Digital Marketings Resources for COVID-19 Recovery | The Egg Company https://www.theegg.com/category/covid-19-resources/ Digital Agency - Search, Social, Display Thu, 24 Jun 2021 01:43:32 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.2.6 https://www.theegg.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/favicon.ico Digital Marketings Resources for COVID-19 Recovery | The Egg Company https://www.theegg.com/category/covid-19-resources/ 32 32 Baidu SEO: 2020 Search Algorithm Updates https://www.theegg.com/seo/china/baidu-seo-2020-search-algorithm-updates/ Thu, 17 Dec 2020 08:15:39 +0000 https://www.theegg.com/?p=31837 The post Baidu SEO: 2020 Search Algorithm Updates appeared first on The Egg.

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Baidu SEO: 2020 Search Algorithm Updates

This year, the world has catapulted online–no markets more so than China.

And as 2020 comes to an end, let’s look back at the algorithm updates that Baidu launched over the course of the year.

This will help search marketers and site webmasters stay up to date on rankings and organic website traffic in China to ultimately improve search engine optimization.

In this article, we discuss Baidu’s algorithm updates in 2020, their impact on Baidu search, and what actions you can take to optimize your site for Baidu.

Baidu Algorithm

 Target

Date
Ice Bucket 5.0 Bad mobile search experience 2020.06.24
Illegal Content Gambling and related illegal content 2020.04.23
Power Wind Low-quality content and malicious aggregation 2020.02.27

Baidu SEO: Ice Bucket Algorithm 5.0

Announced: Jun 24, 2020

Launched: Late Jun 2020

Summary

In March 2020, Baidu released a whitepaper on app/mobile search experience to address sites that forced users to activate apps, which seriously negatively affects user experience.

Additionally, Baidu Search upgraded its Ice Bucket Algorithm 5.0 to identify and restrict sites and smart apps that force app activations/downloads.

There are two forced app download/activation violations that Baidu targeted with this algorithm:

  • When a user clicks on a picture or a button that directly launches an app, but that has no description to inform the user of the auto launch
  • When a user clicks a link on the Baidu search results page and an app is directly launched

Actions

To ensure that you don’t get penalized under Baidu’s Ice Bucket Algorithm, optimize your mobile landing pages according to Baidu’s whitepaper. And you can also reference Baidu’s other articles for more optimization info:

Baidu SEO: Illegal Content Algorithms

Announced: Apr 23, 2020

Launched: Late Apr 2020

Summary

To provide users with a safe and healthy search service, Baidu upgraded its algorithms to severely crack down on illegal content, primarily gambling and bet-style gaming, in its search results.

Actions

Ensure the content of your website abides by Chinese law and does not endorse or support gambling or bet-style gaming.

Power Wind Algorithm

Announced: Feb 27, 2020

Launched: Late Feb 2020

Summary

Baidu launched its Power Wind algorithm to control malicious construction of aggregate pages. The algorithm covers all websites and smart app resources within Baidu Search.

An aggregate page does not have a main body of content, but rather is an indexation of links to multiple different pages.

Aggregate pages can be legitimately constructed to help users find multiple resources around a particular topic. But aggregate pages can also be maliciously constructed to draw clicks without offering any value to the user.

Malicious aggregation includes four types:

Irrelevant Content

The content of the page does not match the overall site, the overall site does not have a dedicated field, and/or the content is mostly made up of collection from other sites.

Mismatched Content

The content of the page does not match the title or the tags on the page.

Static Content

There is a static search results page generated by the website’s internal search function.

Thin Content

The page is empty, has thin content, and/or no related information.

Actions

We recommend removing low-quality aggregate pages altogether and ensuring that your pages are rich in high-quality content. Follow these steps to avoid fallout from Baidu’s Power Wind algorithm:

Review your website and remove malicious aggregate pages

Even if you feel you don’t have malicious aggregate pages, it’s still best practice to review all your pages and remove any even borderline content.

Don’t create malicious aggregate pages in the first place

It’s best for you as a webmaster, for your users as people, and for Baidu as a search engine if malicious aggregation just doesn’t exist in the first place.

Ensure your content is high-quality

High-quality content means that the text, pictures, and videos on the page are highly correlated and the content answers the searcher’s query.

***

As the world moves to a new normal of heightened digital engagement, it’s imperative that websites in China follow the law and Baidu’s own rules and regulations to ensure strong SEO in China and the ability to reach Chinese audiences.

Need help with SEO in China?

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]]> 3 Tips for SEO Success in the New Normal https://www.theegg.com/seo/apac/3-seo-tips-for-the-new-normal Thu, 03 Dec 2020 08:42:42 +0000 https://www.theegg.com/?p=31806 The post 3 Tips for SEO Success in the New Normal appeared first on The Egg.

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3 Tips for SEO Success in the New Normal

The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown the world and its economies into disarray.

Businesses around the world have taken a hit as consumers’ preferences and purchasing patterns abruptly and drastically transformed.

New regulations have changed the way both sellers and consumers operate. While economic downturn is inevitable, there are small strides that businesses can take to alleviate this pressure on a digital front.

Now more than ever, it is important for businesses to be forward-thinking to aid recovery. In this vein, Google made changes to some of its search engine features to help businesses better communicate pandemic-related information and evolve with the new normal.

Here are 3 SEO tactics to remain connected and competitive with your consumers through your owned media presence during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.

SEO Tip 1 for New Normal:
Update your details on Google My Business

Google has been making changes to its Google My Business platform since Feb 2020 for brands to show more information, particularly pertaining to COVID-19. This includes displaying whether the business is still open, any limited operating hours, any changes of locations, updated customer policies, etc.

