality.

Write detailed articles about product values, how to use products. Also, make sure you choose the most appropriate images that will emphasize the merits of the brand.

Do not hesitate to write long posts – the key to success lies primarily in deep analysis of user preferences, and in the proximity and relevance of their content.

5. Take advantage of holiday sales

The Chinese e-commerce industry boasts a large number of events and holidays that companies can use to increase brand awareness and sales. The most important dates for Xiaohongshu are as follows:

The most famous day is Singles’ Day (or 11/11 – 11th of November). Usually on this day companies arrange incredible discounts and special promotions. A month later, there are also big sales (12/12), but not as large as those on 11th November.

March 8th is Women’s Day (“NuShengJie”), which is one of the most important for Xiaohongshu, as the main audience of the platform is women.

On Xiaohongshu, “Black Friday” transformed into “Red Friday”.

The anniversary of the creation of Xiaohongshu (June 6) and other events are celebrated on the platform by holding various actions.

6. Learn how to use SEO on Little Red Book

As noted earlier, SEO strategy is very important in order to increase the visibility of the brand on the Internet. Xiaohongshu or Little Red Book is a very competitive platform, so you need to pay close attention to every detail. Keywords should be appropriate and not too popular.

HI-COM is a multilingual communication agency dedicated to providing professional content, social media management and expert consultation to businesses around the world! We help companies enter the Chinese digital ecosystem without much fuss, so be sure to Contact us for a free consultation!

ICO White paper translation, and ICO translation for Marketing. Initial Coin Offering, is unchartered territories for many, bringing with it a whole new meaning to the term “digital marketing”. With more than 1,000 cryptocurrencies currently listed on CoinMarketCap and new startups launching daily, we take a look at what successful coin launches have done.

2021 has seen an explosion in interest in blockchain technology worldwide thanks to the NFT boom and the record-setting highs of Bitcoin valuation, compelling projects to heavily localize their documents for different market regions around the world to capture valuable market share.

While blockchain has now entered the media spotlight, it is still a relatively new concept and technology. In addition, with its variety of use cases blockchain documents typically cover a wide range of fields.

This means unlike other more established fields of translation, blockchain translation requires deeper levels of research and expertise to ensure translations are accurate and appropriate.

HI-COM understands the various intricacies involved with translation and localization for blockchain. As a certified translation agency operating in China specialized for digital marketing, we are experts at helping projects reach audiences from around the world.

ICO Marketing – the New Frontiers of Marketing

Marketing for an ICO or Initial Coin Offering, is unchartered territories for many, bringing with it a whole new meaning to the term “digital marketing”. For these new technologies, there are few marketing specialists. There are more than 1,000 cryptocurrencies currently listed on CoinMarketCap with new startups launching daily, so one needs to find their point of difference to stand out from the growing pool of cryptocurrency startups.

Needless to say, marketing to bitcoin investors is not akin to marketing other products or services. The audience is far more nuanced, diverse and skeptical, and the marketing tools and strategies will not be your typical Facebook promotions or billboard advertisements.

Rather, your White Paper, the marketing medium of choice for the bourgeoning cryptocurrency industry, will be the critical marketing tool. It will be the mouthpiece of your company and the central marketing tool that will instantly gain or undermine your credibility. The importance of how you draft your White Paper and how to distribute it to investor bases can determine the success of your ICO.

What Kinds of Blockchain and Crypto Documents We Translate

Websites

In today’s globalized online environment, it’s imperative to offer a multilingual website. With your blockchain project being a digital product, the website it most likely any user’s first interaction with your project. Readers from around the world should feel at home reading through your website, and clearly understand your project’s goal.

HI-COM’s translation and localization professionals have extensive experience in ensuring every language offered on your website is clear and concise, localized for each target market. We understand that for readers, the professionalism displayed on your website is a reflection of your project’s credibility. In addition, we specialize in multi-language SEO optimization for websites, helping your audiences find their way to you no matter what language they speak.

Apps and Software

For any digital product, ease of use is key in retaining users. After dedicating time and effort into crafting intuitive UI and instructions for your app or software, ensure that it translates over in every language you support. Localizing your apps and software is crucial for thriving in foreign markets.

