UNDER THE INFLUENCERS
Smart and strategic online and social media positioning is a big part of promoting yourself to Chinese travellers.
Chinese travellers are now keen to explore more exotic and remote places such as Egypt, Africa, or even the North Pole. For businesses looking to attract more Chinese customers, it’s essential to appear on their preferred social media platforms and to tweak offers to match changing preferences.
Teaming up with a local partner and tapping into the reach of social media influencers are two powerful tools, according to Anita Chan, the CEO of Compass Edge, a hospitality marketing and branding consultant for the Chinese market.
“I’m not saying Chinese travellers are the best and we all know that there is the reputation that we are sometimes noisy or we are rude, but let’s look at the future — the way we are travelling is really changing,” she said.
Speaking at the Digi.Travel Asia-Pacific Conference & Expo in Bangkok, Ms Chan said that more Chinese tourists today are looking at places that others do not go. They like to brag about exotic places that others have never been to and are “very adventurous”.
“This has happened because of mobile technology,” she said. “With the mobile phone, they can research anything they want, they can use it for instant translation, and they prefer to use it as a means for payment. They are no longer stuck on the bus tour.”
In a country where Google, Facebook and Twitter are not available, the three giants of the internet ecosystem are Baidu, WeChat and Weibo. Businesses need to be on these platforms because just having a Chinese-language website is not enough, advises Ms Chan.
“China just tightened it cybersecurity law and that is making it more difficult,” she pointed out. “China is not going to be opening up its internet space any time soon … and the way to get around that is to partner up with good partners.”
Google Maps is now officially back in China thanks to its partnership with Alibaba-owned AutoNavi. China considers a lot of geographical data sensitive, so it takes a local partner with knowledge of what authorities will and will not allow to create a mapping platform.
Before launching a third-party navigation app with AutoNavi, Google invested in the livestreaming mobile game operator Chushou in January. Last month it also announced that it would invest US$550 million in the Chinese e-commerce powerhouse JD.com.
“Overseas companies work with local companies to get into China and from a hotel perspective, Marriott International is now working with Alibaba in a joint venture to create an insight-based travel service, while AccorHotels is now also working with Ctrip,” said Ms Chan.
Ctrip is now building a flagship store on its travel portal for Paris-based AccorHotels, and working on joint development of loyalty programmes and technology.
If foreign companies want their website to appear in China they will also need a local partner. Baidu, the biggest search engine in China, has a three-second rule where if your website is not loaded in three seconds, “you will be penalised”, Ms Chan said.
“If any website is not hosted in China there will be a long list to comply with in regard to restrictions and censorship, which almost makes it impossible to pass the three-second rule without working with a local host,” she said.
Chinese consumers also have no qualms about speaking with a chatbot when they want to ask for services. “Chatbots actually originated with WeChat in China and the reason is because, culturally, China has a lack of trust,” said Ms Chan.
“We do not trust the websites and we do not trust the information you provide. What we trust is the people who went to a place and tell us about it. So when many questions are raised during the purchasing process, a chatbot is the only way that this could work in the WeChat environment.”
Trust is very important in China because of all the fake merchandise on offer, so people there “only buy from people they can trust”. That’s why they keep going to the same local channels they are accustomed to when they want to do business with foreign companies.
“You have to build the brand and make people trust you first before they do business with you, and you can earn the trust very quickly through a KOL (key opinion leader) or influencers,” said Ms Chan.
If you want the top KOL in China to post for you and reach millions of his or her followers, it could cost you up to $150,000 per post. But businesses find that an expenditure of between $20,000 and $25,000 can still buy quite impressive reach from less well-known influencers.
In addition, businesses have to pay Baidu and WeChat for “media transit”, and sometimes they must pay extra to get the search result with their name on the first page.
“You may ask, ‘Why do we have to pay all this money?’ and the answer is simple. If you want to put marketing money into the Chinese market, this is one of the strategies that have proven to work,” Ms Chan said. “It is the best practice if you want a quick win there.”
She advises hotels not to confuse Chinese consumers by giving them 10 different promotions and 10 different hotel room types because “you are wasting your time”.
“Try to focus your products on what they want and push it. That is the way to do marketing in China,” she said.
“Social commerce” is also very big in China, with 77% of Chinese consumers surveyed saying they are willing to make purchases from a social media platform.
“That is quite unique for China,” she said, recommending that e-commerce businesses exploit that aspect by partnering with local social media platforms.
“With the mobile phone, [Chinese travellers] can research anything they want, they can use it for instant translation, and they prefer to use it as a means for payment. They are no longer stuck on the bus tour” ANITA CHAN CEO, Compass Edge