Google aims to show the most accurate information at all times; however, this also requires a bit of additional effort on your part to ensure your information is current. But luckily, Google has made this quite simple: The Google My Business COVID-19-related features let you stay updated and connected with your consumers during the pandemic.

Example: Google My Business COVID-19-related information

This feature allows you to update according to any regulations that are in place—and these tend to change rapidly. It also allows you to add other business descriptions, such as delivery, takeout, and drive-through for F&B operations for example.

You can also select different attributes to highlight any changes in your business, such as:

  • Changes in hours of operations, e.g. if you open late or close early
  • Add ‘more hours’ to reflect a change in business operations
  • New attributes to highlight if your business offers online services, such as classes, appointments, etc.
  • Delays in business services
  • Updates on how your location manages safety and hygiene
  • Temporary closure of your business

Investing in local SEO is especially important now during the pandemic as it is a useful and effective way to reach out to your community and keep your customers engaged. Apart from Google My Business changes, there are also a few other areas that you can improve on, such as:

  • Add your company details on business directories, such as Yelp.
  • Create company social media channels.
  • Encourage positive customer reviews online.

These are just some of the ways to help your business out. Check out our in-depth guide on how to build your local SEO.

SEO Tip 2 for New Normal:
Add structured data for COVID-19 announcements

Schema markup allows Google to read and understand your page better and enables your page for rich results. While Google can read the contents of a page rather effectively, structured data provides explicit clues on the meaning of a page in a standardized format.

The structured data for COVID-19-related special announcements can be used by organizations that are publishing urgent announcements that affect the daily lives of people. According to schema.org, this is done to “cover the kinds of everyday practical information being posted to existing websites during an emergency situation.”

Many organizations, especially governments, healthcare, schools, and more, are publishing urgent announcements with regards to crisis-related information (this is not the same as emergency warning technology, but functions in the same way).

Crisis-related information that could fall under the ‘SpecialAnnouncement’ schema markup includes:

  • Closure notices (for facilities, transport services, etc.)
  • Change in schedules and rescheduling of events
  • Government announcements such as benefits, leave, etc.
  • Quarantine guidelines
  • Travel restriction orders
  • Announcements of revised hours of operations and shopping restrictions due to new regulations in place
  • COVID-19 related statistics

When this structured data is added to the page, this enables the content to be eligible to appear with COVID-19 special announcement rich results. For example:

Example: COVID-19 special announcement

There are 2 ways to implement the schema markup COVID-19 special announcements feature:

1. Add ‘SpecialAnnouncements’ structured data to your webpages

Use schema markup to add important details relating to your COVID-19 special announcements. This is a piece of code added to your page to tell Google what your page is about.

While Google is primarily using this to highlight information from health and government agencies, the feature is still developing and adding in this markup will help Google better understand how to better their product.

Here’s an example of how this ’SpecialAnnouncement’ schema markup would look like for something like a school closure:

Sample code for schema markup special announcement

In this code, the “@type”, “@schoolClosureInfo” and “@announcementLocation” are newly added features to schema that would explicitly tell Google that your page should feature under ‘SpecialAnnouncements’.

2. Submit announcement in Google Search Console

For users that do not have the technical skills available to implement structured data, Google Seach Console also allows you to submit COVID-19 announcements.

Submit COVID-19 announcements through Google Search Console

However, do note that this is just a short-term solutions and the announcements made through Google Search Console will not be tracked through Google Search Console’s Special Announcement markup.

Google Search Console’s Special Announcement is a new report that highlights any errors, warnings, and invalid implementations on your announcements. Website owners can use it to verify whether their schema markup was implemented correctly and any errors/fixes can be immediately validated through the report.

SEO Tip 3 for New Normal:
Create content of value for your consumers

Content creation is not a new recommendation. However, now more than ever, consumers turn to the internet to get their content, especially COVID-19-related information.

Google reports that search trends since the pandemic started have shifted drastically. As new regulations fall into place, Google has identified a large shift in the way consumers behave.

Google’s report highlighted 5 main areas in which consumer behavior has changed in response to COVID-19:

  • A sharp increase in consumers are using multiple devices to go online. Over 12 hours of content are being consumed daily, and consumers are spending 20% more time in apps than they did before.
  • People are using search more to fulfill essential needs. In particular, there has been a large increase in searches for online grocery shopping and deliveries since the start of COVID-19.
  • Consumers are finding new ways to connect with their loved ones over the digital space.
  • Internet-first routines have surfaced, be it for work (telecommuting), health, or pleasure.
  • Searches for how to improve physical and psychological wellness have increased.

All around, this report highlights that everything has taken on a digital-first focus since COVID-19 arrived. Since the start of year, there have been over a million COVID-19-related posts.

For businesses to remain competitive and connect with their community, it is now more important than ever to continue generating content to fit the needs of their consumers.

***

Nobody knows when the COVID-19 pandemic will be over, and as economies continue to fluctuate, brands must do whatever they can to alleviate the pressure on their businesses. Considering the shift into a digital-first landscape, businesses should thus focus on building their digital presence to remain competitive during COVID-19 and beyond.

Are you ready to maximize your digital marketing in Asia? 

Get in touch!

How Can We Help?

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]]> How to Optimize .cn Domain Migration (in post-pandemic China) https://www.theegg.com/seo/china/how-to-optimize-cn-domain-migration-in-post-pandemic-china/ Tue, 10 Nov 2020 07:45:10 +0000 https://www.theegg.com/?p=31744 The post How to Optimize .cn Domain Migration (in post-pandemic China) appeared first on The Egg.

