Clothing trade Fairs and Exhibitions in China are closed, what are your alternative?

Clothing trade fairs and exhibitions in China

Chinese trade fairs for clothes are increasingly important internationally. Hundreds of thousands of business people attend these conferences from basically every country in the world, hope to buy or sell needed products and scout for business opportunities. Trade fair as an exhibitor is hugely important for the business’s marketing mix, especially for small-medium-size companies.

In fact, exhibiting at trade shows offers several benefits to your business. Exhibitions and trade shows offer a wide platform for brands to showcase their products and services and communicate their key message to a more receptive audience. Exhibition participation can help you meet with customers who are proactively looking for a deal, which will cause you to able to collect more leads.

However, because of the covid-19, the situation has changed, and we have postponed many fairs and exhibitions, therefore what is your alternative strategy to get into this big China market again?

The next most important Clothing trade fairs and exhibitions in China in 2020

According to the Fairtradedate website, the next Clothing trade fairs and exhibitions appointments in China from July to October are:

• SIUF (11-13 July 2020)

With over 825 exhibitors from more than 27 countries the international brand underwear, fair SIUF sets high standards attracting every year more than 10,000 visitors to the Convention and Exhibition Center of Shenzhen.

In its capacity as the most influential show of its kind in Asia, the SIUF comes up with a wide range of trendy fashion in the range of lingerie and bath textiles.

• Fashion week (25-27 July 2020)

Hong Kong Fashion Week is a fashion and order fair for the industry. This exhibition gives visitors a comprehensive view of the shapes, colors, materials, and cuts of the coming season. International exhibitors present all kinds of fashion and accessories, clothing products, and services.

• The Cinte Techtextil China (02-04 September 2020)

The Cinte Techtextil China has gained status and reputation as the leading trade fair in Asia for technical textiles and nonwovens and is thus an attractive marketing platform for many European manufacturers.

• Yarn Expo (23-25 September 2020)

Yarn Expo is an international trade fair for fibers and yarns held biannually in Shanghai. Their products and innovations from around the world are presented. It is an important communication and information platform in the industry and offers the exhibiting companies the opportunity to present themselves to a professional audience. At the Yarn Expo, visitors can depth and comprehensive information about the latest developments and products from the fibers and yarns.

• The Inter textile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics (23-25 September 2020)

The inter-textile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics is one of the largest trade fairs for fabrics in China and an international platform for the trade of these substances. Founded in 1995, the fair has become a leading meeting point for the textile industry. When it comes to textiles and clothing, China is one of the most important countries in the world. Exhibitors have the opportunity to showcase their products and innovations to a broad audience, meet potential customers, and increase their presence in the market.

• The Interfiliere Shanghai (24-25 September 2020)

The Interfiliere Shanghai is the meeting point for all global players in the lingerie and swimwear industry. The event is a source of inspiration and offers a China-based view of textiles and textile accessories for the lingerie and swimwear industry. Visitors can inform themselves here in detail and comprehensively about the latest trends and products and find new business partners.

• VeggieWorld (24-25 October 2020)

VeggieWorld is the largest international trade fair for the vegan lifestyle, which is now taking place not only in Europe but also in Asia. It is above all a public fair but is also visited by trade visitors. The fair shows that a plant-based lifestyle is not only sustainable, conscious, and healthy, but also fun. A colorful mix of milk and meat alternatives, superfoods, sweets, drinks as well as clothing, accessories, cosmetics, services, and projects will be presented.

• Global Sources Fashion (27-30 October 2020)

Global Sources Fashion offers an extensive array of stylish fashion accessories. It provides an ideal platform for buyers to meet potential supply partners from Greater China. The fair features hundreds of top-choice suppliers known to produce international quality products. Fashion Accessories attract importers, wholesalers, retailers, and buyers to the fashion accessories industry.

Use Lead Generation to attract potential Chinese distributors for your fashion brand

Read as well: Guide to Exporting to China and Best tips to promote your fashion brand in China

What is Lead Generation?

