Julia Tan, Author at The Egg Digital Agency - Search, Social, Display Fri, 08 Oct 2021 02:37:07 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.2.6 https://www.theegg.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/favicon.ico Julia Tan, Author at The Egg 32 32 Digital Marketing in China: How did the 618 Shopping Festival become a National Sensation? https://www.theegg.com/seo/china/digital-marketing-in-china-how-did-the-618-shopping-festival-become-a-national-sensation/ Fri, 09 Jul 2021 06:36:41 +0000 https://www.theegg.com/?p=38131 The post Digital Marketing in China: How did the 618 Shopping Festival become a National Sensation? appeared first on The Egg.

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Digital Marketing in China: How did the 618 Shopping Festival become a National Sensation?

Boost your brand influence in China's Annual Shopping Frenzies

Founded on June 18, 1998, JD—China’s second-largest e-commerce giant after Alibaba—has since rolled out promotions every year on its birthday.

Today, JD’s 618 Shopping Festival, known locally as “618”, has evolved into one of China’s biggest annual shopping festivals—on par with Alibaba’s “Double 11”.

In its early years, however, JD’s “618” campaign attracted minor consumer spending and only gained popularity after the rise of JD’s e-commerce website (JD.com). Eventually though, it grew into a national sensation once e-commerce giants like Tmall and Suning—each with their own pool of merchants—began partaking in the promotions.

This year, “618” promotions ran for almost a full month from May 24th to June 20th, during which over 6.59 billion parcels were dispatched across the country, far surpassing the volume recorded in 2019 by an astounding 84.16%.

So, to tap into this hyper-lucrative shopping trend, let’s examine why “618” became so popular in China and how to leverage it to connect with the world’s largest consumer market.

What Makes “618” So Popular? Livestreaming, Influencer Marketing, and More!

The hype surrounding “618”, like any shopping festival of such scale, can be attributed to its head-turning bargain prices that spark massive consumer spending.

But another predominant factor is the soaring popularity of livestreaming, which, on the outset, has coincided with China’s revival of domestic tourism and retail in 2021.

Livestreaming has rapidly become an outlet for online retailers to extend their brand visibility through influencer marketing. Additionally, its low barriers to entry mean that small or offline businesses can also ride this wave to propel their product sales.

And not only do famous livestream hosts add to the appeal of the products they endorse, they also entertain audiences with their individual personas. In particular, shoppers love to hear tips on how to save money while spending more.

Most Prominent Consumer Trends During “618”

With “618” being the biggest shopping frenzy in the first half of each year, e-commerce giants, including JD, Tmall, Jingdong, and Pinduoduo, vigorously promote their offers in the lead up to the festival.

In doing so, they reveal consumer trends that continually reshape how brands market themselves to capture this massive online spending.

Here, let’s take a look at the most prominent consumer trends during “618”.

Voucher Incentives

As consumers, we naturally seek to save as much money as we can whenever we buy something. So, by tapping into human nature, voucher incentives allow us to do exactly that.

Over “618” this year, JD launched various voucher schemes, such as offering super-value JD “618” birthday red packets (“hong bao”) to its users.

In its “Carnival Party” campaign, for instance, JD encouraged users to partake in online activities for the chance to redeem a share of RMB ¥2 billion worth of gift money. By checking in on JD.com every day and completing daily objectives, like unlocking digital assets (dioramas, magical creatures, animals, etc.) or teaming up with online friends to fight virtual monsters, users could increase their likelihood of receiving up to RMB ¥1,000 in cash.

JD also launched “RMB ¥10 billion of shopping gold”, which involved distributing special promotions, like digital red packets, coupons, cross-category discount codes, first-timer purchase gifts, and more.

Similarly, Tmall launched their own range of promotions, like “Super Star Show Cat”, an interactive game where users collect and spend meow coins and feed their virtual pet cats every day. By reaching level 45 in the game, users increase their chances of receiving more meow coins and winning up to RMB ¥4,999 worth of red packets.

1. Tmall’s app - Users can unlock digital assets to win digital red packets as part of the “618” promotions

Tmall’s app: Users can unlock digital assets to win digital red packets as part of the “618” promotions

The Rise of Domestic Products

Although luxury products from global brands are highly sought-after in China, its young consumers are becoming more individualized and increasingly favoring domestic products. In turn, this has placed local brands in an advantageous position to promote and sell to a captive customer base.

In fact, among the top 10 trending brands in China based on searches, 7 out of 10 were domestic brands, like Li-Ning, one of the hottest Chinese sportswear brands.

And according to JD’s big data, the number of users who opted for local Chinese brands (compared to those that picked foreign brands) grew by 18% year-on-year.

Even the consumption rates of new domestic products, like Saturnbird (Coffee) and Genki Forest (Bottled Sparkling Drinks), on Tmall during “618” increased by a staggering 300% and 400%, respectively.

Televised E-Commerce Promotion

Aside from livestreaming, televised gala nights have also emerged as a new and highly successful form of shopping promotion, particularly after Tmall’s first “Double 11” Carnival Night broke into the public eye in 2015.

Another popular gala night is Tmall‘s “Happy Night” featuring all-star guest lineups of celebrities, singers, dancers, and even aspirational entrepreneurs.

And in this year’s “618”, Taobao introduced “10,000 Happy Nights”, where it hosted 10,000 live broadcasts on its Tmall app such that each essentially became an evening show on its own.

2. “Tmall Happy Night” being televised

“Tmall Happy Night” being televised

3. “10,000 Happy Nights” - Tmall app users can watch over 10,000 livestreams during “618”

“10,000 Happy Nights”: Tmall app users can watch over 10,000 livestreams during “618”

Seamless Online-to-Offline (o2o) Experiences

Over “618”, users who shopped on JD.com could receive their delivery within 1 hour after their purchase, making it extremely appealing and convenient for mobile users. And in partnership with Dada Group, a leading platform for on-demand delivery in China, JD was able to expand their 1-hour delivery circle to cover 1,400 counties and districts across China.

At the same time, JD has also integrated new functions on its website and app to help offline businesses improve operational efficiency and facilitate omni-channel marketing.

***

Voucher schemes, express shipping, and a closer integration of e-commerce and entertainment content: Novel promotional tactics are constantly introduced or fortified in China’s dynamic e-commerce scene.

Ultimately, successfully navigating this trend requires a deeper understanding of wider consumer habits in China—both online and offline—and the challenges that younger consumers face today.

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]]> What is Toutiao? Exploring one of China’s largest ad exchange platforms https://www.theegg.com/display/china/what-is-toutiao-exploring-one-of-chinas-largest-ad-exchange-platforms/ Thu, 06 May 2021 09:04:30 +0000 https://www.theegg.com/?p=37513 The post What is Toutiao? Exploring one of China’s largest ad exchange platforms appeared first on The Egg.

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What is Toutiao? Exploring one of China’s largest ad exchange platforms

Toutiao - Target Ads to your ideal audiences in China

By automating media buy and ad placement across multiple platforms, programmatic advertising helps brands reach gargantuan audiences in Mainland China.

One such facilitator of programmatic ad buying is Toutiao, or Jinri Toutiao (今日头条)—one of China’s largest news and information content platforms.

Let’s take a look at Toutiao and its user demographic to evaluate how it can help marketers engage audiences—not just as a news outlet, but as one of China’s leading demand-side platforms (DSPs).

What is Toutiao?

Toutiao is a news and information content platform owned by Bytedance—the owners of Douyin (i.e., Tiktok)—and boasts an impressive 410+ million monthly active users (MAU).

In 2021, it became one of only two news platform ranked within the top 25 mobile apps in China.