HI-COM’s localization professionals are native speakers of their target regions, providing app and software localization that keeps your project’s user experience intuitive in any cultural or linguistic context.

ICOs

It’s now time to sell your blockchain project to the world. By appealing to investors on a global scale, you will increase the likelihood of success for your project’s ICO. Localizations that resonate in the native language and context of your target demographics will be a key determinant for your ICO’s success.

As experts in digital marketing and localization services, HI-COM’s extensive experience can help you design the perfect multilingual ICO campaign. Utilizing region specific strategies for each localization will allow your investors to feel like you are as invested in them as they are in your project, increasing investor confidence.

Financial Reports

Fintech, as one of blockchain technology’s first use-cases, is a mature market for blockchain projects. As a digitally secured accounting ledger, blockchain technology has revolutionized the industry, with governments to major corporations working on developing their own digital blockchain currencies.

With cross-border trade and finance increasing in scale and volume, the translation of financial reports has become an increasingly important component of fintech blockchain projects. HI-COM’s network of professional financial translators are well experienced in the field and uphold professional values of strict confidentiality around sensitive documents.

Insurance Documents

The insurance industry is another major area where blockchain technology has proven use-cases. Blockchain allows for traceability in record keeping, verification of coverage, and smart contracts for automating claims. With the digital sphere becoming increasingly borderless, there is increasing demand for insurance document translation services by blockchain projects.

As a certified legal translation agency, HI-COM offers professional worry-free legal translation services for documents such as insurance documentation. Our network of professional legal translators from around the world follow stringent protocols for data security and privacy, guaranteeing both quality of services and protection from data leakage.

White Papers

White papers are the key document for any blockchain project. They can be seen as the mission statement or founding paper for the project. They describe not only the technical specifications of the blockchain itself, but they provide the philosophical arguments for the merits of the project itself, delving in depth into the context of the industry the project is aimed for.

As such, they are not only one of the most important documents to translate, but also one of the most challenging. Requiring blockchain technical fluency in both languages and a deep familiarity with the target industry, white paper translation and localization should only be carried out by professionals with extensive experience.

What is a White Paper?

A White Paper is a concise yet highly structured and technical report, that is informative and persuasive in its content. It typically conveys the company’s background, technical model and methodologies, and introduces the personnel behind the company, their credentials: why you should trust them with your money.

A well thought-out and appealing White Paper will be critical to a successful Token Sale and serves as the ‘roadmap’ to what the company will do, once it reaches different phases of funding through its tokens being traded on the coin exchange. There are more and more resources and articles online regarding how to draft an effective White Paper.

Is There a ‘Typical’ ICO White Paper?

From what we have seen, this appears to be the typical structure:

Setting the scene

• A brief history and overview of blockchain
• A brief history and overview of the industry your company is in
• Clear and concise explanation of why your company is needed in the world

Explain your ‘how’

• Clear explanations of how you will achieve your goals
• Diagrams and modelling of your platform architecture, technology used and methodologies
• Introduce yourselves
• After all the diagrams and equations, this is where you get human. The team page is where you prove your credibility based on your team member’s backgrounds, experience and resumes. Your ability to boast about the credentials of supporters and early investors will be the persuasive pull for many investors

Map out before you translate ICO White Paper

• This is where you explain in more micro-terms why you need the funding and what steps you will take using the money invested and how it will be applied (e.g. Legal, Operational, Marketing)
• Set out a roadmap of milestones so investors know the schedule you are working towards

Disclaimers and Risk Warnings

• This probably needs no explanation. Make sure you have consulted with your legal team to ensure this section is sophisticated and accurate in law, but not overly legalistic. A well drafted Risk Warning section will reinforce your credibility and will give confidence to potential investors.

Here is a list of White papers to get you inspired:

• Delphi
• Bitcoin (the original crypto White Paper)
• Vestarin

Samples of White Papers:

DeFi

Defi stands for decentralized finance, an umbrella term for fintech blockchain projects.

NFT

NFT stand for Non-fungible token, an application of blockchain technology for tracking ownership of digital property.