Lead Generation is the set of marketing actions that aim to acquire and generate contacts.

Drawing up a list of contacts is possible through a careful lead generation strategy, which can use advertising and acquisition tools.

The offline world still uses word of mouth, cold calls, the purchase of advertising space on TV and radio, and participation in trade fairs and sector events. Online communication, on the other hand, has taken on impressive dominance and is today one of the most powerful means of lead generation and conversion.

In recent years tools such as websites and social networks have changed the way of lead generation.

How a brand in the cloth industry can acquire potential distributors in China?

To obtain the desired results from lead generation campaigns, it is necessary to use the most useful tools. In the digital world, we are talking about SEO, SEM, Content Marketing, Social Media Marketing, and Recommendations.

In China, Lead generation can offer a huge competitive advantage to companies in the cloth industry that understand how to include it within their marketing strategy.

SEO & SEM in China: Must for Fashion and Luxury brands

In the West, the website is a showcase of the products and services offered by the company and constitutes a fundamental tool for achieving specific objectives (sales, lead generation, etc.). In China, however, it serves first of all as a guarantee of the authenticity of a brand.

In a market where counterfeiting is on the agenda, Chinese users are used to checking information through the digital channels available to them, before creating contacts with other companies or purchasing. For this reason, it is advisable to have a website in Chinese.

In China, the leading search engine is Baidu, so if a company wants to reach Chinese partners, it must be present on Baidu and be found. Specific SEO and SEM activities, therefore, become fundamental, with tools and mechanisms different from those we are used to. For further information about SEO and SEM in China read the following article

• SEO
• SEM

In addition, to ensure fast loading your website should be hosted in China.

Localized Content Marketing in China: the key to engaging Chinese consumers

The aesthetic tastes of people differ from country to country. For this reason, it is good to rethink brand communication also in graphic terms to make it attractive and consistent with local tastes.

Communicating with the Chinese implies several considerations. One of these is the cultural distance, which forces brands to rethink their content by aligning it with local ways of thinking.

Translating literally the contents conceived and used on the original market is not enough. In fact, there is a risk of passing on a message that is difficult to understand or even in contrast with the ideals of the target culture.

Content marketing is also important when trying to attract Chinese partners, as by getting closer to Chinese culture and their tastes you can show the brand value and increase the interest of potential partners.

China Social Media Marketing

Using social networks as part of a digital marketing strategy is always an excellent idea. However, it must be borne in mind that Chinese social media are different from Western ones and their use can create many problems.

Although insidious, Social Media Marketing is crucial to attracting and engaging the chosen target, building relationships with followers, generating leads, retaining customers, and maximizing conversions. This applies indiscriminately to B2B and B2C companies.

To carry out Social Media Marketing activities in China, it is necessary to make use of a native Chinese team, specialized and competent, capable of producing language content aligned with the local culture.

The team of specialists must, in fact, translate the brand’s messages, making them compatible with the local media and attractive to the target audience.

WeChat, Weibo, and little red book are the most suitable social media platforms for brands from the cloth industry.

Recommendations to Fashion Brands wanting to enter China

In China recommendations mostly come from locals. Chinese people trust only Chinese people. That’s why it is important a presence on Chinese forums and to do PR.

Reviews on forums positively influence purchase habits.

There are many designated forums in China and all of them are Chinese forums in the Mandarin language. The most useful forums are Zhihu and Baidu Zhidao.

Opinions shared on forums have a big influence on the decisions that a Chinese person makes. They can spend hours and days checking the forums to decide who is good to cooperate with.

PR in China: press releases + media publication

PR is one of the most cost-effective solutions in the Chinese market. It is a basic of marketing where the right people talk about you. In China, E-reputation is key to success. PR is a good way to build your credibility and attract potential Chinese partners.

Business to distributors (B2D)

Foreigners who have little experience in the Chinese market often rely on either eCommerce Partners or distributors. These companies can help you with imports, storage, shipping, sales, and marketing.