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How to Optimize .cn Domain Migration (in post-pandemic China)

China’s economy is gradually recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. According to tourism market data from this year’s Golden Week holiday (released by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism), China saw 637 million domestic tourists who contributed RMB ¥466.56 billion in tourism revenue.

This shows great potential in China’s domestic tourism market and a strong opportunity for brands to use SEO to reach their target markets in China—whether travel-related or not, as the entire economy is in recovery mode.

In this article, we give a step-by-step guide on how to optimize your .cn domain migration for better speed, ranking, and authority on China’s search engines and within China’s massive online marketplace.

Domains Hosted in China

Many global brands have Chinese sites. They are presented as either an additional category within their global sites—for example: https://www.microsoft.com/zh-cn—or they have a separate CN domain—like: https://www.apple.com.cn/, https://www.amazon.cn/, and https://www.ikea.cn/.

The Chinese government requires CN domains to be hosted in China. There are many benefits of this:

  • Domestic servers can be used
  • Internet speed is faster (which positively affects website indexation and ranking)
  • Domestic website filing also makes the site look more professional and trustworthy.

As such, we advise brands to transition their sites from additional categories within their global sites to be CN domains hosted in China.

This will involve website migration, which brings significant SEO considerations and consequences as old URL pages must be transitioned to new, server technical issues must be navigated, CMS template settings must be optimized and more.

The following step-by-step instructions will help you maximize SEO value during your site migration to a CN domain and ultimately rank higher on China’s search engines.

.cn Domain Migration Step 1: Crawl your site and save data before migration

Before migration, you need to back up your site data. You can crawl your website with a tool like Screaming Frog and save the crawl data for later. You should also save a copy of all pages: URLs, page titles, meta data, headers, redirects, broken links, etc.

Pages cannot be crawled if they cannot be found on your website due to robots.txt or other indexation issues. Fix these pages if you’d like them to be crawled and included in your migrated site.

During migration, if you find any orphan pages, make sure you link them somewhere, so that they are not stand-alone, which makes it difficult for crawlers to navigate to and from.

Pro-Tip: Keep a copy of the crawl data for a few months, just in case you need it after the new site has gone live.

.cn Domain Migration Step 2: Establish a redirect map from old to new webpages

This is the most crucial step of the site migration. Search engines need explicit instructions on the change of URL pages. Based on the content of your pages, you should map every URL on your existing site to a corresponding URL on the new site. You should also have a spreadsheet that lists every old and new URL.

  • Legacy site URL –> new site URL

Example of a Redirect Map

You will use this document to apply 301 permanent redirects on all of the old pages, so that they will send both users and search engines to the new pages.

Pro-Tip: Make sure you are not using 302 temporary redirects, which will tell search engines that you want to keep all rankings and links of the old pages and only want to send traffic to the new pages for a short period of time. Do note that this process is important during migration.

.cn Domain Migration Step 3: Create your XML sitemap and submit to webmaster tools

Submitting an XML sitemap will help Baidu and other search engines discover the pages of your new website. You can also use the XML sitemap to provide other information about your website, such as timestamp of the latest update, the frequency of sitemap updates, and more. Be sure to make all changes to the sitemap quickly, so that search engines can promptly start indexing the new URLs.

Example of an XML Sitemap Submission

Pro-Tip: The file format for the sitemap should be .txt or .xml. Each file can contain up to 50,000 URLs, and the file size must be less than 10MB. Do not submit an indexed sitemap as Baidu does not support it.

.cn Domain Migration Step 3: Use site migration assistance from Baidu Webmaster Tools

Baidu Webmaster Tools will notify Baidu when you’ve moved to a new domain or shuffled content around your site using the site migration tool. The tool supports three types of migrations:

Change of Domain

This method is only suitable for a change in a site’s domain name, and there are no changes to the site architecture. For example: from [www.a.com] to [www.a.cn].

URL Pairing

This is suitable for webmasters who have encountered updates to a specific set of URLs that can’t be described by the above two methods. You can submit a document of updated URLs to Baidu.

Document Format

  • 2 URLs per row, the first URL being the old URL, and the second URL being the new URL.
  • 2 URLs are separated by a space
  • You can upload as many as 50,000 pairs of URLs per document or 2,000 pairs of URLs by directly inputting them to the text box.

Rule Migration

This is for structural updates with no changes to the root domains. For example: [ww.a.com/a] to [www.a.com/b] or [www.a.com/c] to [c.a.com].

The Three Migration Types

For the remainder of this tutorial, we will cover change of domain (站点改版) and URL pairing (新旧URL对), because these are the two situations that might occur during your .cn domain migration：

  1. If only your domain name needs to be changed while the URL structure will remain unchanged, then change of domain applies, and you can jump to step 4a.
  2. If there is to be a change in your domain and URL structure, then URL pairing applies, and you can jump to step 4b.

.cn Domain Migration Step 4a: Change of Domain Tool

Use Baidu’s domain change tool to take the following actions:

  • Input old site’s domain name.
  • Input new site’s domain name.
  • Submit.

Change of Domain Tool

.cn Domain Migration Step 4a: URL Pairing Tool

Use Baidu’s URL pairing tool to take the following actions:

  • Input old site’s domain name.
  • Input new site’s domain name.
  • Upload URL pairing document or paste pairs of URLs.
  • Browse files.
  • Submit.

