Wechat is a powerful platform that has enabled 1.6 trillion RMB in transactions through micro programs (MPs) alone (in 2020). Membership schemes, gift cards, O2O retail, and even an online store are all possible with mini programs. All of this is available to followers without the need to download anything from the app store.

However, in terms of bringing in traffic that you do not already own, WeChat does not compare to a platform like Tmall. The brand is responsible for acquiring every single follower. Meanwhile, Tmall is where you will most likely acquire the majority of your customers. It is designed to entice new customers into stores.

Tmall and WeChat differ in a variety of other ways as well. Let’s take a look…

Pros & Cons Of WeChat

Pros:

1. Its Free:

Using WeChat is free and does not incur any costs. It means that as long as it is connected to the internet, it will provide all of its services to users. This is one of the reasons it has hundreds of millions of daily active users.

2. Sharing Is Easy:

WeChat makes file sharing a lot easier. You can send or receive documents up to 100Mb. It supports PDF, Slideshows, and other file extensions.

3. WeChat Pay:

WeChat Pay is a convenient and efficient alternative to cash payments. Users can pay by scanning the QR code, confirming the amount, and paying after the payer confirms the password. It is a fast and efficient method of transaction. Furthermore, it is secure. WeChat now permits non-Chinese users to use its services.

4. The Magic Of Moments

WeChat, like other similar applications, supports basic messaging. Aside from that, there is a feature called “Moments” that allows users to share their stories and status updates with their friends. You may also share your location with your pals and play mini-games with them.

Cons:

1. Concern About Privacy:

Tencent has access to all of your personal information. Furthermore, Tencent works with the Chinese government. As a result, it is safe to assume that the government is monitoring your activity on WeChat. However, keep in mind that you consented to its policies when you created a WeChat account.

2. Security concerns

To share messages, WeChat does not employ end-to-end encryption mechanisms. As a result, it is possible that a third party will see or misinterpret your message.

Pros & Cons Of Tmall

Pros

1) Because Tmall is such a well-established, top-of-mind marketplace brand, U.S. retailers can enter the market quickly and focus on selling. Retailers who run their own online store typically have longer time horizons. They concentrate their efforts on targeting Chinese consumers through direct brand exposure, sales, and brand building, while preserving greater control over their online operations. Their e-shop is an excellent beginning point for a multichannel strategy and stationary expansion, and sellers may integrate their chosen online payment methods into their website.

2) Because Tmall is a well-known brand among Chinese customers, using the platform to sell your products might help you quickly gain part of that trust for your own brand.

3) Tmall has partners who can assist you with anything from trade rules to translation.

Cons

1) Does not offer a diverse choice of SKUs at competitive prices.

2) You would not have your own storefront on the platform. Instead, you sell your products through a Tmall store.

Mini Programs

Mini Programs (MP) are light apps that operate on top of a mobile app. Top Chinese digital businesses have created and managed their own mini-program frameworks, with the most prominent being the WeChat platform and Alibaba (Alipay platform; Taobao platform). As of October 2020, more than half of China’s top 100 mobile apps had generated mini-programs.

Digital Crew is a Tmall & WeChat marketing partner that can help you set up and grow. Get in touch with us with any further queries you may have regarding these 2 platforms.

The post Tmall Vs WeChat – Where Should You Start Your Ecommerce Business In China? appeared first on Digital Crew.

What is the definition of a WeChat official account?

In essence, a WeChat Official Account is a media and services platform incorporated in WeChat for businesses, the government, media, and even people to publish content, promote enterprises, and sell services. Read more about Official WeChat Accounts here.

WeChat Official Account Advantages

The most significant advantage of using WeChat official account ads is that no work is required in weeding out who to target — WeChat users have already made their preferences apparent when selecting which official accounts to follow. Once the system identifies which official accounts are the most suitable for your company’s WeChat advertising post to be planted in, your advertising messages will be exposed solely to individuals who are relevant and interested.

