Marketing Advice That Matters
The digital marketing landscape in China is different from that in the rest of the world. Search engines and social media platforms that reign supreme elsewhere aren’t really the toppers in the country. Instead, China’s homegrown search engine, Baidu, is the king of all online searches. Hence it becomes important that any brand making to look a mark and woo Chinese audience have an appropriate presence on Baidu and make use of its Pay Per Click (PPC) program appropriately. Understanding the search engine and how it functions paves for a successful recipe. Read on to know more.
What makes Baidu PPC different from that on Western search engines
Advertising on Baidu is very different from the typical process encountered when marketing your brand on a Western search engine. The latter is often simple and requires you to open an account, enter credit card details, type in keywords that you want to bid for (or choose from a list), write simple ad texts and publish them. This attracts potential customers to see the ad when they search for something similar to your product or service.
Advertising or digital marketing on Baidu entails a registration plus a certification process. Additionally, Baidu PPC requires that you localize your website as well as the PPC campaign for the Chinese audience so that your product or service genuinely appeals to the consumers in the country. The platform puts strict protocols into place to ensure that the advertisers do not misuse Baidu to conduct illegal businesses or trade activities in China. The strict bureaucratic processes help the platform to cooperate with the authorities without getting themselves penalized. The laws of the land also, to a certain degree, have contributed to the strict registration and certification process for Baidu PPC. The well-documented and stringent food safety laws and those for sensitive industries make it imperative for foreign business operating in this space to produce necessary documentation before they can start flashing their ads on Baidu search result pages.
Tips for setting up a Baidu PPC account successfully
There is a certain amount of red tape involving the set-up process for Baidu PPC, which worries many new companies who are unaware of the same. However, with specific knowledge and expertise, which often comes with the help of a digital marketer based in China, you can breeze through the process and set up your account with ease. Here are some tips that come in handy in this regard.
• Prepare copies of your business certificates and translate them into Chinese for ease of review by authorities and Baidu officials.
• Maintain copies of your company’s information listed on government websites.
• Obtain a company seal. This has more value and receives better trust in China than official signatures.
• Create a localized Chinese website instead of a simple landing page. Having a dedicated Chinese website that caters to the tastes of the local people in terms of aesthetics, content, helpful information, and so on guarantees better results.
How to make the maximum of the advertising campaign
Since you will be marketing your product or service to a wholly new audience and using a new way, be prepared to learn and execute from scratch. The Baidu PPC campaigns warrant specific knowledge and expertise in the local language and practices. So, it is advisable to build a localized team and follow these guidelines for best results and to maximize returns.
• Optimize your website for Chinese visitors to provide them with better user experience. At the same time, optimize the pages for Baidu.
• Host your site in China and monitor it regularly to see that it functions properly.
• When using payment options and wallets, ensure that they are Chinese-friendly. Alipay and Union Pay are some good choices.
• Have dedicated Chinese-speaking managers to handle PPC and customer care, for you do not want to leave customers confused when they want to seek more information or need help with purchasing or using your product or service.
If all these seem like a herculean task, you can always outsource the program to an experienced and certified advertiser or digital marketing agency, which specializes in Baidu PPC.