In need of blockchain document translation? Contact us for a free quote!

What Languages to Translate Your Blockchain Documents to in 2021?

HI-COM has ranked the top languages to translate your blockchain documents to in 2021:

German

In 2021, Germany passed new legislation to allow investment fund managers to invest up to 20% of their portfolio in crypto.

French

As another EU country friendly to blockchain and crypto, France has a thriving blockchain industry thanks to its open support of the technology since 2016.

Spanish

According business consulting firm IDC Spain, 11% of businesses already use blockchain technology in the country.

Dutch

Home of the Dutch Blockchain Coalition, a collaboration between the Dutch government, and industries and education institutes to grow increase the country’s competitiveness in the blockchain sector.

Portuguese

Not only is crypto tax free in Portugal, but in 2020, the country established Technological Free Zones to directly incentivize blockchain technology development.

Runner Ups:

Russian, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Indonesian, Arabic

These are all important languages for blockchain document translation as these are mostly non-English fluent countries with mature and developed crypto and blockchain communities.

Honourable Mention:

Polish, Czech, Romanian, Turkish, Thai, Vietnamese.

Similar to the runner up countries, most residents of these countries are not fluent in English, but they have rapidly developing crypto and blockchain communities.

Where Does China Sit in the Cryptocurrency World?

From an official point of view, China is very against cryptocurrencies and the Chinese government has prohibited its citizens from investing in crypto companies. However, there still remains a significant Chinese population that are native Chinese speakers while holding foreign passports, so one should not overlook the benefit of translating your White Paper to Chinese.

China is a country that is rapidly developing, extremely QR code and mobile payment savvy, and home to a large population of early adopters; if not for the government prohibitions, China would arguably be the ‘perfect’ crypto investor base and the place to market to. We asked BANCA’s CEO Linda Chen why we are seeing more of an uptake in crypto in Asian countries, as opposed to UK or Europe (putting to one side the in-country regulations). Ms. Chen replies with a small smile: “it’s because Asian people are betting people. People are more likely to take risks here”.

Regardless of the region, the world over one will find risk-takers keen to invest. Investing time, creativity and language support to your White Paper is one critical marketing move that crypto or blockchain startups cannot afford to miss.

The author has no affiliations nor investments with any of the companies mentioned in this article. Despite being Asian, she is not a betting person.

HI-COM is a multilingual translation agency dedicated to providing professional translation and interpreting services to companies all over the world. Working in over 40 languages, HI-COM is the localization partner for hundreds of companies and brands. Contact us today for your free consultation!

In 2020, the development of the video industry continues to increase and watching videos has become an everyday habit for millions of people.  There is a huge demand for OTT streaming media service platforms, such as Apple, Disney+, Netflix etc.

* OTT: “over-the-top” service means that the content or service is built on the basic telecommunication service without the extra support of network operators.

Originally, this concept referred to the distribution of audio and video content. Some examples are Skype, Google Voice, WeChat, Internet TV, Baidu Encyclopedia, and many more.

Nowadays, video translation is not only a form of multilingual translation, but also a game of capital.  Today, providers are nervous about whether they can attract enough users to sign up for a paid membership. However, the Disney+ platform is a successful example – within 24 hours of its launch, nearly 10 million new users had registered, and the data is amazing!

People have a much higher tolerance for foreign videos, although most people are used to watching videos in English or videos with Chinese subtitles. However, if streaming media service providers want to attract more users, then they must try their best to meet the needs of different users and provide multilingual subtitles or multilingual dubbing versions where possible.

With the development of new media, people now tend to use pictures and videos to deliver information. The video and audio market covers a huge area, from marketing advertisements and major websites to commercial exhibitions – making pictures and videos one of the most popular main forms of online communication. The multimedia industry is now catering more and more for people with video disabilities, as many videos provide barrier-free versions with audio explanations.

The multimedia localization market is largely expanding with more languages being translated, a larger variety of videos being processed, and greater translation technologies being applied.

Although the current trend appears to be positive, the future development of the multimedia localization industry is still unstable. In order to meet the increasing demand in the future, we can’t just rely on human translation, but we should also focus on the need for advanced technology.