URL Pairing Tool

Pro-Tips

  • Both old and new websites must be verified in Baidu Webmaster Tools.
  • Ensure your old site has been redirected to the new site using 301 permanent redirects.
  • Once the migration is complete, do not delete your redirection files immediately. In case of verification failure, please keep the redirection files for at least three months.

 

***

After completing your site migration, you need to conduct a site audit for the new website to identify any problems that may have occurred during the migration process.

Before moving to your new domain, it’s important that you monitor and benchmark keyword rankings and organic search traffic, so that you can see the impact of your site migration. However, do note that some volatility and fluctuations are expected in the initial stage of your site migration. But following the steps above will minimize any negative effects of your .cn site migration on your SEO, particularly as economies and brands move from crisis into recovery and adaptation mode.

Need help migrating to .cn?

Get in touch!

How Can We Help?

[contact-form-7]

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The post How to Optimize .cn Domain Migration (in post-pandemic China) appeared first on The Egg.

]]> 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.

Need help reaching your target market in China?

Get in touch!

How Can We Help?

[contact-form-7]

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The post Travel Trends from China’s Golden Week 2020 appeared first on The Egg.

]]> 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.

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]]> WeChat Update September 2020: Optimized search features https://www.theegg.com/social/china/wechat-update-september-2020-optimized-search-features/ Thu, 17 Sep 2020 05:03:32 +0000 https://www.theegg.com/?p=31612 The post WeChat Update September 2020: Optimized search features appeared first on The Egg.

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WeChat Update September 2020: Optimized search features

As China has moved into a new normal, search behavior has transformed from search engine-based to social platform-based—and Tencent has taken notice!

WeChat optimized its search functions so that people can now simply search on the app using keywords to find relevant content.

In this article, we look at the different updates WeChat made to optimize its search function.

WeChat Search Update 1: Homepage search on WeChat official accounts

Are you an operator of a WeChat official account? If so, you may have noticed the new “Homepage Search” (号内搜) tab on your interface’s backend.

This allows you to choose up to 6 keywords so that users can search your official account for related content.

Users can go to your account profile page and click Search in the upper-left corner. Then the chosen keywords will appear as autosuggestions under the search bar so users can click and discover relevant articles within the keywords search result.

PRO-TIP: To get some keyword inspiration, you can check the WeChat search statistics on your account backend; they show the search volume of different keywords used to reach your account and/or articles.

WeChat Search Update 2: Keyword search in WeChat official account articles

Keyword search has also been integrated into WeChat articles. WeChat official account operators can set up to 6 keywords for each article. Your keyword history can remind you of your previous keyword settings.

WeChat readers can see a keyword search bar at the beginning of the post. When users click the bar, it will jump to the WeChat search page. Again, the keywords will appear as autosuggestions under the bar for users to click and see the results of the search.

The WeChat SERP will show related articles, WeChat Circle groups, mini programs, web pages, and more.

WeChat Search Update 3: WeChat search in chat function

Now, even within chat, people also can use the WeChat search feature.

To search, just long-press the keyword and choose Search in the pop-up window. Then, WeChat will filter and list related keywords and show the results. Users can click any of the keywords to get deeper search results.

WeChat Search Update 4: WeChat search on external social platforms

Tencent not only updated the search feature within WeChat, but also integrated WeChat search with mini programs of external social media, such as Weibo, Zhihu, Douban, Sogou.

The WeChat SERP prioritizes related content in the following order:

  1. Social media mini programs
  2. WeChat official account articles
  3. WeChat Moments
  4. WeChat channels activity
  5. Videos
  6. Latest news on web

At the end of the page, there are also related search keywords.

For instance, we searched Tenet on the WeChat search bar, and the SERP is below:

WeChat Search Update 5: Album feature updated to hashtags

Last month, we discussed a new feature—the WeChat Album for WeChat official accounts. Now, that feature has been updated to include hashtags. This is still only available for domestic WeChat official accounts. Brands can select up to 5 custom hashtags to collect relevant original articles.

If users want to read articles from other domestic official accounts related to that hashtag, they can click “Learn More” (更多内容) under the hashtag topic.

***

To compete in China’s new normal, WeChat is working to socialize search, linking accounts, articles, services, products, music, novels, brands, and even videos together with searchable keywords and the billion-level traffic that they naturally own. This will help official accounts guide and cultivate user search habits within the WeChat ecosystem.

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]]> Easy Online Methods to Increase Foot Traffic to Physical Stores https://www.theegg.com/seo/apac/easy-online-methods-to-increase-foot-traffic-to-physical-stores/ Thu, 10 Sep 2020 04:17:05 +0000 https://www.theegg.com/?p=31599 The post Easy Online Methods to Increase Foot Traffic to Physical Stores appeared first on The Egg.

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The global pandemic in 2020 has moved shopping activities to primarily online. As cities recover and activities resume, customers will return to physical stores for a different shopping experience.

If you own a brick-and-mortar store, you may be thinking, how can I increase foot traffic to my store?

Many searches for products or services begin online. Google revealed in 2016 that 30% of global mobile searches are related to a location. Other Google research shows that 76% of people who search on their smartphones for something nearby visit a business within a day.

This behavior tells us that getting more traffic offline requires you to increase visibility online.

The practice of optimizing online presence for searchers who intend to satisfy their needs in a physical setting is often referred to as ‘local SEO’.

Local SEO can range from a restaurant trying to appear in front of people who search for a “brunch in [insert location]” to a bookstore trying to show up for “bookstore near me” queries. Since local searches can be performed near your store, you have a chance to convert them to in-store traffic.