WeChat Official account ads work by inserting ad banners into content published by official accounts with over 5000 followers.

Types of WeChat Official Account Ads

While these advertisements may look similar to banners, they are referred to as “stickers” on the WeChat platform. WeChat Official Account ads are divided into four key types.

a) End of the Article Ads

Advertisement messages for businesses will be displayed in a small section between the articles on the WeChat official account and the comments section. The above example is a banner ad that directs customers to an e-commerce site to make a purchase.

b) In-text Ads

The click-through rate is higher when WeChat adverts are strategically positioned in the middle of a published article. As in-text ads are integrated into the content, they more likely to be spotted and clicked on.

c) KOL Mutual Cooperation Ads

KOL Mutual Cooperation ads allow both parties (the brand & the influencer) to choose their business partner. This means that businesses’ advertising messages are better tailored and integrated into articles produced by KOLs they know and trust.
Simultaneously, WeChat serves as a middleman for transactions and content filtering, reducing the danger of fraud or poor content quality.

d) Video Ads

A small ad snippet will be presented directly before video content (less than 5 minutes) that has been inserted into official account articles and will function similarly to commercials you’re used to seeing on YouTube.

WeChat may be the perfect online ad platform for your business. Are you ready to launch your WeChat ad campaign on WeChat? Then Digital Crew is your perfect WeChat advertising partner who has all the right tools to  increase your chances of success. Get in touch with us today

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How ready is your business to go global?

Has your business recently witnessed a spurt in growth and now you’ve decided to take it global, but you’re not sure about how and where to begin with? Well, you’ve come to the right place at the right time. Your reasons to expand may vary from market exploration purposes to building a global presence. Your options are probably markets that offer less resistance like Canada, Mexico, Europe etc. But what you don’t know, is that you’re barely scratching the surface as a business. You’re missing out on other fast-growing, untapped markets.

Before you go global you must consider your options and cross-question your decisions. Let us help you spin the globe and enlighten you with information about these new markets with untapped potential that are certainly viable for your growth as a business

How to pick your market?

When you expand to a new market, you must consider the industry in that particular country and your product offerings. For example, if you are an auto business, big auto markets like Japan may be a good place to begin with. We apply the 80/20 logic here, where 80% of your international sales will come from 20% of your international markets.

Luxury brand Louis Vuitton gets a major boost from China with a year on year increase in sales. 28% of their revenue hails from Asian markets (excluding Japan) in 2017.

How to pick your expansion strategy?

You might want to go global with a multi-local approach or go global by being global alone to standardize your brand. Regardless of your decisions, it is important to consider the market culture, audience demographics, government policies and also the history of established businesses in that region.

You will need to decide between opening your own office overseas, leveraging key in-country distributors or striking channel partnerships with key companies that have access to your target customers, based on your goals and budgets.

The solutions you use in one country, may not apply to the others, depending on the challenge in those markets.  For example, in China, you will need a local agency to partner with, to help you navigate the market.

Localize your products and services

Your product or service needs to adapt wherever it enters. McDonalds is by far the master of localization with different variants across different cultures. Your business needs to speak the language of the locals, utilize local digital channels of communication and comply with cultural traditions. Indians believe in certain auspicious days to purchase electronics and other appliances. The Chinese consider ‘sending money’ as an important tradition for Chinese new year.

Localize your marketing efforts

After you’ve gained insights into your target audience in your area of expansion, the next step will include tailored marketing. Your marketing strategies will have to reflect localized messaging in terms of your channels of communication and content.

You might also have to consider these questions before going global

Do you feel comfortable in that country?

Since you’ll probably have to live there temporarily to operate the chain in its early stages, you’ll need a working knowledge of the language and culture.

Will the product sell well in the targeted culture?

This will include thorough market research about what works well with a certain audience and what doesn’t. For example, Uber couldn’t take over China’s Didi cab services

Is your target market familiar with your product or service?