1. Top 25 mobile apps in China by MAU (2021)

Top 25 mobile apps in China by MAU (2021)

How can Toutiao help marketers?

Besides being a source of news and video entertainment for users, Toutiao lets marketers place ads on the platform itself. Similarly, they can use it as a launching pad to target ads on other Bytedance-owned platforms.

In China’s unique programmatic landscape, where marketers don’t tend to own advertising accounts, Toutiao stands out for allowing marketers to own an account.

Understanding Toutiao’s User Demographics

2. Toutiao’s user demographic (Jan 2020)

Toutiao’s user demographic (Jan 2020)

The graph above illustrates Toutiao’s user demographic as of January 2020, reflected by percentages and the Target Group Index (TGI).

While Toutiao’s users are predominantly male (58%), 25 to 30 year-olds (23%), and users from tier 3 cities (25%), the TGIs indicate that the highest engagement comes from men (TGI score: 109), users older than 31, and those originating from tier 1 cities (TGI score: 123).

Thus, before you launch campaigns, understand the nuances of your target audience and ensure that the chosen platform is the best medium to engage them.

How to Engage Users with Toutiao

Toutiao’s machine-learning algorithm optimizes ad space allocations by analyzing user interaction and interests, ad preferences, and engagement rate, profiling by either new, light, or heavy users.

With this information, the algorithm generates a tailored in-feed list of content and ads for each user. For marketers, this increases cost efficiency and reduces human error, which in turn generates re-targeting opportunities and, ultimately, higher retention.

Ad formats on Toutiao include (but are not limited to) the following:

  • Native ads: The use of paid ads that match the look, feel, and function of the media format in which they appear.
  • Splash ads: These are visual ads that enhance the look and feel of an app or website.
  • Video ads: Ads displayed within video content either before, during, or after a video stream.

3. Toutiao interface - native ads, splash ads, and video ads

Toutiao interface: native ads, splash ads, and video ads

***

While Toutiao is one of China’s more powerful ad exchange platforms, brands should evaluate whether it—or any other platform like iPinyou—would be a good fit for their ad targeting requirements.

Depending on your needs, you will likely need to narrow down your options to one or two strong candidates to help you target your ideal audience within China, the largest consumer demographic in the world!

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]]> An Introduction to China’s Unique Programmatic Advertising Landscape https://www.theegg.com/display/china/an-introduction-to-chinas-unique-programmatic-advertising-landscape/ Tue, 02 Feb 2021 04:51:08 +0000 https://www.theegg.com/?p=36232 The post An Introduction to China’s Unique Programmatic Advertising Landscape appeared first on The Egg.

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An Introduction to China’s Unique Programmatic Advertising Landscape

Programmatic Advertising in China

There is much to explore in China’s vast digital landscape, given its inherent diversity from the rest of the world.

While we have previously explored China’s search engines and China’s social platforms, this article introduces another of China’s essential digital marketing tools to help brands reach massive target audiences: programmatic advertising.

Here, we first contextualize China’s unique programmatic landscape, then define important terminologies to help you understand and execute successful programmatic ad campaigns in China.

Understanding China’s Programmatic Advertising Landscape

Before COVID-19, eMarketer forecasted China’s overall digital ad spend to increase by 13% in 2020. This figure, however, was later revised to rise by 5% (to USD $75.33 billion) in light of the pandemic.

1. Overall Digital Ad Spend in China

Overall digital ad spend in China (Source: eMarketer)

eMarketer also forecasted the programmatic display ad spend in China to reach USD $39.25 billion in 2020 (diagram below), representing 74.7% of the country’s total display ad spend. While this was forecasted back in Oct 2019, overall digital ad spend continued to rise during the pandemic, albeit at a slower rate.

As of Jun 2020, digital ad spend took up only 71.6% of total media ad spend (diagram above), highlighting the growth potential for programmatic ad spend in the coming years.

2. Programmatic digital display ad spending in China Programmatic digital display ad spending in China, forecasted in Oct 2019 (Source: eMarketer)

Smartphones have become a mainstay in China, serving as the primary point of access to the internet. And the average time spent online has increased year-on-year: In Q1 2020, Chinese netizens spent the highest average hours per week on the internet—a whopping 30.8 hours! While those hours fell as COVID-19 came under control in Q2, internet usage was still an upward trend.

3. Average weekly time spent online per Chinese netizen

Average weekly time spent online per Chinese netizen (Source: CNNIC)

The diagram below depicts the most used online channels alongside their ad spend distribution. The trend forecasts feed ads and e-commerce ads to continue dominating as popular channels and grow in ad spend.

4. Proportion of online advertising in China

Proportion of online advertising in China (Source: iResearch China’s Annual Monitoring Report on Online Advertising Market)

In the next section, we explore what makes China’s digital landscape, particularly the programmatic landscape, a distinctive one to scale.

Programmatic Advertising: China’s Unique Market

China’s digital landscape is foreign to much of the rest of the world due to its overarching Internet Censorship Policy. Numerous global internet powerhouses are blocked in China, restricting their netizen’s access to a wide range of apps and websites, including YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Google, and WhatsApp. The list goes on.

While China has similar platforms, programmatic advertising can help scale the ad campaign size. Given the country’s population of 1.4 billion, it’s necessary to turn to Chinese programmatic platforms for advertising on China-specific domains, especially on their most popular channels.

Programmatic Ads in China: More Mobile, Less Desktop

From surfing social media to making online bookings, ordering food, hailing cabs, paying bills, purchasing goods, and more, Chinese netizens rely heavily on smartphones in their daily lives.

5. The Scale of mobile internet users and their proportion of total internet users in China

The scale of mobile internet users (blue bar) and their proportion of total internet users in China (red line). Scale: 10,000. (Source: CNNIC)

The graph above indicates just how heavily Chinese people rely on mobile phones: There are 932 million active mobile phones across the country, representing a staggering 99.2% penetration rate among total internet users. Many users even own mobile phones as their only source of internet access.

China shows great growth potential with its current internet user penetration rate at only 67% of its total population (approx. 940 million people). This potential is increasingly self-evident as rural citizens have begun using the internet more profusely, particularly in 2020.

6. Internet Penetration rate in urban areas vs rural areas

Internet penetration rate in urban areas (blue) vs rural areas (red)

 

7. Proportion of urban internet users vs rural internet users Proportion of urban internet users (blue) vs rural internet users (red)

In terms of digital ad spending, China is rapidly catching up with the US, the highest global spender. The latter houses 275 million mobile users—an approximate 97% mobile penetration rate—and almost 85% of its population has internet access.

As Chinese mobile apps continue evolving to meet higher demand, mobile usage will continue to grow. Thus, companies should shift R&D towards mobile over desktop.

Programmatic Ads in China: BAT = Operational Silos

Facebook and Google’s shared duopoly is out of the equation in China’s digital advertising market.

However, China’s programmatic advertising marketplace has its own players that dominate market share: Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent (a.k.a. BAT) are regional powerhouses that dominate web search, e-commerce, and social. Behind them are newcomers, like RED and Bytedance, that have more recently entered the market.

Unlike in North America, where publishers plug into third-party technology vendors to manage ad sales, publishers in China build and rely on their own programmatic ad technology. As BAT makes up China’s most dominant publishers, they have their own platforms to control advertising, operating as silos independent of one another.

Programmatic Ads in China: Difficulty Obtaining and Sharing Data

While dominant players like BAT have developed sophisticated ad-buying technology, they formed their own closed ecosystems in the process. Therefore, ad campaigns cannot be centrally optimized given the difficulties in sharing data across platforms.