Professional tool MemoQ, is a good way to cultivate talents for project management.

2020 Trends: New Video Translation Technology Leads the Market

“In a more standardized market, technical applications like the use of translation technologies are paramount in order to be productive and to keep up with the industry.”

——Angela Starkmann, Audio and Video Translation Expert

With the development of the multimedia localization industry, many linguists are moving to the video translation industry from other professional fields. However, the current video localization market is still short of talent. For example, many language experts who have just stepped into the industry need to participate in a lot of training and practice, because although they might have an excellent business ability in a former field, today’s multimedia localization industry is highly structured, and the translation process has changed greatly. Driven by new technologies, the work structure is getting faster and faster, and the working environment is becoming more complex. Only by constantly accepting new technologies, can we stand out in the high-pressure market.

MemoQ is a world leading translation software. It provides users with a good collaborative environment, improves translation productivity, and helps language experts to meet the growing localization needs in order to handle more work.

HI-COM is a multilingual translation agency dedicated to providing professional translation and interpreting services to businesses around the world. Working with more than 40 languages, HI-COM is the go-to localization partner for hundreds of companies and brands. 

Contact us for your free consultation today!

When it comes to dual localization, brand name translation, especially into languages such as Chinese, Japanese, and Arabic, can be very sensitive, and despite the fact the end result may only consist of one or two words or characters, the amount of time, research, and effort involved to arrive at this point can be enormous. This is especially the case in China, where one character may have several meanings, and these meanings may morph into something completely different when paired with another character.

8 out of 10 brands localize their brand name when entering foreign markets. In markets like China it is necessary because local customers may not be able to pronounce your brand’s usual name.

To illustrate this, 好（hǎo) means “Good”, and 好坏 (hǎo huài) means “Very bad”!

What is the process of brand name translation?

When working on brand name translation, it is important to follow the methods applied by professional naming agencies. The goal is not only to find a Brand translation that will mean and/or sound the same as the original, but also to make sure the new name will be positive, sound right, be original, and fit the new location’s market.

Brand names can be translated in different ways. They may reflect phonetic specifications, meaning or be more independent, or include both.

The brand name translation process includes 4 key parts:

1. Brand Image definition
2. Definition of the target audience
3. Benchmark of existing competition and their brand names
4. Brand name translation

Brand Image Definition

When conducting research on Brand Image, one should include the brand’s attributes (what type of organization it represents, what it stands for, the meaning of its logo etc.), association (the meaning and emotions that the brand name brings out), targets (the type of audience the brand is aiming for), domestic market (the category to which its loyal customers belong), and price positioning (is it a luxury, mass market or niche brand?). This research is critical for creating a successful foundation to brand name translation.

The second step is about defining key words associated with the brand. This can be done in focus group studies.  Ask your group what they think are the main associations people make when hearing your brand’s name. Then work around the key words they have used to describe your brand.

Why should you translate and localize your brand name when exporting your company?

You need to ask yourself how your customers will pronounce the name of your brand. Do they include words or sounds that may have a different meaning in another language or that could cause offence?

When it comes to translating your company name or even your product name, it’s important to ask yourself these questions. You can either transliterate the name which means create a name that sounds like your brand or one that is spelt similarly. Or you can also transcreate which means creating a name that has the same meaning as your brand name even if the spelling is quite different.

At HI-COM we offer both of these services to help you expand your market especially in China, where the native language looks and sounds completely unlike Latin languages.

Find more about brand name translation here!

For example, your focus group thinks that your brand is associated with modern fashion and ethical/responsible products. When describing high quality association, they use words like young, good quality, design, and fresh. And ethical association was all about sharing, support, and charity. Even with such limited information, brands like TOM’s come to mind. The goal is to create a new brand name that will not distract from the brand’s current image but at the same time, ensure it sticks in the minds of the brand’s new audience.