In this article, we’ll cover 2 key actions to get started on local SEO to increase footfall:

  1. Show up on Google Maps.
  2. Improve ranking on Google Maps.

Let’s dive in!

Increase Foot Traffic: How to show up on Google Maps

There are 2 instances where your business can show up on Google Maps.

The first is on the Google Maps interface itself.

Google Maps Singapore for “buy party supplies” search query

The second is on the Google search results page (SERP).

When someone searches for a product or service with local search intent, Google will display a ‘map pack’ (AKA ‘local pack’) that lists 3 local stores related to the query. This data is pulled directly from locations listed on Google Maps.

Local map pack for “buy party supplies” query on Google Singapore’s SERP

To show up on Google Maps, you can create a Google My Business listing for your business.

Google My Business is a platform where you can mark where your business is located on the map and add information, like business name, address, phone number, photos, and business category. There is plenty of additional information that you can include about your business, such as your services, products, events, promotions, and more.

Pro Tip: Before you create your Google My Business listing, it’s best to head to Google Maps and check whether your business already shows up on the map. Since any Google user can add a pin drop to mark a business location, chances are someone has already marked your store location on the map. In this case, you can claim ownership of your business so that you will be in control of the information listed on your business profile. Google My Business has a verification method that ensures only the right business owner can claim a business listing on the map.

Increase Foot Traffic: How to improve your ranking and stand out on Google Maps

Once you’re on Google Maps, you want to increase your ranking. Ranking on Google Maps depends on several factors:

  • Location and proximity
    • Stores in closer proximity to the searcher tend to rank higher.
  • Information quality
    • The more complete your Google My Business (GMB) listing information, the more chance you have in ranking higher.
  • Store quality
    • This is determined by the number of quality sites that link to your store location and the nature of reviews that customers have left on your Google My Business listing.

To address the above factors, here are 11 ways to improve your Google Maps ranking and increase footfall to your physical store:

  1. Include a consistent NAP citation.
  2. Create a keyword-targeted profile.
  3. Highlight your store’s attributes.
  4. Create an enticing online storefront.
  5. Specify your service area for delivery and customer visits.
  6. Be clear about your business hours.
  7. Verify your Google My Business listing.
  8. Include an online reservation link and messaging channel.
  9. Highlight events, promotions, and product launches.
  10. Reply to reviews and encourage store visitors to leave reviews.
  11. Get backlinks from online partners or other online mentions.

Read on to delve into more details.

1.     Include a consistent NAP citation.

Complete your NAP citation: name, address, phone number. If you have a website, your Google My Business information should match with the NAP listed on your site and anywhere else online. Consistency is key so that Google can verify your NAP accuracy.

2.     Create a keyword-targeted profile.

When you create a Google My Business listing for your business, you can select primary and secondary categories of your business. While there are plenty of categories that you can choose from, it’s best to select the ones that best fit your business and have search volume.

Your business category will show up under your business name.

Business category on Google My Business listings that show up on local map pack

To determine your business category, you can use a free Chrome extension for Google Maps called GMBSpy that allows you to see the primary and secondary categories that other listings choose.

For every business category that you classify your business in, you can list your services and products. You can include price and up to a 300-word description of your service, or include price, photo, and up to a 1000-word description of your product.

To gauge which business category and product or service description is most searched by your potential customer, you can use:

3.     Highlight your store’s attributes.

Highlighting special features of your store helps potential customers gauge whether your store is a good fit for them. As a result, you may see an increase in foot traffic to your store.

Several attributes that you can highlight are:

  • Accessibility: Do you have a wheelchair ramp?
  • Who runs your business? Some people may have an affinity for a veteran-led, women-led business, or an LGBTQ-friendly store.
  • Offerings: Do you have live performances, outdoor seating, play area for visitors with kids, installation service?

4.     Create an enticing online storefront.

Add a business logo and photos of your store(s) so that people who see your business online will be compelled to visit and see it for themselves. There is also an option to upload 360-degree photos, so your potential customer can take a virtual tour of your store before visiting. This is especially great if your business puts ambiance or design at your forefront.

5.     If you provide delivery or can visit your customer, specify your service area.

Since Google tailors their suggestions based on geo-location, it’s important to mark your service area coverage—where you’ll go to visit or deliver to your customers.

6.     Be very clear about your opening hours.

Specify your opening hours to eliminate the uncertainty that may prevent or delay someone from visiting. This also helps customers plan their visit; thus, ensuring maximum footfall to your store.

Besides specifying your opening hours, add detailed information for other options, such as delivery, drive-through, and pickup.

If your business hours are affected by the recent development of coronavirus, you can also add a COVID-19 update.

7.     Verify your Google My Business listing.

Once you’ve completed tips 1-6, you should verify your business on Google My Business so that the information will be eligible to appear on Google Maps and Search. Once you’ve verified your business listing, only you and users appointed by you can make changes to the business information.

8.     Include an online reservation link and messaging channel.

Create a seamless communication channel with potential customers to reduce the barrier that they may have in visiting your physical store and driving in-store traffic. Through Google My Business, you can:

  • Include a booking link to simplify the process of making appointments.
  • Link to a messaging app, so that you can respond to customer queries in real-time.

 

9.     Drive online-to-offline traffic by highlighting events, promotions, and product launches.

When Google lists your business on the Google Maps or SERP, it will show up alongside other businesses. Make your business stand-out by posting events, promotions, or any new product launches you may have.

If you want to customize your post style and color, you can use Google’s recent launch, an easy-design app called Marketing Kit.