Programmatic Ads in China: An Opaque Market

China’s digital market is more opaque than the rest of the world.

Ad networks in the west generally charge transparent service fees and allow real-time bidding on their platforms. Real-time bidding, in turn, facilitates purchasing of ad impressions based on market prices.

In comparison, ad exchanges are mainly private in China, where the ad impressions are less open to real-time bidding. Limited real-time bidding lets publishers earn higher profit margins.

Programmatic Ads in China: A Less Standardized, More Fragmented Market

Inferencing from the above, we can observe China’s complex media environment. In this environment, where publishers prefer owning their ad exchanges, there is no one way to manage all advertising on a single platform. This market fragmentation also implies that ads can come in many different shapes and sizes.

Programmatic Ads in China: Fraudulent Practices

Ad frauds are a well-known occurrence across the programmatic advertising industry, and China’s market unfortunately shares that limelight.

Ad frauds occur in many forms, including:

  • Bad bots that fake ad exchange impressions/clicks
  • Stacking ads on top of one another, with only the top-most ad being visible to users
  • Fake ‘ghost’ sites that imitate the look and feel of legitimate websites to get approved by ad networks (to have ads displayed on their site)

Over the last few years, the digital ad fraud rate in China rose as high as 40%. In 2019, ad frauds in China even accounted for 30.7% of the total advertising spend. By stark contrast, it was estimated that ad fraud accounted for just 2.4% in the UK during the same period.

A way around it: iPinyou

iPinyou is the programmatic advertising giant that connects into the ad exchange of BAT.

Founded in 2008, it was one of the first companies to bring programmatic buying to China. iPinyou is China’s largest independent demand-side platform (DSP), accounting for 59.8% of the local programmatic buying market serving branded advertisers. It now serves an average of 24 billion ads daily.

Headquartered in Beijing, with offices in Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Silicon Valley, iPinyou owns the largest and highest quality DSP available within and outside China.

8. iPinYou's reach in ChinaiPinYou’s reach in China

Programmatic Ads in China: iPinyou

iPinyou’s success is down to its foresight.

iPinYou Partnerships

We’ve mentioned the unwillingness of the big BAT publishers to share data across platforms and that they work very much in silo.

There’s good news though. As iPinyou is a DSP and not a publisher, it can work closely with Baidu and other internet giants in China, including (but not limited to) e-commerce site JD.com and OTA’s sites Ctrip and Qunar.com. Forming such close partnerships gives iPinyou data access for cross-data analysis, which can optimize ad spend across the iPinyou programmatic platform.

iPinYou Transparency

China’s advertising world is constantly Information isn’t always readily disclosed.

In a bid to promote transparency in digital advertising, iPinyou was the first to launch a fully transparent trading platform (Optimus Prime) integrable with third-party monitoring and safety companies, like IAS and Grapeshot. With zero tolerance for fraud, they develop products based on big data and artificial intelligence to minimize inefficiencies.

Entering the Chinese digital market isn’t as daunting as it seems, though working with the right platforms is critical to success. With iPinyou as our DSP partner, we help foreign advertisers connect with China’s lucrative pool of audiences.

What is Programmatic Advertising?

In broad terms, programmatic advertising is the automation of media purchase and advertisement placement in the digital sphere.

Before programmatic advertising came into the fray, digital ad placements were manually bought and sold by people. Programmatic advertising eliminates this need for sales resources and, through machine learning, optimizes ad space allocations, increases cost efficiency, and reduces human error.

By relying on programmatic capabilities, people can save time originally intended for manually preparing insertion orders or ad tagging and instead optimize the quality of their campaigns.

9. Programmatic Display Network in ChinaProgrammatic display network in China

What is a DSP?

A demand-side platform, or DSP, is a centralized automation tool that allows advertisers to purchase, serve, and track ads across the entire media landscape. They plug into ad exchanges and ad networks, where a variety of publishers make their ad inventory accessible.

DSPs help to optimize their ad inventory by:

  • Analyzing the impressions SSPs (refer below) put out, and
  • Regularly performing real-time bidding (RTB) to purchase on behalf of advertisers

With DSPs, advertisers can capitalize on a broader ad inventory to optimize their targeting of large audiences.

What is an SSP?

Supply-side platforms, or SSPs, work similarly to DSPs, but think of them as platforms designed for publishers instead. Publishers use SSPs to place, manage, and optimize their online ad inventory.

Publishers can also maximize revenue by setting price floors—the minimum price at which they are willing to sell their impressions, either to specific buyers or through channels. Likewise, SSPs plugs into ad exchanges and ad networks, connecting to DSPs.

What are ad networks?

Imagine a department store where various brands are available within one store. In this analogy, the shoppers are the advertisers, while the brands represent the publishers. An ad network is akin to a department store, except it exists digitally.

For publishers, they will want to sell their leftover ad inventory in as many ‘department stores’ (ad networks) to maximize their sales.

Meanwhile, ad networks help advertisers connect with as many ‘brands’ (publishers) as possible.

Since the ad inventory segments into various targeting categories (age, location, gender, etc.), advertisers will purchase ad inventory on a grand scale based on their desired target audience. This would be quite time-consuming if done manually.

What are ad exchanges?

While ad networks are a simplified way of buying and selling ad inventory, publishers still face large pools that are unsold. As such, ad exchanges were born, where impressions sell in real-time and command a market price.

In ad exchanges, publishers can view who buys their ad inventory, while advertisers can gain insights on impression-level data. Altogether, price and shared information become more transparent—a win-win!

Now, visualize a marketplace with ongoing auctions. This encapsulates ad exchanges in a nutshell, where DSPs, SSPs, publishers, advertisers, agencies, and ad networks continually buy and sell ad inventory. Through real-time bidding (RTB), ad inventory is sold on a ‘per-impression’ basis, where the highest bidder wins.

To recap, ad exchanges help publishers maximize their unsold ad inventory. For advertisers, because targeting specifics are more honed in ad exchanges than in ad networks, they can bid for impressions based on behavioral targeting. In this scenario, advertisers can maximize the value of their ad spend.

***

Programmatic display advertising (also known as banner advertising) allows brands to display ads across multiple sites and platforms with greater targeting control.

This level of display automation allows you to leverage existing networks to better reach users in China across the buying journey, generating greater re-targeting opportunities and subsequently customer retention.

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]]> Travel Trends from China’s Golden Week 2020 https://www.theegg.com/social/china/travel-trends-from-chinas-golden-week-2020/ Fri, 06 Nov 2020 09:18:16 +0000 https://www.theegg.com/?p=31733 The post Travel Trends from China’s Golden Week 2020 appeared first on The Egg.

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Travel Trends from China’s Golden Week 2020

In celebration of China’s National Day, which is on October 1 each year, people in China get a week of holiday. This holiday is also known as Golden Week.

This year, China’s Mid-Autumn Festival also fell on October 1, coinciding with Golden Week. This meant that there were 8 consecutive days off! Such an occurrence is so rare that the next one won’t happen again until 2031.

Usually, Golden Week is the biggest travel time in China, with millions of Chinese people travelling domestically and internationally. Of course, however, 2020 has been different. But there were still some interesting travel trends as domestic tourism boomed.

In this article, we’ll look at some of the travel trends from Golden Week 2020 and what they could mean for the future of travel in China.

Golden Week 2020 Travel Trend 1:
Strong Travel Marketing Initiatives

Being the first long holiday since COVID-19, Golden Week spurred enthusiasm in many to travel. To help speed up recovery for domestic travel, 20 provincial and municipal governments issued travel coupons. But governments weren’t the only ones crafting enticing offers.