Definition of the target audience

The goal of this research is to find out who are we talking to. The Brand’s market research and your marketing strategy will be at their most useful here. If you are working on a brand name translation of a famous cognac brand that wants to enter China market, your market may be:

• 25-35 years old (demographic), youngsters and young-at-heart who are looking for a subtle and modern cognac
• They are energetic, modern, sophisticated drinker

Benchmark of existing competition and their brand names

One of the most important tasks here is to determine who the relevant competitors are, analyze their names and find similar trends.

Take into account the origins of your competitors, as translated and original names may play by different rules. Try to see what similarities the translated names have. Can you apply these trends to your brand name translation?

Brand name translation – putting it all down

Now, when you have all you need, you can now start the actual brand name translation process. Decide on how important it is to be close to your original name phonetically. See how many syllables the brand name has, and (if you work with Chinese brand translation) what meaning each syllable shall have. Pay attention to cultural norms and habits. For example, Hyundai Accent had consistently declining sales in the Russian market, until it was renamed as Solaris.

Of course, a strong linguistic background is required to choose the best variations, that will not sound strange together.

How big brands translate brand names to Chinese

It is very important to leave brand name translation work to the pros, otherwise you might end up on the pages of “failed marketing” articles. But be careful, even pros can fail. Therefore it is important to double check your results with an extra focus group before you make it official.

1. Funny on the ear

A buzz around AirBnB’s new Chinese name 爱彼迎 （àibǐyíng) appeared after the seemingly innocent characters 爱 (love) and 迎 （welcome) (which does not mean, but sounds like another character 淫 (yín) with meaning of “”lust, excessive, loose” ）were separated by a second character 彼, making the name sound a little like a word for female genitalia. The original meaning of 彼 is “those”, but its spelling is not so important, as it sounds the same. And considering that the business of Air BnB is based on inviting strangers to your home, this may give some a strange impression of the company’s main line of business…

2. Brand name translation: Missing the point

Examples of major campaigns such as KFC’s “finger-lickin’ good” being translated to “bite your fingers off” in China a few decades ago, and Pepsi’s “Now it’s Pepsi for those who think young” translated as, “New Pepsi is for people with the minds of children” have basically become classics in failed marketing.

3. Brand name translation: Irrelevant meaning 

When translating a brand name, keep in mind that the characters have to remind a customer of your scope of business. So if you are in the automotive industry, pick characters that represent speed, safety or even an animal like a “precious horse” (BMW with their 宝马 （bǎomǎ）), or a tiger on a road (Land Rover with 路虎（lùhǔ) ). If you work in the IT business, opt for words relating to “ideas”, “progress” or “knowledge”.

When Google picked 谷歌（gǔgē）, which literally means “a village song”, their supporters were, let’s say, a bit confused.  And in the case of Best Buy,  百思买 （bǎisīmǎi） their name is more of a warning: think a hundred times before buying!

4. Skipping a translation 

So as you can see, it’s a minefield out there. No wonder some companies have never localized their brand name in China. Look at GAP, or Facebook, for example. But if the first one has 3 letters and somehow fits into local minds, the second one is called by the users as they please which can be a good excuse to turn a brand into a joke (脸书（liǎnshū））, and in the worst case scenario an English name of a brand will be long/complicated/unmemorable for Chinese customers, so they will just not talk about it, putting a stop to word-of-mouth. This actually happened to Hermes; for the first few years, Chinese customers simply did not talk about the brand, giving the company no choice but to pick a Chinese name.

You would think that companies as big and as prestigious as Hermes would know better and would never make poor judgment on such an important task as brand name translation, but apparently no one is immune. So think twice before deciding to do such a job in-house.

In the early 2000s, Dosirak instant noodles from Korea entered the Russian market. “Dosirak” is what is written on the Korean packaging to this day. The product did not sell well as the brand name sounded too funny to local ears (associated with a “person who has very frequent bowel movements”), and the noodles were renamed to “Доширак” (Doshirak). Given that the letter “sh” doesn’t exist in Korean language.

Looking for a trustworthy professional with experience in China in brand naming? Then HI-COM is here for you! We are an international multilingual expert that makes communication easy, professional and engaging. With our rich pool of resources all over China and an ever-ready international team, HI-COM will make sure your message is fully understood, localized according to the highest standards, and delivered on time! Contact our team today!