10.  Reply to reviews and encourage store visitors to leave reviews.

Once you’ve received increased your retail store traffic, remember to encourage your customers to leave reviews.

Many customers who have a positive in-store experience don’t think of leaving reviews, so you should make a point to remind them. This can be as simple as leaving a star review; it doesn’t have to include a write-up. Google will interpret general sentiment towards your business through these star reviews and the words used in the review.

Additionally, monitor the reviews that you have received so that you can respond to them through the Google My Business platform. This shows future customers that you have good interaction with your customers online, something that can translate to offline interactions and ultimately drive in-store traffic.

11.  Get backlinks from online partners or other online mentions.

This tip applies if you have a partnership with other businesses online or you know you have been mentioned by a quality website. You can request for them to link back to your Google Maps location in addition to your website (if you have one). This backlink acts as a referral or vouch of trustworthiness that can improve your store quality in Google’s eyes.

***

That concludes our tips on how to use local SEO to drive in-store traffic by improving your Google Maps ranking. Implementing these tips should help you turn online searches into increased foot traffic to your physical store.

Need more pointers to make the most out of local SEO?

Get in touch!

How Can We Help?

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]]> Keyword Planning for Hotel Site SEO in Post-Pandemic China https://www.theegg.com/seo/china/keyword-planning-for-hotel-site-seo-in-post-pandemic-china/ Tue, 01 Sep 2020 04:10:22 +0000 https://www.theegg.com/?p=31587 The post Keyword Planning for Hotel Site SEO in Post-Pandemic China appeared first on The Egg.

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Even as restrictions lift and life moves into a new normal, COVID-19 has left B2C brands reeling; for example, tourism, restaurant, and transportation industries continue to suffer heavy losses.

However, as pandemic prevention and work resumption progresses, the operations of China’s tourism industry have gradually improved.

From total lockdown during the Spring Festival to gradual recovery during the Qingming Festival, May Day and Dragon Boat Festival, domestic tourism is recovering generally linearly in China.

And since entering the summer months, many high-end hotel buffets and gyms have reopened, and hotel occupancy rates have also increased to approximately 60% for Accor, Hyatt, and other top hotel groups.

In this article, we’ll discuss how hotels can plan their keywords to maximize SEO in China’s new travel normal.

Hotel Site SEO in China

SEO is one of the most critical digital marketing methods, particularly for the long-term, which is where many brands are refocusing post-pandemic. Some companies have even reduced PPC budgets to focus on SEO and content marketing on Baidu, China’s #1 search engine.

Keyword planning is an essential step in SEO work—it can make or break a hotel’s SEO strategy. Hotel customers will use myriad keywords to search on Baidu for relevant information about myriad accommodations and offers. As a hotel marketer, you must capture those critical keywords in your content so that customers can find your website—not your competitors’.

This becomes a classification problem to solve by optimizing for the search intent behind the keywords used to find your content.

In terms of search intent, hotel keywords can be divided into brand keywords and product/service keywords.

Hotel Site SEO in China: Brand Keywords

For many established hotels, their brand names are recognizable and often searched. If people are searching for your brand or hotels by name, they’re likely deeper within your sales funnel. Branded keywords have higher conversion rates when compared to non-branded terms.

For brands or hotels well-known enough for branded search terms to be relevant to users, it’s critical to understand exactly how users discover your hotels—which terms they use in their local language to find your brand name—so you can target these branded search terms in your content.

Below are some examples of Chinese-language keywords used to find English-language hotel brand names.

Keyword Translation Baidu Monthly Searches
上海w酒店 Shanghai W Hotel 4,839
上海四季酒店 Four Seasons Hotel Shanghai 3,035
上海外滩悦榕庄酒店 Banyan Tree Shanghai On The Bund 2,387
上海香格里拉酒店 Shangri-La Hotel Shanghai 2,119
上海浦东文华东方酒店 Mandarin Oriental Pudong, Shanghai 1,131

Brand Keyword Examples

Hotel Site SEO in China: Product/Service Keywords

Product or service keywords are those related to specific products or services sold by a hotel.

For example, if a traveler wants to stay at a hotel in Tokyo for a business trip, he/she may directly search for “Tokyo business hotel” on Baidu. This is a generic product/service keyword. Such keywords can be among the first considerations for hotel site SEO, as they cast a wide net for potential customers.

Hotel product/service keywords can be divided into 4 categories:

  • Property type
  • Location
  • Hotel amenities
  • Exclusive features

Property Type

In a post-COVID-19 China, people are preferring high-quality hotels for business trips and travel. High-quality means better service and hygiene, making people feel more at ease and safer as they are staying outside of their homes.

In China, the quality of a hotel is generally expressed by stars, and the more stars, the better the hotel. In recent months, keyword phrases that include “five-star hotels” have attracted more attention with higher search volumes.

Ensure that your hotel website includes compelling content with keywords about your hotel’s property type (i.e. luxury, resort, star level, etc.) to get more traffic.

Keyword Translation Baidu Monthly Searches
上海五星级酒店 Five Star Hotels in Shanghai 2,153
上海四星级酒店 Four Star Hotels in Shanghai 298
上海三星级酒店 Three Star Hotels in Shanghai 253
上海豪华酒店 Luxury Hotels in Shanghai 217

Property Type Keyword Examples

Location (Cities & Popular Business Districts)

People tend to want to stay near popular attractions and business areas. If your hotel is nearby to these, you can cover location-related keywords, which bring a higher conversion rate and thus better SEO.