To attract online bookings, major tourism platforms also offered deeply discounted tickets for accommodations, airfares, train travel, and more. Many OTAs launched a ‘Consumption Subsidy War,’ in which they offered huge discounts ahead of Golden Week to seize a share of local tourism.

For instance, Ctrip collaborated with more than 15 provinces and cities to launch travel coupons and consumer vouchers for hotel accommodations, scenic attraction tickets, tourist routes, and other products. By the eve of Golden Week, more than 1,500 scenic spots across the country offered complimentary entry, promotions, or large-scale discounts.

Riding on its sales promotion—Connecting you to the Motherland this National Day—Ctrip offered a discount of up to RMB ¥500 for car rentals and RMB ¥600 for travel and group tour products. There was also up to RMB ¥70 discounts on attraction entry tickets and up to RMB ¥35 discounts for local specialty products. All these discounts amounted to more than RMB ¥1,800.

Ctrip’s Sales Page: Connecting you to the Motherland this National Day

Golden Week 2020 Travel Trend 2:
Strong Travel Demand

Strong travel demand has led to a significant recovery in local tourism in China. According to the National Tourism Administration, China saw 637 million local tourists over Golden Week 2020—79% more than 2019. Golden Week 2020 also generated a revenue of RMB ¥466.56 billion—70% higher than 2019.

Ctrip’s data shows that the peak travelling traffic started a day before Golden Week this year. On 1 October, there were 15.09 million passengers on railways and 1.67 million passengers on airplanes, which set a new single-day high for travel since the outbreak.

Demand for sight-seeing and short-distance trips continued to increase, driving the market demand for “high-speed rail tours” and outdoor tours.

Golden Week 2020 Travel Trend 3:
Staycations on the Rise

‘Hotels as destinations’ is a new trend, particularly among travelers to luxury hotels.

Dr. Liang Jianzhang, co-founder and chairman of Ctrip, conducted livestream sessions and generated demand for domestic luxury hotel stays; sales of which reached new heights: During Golden Week 2020, Ctrip’s hotel pre-sales increased more than 100% month-on-month, with 4- and 5-star hotels accounting for nearly half of the overall hotel bookings.

Golden Week 2020 Travel Trend 4:
Outdoor Travel

Seaside, riverside, and historical town hotels were among the favourite destinations for Golden Week 2020. Sanya, Dali, Xiamen, Qingdao, and Xi’an were the popular cities for hotel stays. To encourage longer stays, Ctrip offered special discounts of up to 40% for travelers who stayed for 3-7 days.

Golden Week 2020 Travel Trend 5:
Greater Northwest

In addition to the popular traditional destinations, the demand for “greater northwest” locations surged by a whopping 475% year-on-year. The greater northwest region of China includes 5 provinces: Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, and Xinjiang, which are part of Inner Mongolia.

According to Ctrip, there were three dark horse travel destinations during Golden Week 2020: China’s version of Route 66 (a u-shaped highway) and the China’s version of the Maldives (Dongtai Jinel Lake), and The Devil’s Eye.

Dongtai Jinel Lake (middle), Devil’s Eye (bottom-left), and China’s version of Route 66 (bottom-right)

In the tropical greater northwest region of China, car rentals were popular, increasing by 207% year-on-year. Many preferred to have their whole family travel in one vehicle–thus, the high demand for luxury and SUV car models. Visiting deserts, big rivers, and Danxia landforms, riding camels, and walking along the Silk Road were also social media-worthy activities in this region.

Desert (top-left), foot of a snow mountain (top-right), Danxia landforms (bottom-left), and camels (bottom-right)

Golden Week 2020 Travel Trend 6:
Strong Travel Demand Among Younger Generations

The ratio of male travelers to female was 52:48 during Golden Week 2020. Those born after 1990 (aged 30 and younger) were a force to be reckoned with, accounting for more than 60% of domestic tourists.

***

Ctrip predicted in their Revival Report that domestic travel within China would boom post-COVID. And that has certainly been the case, particularly during Golden Week 2020.

As every crisis presents new opportunities, it is necessary to keep your finger on the pulse of new travel trends in China so that you can reach your traveling audience at the right time and on the right platform to help survive during and thrive after this global crisis.

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]]> Top 10 Tips to Optimize your WeChat Official Account https://www.theegg.com/social/china/10-tips-to-optimize-your-wechat-official-account/ Fri, 18 Sep 2020 09:01:28 +0000 https://www.theegg.com/?p=31626 The post Top 10 Tips to Optimize your WeChat Official Account appeared first on The Egg.

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Top 10 Tips to Optimize your WeChat Official Account

As the entire world catapulted online in the wake of COVID-19, China was no exception: Its #1 social platform—WeChat—continued to grow and connect brands with +1 billion monthly active users.

Here, discover 10 tips to effectively manage your WeChat official account—the premier channel for brands to reach their audiences in China’s new normal.

Before we get started, a quick note on the basics of WeChat official accounts:

  • A WeChat official account is essentially a business or enterprise account that acts as your brand hub, bringing together your followers, blogs, videos, ads, mini programs, circles, and more, in one platform.
  • It takes about 2-3 weeks to set up a WeChat official account, if everything goes smoothly with the WeChat verification process. You will need a business license (either Chinese or foreign) along with other supporting documentation.

Optimize your WeChat Official Account Tip 1:
Finalize your posts before publishing

In the world of traditional marketing, once our artwork is printed, we know we can’t make any changes without reprinting or damaging the final artwork.

On the flip side, in the world of digital marketing, we expect that even when we publish something, we can always make amendments.

This is true for most platforms, but not for WeChat.

Once an article is posted, you can only make edits of up to 20 Chinese characters—beyond that, there is no changing of images, no editing of header titles (which appear on WeChat push images), etc.

Action: Make sure that you’ve done all editing before you publish and only post the final version so that you don’t have to delete the post, losing any engagement or push quota.

Optimize your WeChat Official Account Tip 2:
Protect your push quota

WeChat official accounts are of two types: service or subscription. Each type allows only a certain push quota:

  • A WeChat service account allows you up to 4 pushes a month.
  • A WeChat subscription account allows you up to 1 push a day.

Sometimes, particularly given the editing limits described in tip 1, you may need to delete an entire post. This means you would have used up 1 push within your quota:

  • For a service account, you would have 3 pushes left for the entire month.
  • For a subscription account, you would have 0 pushes left for that day.

This push quota loss may be disruptive, as it may change your posting schedule and topics.

Action: Ensure your post is well-prepared before publishing—and think critically before deleting.

Optimize your WeChat Official Account Tip 3:
Include up to 8 posts in 1 push

While you are only allowed up to 4 pushes/month for a service account and 1 push/day for a subscription account, the good news is that each push allows you share up to 8 articles at once.

Action: Maximize your pushes by including up to 8 articles relevant to your target audience—if that amount of articles fits your brand strategy/editorial calendar.

Optimize your WeChat Official Account Tip 4:
Customize your welcome message

In the past, customizable welcome messages were available only for WeChat official accounts registered with a Chinese business license. For WeChat official accounts registered with a foreign business license, the default message users would get when they followed the account was “Thanks for following me.”

Now, all WeChat official accounts can customize their welcome messages.

Action: Make sure you create a warm welcome message for your new followers!

Optimize your WeChat Official Account Tip 5:
Respond to inquiries quickly

WeChat has a chat function (located at the bottom of your official account menu page) where your followers can send text messages to you. Most of the time, they ask questions or have business enquiries.