WeChat marketing is becoming more and more complicated in 2020. With the constant shifts in trends it is becoming more and more difficult for marketers to develop long term plans. Finding new customers and creating interest, not to mention generating sales is a new challenge. And when it comes to closed ecosystem such as WeChat marketing, e-commerce takes a whole new turn.

As advertising becomes more and more expensive, brands are starting to rely on KOL marketing. But KOL services also have costs too and are mostly focused on generating brand awareness.

So how do brands stay in business with WeChat marketing, stores and mini programs? And what is the secret of all these successful stores?

What is WeChat? How is this application revolutionising digital marketing?

Chinese APP WeChat is first and foremost an instant messaging application used by more than a billion people and mostly used in China.

The application then evolved into a social media platform with the “Moments” tab where users can share their thoughts, pictures and videos and only their friends can see them, making sharing these “Moments” credible and authentic. Finally, brands and influencers have also taken hold of the application which has led to the creation of “Mini-Programs” and online stores to allow brands and KOL to sell directly on the WeChat platform without necessarily leaving the APP to access the website or another application.

Therefore, brands can create their own official page and share their exclusive information, articles and other information as well as the online store. The latest new feature being tested on WeChat are the influencers’ live stream where as soon as they talk about a product, viewers can directly buy it without even leaving the live stream.

This all-in-one application allows you to see the evolution of the consumer now known as “Consumer 2.0”.

Most companies have realized that they will need China’s growth to power their own in the near future. But to take possession of their own and future power, they must understand how the new consumer 2.0 works today, how China’s ecommerce is evolving, and what the new spending patterns are.

Understanding consumer 2.0

It’s not enough to carry out market research once a year to really know what your consumer is looking for. Today, brands need to concentrate on weekly follow ups to see where the trends and needs of consumers are going. The two-way conversation is becoming a must for brands and companies that want to succeed on the Chinese market.

For this, leveraging personalized WeChat marketing groups might just be what you need. Tagging your key customers by location or other criteria can help you to update them on relevant news and deals. Making those groups “invitation only” or bringing a certain VIP feeling will ease the task of growing these communities.

In fact, the main difference between a successful local brand and a international brand is simply collection of real-life data.

New ways of brand community management

The way brands manage these communities is also progressing. A systematic approach focusing on communication has become a must in community management. As consumers become more educated, never before has it been more about the connection between a brand and the consumer.

Creating a habit of checking on a brand, or seeing “what’s new in the group” can help brands to create a deeper connection.

For example, hosting limited time WeChat marketing pop-ups could be one way to keep your community members on their toes.

Same goes with sharing important and useful content, which could help your consumers in their daily lives.

Updating the community on certain days of the week unifies people by providing interesting topics to share. The feedback on these activities could provide valid data and deepen the understanding of customers. For example, a brand of healthy snacks could engage by providing video of breakfasts that include products of the brand.

KOL/Influencer Marketing – new approaches

When it comes to KOL marketing, there are a few variables that need to be accounted for.

Firstly, the size of the KOL audience and the content focus. A few smaller KOLs might be great to put your brand on the social media and e-commerce map. Whereas one large KOL might help you to move that new stock and kick-start your brand’s sales season.

But what brands still do not realize is how to best benefit when approaching major KOLs in China.  Chinese influencers are very careful when it comes to picking products. Look at Viya, who has a dedicated team that sorts out the product applications and performs quality tests. KOLs are the experts of what the consumer wants and they try their very best to meet expectations. So working with a brand that will not be interesting  will reflect badly on both the KOL and the performance. In some cases, the discussion with large KOLs can last for a few seasons until the KOL  figures out a way to bring the product around with the right angle.

Secondly, seasonality.

When doing e-commerce in China, brands shall switch from the national calendars to the e-commerce calendars and plan their work and vacation time accordingly. It is safe to say that the double 11 festival will represent ½ or in some cases nearly all of your annual sales, especially if you do it right. Then comes Double 12^th(December 12), 618 (June 18^th), and so on. Most of the traffic hits the e-commerce channels exactly on those e-holidays, as most brands present very good deals to their customers.

Thirdly, cooperation models.