Take Shanghai as an example:

  • The Bund is a very popular area. Many people will search “Shanghai Bund hotel” or “hotels near Shanghai Bund.”
  • Disneyland also receives significant search attention for people who wish to stay near the attraction in Shanghai; people often search for “hotels near Disneyland,” for example.

Even if you’re not in close proximity to tourist destinations in your area, you may wish to still include how the distance your hotel is to these locations, for example, a quick 15-minute taxi ride to the Bund in Shanghai or an easy 20-minute train ride to Shanghai Disneyland.

Capturing locational keywords in your content not only helps your audience understand your proximity but more importantly shows that you understand your audience’s needs by clearly articulating that proximity.

Keyword Translation Baidu Monthly Searches
上海外滩酒店 Shanghai Bund Hotel 1,317
上海外滩附近酒店 Hotels near Shanghai Bund 1,174
浦东机场附近酒店 Hotels near Pudong Airport 544
上海迪士尼周边酒店 Shanghai Disneyland Hotels 513

Location Keyword Examples

Hotel Amenities

Hotel amenities that receive significant search attention include weddings, conferences, and family-friendliness. In fact, there is significant demand for family travel at the moment, as many families travel with their children during the summer, autumn, and winter holidays.

Summer vacation is in July and August. Autumn vacation is during Golden Week (the first week of October). And winter vacation is in February.

If your hotel has family rooms, kids’ clubs, family dining packages, etc., include these keywords in your content.

Keyword Translation Baidu Monthly Searches
上海亲子酒店 Shanghai Family Hotels 1,218
杭州亲子酒店 Hangzhou Family Hotels 803
北京亲子酒店 Beijing Family Hotels 767

Parent-Child and Family Keyword Examples

Unfortunately, the search demand for wedding and conference hotels has decreased during the pandemic. It is worth noting, however, that as work resumes and the pandemic eases, at the end of the year, many large companies may choose to hold their annual meetings in-person, and they will need hotels with large meeting rooms.

If your hotel provides such services and conference rooms, you can also target these amenity keywords.

Keyword Translation Baidu Monthly Searches
上海婚宴酒店 Shanghai Wedding Hotel 268
上海商务酒店 Shanghai Business Hotels 265
上海会议酒店 Shanghai Conference Hotel 118

Wedding and Conference Keyword Examples

Exclusive Features

Some hotels offer exclusive features, such as spas or hot springs. And people choose these hotels not only to have a vacation, but also to have a relaxing experience. For example, when the weather is hot, many people tend to go to hotels with swimming pools, and when the weather is cold, many people tend to go to hotels with hot springs.

If your hotel offers these types of exclusive features, it’s critical to include related keywords in your content so that your target customers can find you.

Keyword Translation Baidu Monthly Searches
上海温泉酒店 Shanghai Hot Spring Hotel 185
上海Spa酒店 Shanghai spa hotels 68
上海泳池酒店 Shanghai Hotels with a Pool 84
北京温泉酒店 Beijing Hot Spring Hotel 553
昆明温泉酒店 Kunming Hot Spring Hotel 1,139

Exclusive Features Keyword Examples

It is worth noting that the search volume examples in this article represent data taken from mid-August 2020 through the Baidu keyword planner tool; this data is constantly changing. It’s also important to consider the hotel business cycle (low season and peak season) to find the most suitable terms. Finally, while finding the right keywords for your hotel is critical, it is also critical to create corresponding compelling content so that users can find your website, want to click on it, and convert into guests.

***

In a post-COVID-19 world, hotel digital marketers should plan, research, and optimize keywords within the above-mentioned categories to not just capture traffic but give relevant information to potential guests.

It’s particularly important to find diverse ways to drive traffic and conversions for the travel industry, as it has struggled in the wake of COVID-19, but there is still tremendous opportunity in China’s new normal.

Need help optimizing your hotel site to reach Chinese travelers?

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]]> How to Establish a Social Retail Strategy in China’s New Normal https://www.theegg.com/social/china/how-to-establish-a-social-retail-strategy-in-chinas-new-normal/ Thu, 27 Aug 2020 09:01:18 +0000 https://www.theegg.com/?p=31579 The post How to Establish a Social Retail Strategy in China’s New Normal appeared first on The Egg.

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China has the greatest number of internet users in the world: 904 million. Of these, 872 million accessed the internet via mobile device in 2019, with that number only growing during the lockdowns and social distancing of 2020.

This level of mobile internet penetration combined with China’s affinity for social media make the Chinese market primed for online engagement and among the world’s most sophisticated and mature in the development, deployment, and uptake of social retail technology.

In this article, we share the evolution of social retail in China and how to establish a strong human-focused and customer-centric social-retail strategy in China’s new normal.

China Social Retail Stats: Social Media 2020

The top social platforms in China boast more than 2 billion monthly active users combined:

  • WeChat: 1.1 billion MAU
  • QQ: 800 million MAU
  • Weibo: 500 million MAU

And mobile social media use in China has done nothing but continue to grow exponentially in the first half of 2020:

  • Social penetration in China has exceeded 97%.
  • Chinese consumers spend nearly 4 hours on mobile every day, of which, on average, they spend more than 2.3 hours on social media.
  • On average, more than 750 million users read WeChat Moments posts every day.
  • 69% of consumers have shared online shopping links on social media.
  • New content formats, such as video, livestreaming, and games, have catapulted onto the social media scene in China.
  • The average number of QR code scans per day is up to 5 billion.

Social media has long been integrated into all aspects of daily life in China, with shopping, payments, ordering food, hailing a cab, etc., all happening online. And brands can leverage China’s vast social ecosystem to influence consumer purchasing decisions.

