Advertising online in China is one of the best ways to promote your product and service in the country. There are so many ways to advertise Online but the right thing to do is to know where you can really have good customer engagement. So in this article, we have found 7 popular Chinese platforms where you can make ads Online.
Baidu Paid Ads
Baidu is very similar to Google and has copied many of its functions. Like Google with Adwords, Baidu has something similar called “推广 – Tuiguang” which literally translates to “Push Wide (To Promote)”, and they’re very similar in how they operate for advertisers. Baidu’s ads and bidding methods are just like Google’s well. However, there are some differences to be said for Baidu.
When managing keywords in Adwords for Google, you’ll have a choice of Broad Match, Modify Broad Match, Phrase Match, and Exact Match. Tuiguang, however, doesn’t have Modify Broad Match. They have instead a Phrase Synonym Match, which is due to the fact that there are a lot of Synonyms in Chinese compared to that English.
Baidu Tuiguang is a lot more regimented than Adwords. Tuiguang requires you to have a business license, proof of ownership of your website, and a minimum of $7,200 USD, and it takes about 45 days to process the account. However, with Baidu being so popular in China it is definitely a great bet on advertising to a large market in China.
Feel free to ask for a Quote on Baidu SEM, SEA, Retargeting, or Baidu DSP
Lire: A Guide to Baidu PPC Advertising in China
Sogou
Taking the second spot in a search engine is Sogou. The one key difference between Sogou and Baidu is that Sogou has partnerships with a plethora of social media companies in China like WeChat to allow users on Sogou to be able to search for content from these social media platforms. Being a second-tier search engine, the cost of pay-per-click is relatively lower. With social media as a platform, there is a great chance to target niche markets and customers.
Feel free to ask our agency for a quote for Sogou Ads
Sogou ads
- Sogou SEM or SEA
- Sogou DSP
- Sogou Native Ads
Qihoo 360 for So.com
Qihoo 360 expanded into the search business (so.com) in 2016 and currently owns about 10.52% of the market. Qihoo 360’s biggest accomplishment is that owns the second most popular Browser in China right after Internet Explorer by Microsoft. Like Soqou there is low traffic but also a low price-per-click system in place.
- So.com is quite expanding in China.
- Feel free to ask for a Price for So SEM, SEA, and native Ads.
WeChat Paid Ads
As a foreign business in China doing just about anything is difficult, but operating on Wechat is even trickier. However, WeChat is used by 1+ Billion users with users chatting and socializing for over 90 minutes a day.
In order for you to do paid advertisement on WeChat, you must have at least one verified official account, this can be a subscription or service. As well as this, another stumbling block is the huge cost of advertising on the platform.
- Feel free to ask our white Book about WeChat Advertising, send us an email to us, and we will send you back.
- If you want to see our case studies and have a project, contact us directly.
We have a full report available about WeChat, marketing & Advertising + case studies.
Send us a nice email and we will send it to you.
Lire: Ultimate Guide To WeChat Advertising & Growth
Sina Weibo
Considered to be the Twitter of China, Weibo is owned and operated by 2 different companies. Unlike Twitter, the term “Weibo” literally translates to “micro-blogging” and is not owned by any particular company. The type of Weibo that most Chinese people refer to is actually Sina Weibo, as opposed to the less popular Tencent Weibo
Out of all the online platforms in China, Sina Weibo is actually the easiest to obtain a business account for foreign businesses. You simply register with them and pay 1,000 USD. The ad platform itself is called FenSi Tong. You can target your audience by age, location, interest, gender, and even keywords.
Despite falling behind Wechat’s dominance, people on Weibo are looking for information and are not just chatting. Thus they hold their gaze on the screen longer, as opposed to flicking through moments (think Facebook wall). Thus advertising can be more effective.
We are a Weibo Agency if you want to know Weibo Ads, (Native Ads) same system as Facebook Ads.