If not, be prepared to invest a lot of time and money in consumer education. On the flip side, if you’re the first one to introduce a new and exciting concept, the product  will become synonymous with your company name or chain in the long run.

Conclusion

If your business is  fashion, makeup, beauty, health or gadget oriented, then chances of succeeding in China and India is the highest, given the current millennial consumption and explosion of digitalization.

Make sure to download our e-book for insights into the China Market

The post Before Your Business Is Ready To Go Global, Here Are Some Of The Factors You Need To Consider appeared first on Digital Crew.

Australia’s largest dairy company and global provider of world class dairy and other food products, partners with Australia’s leading multilingual agency – Digital Crew to drive its international marketing strategy, planning and execution with market research, website SEO, multi-channel SEMs, campaign design and execution, WeChat mini programs, Weibo ads and media buying services.

The multilingual digital consultancy that is branched out in Sydney, China, Japan, New York, U.K. and India will drive Parmalat’s multi-national marketing objectives. “We work towards uniting Parmalat’s brand communication globally with seamless execution, while maintaining its core identity across multinational platforms” – Ophenia Liang, co-founder and director of Digital Crew. The dairy company that harbours 36,000 employees in 18 countries around the world, works closely and constructively with 500 Australian farmers to produce the finest dairy goods in the country.

Pauls Milk, Ice Break Iced Coffee, Vaalia yoghurt, Oak and Breaka flavoured milk are leading examples of Parmalat products which over the years have become synonymous with high quality and Australian community values.

Digital Crew manages marketing on multinational levels for brands like L’oreal, Lancome, Kiehls, Chemist Warehouse etc. by bridging communication and cultural gaps with their team of multilingual speakers. They have bagged the NSW business awards 2017, Westpac Business of Tomorrow 2018 and have been finalists for the ACBA awards in 2017 & 2018 for excelling in business innovation and creative industries.

The post Australia’s Largest Dairy Company Signs Up With Digital Crew As Their Marketing Partner appeared first on Digital Crew.

Reliance Retail and Alibaba are negotiating a partnership in the Indian retail segment. According to reports, the firms are pushing to build “a mega Indian retail joint venture” with an investment of “at least $5 billion” to mount a challenge against existing players, including Flipkart, and Amazon India.

Paytm has taken its steps ahead of other retailers to partner with Alibaba for the onset of its cloud business. The Indian digital payments firm has licensed the Chinese e-commerce giant’s technology for cloud infrastructure to provide AI tools to developers, start-ups and enterprises with CRM, campaign management and payment solutions.

A big challenge to Flipkart, Walmart & Amazon

Chinese e-commerce firm Alibaba Group Holding Ltd is reported to be in talks with Reliance Retail Ltd, the retail arm of Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), to form an online retail joint venture to challenge the might of Flipkart and its US owner Walmart. The joint venture, if it goes through, will be the largest investment by Alibaba in an Indian company.

Alibaba operates two successful online retail marketplaces, Taobao and Tmall – with combined transaction volume of $478.6 billion in fiscal 2016 and expected turnover of over $900 billion by 2020. As of February 2018, Taobao had at least 580 million monthly active users, while Tmall had 500 million.

The Jack Ma-led Chinese group proposes to invest $5 billion to acquire a 50-per cent stake in the proposed mega Indian retail joint venture as it looks to enter the world’s fastest-growing economy, reports quoting sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.

Alibaba’s executive chairman Jack Ma had met Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani last month in Mumbai to discuss investing in Reliance Retail to create a, digital marketplace and expand Alibaba’s physical retail businesses in India, the report said.

The two are reported to have looked at options, including the creation of a large omnichannel retail entity through the proposed joint venture.

“Alibaba is willing to pick up a significant stake in Reliance Retail, preferably 50 per cent, which will require Alibaba to invest $5-6 billion,” the Livemint report quoted one source as saying. “It could also result in a strategic JV between Alibaba and Reliance Retail, with a smaller stake held by Alibaba.”

