Thursday, August 02, 2012

Go east, young digital marketer [but avoid Taobao if you can]


At the last IWNY several words were spoken on the subject of doing business overseas that probably had little to do with the themes in Sinclair Lewis's collection of shorts, but reminded me of them anyway. In any event, companies [or individuals] that focus exclusively on developing their product in potentially lucrative foreign markets and live to tell the tale are often admired then copied. And, today there are plenty of markets to play in. The biggest, in terms of m-commerce, is China. Not sure why? Well consider these tidbits from people that know:

  • 1 in 5 purchases made on China’s top C2C site, Taobao, are mobile purchases. Taobao took RMB 200 million in mobile sales on one promotion day last December.
  • China m-commerce totaled RMB11.5billion in 2011, representing 416% YOY growth. This growth went parabolic in the first half of 2012.
  • Chinese smartphone users check their devices on average every 6 minutes, and use them on average for 5 hours per day.

But digital marketers keen to take advantage of the new paradigm in mobile commerce in China, would be wise to pay attention to a few old rules that, according to the experts, still apply:

  • An all-Mandarin site, not a Google Translate version or mirror. Baidu, with >85% search engine market share, de-lists any sites with more than a smattering of non-Mandarin terminology. Translate for sales appeal, not just accuracy, and register a pinyin version of your name for the domain, for maximum SEO impact.
  • Sina & Tencent Weibo (Microblog) remain a western organization’s social platforms of choice, as opposed to Kaixin and Renren. The latter are for a very youthful demographic, and friend-to-friend oriented, while the former are relied on for news and product recommendations. Sina is still offering free enterprise accounts, and results are limited only by willingness to engage.
  • Selling online in China, despite rumors to the contrary, is not simply a matter of opening a store on Taobao. Brand dilution, competing with Chinese vendors on margin, and efforts to get search results within the site make Taobao a feasible second step, once a home site and brand is established, but a solo effort requiring lots of work for questionable reward.

But wait a minute I hear you say. Isn’t that last one, Taobao, the biggest B2C in China? Well, yes it is. But there’s a reason, those looking for an in, should stay clear of it according to the group Web Presence China. Simply put, no one trusts Taobao vendors. And, so no one will trust you. Executing a sale online any place in the absence of trust is more than a mild hassle. It's a nightmare. It’s a better [and smarter] play to draw Chinese customers in to your own site and offer them the bells and whistles that’ll drive them back. You've been warned.

http://web-presence-in-china.com/node/847

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