Read: A Guide to Weibo Paid Advertising
Toutiao
Toutiao wouldn’t be known by many foreigners in and out of China, but it translates to ‘headlines’ and is used as a news source for Chinese netizens. However, it is not simply a news-based platform. It uses complex algorithms to provide personalized news. Despite being in its infancy compared to other platforms mentioned beforehand, Toutiao has a robust ad distribution system. It has 11 different ad types that we’ve seen so far and 2 very unique ways of bidding. You can either pay for an entire 24-hour display for everyone or a personalized delivery that is similar to CPM.
Toutiao is also Douyin. (or tiktok)
Read: A Guide to Toutiao
Douyin
Douyin – TikTok is a fast growing APP in China. With 400 daily active users in 2020, this video app is really popular and takes up 20% of the young generation’s online time.
It is a very effective platform for Ads because it is
- interactive
- Inexpensive
- and targetted (they have native ads)
You can also start a Marketing campaign with influencers
We have a full report available about Douyin. Send us an email and we will send it to you.
Read: Introduction to Douyin Marketing
Youku & Tudou (decrease)
In 2020, these 2 video networks are less popular.
Both Youku and Tudou are online video streaming sites, very much like Youtube. The two companies merged but you still have to advertise separately through each one. Being a video-based platform, the ads are primarily video-based on banner ads also placed. However, unlike Youtube, Youku Tudou only gives the option to pay for impressions, thus making it best for brand-based adverts. Thus, if you have the budget and a huge brand it’s a great resource. However, a small business that wants a more direct marketing strategy would be best elsewhere.
One thing is to know another thing is how to use all these platforms for more engagement and traffic.
Little Red Book – RED – Xiaohongshu
It is the Instagram of China. This social APP is based on photos and video and allows the user to share lifestyle content in their moment.
This APP has as well an advertising section.
Read: Introduction to Xiaohongshu Paid Ads System
This is becoming more and more expensive in 2020, because of the popularity of the platform, especially among beauty and fashion brands.
How do brands use Chinese platforms for advertising Online?
Rich and Authentic Content is the Key
The quality of the content depends on the right of this advertising strategy. Chinese customers are tired to see the same content every time. All you need to do is to develop attractive content related to your product or service, by creating rich and authentic storytelling. It is very important that the content should be entertaining and engaging otherwise people will not bother to read it. Good content is suitable for small and medium businesses which can’t afford expensive promotion methods. You can publish the content on your social media accounts, official websites, public forums, and blogs. You can also even send the content directly to your potential customers through e-mail. Newsletters are one example of content marketing.
Mini-Video Online: the new trend
One way to lure customers is to show them the product from a new angle. Actually, the mini-Video is a very popular way of advertising because it can be used on different platforms. The length and content of the video are also very important for the success of this form of advertising. There are several companies that provide mini-video advertising services such as Meituan, Dianping, and Meitu…. . For example, Pepsi had more than 100,000 views for its “Bring Happiness Home” mini-movie and Bulgari’s video exceeded 350,000 views. These mini-videos are a creative and good way to attract consumers without distorting a brand’s image
The viral Online video is also one of the most innovative ways of promoting products, services, ideas, and events on the internet. It is a unique way of letting people know about your business. The strange things about this marketing technique are that no one knows how and when content becomes viral on the internet.
Mobile Advertising
China is the largest connected country in the world, with more than 960 million Chinese internet users. At the end of 2014, China had 520 million smartphone users. This number is expected to rise to 700 million by the end of 2018. Chinese smartphone users are very open to being advertised on their mobile and 78% are more likely to click an advert if it contains content relevant to them. The most popular mobile marketing format is video, followed by coupons and banner ads. This is mainly due to the wide use of applications such as WeChat, Weibo, and QQ which allow brands to communicate very precisely with their target.