A combination of cash-rich Alibaba and Reliance Industries could pose a major challenge to Walmart in India, indicating that the battle for India’s booming e-commerce market could intensify further.

A stake in Reliance Retail will give Alibaba an edge over Walmart and Amazon as foreign entities are not allowed to hold inventory in India and can only operate as marketplaces.

Amazon is taking an indirect route — operating through local vendors — to avoid any complications and comply with the numerous conditions that it might have to follow under the multi-brand FDI norms.

Reliance to follow Paytm’s footsteps

“The deal is crucial for Alibaba, especially after RBI (Reserve Bank of India) directed Paytm (in which Alibaba holds 49 per cent) to stop on-boarding new customers because of the shareholding pattern of Paytm,” the report quoted another source. Reliance is looking at a similar model like Paytm — an e-commerce and digital wallet business — and such a model would benefit Alibaba.

The post Alibaba is looking at investing $5 billion in Reliance Retail To Surpass Flipkart & Amazon, India appeared first on Digital Crew.

Mumbrella’s Finance Marketing Summit returned for its third year with nearly 350 marketers gathering for a one day download of the latest ideas, leading strategies and most important issues for marketers in and around the financial services industry on 25^th July 2018. The summit put a spotlight on new brands breaking into a heavily regulated space, established players pivoting to meet the new consumer, multicultural financial marketing, the impact of open banking, customer experience opportunities and nervous consumers facing interest rate rises, providing finance marketers with answers for the year ahead.

• The Finance Marketing Summit line-up served up expert insights into Australia’s financial services industry. Ophenia Liang from Digital Crew drew her observations from the financial landscape In China at the Summit with ‘Chinese Money’ being the focal point of discussion.
• As a multilingual digital agency that helps businesses market to different countries and cultural segments, Digital Crew bridges the cultural gaps for their clients and digs deep into the financial mindsets of individuals in China.

Foreign Financial Investment Sector

• She placed clear emphasis on China’s CAGR in the retail market that rose from $5.17 trillion to $6.21 trillion in 2018 and its projection to increase to $8.05 trillion by 2021. She brought the foreign financial investment sector into the limelight as China is on the verge of welcoming foreign investors into the car and consumer finance market along with lifting foreign ownership restrictions on banks and financial management companies by the end of the year.
• “The Consumer finance market size reached ¥31.5 trillion (= $6.3 trillion AUD) out of which 223 million users were funded via mobile. Credit card penetration remains high, but the growth rate of micro-loans is scaling up faster than personal loans owing to immediate satisfaction of status demands by the millennials. Finance companies like Ant Credit Pay & China Migrants Bank have successfully managed to target this segment through dating and trendy video apps” according to her report.

Conclusion

The seminar enlightened the audience about the billion-dollar market in China and a projection of the future in terms of policies and trade relations with the rest of the world. A strong focus was drawn towards the consumer finance market that harbours commercial banks like Bank Of China, industry giants like Baidu, credit unions like Suning, P2P and other non-bank lenders with Chinese millennials at the forefront of this market consumption.

The post Digital Crew’s Co-founder Ophenia Liang Gets Invited To Talk At Mumbrella’s Finance Marketing Summit 2018 appeared first on Digital Crew.

Digital Crew receives national recognition from Independent experts at Deloitte and Westpac representatives among the top winners

The Global multilingual digital consultancy – Digital Crew, qualified as winners of Westpac’s 2018 Business of Tomorrow that was judged by independent experts from Deloitte together with Westpac representatives that acknowledge highest achieving businesses with immense potential to help tomorrow’s customers, economy and society. The business program announced the winners on July 20^th, 2018 on their website  – https://businessesoftomorrow.com.au/winners/winners-2018

‘As a Multilingual Digital Marketing Consultancy that intends to assist brands to go global by being multi-local, we feel honoured to have been selected as winners of Westpac Businesses of Tomorrow 2018 awards, for the levels of diversity we are able to access’ – Ophenia Liang, CEO & Co-founder of Digital Crew.