Note that you must respond to your WeChat messages within 48 hours. After 48 hours, the reply field will be greyed out, and you will not be able to respond at all.

Action: Make sure you respond to your WeChat messages quickly so as not to ignore inquiries and lose follower trust.

Optimize your WeChat Official Account Tip 6:
Be prepared if you need an account name change

Annually, your WeChat account must go through a verification/renewal process for which there is a cost of USD $99 (for foreign accounts) or RMB ¥300 (for domestic accounts). The renewal process ensures that your account continues to be official and enjoy the full benefits of a verified account.

However, for whatever reason, you may wish to change your account name; for this, there will be a fee of USD $99 (for foreign accounts) or RMB ¥300 (for domestic accounts).

Additionally, you will need to resubmit all your documentation, including business license, identification card of account holder, last 3 months phone bill, etc. The whole process will take a couple of weeks.

While this name change may seem like an added expense, it actually isn’t, because it also renews your account for the upcoming year–something you would have to do anyways. For example, if your annual verification is due on December 25, 2020, and you change your name on September 25, 2020, this process will ensure that your account is validated all the way until December 25, 2021, when you will have to conduct your annual verification again.

Action: Make sure you’ve got all your renewal documentation and payment information prepared when you want to change your account name.

Optimize your WeChat Official Account Tip 7:
Don’t plagiarize!

WeChat identifies and penalizes plagiarism.

Even if you slightly modify an existing article and post it to your account, WeChat can pinpoint egregious similarities. When you post, WeChat will immediately warn you that the content is similar to another account’s content and ask if you are certain you want to post.

Further, if you modify an article that is labelled as original in WeChat, your modified post will not show at all. Instead, it will redirect to the original post, causing you to lose readership and direct all traffic to the original article.

If you would like to reuse original articles from other official accounts, you may contact that brand directly to whitelist your account, so that you may repost the content without being penalized.

Action: Ensure that your account is whitelisted if you want to repost other original content to avoid WeChat investigating and penalizing your account up to and including full account removal. Otherwise, only share your own original, high-quality content on your account.

Optimize your WeChat Official Account Tip 8:
Register up to 2 accounts under 1 business license

One business license, be it foreign or Chinese, is allowed to register up to 2 WeChat official accounts, be it service or subscription.

Action: Maximize your business license by adding up to 2 accounts—if that matches your brand strategy.

Optimize your WeChat Official Account Tip 9:
Do not include external hyperlinks in articles

If you are a standard WeChat official account holder, there is no way to include external hyperlinks within the body of your WeChat article text. Only authenticated accounts activated with WeChat Pay and government or media accounts can include hyperlinks.

However, you can include an external link under the Read more section located at the end of your article. This can help drive traffic to your brand’s website or other content outside of the WeChat ecosystem.

Action: Do not include external hyperlinks in your article body but do include external links under the Read more section at the end of your article.

Optimize your WeChat Official Account Tip 10:
Do include internal hyperlinks in articles

Even if your account is ineligible for external hyperlinks, you are able to insert internal links to other WeChat articles. These other WeChat articles can be ones you’ve posted or ones posted by other official accounts.

Action: Include internal links so you can drive more traffic to and engagement with your WeChat articles.

***

Following these 10 tips will help you optimize your WeChat official account. However, as WeChat constantly evolves, these may change. Stay tuned to our blog for the latest WeChat tips and trends as new WeChat features emerge.

Are you ready to maximize your marketing on WeChat?

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]]> 5 Tips for Asia Travel Marketing amidst Global Travel Restrictions https://www.theegg.com/seo/apac/5-tips-for-asia-travel-marketing-amidst-global-travel-restrictions/ Thu, 13 Aug 2020 07:45:29 +0000 https://www.theegg.com/?p=31535 The post 5 Tips for Asia Travel Marketing amidst Global Travel Restrictions appeared first on The Egg.

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As strict travel restrictions are being enforced around the world, economies and brands are quickly readapting their marketing approaches.

In this article, we share five marketing tips (and examples of these strategies in action!) to cultivate tourism consideration and consumption in Asia amidst global travel restrictions.

Travel Marketing Tip 1: Offer attractive, time-flexible deals

During this time and into Asia’s new normal of travel, it’s key to offer enticing deals that encourage spending now but that are time-flexible and considerate of traveler’s safety concerns.

Depending on the volatility of the local or destination’s COVID-19 situation, travelers may need or feel the need to book for a far future date and/or rebook their original dates.

Your deals should allow this flexibility and be attractive in terms of offerings and price so that people can buy now but free from the worry of future fluctuations.

Example 1: Banyan Tree Ultimate Getaways

Singapore-based Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts is famed for its natural, luxurious, and eco-friendly hospitality experiences. As a 5-star resort operator, Banyan Tree commands a higher price point to complement the quality it ushers for guests.

In May 2020, Banyan Tree launched a one-off ‘Ultimate Getaways’ campaign that offered vouchers for up to 78% off on a 3-day, 2-night stay in selected resorts across South East Asia and the Maldives.

Travelers could purchase an unlimited number of vouchers. And not only was this deal accessible and offered at a great price, it was also flexible, allowing travelers until December 31, 2021 to use their voucher(s).

Initially launched for 6 days, the overwhelmingly well-received campaign extended into 7 days. And even amidst technical difficulties, Banyan Tree offered multi-channel support to its customers and worked to honor all purchases.

Example of Banyan Tree Ultimate Getaways Deal

 

Example of Banyan Tree Support

Travel Marketing Tip 2: Offer ‘while-supplies-last’ deals

To instill a sense of urgency, it can also be effective to offer deals that are limited in quantity and only available for purchase during selected time slots.

This type of campaign encourages travelers to engage with your brand at certain times when they are captive and ready to purchase.

Example 2: Fliggy Travel-As-You-Please (飞猪任性飞)

From July 15-31, 2020, Fliggy, an OTA (online travel app) in China, launched a ‘Travel-As-You-Please’ promotion, during which it released a limited quantity of RMB ¥66 flight tickets (each holding a value of RMB ¥500) every day at 10am and 8pm. Only 40,000 tickets were released.

Coupled with the deeply discounted price, the limited quantity made the deal desirable for travelers to anticipate and virtually line-up for them.

The unique selling point of this offer was that it did not limit customers to a particular airline or flight schedule. After lucky travelers managed to purchase the Fliggy offer, they could choose anywhere they wanted to fly to, as long as it was a domestic flight and they purchased their tickets within 30 days.

Example of Fliggy’s Travel-As-You-Please Promotion

Travel Marketing Tip 3: Create deeper local experiences

Given international travel restrictions, many brands are looking inward, focusing on domestic travel, staycations, and helping local people rediscover local experiences.

Example 3: Singapoliday and Holiday-At-Home

Singapore and Hong Kong have respectively launched Singapoliday and Holiday-At-Home campaigns to encourage the rediscovery of local experiences.

Singapore and Hong Kong being relatively small regions, residents here often think they’ve explored every bit of their city. But the goal has been to inspire locals to rediscover what makes their homes global tourist destinations.

Staycations, dining, shopping, attractions, and tours are either bundled, made privy, or discounted by participating brands, creating a refreshing way for residents to re-experience local.

As said by Hong Kong’s commerce minister Edward Yau Yang-wah, local experiences should be reimagined for local visitors, such as “adding fresh elements to familiar attractions and places, perhaps by using virtual reality technology to illustrate historical information or by putting on appealing art displays.”

Travel Marketing Tip 4: Encourage online activities

Now more than ever, people are engaging online rather than off. And many brands have recognized that their customers are either in some form of lockdown or cautious about heading out in bigger groups.