From smaller KOLs and product seeding (distributing free samples for hundreds of KOLs in the hope of creating a social buzz) to bigger KOLs with massive marketing budgets or even brand representation, the company’s size and marketing plan will determine what model is right at a specific moment.

In 2019 most brands have started to collect their own KOL pools on several social media channels. Such databases of KOLs is and will be extremely useful for brands when working with KOLs on weekly/monthly bases, doing product seeding, offline events etc.

And that’s not a surprise. Today, in order to stand out, brands need to be involved with at least a hundred of small size KOLs on different platforms, which will provide a broad evaluation of the product presented. This will create a pretty good “word of mouth” base for your brand and a base for cooperation with medium and large size KOLs.

Further reading:

Discover what KOL (influencer) seeding is and how it can benefit your brand!

Staying on top of the Chinese e-commerce ecosystem in 2020

Brands that operate in China need to be well informed on the changes within the Chinese digital ecosystem. Traffic coming from marketing efforts will translate into sales only if the customer journey is well planned.

But with platforms always changing their strategic partners, this might not be so simple.

Chinese e-commerce and social media changes. What to look out for in 2020

We are still waiting to see if Douyin will continue its cooperation with Taobao in 2020, as the popular platform signed only a 1 year contract with the e-commerce giant, and the possibility that Douyin will launch its own e-commerce platform has not yet been ruled out.

It will be interesting to see how JD.com will fight the competition in the coming year, after a rather tough 2019..

The new social media platform by Weibo “Luzhou” was launched very recently, and could potentially be a competitor of Xiaohongshu.

Brands shall also keep in mind that video content and live streaming could be the most important trend for e-commerce sales in 2020.

Another trend to keep in mind is emerging entertainment platforms such as BiliBili that can be an excellent source of traffic for e-commerce channels, such as WeChat Store or Tmall, as the fan base of these platforms is extremely loyal to brands and KOLs.

CRM is another crucial tool to leverage in 2020. More and more brands are growing their consumer base though the existing consumer base by keeping track and close contact with consumers. CRM systems integrated to the WeChat marketing platform (such as WeChat Work) is the key to keep up with the changes and a convenient tool to update your customers on any news and notifications.

These new types of consumer are becoming more discerning. They do their own research so as to avoid being tricked, and they take into consideration emotional elements which can strongly affect their buying decisions.

But before implementing new strategic actions for your company you must ask yourself how important the Chinese market is for your company?If it’s really important, first of all it is essential to have a presence all the APPs Chinese consumers use on a daily basis, especially WeChat.

The challenge will not be whether or not you can enter the Chinese market, it will be: Can you maintain a leading position in China in the long term?

Solution

Want to drive traffic to your WeChat store and create a strong brand awareness within Chinese consumers? Ask us how!  

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Customer Relationship Management (CRM) refers to the strategies and activities that companies have in place for better interaction with their clients. This encompasses even those clients that the company is still trying to reach out to. CRM is significant for businesses to build strong relationships with their customers.

When this relationship is fostered, customers can stay loyal, and like a domino effect, this results in more positive outcomes for the company, such as revenues. This is only the beginning. 

There are many other more important reasons as to why CRM systems are critical. This includes the following:

1. Enables Companies To Learn More About Customers

Businesses always need to learn more about their customers so they can serve them better. With this, they know how to tweak their services and operations, such that customer satisfaction is met. Businesses are more efficient with their efforts when their best abilities are catered to the needs of their customers.

Matters that businesses can learn about their customers through a CRM include:

• Trends in customer purchase histories in their system
• Information and demographics about their customers
• Reasons why customers purchase certain products

If you want to know how companies can know more about their ongoing and potential customers through CRM, learn more here.

2. Develops Better Relations With Customers

The customers of a business are the heart of any company. Without customers, they cease to function well and profits will also suffer. Hence, the need to prioritize better relations with customers at all times. 

When better relationships are achieved with customers, businesses can accomplish the following:

• Identifying customers that are profitable for the business
• Always meet the supply needed by customers
• Cross-selling other related products just in case the first option of customers is unavailable
• Understanding the specific requirements or requests of customers

Through these, the business is also able to have more specific, targeted marketing based on the needs of the customers. Not only does the business satisfy its existing client base, but it also enables itself to win more clients in the future.