Digital Crew has been helping Australian and international brands navigate the Chinese market to tap into potential opportunities and bridge cultural and linguistic gaps between brands expanding in different countries. The multilingual digital marketing firm has come a long way from a team of two to the employee strength of fifty plus at present, growing towards a troop of hundred plus by the end of 2018 across Australia, Hong Kong, China, India, New York and Japan with more than a 300% year-on-year growth and has upscaled the marketing game for more than a 100 companies and brands in the education, healthcare, beauty & wellness, non-profitable sectors etc. The firm that has established strategic alliances with Alibaba Cloud, Baidu and Tencent, works across each location to expand their global reach by building agile teams with multilingual talents of digital specialties. They intend to grow to a team of 100+ employees by 2020, across all locations.

“Digital Crew’s team is highly capable in terms of strategy planning and operation execution. They have extensive knowledge across China and other regional areas across APAP, including Australia and New Zealand. Their multi-lingual capacity and technical expertise places them strongly ahead of many agencies in our modern and evolving business environment.” says Melvin Tan (Manager, Digital Acquisition; Survey Sampling International).

Digital Crew is also a winner of The City of Sydney Business Awards, New South Wales Business Awards 2017, Young Entrepreneur 2017 along with being finalists for the ACBA awards in 2017 & 2018 for excelling in business innovation, creative industries and the digital economy for bringing meaningful impact to the bilateral trade bracket between Australia and China from a creative and innovative perspective.

The post Westpac’s 2018 Businesses Of Tomorrow Awards Multilingual Agency Of The Future – Digital Crew appeared first on Digital Crew.

Some luxury brands in China are taking advantage of live streaming’s popularity, in some cases partnering with key influencers to promote their products. For example, luxury jewellery brand Bulgari launched a campaign on WeChat last year, which depicted celebrity and influencer Kris Wu wearing one of its latest watches. Followers were then able to pre-order their own luxury watch on the WeChat store within a limited time.

Some commentators say they expect to see more exclusive brands using live streaming in the near future. Others say that luxury brands have been slow to jump on board with the technology, as they often prefer tried and true strategies for promotion rather than seeking out emerging ones.

The potential pitfalls of live streaming

There are a few potential problems with live streaming however. One of these is the undermining of a brand’s authenticity with ‘fake viewers’. These can be bought online for a low price – there are reports that as many as 100 fake viewers can be purchased for as little is 1RMB (about 20 cents!)

There is also the fear of ‘diaosi’ – the appeal of live streaming to a lower-tier mass market, which could clash with a luxury brand’s image of exclusivity. This emphasises the need for luxury brands to use finely-tuned targeted marketing, and to use live streaming platforms judiciously.

Marketing for brands – getting started

Brands considering live streaming as part of their marketing mix should ensure they create content that aligns with their target audiences. In the case of the luxury market, content needs to offer an air of exclusivity, and must closely match and enhance the brand’s image.

Another thing to consider is complying with China’s strict government regulations, which includes obtaining an audio-visual publication licence. It’s also crucial to abide by China’s censorship rules. In 2017, some luxury and fashion brands had their social media accounts cancelled for breaching core values and celebrating conspicuous consumption.

This can all be tricky to negotiate, especially if you are not familiar with digital marketing in China. If you need some professional help getting started with live streaming, get in contact with our multilingual marketing team!

The post Luxury Brands Getting On Trend with Live Streaming in China appeared first on Digital Crew.

The market is also growing in China, where programmatic media buying increased by almost 50% from 2016 to 2017. Current figures from eMarketer indicate that 60% of all display ads in China are now in the programmatic category, and that nearly 80% of programmatic ads happen through mobile networks.

What is programmatic advertising?