One notable benefit of working with distributors is that they have a wide network of partners and can sell and deliver your products to retail stores and customers quickly.

Finding distributors can be a daunting task, especially if you’re a non-Chinese speaker. Working with the right people can make things significantly easier and it can be worth spending some money to save time and reduce the hustle.

Visiting one or more trade fairs and exhibitions can help you find various Chinese importers and distributors. By having your product on display, you’ll catch the interest of prospective business partners.

However, due to the current lockdown, it is impossible to join these clothing fairs and Exhibitions. Therefore which channels can a brand use?

Look for a Chinese Distributors Online

You can search for distributors online, but this can be a challenge. There are currently more than 85,000 distributors in China, to contact random distributors one by one can take a long time with a low success rate.

Not to forget, you’ll increase the risk of coming across unreliable distributors, which is less likely if you find distributors that your partner has worked with previously.

Tmall B2D (business to distributors)

Tmall B2D is a platform where you can connect with 85,000 Chinese distributors. Tmall B2D gives brands great visibility in the current market.

Tmall is a commercial web-based stage for the Chinese retail industry. Tmall works in B2C, that is, it allows local and international organizations to present their items to buyers in China, but also in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macao.

Any entrepreneur can choose his distributor on the Tmall app. However, it is not easy to choose the right distributor for you when one has no expertise in distributors in China. The application is entirely in Chinese and there are 85.000 Chinese distributors, therefore it is better to be accompanied by professionals in this first step.

GMA could be your B2D partner

Finding the right distributor for the size of your company, your products, and your target clientele is not an easy task.

Fortunately, Gentlemen’s marketing agency is very familiar with the Chinese e-commerce market and its players. Local distributors have no secrets for us. Our expertise allows us to support you in your search for the best distributor, we can take care of the entire process for your company.

Use digital Marketing to increase the success outcome if you do decide to participate in a trade fair and exhibition

Before the trade, show your goal should be to promote the exhibition to your current audience, including your customers, to encourage attendance and of course a visit to your booth.

What cannot be missed is the marketing work in advance. The minimum requirements are:

Baidu SEO

Baidu is definitely the search engine on which to aim to make yourself visible in the Chinese market.

• Your website should be translated into Chinese because Baidu gives greater visibility to sites that are written in Mandarin Chinese. This helps your website receive more traffic.
• To ensure fast loading it must be hosted in China
• The content should be localized
• The website must also be adaptable to mobile phones.

Build a landing page that announces your attendance at the event

A so-called “Landing Page”, an extra page on your homepage, is very clever, which provides detailed information about this exhibition and your embassies, presents the exhibition team, and simplifies the appointment agreement.

Social media marketing in China

Use social media to generate interest. You can show your clothing fair and exhibition details to your followers via Weibo, send updates to groups of friends on Wechat, and utilize other social networking platforms to build hype.

Record a video in Chinese announcing your attendance at the show and promote to your audiences with personal invites as well as possible giveaways.

H5 Wechat Brochure

It is an electronic brochure that is easy to share on WeChat. It contains the listing of all your products (in Chinese). It is one of our latest solutions for distribution.

It shows you are already engaged in China and are aware of the tools available.

Make good use of the QR code of your website as they are everywhere in China and people use it to scan and read information about the company. Making business cards with the QR code is very common in China.

Do you need help entering the Chinese market?

Do you want to know more about How to use digital marketing to increase your success?

Contact GMA a digital marketing agency, that specialized in the Chinese digital market.

Read also:

• FASHION GUIDE FOR MARKETING YOUR CLOTHING BRAND IN CHINA
• NO TRADE FAIRS IN CHINA – WHAT OTHER SOLUTIONS TO MEET CLIENTS?
• ESTABLISH YOUR BUSINESS IN CHINESE E-COMMERCE: FIND THE IDEAL DISTRIBUTOR