As a result, brands have rapidly moved their activities online.

Some restaurants conduct cooking masterclasses online, while some craft workshops shifted from an offline setting to online classes.

A further way to increase attractiveness is to conduct classes in conjunction with special guests who join in virtually, sometimes from across the world—a move that people might not have thought feasible pre-pandemic.

Example 4: Ctrip gets creative with livestream

Since the beginning of the pandemic, China recognized that it will be some time before international travel can resume.

Dr. Liang Jianzhang, Co-founder and Chairman of Ctrip, one of China’s largest OTAs, got creative with livestreaming. In an unusual move, he created his own livestream channel, called “BOSS Live” where he plays multiple characters from both historical and modern days to engage his audience.

This novelty fared and paired well with the attraction of livestream being that prices are heavily discounted on the products/services promoted within the livestream.

For instance, Dr. Liang did a livestream session for Labor Day selling hotel rooms in Jiangsu as low as 60% off. In another example, during the May 20 festival, known to the Chinese as 520 (“I love you” festival), Dr Liang’s livestreaming session helped over 230 luxury hotels sell more than 520,000 rooms. The rooms all came at a heavily discounted price. Not only did he help vendors promote rooms, but consumers also saved more than RMB ¥100 million.

Dr. Liang’s Impersonations through Historical and Modern China

Example of Dr. Liang conducting a livestream session as Confucius, talking about romance and travel during the 520 festival

Travel Marketing Tip 5: Improve online customer service

Improving online customer service is critical. And while it may not produce immediate sales results, when done well, it will generate a long-lasting positive brand sentiment in the minds of consumers.

Example 5: AirAsia’s WhatsApp service

In late July 2020, Malaysian low-cost airline AirAsia launched its AVA (AirAsia Virtual Allstar) customer service chatbot on WhatsApp, available in eleven languages:

  • English
  • Bahasa Malaysia
  • Thai
  • Bahasa Indonesia
  • Vietnamese
  • Korean
  • Tagalog
  • Hindi
  • Japanese
  • Simplified Chinese
  • Traditional Chinese

A customer-centric, digitally led company, AirAsia listened to the needs of consumers. During this period of COVID-19, when flights are constantly disrupted and customers are lost and confused amidst long phone queues trying to clarify bookings and refunds, there was a significant need to improve the after-sales experience through a convenient online channel.

In AVA’s WhatsApp chat, queries are addressed promptly through a virtual bot. And if users want to connect with a real-life customer service officer, they don’t need to physically hold on the line—they can easily view the countdown until it’s their turn. This reduces the hassle of managing flight changes and cancellations.

AirAsia is currently operating domestic flights and limited international flights, and this customer-centric move increases the potential of existing customers to reengage with the airline once domestic and global travel restrictions open up further.

Example of the AVA Chatbot Support

***

While a crisis is of course never desirable, it can create opportunities for brands to reinvent and improve their marketing strategies to match consumer sentiment on a more human level.

Besides tactical promotions that yield immediate sales results, marketing to consumer needs and uncovering underlying desires can help to elevate your brand image during and beyond a crisis like COVID-19.

Need help reaching your audience in Asia?

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]]> A New Normal? Travel Outlook for China https://www.theegg.com/social/china/a-new-normal-travel-outlook-for-china/ Thu, 16 Jul 2020 06:26:15 +0000 https://www.theegg.com/?p=31469 The post A New Normal? Travel Outlook for China appeared first on The Egg.

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While China’s Labor Day holiday in May showed a promising uptick in domestic travel, the question became whether that trend would continue to strengthen.

In this article, we examine travel sentiment in China, particularly leading up to the next big holiday—National Day (Golden Week) in early October, which produces the greatest surge of Chinese travelers every year, usually globally but this year domestically in China’s new normal for travel.

Next Big Travel Point in China: National Day

Optimistically, based on data from 360 Search, the #1 web browser in China, search demand for China’s National Day holiday in Q1 2020 exceeded Q1 2019 search demand. Summer holidays (July and August) also received greater search demand in Q1 2020 than Q1 2019.

Ultimately, this shows rising levels of confidence and desire to travel.

It is expected that travel enthusiasm will grow in the coming months leading up to National Day and throughout the summer holidays, as users search travel destinations, consume travel content, book transportation and hotels, follow travel KOLs, engage on social media, and more.

This holiday could potentially be China’s recovery turning point in tourism.

According to 360 Search data from the May Day holiday, people were keen to travel domestically, and there was significant interest in self-driving.

For the upcoming National Day holiday, it is anticipated that travelers will remain interested in domestic travel, but particularly cross-provincial—so still within China, but farther away from their places of residence than they traveled during May Day.

Outbound travel sentiment is still abysmally low, with just 8.1% of overall searches showing interest. Of course, this will take more time to recover as situations continue to unfold around the world.

Consumer Demand for Travel in China: Domestic + Hygienic

To analyze consumer sentiment for travel, McKinsey did a month-on-month comparison between April and May.

Based on their comparison in April 2020 as opposed to May 2020, traveling sentiment up to National Day is relatively stable, while beyond that it fluctuates, with a jump of more users who are unsure of their travel plans from 7% to 18%, respectively.

Safety is one of the most important factors for people in deciding whether or not to travel. As McKinsey reported, respondents with the lowest expectations of safety showed a strong leaning to deferring travel to after Chinese New Year 2021.

Safety sentiment rose slightly between April and May for short- and long-haul domestic travel; however, it still received a low overall score. This is coupled with the perception gap that travelers experience of expected safety versus actual safety in domestic travel.

While long-term travel sentiment has met with volatility, there is positivity for short-term travel. Marketers can focus their efforts on promoting the upcoming National Day holiday and work with operators that are heavily invested in traveler safety as part of the new normal in China: domestic, hygienic travel.

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]]> 4 Travel Trends from China’s First Holiday Post-Lockdown https://www.theegg.com/social/china/4-travel-trends-from-chinas-first-holiday-post-lockdown/ Thu, 28 May 2020 06:34:13 +0000 https://www.theegg.com/?p=31248 The post 4 Travel Trends from China’s First Holiday Post-Lockdown appeared first on The Egg.

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This year, China’s labor day holiday—dubbed 小长假, which translates to a pun: “small-long holiday”—took place from May 1-5.

After the first holiday since reopening its economy, China can offer insights to the rest of the world on what to expect as consumers emerge from lockdown, particularly in terms of travel.

We can also see opportunities for how marketers and operators can adapt to the needs of consumers and prepare for when countries open domestic travel and eventually global travel.

Here, discover four ‘May Day’ travel trends in China.

4 Post-Lockdown China Travel Trends

  1. Safety is critical for travel
  2. Independent travel is in greatest demand
  3. Driving is dominating
  4. Rural tourism is recovering strongly

1. Safety is critical for travel

Although the state of the pandemic is improving in China, traveling with peace of mind is still the most important factor for tourists.

Recently, Ctrip partnered with five major business types—tour-group ticketers, attraction ticketers, independent travel (scenic spots and hotels) ticketers, car rental companies, and transportation companies—to launch the “Epidemic Prevention and Tour Relief Alliance.”

This partnership guarantees a greater standard of service in core areas, including:

  • Safety and protective measures
  • Early reservations
  • On-site experiences
  • Online discounts
  • After-sales assistance

Ctrip revealed that to maintain order at scenic destinations with large tourist flows, they launched a smart service system so people can make reservations and queues can be better managed. A strategic cooperation plan that addresses ticketing, admission, on-site experiences, and after-sales assistance is also in place to help scenic destinations recover.

