Search Leads the Way -- Chinese Market Entry Strategy

How search engine marketing provides a gateway to the Chinese market

With China having the second largest number of Internet users in the world, search engine marketing is an affordable and essential tool for businesses to succeed in the growing country. As more people search commercial information on the Internet, American businesses that are eyeing Chinese consumers must establish their online presence in the Chinese language as well as adopt search engine marketing strategies throughout Chinese search engines and online media. A definite art of international marketing has emerged, yet many American exporters are still unaware of it.

 

Traditionally, most U.S. companies would not start building a corporate website in the Chinese language until they are forced to by the market. Some companies still wouldn’t even do it unless they had an office in the country.  Strategically, this has created a “jet lag” for these companies to face their target customers. The delay in establishing a relationship with Chinese customers over the Internet can significantly slow down the pace to tap into the market. Pushing a Chinese website live before flying to China will enhance a company’s creditability to Chinese business partners as well as allow the company to receive more hospitality from potential customers. For small and medium-sized U.S. businesses to be successful, Internet marketing must be integrated into their Chinese strategy.

 

However, owning a Chinese website does not automatically guarantee that Chinese consumers will find information about a company’s products, technology or brand. Search engine optimization (SEO) is the necessary process that helps drive target customers to a website as well as gives the website a higher placement on Chinese search engines like Baidu, Google and Yahoo.  A website can be indexed by search engines and receive top rankings on search results under important Chinese keywords about a business through optimized site structure, content, linking and other internal and external factors. This will drive pre-qualified potential customers and business partners to a website with the potential of contacting the business before it sends delegation to China.

 

There are several benefits to marketing a Chinese website. First, there is direct contact from the Chinese market which helps businesses better customize their products or services and assess their competition. There is also the opportunity to begin networking with customers and partners before meeting them. This allows a company to understand who to target and who they should work with. Marketing a Chinese website also means that a brand will receive attention in China even before make its way into the country. This makes the process easier because the consumer is already informed and knowledgeable of the product or service.