We all know the significant effect a good social media marketing strategy could have on your company. Now, when that market is China, and the target audience is one you’ve never interacted with before, it could get tricky. But fear not, for many have entered and conquered the market using smart social media marketing strategies. While the marketplace is very different from other marketplaces around the world, one thing is for certain. The same rules while creating a brilliant social media marketing strategy remain the same, whether in the United States or in China.

Five Simple Steps To Create A Social Media Marketing Strategy in China

It really is quite straightforward. The strategy summarizes everything you plan to do and hope to achieve using the best social media marketing in China. This acts as your goal tracker by logging your actions and gives you a peek at how you’re doing along the way. The goal is to be as specific as you possibly can be while keeping it concise. You don’t want to overachieve by logging plans that are so lofty and broad, it’s close to impossible to achieve. 

Step 1: Setting Smart Goals

Creating a winning social media marketing strategy in the Chinese market is crucial. You want to define your objectives and goals clearly without making them look unattainable. Goals are always a little far-fetched but that’s how you know you’re making progress. Also without them, there’s no way to measure your progress. Make sure each goal is measurable, specific, attainable, time-bound, and relevant. This will help guide your actions and render business results you’ll be satisfied with. 

Step 2: Gaining A Good Understanding Of Your Audience

Getting to know your target audience is very important, especially if you’re a first-timer in the ever-changing business environment of China. The target audiences vary greatly from country to country, so no amount of experience in other countries will help you here. Get down to the basics, and get to know the ideal customer, and more importantly, what they would like to see on the social media platforms you use to advertise your brand. This is crucial if you wish to turn your followers into customers. A good way to go about this is by creating buyer personas- step into the shoes of your potential followers and customers to help think better about what they’d expect from you. And of course, the second stage of this step is gathering real-world data. Social media analytics can easily provide you data about your followers and their interests. 

Step 3: Do Enough Recon On Your Competitors

If you’re new to the market, one thing that you can use to your advantage is checking out what your competition is doing to get ahead in the game. Social media marketing strategies in China are not as complicated as most people consider it to be. Start off by conducting a competitive analysis, so you can find out who your competition is, and what they’re excelling at (and possibly, what they’re not). This will also help you get a rough idea of what to expect from your customers, which in a way, helps you realize the practicality of your goals and how easily they can be achieved. You’ll further be able to spot opportunities: go for social media platforms where the audience is underserved, rather than fishing in the same pond as your overachieving competitors. 

Step 4: Take A Step Back To Analyze

This might be the most important part of your social media marketing strategy! Once you’ve invested enough time researching and engaging, you need to take a step back and audit yourself. Find out what’s working and what isn’t. This is your time to improve. Social media marketing strategies in China are constantly developing and evolving, so it’s important for you to keep your eyes on the ball. Engage in social listening if you can, which is another way to keep an eye on the competition. But never skip out on the social media audit, which helps you examine your current efforts and make the necessary improvements. 

Step 5: Set Up Accounts or Improve Existing Ones

Once you’ve done your research, it’s time to put your strategy into action. You do this by setting up accounts on the popular social media platforms across China, like WeChat, Weibo, YouKu, and more, depending on what works best for your company. As you decide the platforms to use, you will also realize each channel requires a different strategy! But at the end of the day, an effective social media marketing strategy in China can do wonders for you and your business if chalked out efficiently and audited regularly. Good luck!