2. Independent travel is in greatest demand

Post-pandemic, what is China’s preferred travelling style in 2020?

This pie chart shows the survey results of 15,000 Chinese respondents from over 100 cities in China:

  • 45% of respondents are interested in independent travel.
  • 37% are interested in group tours (such as private groups, semi-self-help groups, destination groups, etc.).
  • 18% are interested in custom tours.

This also matches Ctrip data, which shows that 70% of travelers are now choosing to travel independently.

3. Driving is dominating

People are choosing to drive as their main form of transport. And many are driving to the outskirts of cities for short trips or staycations.

Key phrases—like “rural homestays in Beijing,” “one day adventure in Tianjin,” “outdoor camping in Beijing,” etc.—have risen by 30%.

4. Rural tourism is recovering strongly

In a previous article, we wrote about how a B&B (bed and breakfast) owner with homestays in the mountainous area of Mount Mogan had to find ways to save his business during the initial outbreak in China when all homestays were put on pause.

Now, rural tourism is recovering strongly. This is backed by a rise of 233.7% in homestay bookings, an indispensable part of rural tourism, as reported by Mafengwo.

Rural tourist destinations are characterized by low population density, outdoor activities as the main attraction (and hence better air circulation too!), charming accommodation, and rustic culture, making it one of the hottest tourism trends.

At the moment, a tour group is only allowed to visit rural areas around the city that the tour group is from. For instance, a tour group from Shanghai is only allowed to explore the rural areas of Shanghai.

However, if you are travelling independently, there is no limit to where you can travel. It’s no surprise then that independent, driving travel to rural areas is on the rise.

Following the news of the mutual recognition of “healthy green codes” in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, and the Yangtze River Delta, rural tourism surrounding these cities quickly became top choices for May Day travelers.

It is believed that homestays with high hygiene standards, strict safety measures, and exceptional service standards have seen a peak in their bookings during the May Day holiday.

So, what are ways to enjoy rural tourism? Mafengwo big data has revealed that the most popular keyword searches for rural tourism include:

  • Picnic
  • Camping
  • Hiking
  • RVs
  • Bungee jumping
  • Mountain climbing

Among these, “picnic” rose 67% week-on-week, “bungee jump” rose 40% week-on-week, and “mountain climbing” rose 36% week-on-week.

Bookings in southeastern cities, such as Zhejiang, Jiangsu, and Guangdong, were relatively popular, while Mount Mogan, Qiandao Lake, Tonglu, Anji, and Mount Qingcheng saw significant increases in keyword search popularity. Finally, hot topics around homestays, such as “influencer homestays,” “tenting, farmhouses,” “resorts,” “tree houses,” etc., all rose by more than 30%.

***

Consumer demands for travel have changed. As marketers, it helps to be in tune with the ever-changing needs of travelers.

Granted, the situation will continue to change as long as COVID-19 is prevalent in our communities; but, keeping up with travel trends can help us plan and prepare for when one of the world’s largest source of tourists—Chinese people—get to travel globally once again.

Need help reaching your target market in China?

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]]> Ctrip’s Travel Revival Report: Preparing for the road to recovery post-COVID-19 https://www.theegg.com/social/china/ctrips-travel-revival-report-preparing-for-the-road-to-recovery-post-covid-19/ Wed, 08 Apr 2020 03:42:28 +0000 https://www.theegg.com/?p=30841 The post Ctrip’s Travel Revival Report: Preparing for the road to recovery post-COVID-19 appeared first on The Egg.

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“The pandemic did not kill travel demand. It only postponed it.” – Sun Jie, Ctrip’s CEO

Ctrip recently released and shared with us its travel revival report. It includes positive trends and promising data and shows Ctrip’s confidence in China’s travel economy for the months ahead.

According to Ctrip, at the peak of the COVID-19 outbreak in China, domestic travel willingness dropped by 27%, but has now recovered to 92%. Similarly, international travel willingness dropped by 35% at the pandemic peak, but has now recovered to 86%.

In a previous article, we wrote about how online travel apps (OTAs) can use this lull period to innovate their services and systems. In this article, we look at how Ctrip, one of China’s biggest OTAs, has done just that—proactively taking strategic steps in anticipation of the impending strong travel rebound.

Travel Wish Index

Ctrip and another of China’s biggest travel portals, Mafengwo, conducted a survey to assess consumer travel demands. The survey was done in the form of a wish list. Thousands participated and signaled a clear travel demand.

Using its own big data, Ctrip also compiled a list of overseas destinations categorized by theme along with the countries of greatest interest to Chinese travelers.

Trends in Chinese traveler behavior after similar outbreaks

According to previous data from similar outbreaks like SARS and MERS, Chinese travel demand experienced a strong rebound.

Based on its social media trends and data findings, Ctrip prepared a V-shaped, 3-phased road to recovery. They also improved their marketing efforts to provide better services to their users and brand marketers alike.

Ctrip’s Forecast for 2020: China’s tourism market post-outbreak

The 3 phases of Ctrips road to recovery include:

  • Resumed confidence: February to March
  • Initial recovery: March to June
  • Explosive growth: June to August

This coincides with Chinese National Day in October where travel demand is expected to peak. Domestic travel is expected to recover the quickest, followed by international travel.

Phase 1: Resumed Confidence (February to March)

In this phase, Ctrip worked with other social media platforms and KOLs to put out soft-sell travel content. Brands can use this to reach out to their target audience. The idea is to increase the frequency of user-generated content and capture user aspiration.

This phase is also known as “种草”, a term that describes planting a seed in users’ minds to grow their desire. One such example is “cloud traveling”, where brands create beautiful, compelling content and imagery that helps users feel as if they are actually visiting a  destination—but of course it’s virtual.

Below are cloud traveling examples in China.

Podcasts about different destinations coupled with tickets that users can purchase

A compilation of cherry blossom cloud traveling destinations within China.

Ctrip partnered with KOL 李锐 and social media platform Kuaishou to share a series of travel livestreams

Phase 2: Initial Recovery (March to June)

During the initial recovery period, Ctrip will launch a pre-sale of tickets and support these sales with strong customer service.

The pre-sale includes domestic and overseas tickets for flights, hotels, and attractions. As price competitiveness is one of Ctrip’s core competencies, the pre-sale tickets launched at a discount of up to 50%.

To encourage users to get on board, Ctrip has launched a new service guarantee for worry-free refunds and additional safety measures.

Example of a spring festival promotion for the 5-day May Day holiday, which is anticipated to be one of the first waves of domestic travel

While the situation is ever-evolving, thus far there are 3 main aspects of Ctrip’s service guarantee:

  • Travel guarantee
    • For cancellation 7 days before the trip, Ctrip will fully refund customers.
  • Emergency service
    • There is now greater availability of Ctrip’s online customer service.
  • Service upgrade
    • Entrance to attractions will be booked online so that they can be regulated and visitors can have a good experience without needing to squeeze in.
    • Hotels listed on their promotional page must carry out strict hygiene practices, such as staff will carry out daily temperature checks, hotels will be prepared with disinfectants, and there is a presence of robots for contactless service.
    • As a thank-you gesture, medical staff gets an upgrade at participating service providers.

With the elevated standards of service, brands that participate in this can help enhance their reputation.

Phase 3: Explosive Growth (June to August)

In anticipation of the summer holidays leading up to another of China’s biggest holidays, National Day in October, Ctrip will release a series of closed-loop marketing activities through online and offline channels to further promote user interest in travel.

***

In addition to Ctrip, there are other online travel portals, such as Mafengwo, that have shaped their marketing plans in anticipation for the rebound of Chinese travelers, starting from domestic travel leading up to international travel.