KOL(Key Opinion Leaders): your best option
Chinese KOL is now the best marketing weapon that you can have. They are very popular and can influence the customer’s decisions. Actually many international and local brands use them to promote their service and products. KOL can help to manage the cultural gap between companies and Chinese consumers. Chinese customers normally like to check the reviews about what they are going to buy. If they read positive reviews, they will be more inclined to buy. So don’t forget this form of Online Advertising when you elaborate your marketing strategy to enter the Chinese market.
Read: Guide to Chinese Kols
Gentlemen Marketing Agency
Do you need Online advertising for your company? We are Advertising Specialists.
For every business, you can contact us.
50 comments
Youssef TAGHLAOUI
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Matthias
Hello, we are an accounting and administration firm in Brazil. We open and administrate foreign business, mostly for middle-sized companies who do not want to maintain a host of expats. Do you have a recommendation on how to get visibility in China?
Keith Whitbeck
We want to advertise our beautiful home in a gated community in Miami, Florida. We are moving overseas and this home is completely furnished. Please advise how we can do this advertisement and hopefully have a good result. Thank you.
Jimei
Good day I started my own online language learning platform and I would like to advertise to potential students.
Nikolay
Hello, I would like to advertise and promote Cyprus Investment Programme (Citizenship by Investment)
Nikolay
I would like to promote Cyprus Investment Programme (Citizenship by investment)
PARAG
Hello, Hope you’re doing well! I represent the Advertisers team an Ingenious Programmatic Plex and I’ll be happy to assist you further being your dedicated Account Manager for Chine or other part of the world.
I wanted to drop you a quick line to understand your advertising & branding requirements. To give you a brief about our product: DSP- It’s a self-serve platform wherein you can manage your campaigns with various targeting options, add funds to your account, create, manage and optimize your desktop/banners, mobile app, video and native campaigns.
With regards to our supply, we are connected with premium supply partners to meet your advertising requirements. Our DMP partner Lotame provides us with the data which gives you a holistic view of your consumers/audiences. We also have Dynamic creative optimization (DCO) which is a display ad technology that creates personalized ads based on data about the viewer at the moment of ad serving. I am happy to discuss the options I have in mind in more detail on a call or email. Do let me know how we could take this forward.
YAKSTECH ENGINEERING NIG. LTD
I am a poultry processing plant equipment installer base in Nigeria, I want to be advertise in China, so that I can be a taking installation directly from the manufacturer in China to install in the whole of Africa.
Danish Yaqoob
Hi , I want to promote my company in China. I’m founder of online English learning company “Muke Learners”. I want to get students from China. Can I advertise on wechat ? I don’t know which Chinese social media to choose. Kindly give me some suggestions.
Thanks a lot.
aleiskar urbina
Hi. I own a website where I teach youth and kids and I want to advertise in China. I would like to know how much I need to pay. Thanks.
Olivier VEROT
Sure we will contact you. 😉
anthony
Hi, We are a new company in the US and want to promote our business in China. We are a consulting service setting up china factories in the US, with a US business. We are new and have no capitol yet. We wanted to know if there are any ways to promote our website in China for free until we build up capitol. It works on a desktop and mobil and is translated in Chinese. looking forward to hearing your answer,
thanks
kOONY
Hello
I am interested to advertise in China, but offline. Can you give me an estimate evaluation of a metro campaign?
An estimation of taxi ads? TV campaign in CCTV?
Can you compare them with online ads campaign?
Which media you prefer for a governement affiliate agency?
KOONY
Marketing Director
Magdalena Horn
I would like to sell my engineering company My target aer China people can you give me suggestion please
Shahzad muhammad khan
CrestSoft is a high-level innovative company for web development and digital marketing in Pakistan. CrestSoft is at its best in providing superior and standard web-based solutions. CrestSoft is providing services for small and large companies. Also work abroad and locally. Today we have a team of great programmers. Designers and Digital Marketing executives are also part of the team. Which are selected direct to our clients in their web companies. We want to advertise and find new clients in the Chinese market as we feel that there is a good avenue to work for Chinese customers, where shall we advertise and market our skills and products in Chinese market
Cindy tan
Hi there, we are in education industry, providing language programs to local and international students & adults.