Essentially, it is the buying and selling of advertising space using software algorithms rather than humans. There is more than one type of programmatic media buying. For example, ad space can be bid on in real-time auctions on ad exchanges, or it can be purchased directly from chosen publishing sites.

The software involved is used to automate several processes – including buying, placement, optimisation and targeting. Automating ads in this way increases efficiency and reliability and may also reduce costs. It also shifts the emphasis away from where ads are placed, to who gets to see them.

How programmatic media buying in China is different

Programmatic advertising in the west is largely managed through third-party ad exchanges. In China however, private sale sites often own their own advertising networks.

This makes the line between demand and supply side platforms more blurred, which can decrease transparency and increase bias. It also means that third-party agencies have less media buying power in China.

There are also fewer players with BAT (Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent) largely dominating in this sphere, and fewer open ad exchanges. And since private companies prefer to create their own exchanges, it means the market is less standardised and more fragmented.

What you can do to get on board

Strict digital marketing regulations can make it difficult for foreign businesses to break into the programmed ad market. Here are some tips for getting started:

• Advertise through the bigger and more popular and reliable players, such as Tencent, Baidu or Alibaba ad exchange platforms.
• Take advantage of programmatic advertising’s flexibility – such as by starting out small, figuring out what works for you and building on that.
• Make sure to get advertising inventory third-party validated. This helps to improve transparency and reduce bias.

Finally, team up with a bilingual partner or adviser, who understands and is very familiar with the complexities of the programmatic media buying landscape in China.

If you need some professional assistance getting started with programmatic advertising in China, or with any other aspect of digital marketing in China, feel free to get in touch with our experienced bilingual marketing team.

The post Programmatic Media Buying in China: What You Should Know appeared first on Digital Crew.

Douyin is a social network that can be used for live streamlining and creating short music videos with effects. It started out in 2016 and there are now around one billion videos being viewed daily by users. The vast majority of viewers are under 24 and from Tier 1 and 2 cities.

Some market commentators say it is the keen interest taken by KOLs (key opinion leaders) that has led to the super-fast growth of the app’s popularity. The platform has also expanded overseas, under the name of Tik Tok.  

How brands use Douyin’s features

Bigger brands making use of Douyin include Audi, Pizza Hut and Michael Kors. Some brands use KOL campaigns for promotions. One of Douyin’s key features is Challenges – themed hashtags that prompt users to create their own video or musical content for rewards or prizes.

For example, fashion designer Michael Kors created a competition inviting users to make their own fashion walk videos on Douyin with custom filters. Several key influencers also created walk videos wearing his designs.

In another example, KOLs for the mobile phone brand OPPO invited users to create their own comedy skits for the chance to win a phone.

What to consider when using KOLs on Douyin

KOLs are considered one the best ways to promote a brand in China. They are usually well-known trusted personalities with a large online following. KOLs might be celebrities or stars, but may also be experts on a topic or professional bloggers. Key influencers of this type are often courted by brands to endorse or promote their product. Examples include rally driver Han Han, and model and actress AngelaBaby.

It’s important to note that the social media rules for using KOLs are changing. Previously, brands could work directly with a KOL or their agents. Now, many social platforms are themselves acting as ‘agents’. Brands that engage KOLs on social media need to be aware of the rules around sponsored content in the platforms they use, or they could risk having their content removed.

Douyin has been getting involved in KOL brand campaigns by signing contracts with KOLs, who then need to ensure their content goes through the official channels. While it may be still possible for brands to work directly with KOLs, an awareness of the rules is vital.

Combining Douyin and KOL marketing

Brands can use KOLs and Douyin to reach Gen Z consumers by creating Challenges to further engagement or by using live streaming to combine entertainment and marketing.

The combination of key influencers and Douyin may even provide the opportunity for a campaign to go viral – widening your influence online.

If you would like to know more about Douyin, key influencer campaigns or social media marketing in China, get in touch with our bilingual marketing team.

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