At The Egg, as a partner of China’s biggest OTAs and online travel portals, we have access to the different advertising resources that can help your brand better connect with Chinese travelers. We are happy to help!

Need help capitalizing on the pent-up travel demands in China post-COVID-19?

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]]> Optimism for OTAs in China amidst COVID-19 https://www.theegg.com/social/china/optimism-for-otas-in-china-amidst-covid-19/ Tue, 17 Mar 2020 03:54:17 +0000 https://www.theegg.com/?p=30731 The post Optimism for OTAs in China amidst COVID-19 appeared first on The Egg.

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In December 2019, an unknown, novel coronavirus, which causes a disease called COVID-19, was spreading in the city of Wuhan, China.

By January 23, 2020, the central government of the People’s Republic of China locked down Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, and eventually the province of Hubei, where Wuhan is the capital.

To date (June 6, 2019) COVID-19 has spread across all continents except Antarctica, infecting more than 7 million people globally.

With the sudden outbreak of COVID-19, most industries are effected, not least of which the travel and tourism industry as travel fears and restrictions grow. Many government bodies and airport owners have stepped up to offer relief packages to hard-hit operators.

Despite the lull and unknowns, there are analysts who have a positive outlook that the travel industry will experience a strong rebound when the situation alleviates. Lee, a Maybank Economist, says, “Once this ends, my guess is that the recovery would be strong because there will be a lot of pent-up demand from tourism as well as retail sectors.”

While government intervention is helpful to keep operators going, some studies have emerged to show how businesses themselves, especially in China, the epicenter of the outbreak, must innovate for their continuity.

Case Study: Small business owners saving themselves from closure

The beautifully scenic Mount Mogan in Zhejiang Province in China is a highly competitive homestay area that attracts high-end travelers from all over the world. Here, homestay operators borrow huge amounts from banks to invest in rental renovations and hire staff.

Due to the coronavirus outbreak, many homestay owners, including Mr. Guo Huan Huan, lost all their business. As an owner of 2 private homes in Mount Mogan, Guo Huan Huan had to find alternatives to subsist during this critical period.

He and his team came up with a “Four Seasons Gift Card” pre-sales promotion. They chose Valentine’s Day to publish a hugely discounted rate for tourists looking to stay in the depths of Mount Mogan, where his homestays are located.

Usually with a price tag of more than RMB 1,000 (~USD $140) per night, this time they bundled it at RMB 1,688 (USD $240) for 4 nights. This gift card is valid for one year, and guests must split it between 4 different seasons. The good response from this promotion allowed him to keep his homestays afloat and pay the salaries of his staff for January.

On top of that, businesses in Mount Mogan are coming together to get through the crisis:

  • Many of them are on board to work with Meituan, a group-discount app that sells voucher deals from merchants, so they can deepen their offerings.
  • Homestay owners have also signed up for “Rucheng’s Homestay Card.” Rucheng, established in 2019, is a membership-based resort hotel reservation platform. By participating in Rucheng’s card program, homestays will be included in Rucheng’s year-long list of inventory, at a lower price, but with guaranteed income.
  • The nearby Longsheng Village, where bamboo agriculture accounts for 80% of each household’s income, is also facing a crisis. Bamboo is a delicate crop—it grows faster with the rain, but if it is not harvested in time, it will grow too old and too tall by the very next day. In Longsheng Village, the bamboo shoots have been piling up in a rot as the farmers are now unable to transport it to their usual destinations of Zhejiang, Shanghai, and Jiangsu due to the strict control measures of road closures. Business owners in Mount Mogan have rallied together to help these farmers promote their bamboo products to their regular customers or help them with transportation within the small town. One of them has even set up three WeChat groups to sell bamboo shoots, mushrooms, and agricultural products. She sells ​​directly to customers at the lowest market price just to help the farmers.

Research Study: How OTAs can use this opportunity to improve their offerings

Smaller businesses are not the only ones who need to refine their offers and work in partnership. This also applies to OTAs (online travel apps).

A study done by Analysys 易观 shows how the online travel industry is doing in China during the COVID-19 outbreak and how OTAs and other online travel agencies can persist through the period.

In January, the majority of the OTAs in China experienced a decline in their monthly active users. The major travel industry players of China, Ctrip, and Mafengwo, faced a decline of 4.05% and 4.50%, respectively. The greatest decline was seen in Airbnb with a drop of 13.52%.

China’s domestic tourism is also expected to hit its lowest growth rate in years.

During this crisis, many OTAs have formulated plans to maintain stability and development, addressing the need for a stable cash flow, maintaining the health of the supply chain and customer relationships, sorting out existing user assets, trying new business expansions, and preserving competitiveness while minimizing the operational pressures caused by the epidemic.

To survive, there are four essential pillars that businesses must analyze and leverage:

  • Customers/users: quality of customers and user data
  • Operations systems: standardization and flexibility of operations systems
  • Products: type, features, and unique selling points
  • Partner networks: Business health of partners, cross-border partners, and number of partners

Although this crisis is a challenge for many businesses, it also poses an opportunity for OTAs to improve. Afterall, necessity is the mother of invention.

Innovate partnerships and product offerings

There are 3 stages in the growth chain of an OTA, with stage 3.0 as the highest level.

At stage 3.0, the platform’s digital capability is in its best form. Once your OTA is at stage 3.0, you can standardize your product offerings with partners, launching training programs, sharing data, and making use of CRM systems to gain insights into user behavior and serve relevant products and offers to users.

Innovate marketing

Compelling content attracts users. Such content can ride the waves of existing hot topics.

For but one example, “Yanxi Palace” is a trending drama series in China with themes that tie back to Chinese culture. OTAs could join with other partners or KOLs to infuse influences of Yanxi Palace into their marketing efforts. Such a collaboration would not only attract a crowd, but it would also help to educate people on Chinese culture.

Different OTAs are at different stages of their marketing cycle. For instance, Ctrip, one of the biggest OTAs in China, is primarily an online platform with few offline shops. There are also some smaller-scale OTAs that are predominantly offline, with a minimal online presence.

Analysys 易观 gives insights into how varying scales of OTAs (large, medium, and small) should market:

  • Larger-scale OTAs should invest in online marketing efforts, followed by offline, and then KOL marketing. KOL marketing has the least importance here because larger OTAs are already well-recognized and well-used. Hence, bigger brands can focus on online marketing efforts.
  • Medium-scale OTAs should invest most in online marketing. Then KOL and offline marketing should share the remaining marketing weightage equally.
  • Smaller-scale OTAs, as they are less known, should invest mostly in KOL marketing for the “word-of-mouth” effect, followed by offline marketing where their businesses are mostly concentrated, and then online marketing.

Innovate overall industrial intelligence

Industrial intelligence in digital marketing for OTAs is about continuously offering online and offline touchpoints to consumers, understanding their needs, and tying that back to each platform’s operational capability.

It is about knowing how your OTA can offer the best and most suitable product to users and proactively serving them solutions on what they are thinking about before they even make their booking on the OTA.

Conclusion

OTAs getting through COVID-19 is a battle of the fittest: Product innovation and strong partnerships are just two of the ways to achieve improved results. OTAs that continually innovate their offerings during this period have a higher chance of survival, and these benefits will be passed down to consumers.

As reported by Reuters, a Chinese official expects the Chinese economy to rebound rapidly from the epidemic in the second quarter unless the outbreak worsens. While we can never predict how long this uncertainty will last, marketers too can look for the silver lining and positively plan for Chinese campaigns in their pipeline for when the economy does pick up and consumer confidence improves.

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