How can we advertise ourselves into China online platforms? Thank you.
Olivier
we will contact you
Dwhyte Cudjoe
I’m a tradeshow Stand/Booth/Display builder in the United States. I will like to market my company in China to companies that are coming to the United States to exhibit at the trade shows. How could I market this business in China?
Olivier
Yes sure. We will contact you
Olivier
Do you have a media plan with cost per channel?
HOw these plateform charge?
CPM? CPC ? CPA?
Jeff lee
Hi am interested in advertising in China for my antique business. Please fill up me with more details on advertising in Baidu, Sogou, WeChat and Toutiao.
kongmany
we are Laos tour agency and looking for a tour partner in China for a business tour agency please email to me if you’re firmed interested with us by this email
(contact Name Mr. Nam tour operator marketing director)
this our website to explore about the tour detail
ibc
someone that really knows what they’re discussing over the internet in China.
You actually understand how to bring an issue of the sens of Advertising in China
Nicholas
Hi, I would like to promote Malaysia property to China market by using their social network.
Can you let know how can I do it
Olivier
Yes we Can Nicolas, and please send us an email will be more effective 😉
Pijus sasmal
Human hair advertise.I would like to shop for Human Hair in China
Daychen
I want to sell a restaurant which is in Woodstock NY,please let me how to advertise in China market
Olivier
Contact us by email , you have more chance to speak to us. 😉
Gabriel
Hi! Loved your site. It provides me a lot of information and good insight for marketing to China. I am a licensed automobile dealer and exporter in Atlanta Georgia and my target markets have been United States and Nigeria (have sold several Toyotas, Hondas, etc.). After visiting Shanghai last year, I would like to expand my operations to China especially bringing certified used Teslas to the market. Not only am I looking for buyers but I’m also looking for partners who would like to join me in filling orders and sourcing. How would I go about marketing this service?
Olivier
We Can help you Gabriel. We will send you an email
Eduardo
Hi, I would like some advise about advertise and promote services in China for software and agile services.
Thank you
Olivier
Send us an email please Eduardo… We can Guide you.
Pijus sasmal
I want to sell my product advertisement
Coinh
Hi
I’d like to get some help about online ads in china.
It’d be great to have a call with you!
Olivier
Hi Coinh,
Of course we can Help you, best way is to send an email , not a comment.
Explain your project or website and your target, and we will find out the best solution. 😉
k.waenga
hello to whom it may concern, i would like to advertise my energy device in china, can u help me, my website is originalbesslerwheel com …k.waenga
Olivier
Hello K Waenga,
Email please, it is faster to reach us than Comment. 😉
Lionel
I would add: localize localize localize your content and your Ads . No one cares about your wonderful global strategy or branding in China.
Olivier
Hello Lionel,
Thank you for this Great Insight, we will add this. 😉
localize your Ads content for Chinese Audience
Jc
Hello,
I would like to promote/advertise my artworks in China.
I work with HiHEY, a Chinese art platform where the sales are made in China.
thank you,
Jc
Pijus sasmal
I want to sell my product advertisement
Olivier
I reply you by email JC. 😉 Have a nice day
PETER YORDANOV
Hi Oliver, I am Nightclub Bar designer from Europe and I need some help for my business in China
Anshra
If you want to Advertise in China, bet on online advertising of course.
Good article Bro
Pijus sasmal
I want to advertise to china for my product
Olivier
Thank you.
Christian
I would like to advertise my greyhound racing syndicates to Chinese market can you help please thanks
Olivier
We already contact you Christian right ?
Hum chy
Hi
I wanted to promote my online English course in china. Please can you advise if this is possible
Thank you
Hum chy
ateca
bula…m from Fiji..
as a real estate agent….willing to sell properties and land to china market…please help