3. Enables Better Organization

Businesses are also more organized and detailed in their operations with a CRM system in place. When certain aspects of businesses are automated, the company also stays better organized. 

This includes matters relating to:

• Marketing campaigns
• Sales processes
• Customer data

These data are key-players in organizing the processes into data that are easier to understand. This simplifies the work that the marketing team has to do. Hence, lesser human error is also committed. Definitely, there are options for customer relationship management for small business, which allow you to keep it simple and look for a lightweight CRM with only the features you need.

4. Ensures More Efficiency In Business Operations

CRM isn’t just about businesses, per se. Its core is in creating a strong bonding about people – learning how to foster good relationships, which, incidentally, are also highly applicable in businesses. This drives businesses into a higher level of success.

Key areas in which efficiency in business operations is achieved include:

• Through this automated system, there’s a lesser need for manual work.
• Effectively foreseeing the needs of customers
• Reduce in-process time for customer orders, particularly the more specific, personalized requests
• Easier tracking of customers
• Efficient dealing with customers

5. Optimization Of Customer Interactions

Customer interactions are optimized through a CRM system in place. By optimization, this means that complex processes relating to marketing and customer interaction are simplified. When this is achieved, the end goal is higher and better customer satisfaction.

Areas in business that can be optimized through a CRM system in place include:

• Collaboration. This involves the sharing of customer information with outside companies. Usually, this is done when promotions are given out. Your business might want to partner with other companies to release more significant promotional activities.

• Operations. The operations of a business have to do with three areas: marketing, service, and sales. In this regard, a CRM system is one of the key players for better lead generation. 

This refers to the process of locating leads and successfully converting them into paying customers. 

• Analysis. Data is fundamental in every business. Through an analysis of customer data, the management can understand better the various trends in the market. 

This works very well, especially for those businesses that have a lot of competition.

6. Enables Registration Of Leads And Contacts

Leads refer to the possible clients that are going to come your way. In general, these leads stay speculative. Not all potential leads are going to result in paying customers. Along that line, too, you never know when leads are going to come in. 

However, you can have a more organized system in place when your leads and possible contacts are registered. That way, you don’t mix and match the contacts on your spreadsheet. Plus, because it’s all automated, it’s also easier for you to find customer data that you’re looking for.

Leads and contacts can be organized in the following grouping:

• Suppliers
• Partners
• Inactive Customers
• Lost Customers
• Prospects

7. Supports Strategies That Are Customer-Centric

Customer-centric strategies are those that are focused on the concept that the customer is always the center of all business activities. The business’s goal should always be tailored toward better serving the customers. When this is achieved, everything flows seamlessly. 

Here are some of the ways in which a CRM strategy can help create a customer-centric approach for businesses:

• Create feedback for continuous improvement
• Push leadership that results in customer satisfaction
• Foster better understanding of your customers
• Design authentic customer experiences
• Brand-naming, and all the factors that come into play with this matter

8. Reveals Endless Possibilities Of Clients

When you’ve already garnered leads for your business, do you keep track of how many in this list you still haven’t sold to? It can significantly help you if you do. That way, for your next marketing period, you can make an effort to focus on these leads that you haven’t yet sold to. 

CRM software helps you achieve that since you’re able to effortlessly take note of the leads that have yet resulted in a “No.” A better mindset is to think of these “No’s” as a “Not yet.”

It’s imperative, therefore, that even when these negative leads don’t give you a positive result, you still keep them in your database. That way, you keep them alive in your business, such that you can continue to reach out to them in your future marketing endeavors.

Conclusion

Customer relationship management is very simple at its core. When the business starts to have this kind of system in place, it’s something that they’re already used to having. It forms part and parcel of the company culture that’s seen through every facet of operations. 

Using and maintaining a CRM isn’t only beneficial for large-scale businesses, but even also small companies that have just started. If you’re a business that’s looking for changes to make in your business, one of the best that you can apply is a CRM strategy.