We define this as social retail. And the penetration rate of social retail in China has reached 71%, according to the BCG x Tencent 2020 China Social Retail Playbook.

China Social Retail Evolution: The relationship between brands and consumers

The relationship between brands and consumers is changing. And to establish a strong social retail strategy, we must understand how social media affects that relationship in China.

According to the BCG x Tencent Playbook, there have been 4 key changes in the relationship between brands and consumers with the advent of social media in China.

China Social Retail Evolution: Communication channels have been diversified

In the past, brand promotion was primarily focused on paid media, advertising, and sales; but now, consumers can reach your brand through an average of 5.2 touchpoints, the half of which are on social media.

China Social Retail Evolution: Marketing + sales have overlapped

Traditionally, marketing and sales channels were separate. Today, brands can directly communicate with customers through WeChat official accounts, mini programs, social chatting, and more.

82% of customers in China have already decided to purchase before coming to a sales channel. The blurred lines between marketing and sales helps drive this figure ever higher, as consumers are able to interact and engage with your brand earlier and at multiple stages of your funnel.

China Social Retail Evolution: Fission marketing has exploded

Fission marketing involves leveraging your existing customers as brand ambassadors.

In China, fission marketing is particularly popular: 77% of customers in China have shared or promoted the products or services they’ve purchased on a social app.

China Social Retail Evolution: Brands have become targeted, fast, and localized

Chinese consumers are keen to try new brands, new experiences, and new products/services: Only 19% of Chinese customers are loyal to a brand. This means that brands must closely follow trends and adapt accordingly and quickly.

  • Targeted: Brands should segment smaller markets to meet different audience needs and provide custom experiences.
  • Fast: Brands should closely follow China’s ever-evolving hot topics and trends and adapt quickly with relevant marketing strategies.
  • Localized: Younger generations are keen to purchase products/services that have a local element, like coffee harvested from Yunnan, for example. Brands should try to supply the demand for local flair.

China Social Retail Opportunities: 5 touchpoints for a strong brand-consumer relationship

Tencent & BCG also identified 5 social retail opportunites to foster strong brand-consumer relationships.

China Social Retail Opportunities: Novel content

61% of customers in China report being drawn to novelty. This can come in the form of content. Creating compelling, unique, and current content that speaks to hot topics and brings new ways of interacting with your brand can draw significant consumer attention.

China Social Retail Opportunities: WeChat Official Accounts + Mini Programs

28% of customers in China closely follow a brand’s products/services on their WeChat official accounts and mini programs; hence, brands can build close connections with their audiences on WeChat.

China Social Retail Opportunities: KOL/KOCs

31% of customers in China have followed a KOL/KOC-recommended purchase. Influencers can quickly increase brand awareness and improve sales.

China Social Retail Opportunities: Community/group chats

37% of customers in China reported joining a brand’s community and/or group chat. Usually, community or group chats move people from offline to online: Offline sales reps encourage customers to join an online community and/or group chat to receive promos and coupons. This enhances brand interactions and helps to achieve greater sales goals.

China Social Retail Opportunities: Group-buying

36% of customers in China have purchased on social with a group. This marketing strategy offers group discounts (based on volume) and encourages greater engagement among the group.

China Social Retail Demographics: Behavior patterns

By looking at behavior patterns by demographic, brands can adjust their marketing and sales strategy.

China Social Retail Demographics: Women

  • 56% of women report being attracted to a brand through social media.
  • 25% of women made a purchasing decision because of a KOL/KOC.
  • Women go to social media for information about products, services, and brands to help them make a purchasing decision.

China Social Retail Demographics: Men

  • 45% of men are attracted by cost-effectiveness.
  • 32% of men made a purchasing decision driven by novel content.
  • 31% of men have shared purchases on social to improve their personal image.

China Social Retail Demographics: Younger generations living in 3-4 tier cities

  • 78% of youth share something about a product/service before and after purchasing.
  • 33% of youth like attractive products.
  • Compared with other groups, youth are more influenced by KOC/KOLs.

China Social Retail Demographics: Older generations living in 1-2 tier cities

  • 35% of those in the older generations like to compare information before purchasing.
  • They are keen on joining communities and discussions.
  • Older generations browse group-buy social ecommerce platforms to find deals.

China Social Retail Strategies: Human-oriented + consumer-centric

Based on the above statistics and analyses, we can see that it’s critical for marketers to focus on human-oriented, customer-centric social retail strategies. This includes:

  • Shift from focusing on purely follower incremental growth to cultivating growth through existing customers (fission marketing).
  • Shift from focusing on driving public domain (Baidu, Amazon, etc.) traffic to driving private domain (WeChat, Douyin, etc.) traffic to maximize the value of the consumer life cycle.
  • Shift from focusing on conversion-only channels to contact points on all channels.
  • Shift from focusing on brand/product content to content of value (informational and on-trend).
  • Shift from the separate operation of each siloed ecosystem to the integration of data from each ecosystem.

As China and the world moves into a new normal of social engagement both off and online, it’s clear that brands need to empathize with their audience and humanize their marketing approach. The strategies above can help you do just that!

Need help with your social retail strategy in China?

Get in touch!

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The post How to Establish a Social Retail Strategy in China’s New Normal appeared first on The Egg.

]]> Diversify Your Travel Customer Mix: Japan. Korea. China. https://www.theegg.com/webinars/diversify-your-travel-customer-mix-japan-korea-china/ Thu, 20 Aug 2020 07:15:28 +0000 https://www.theegg.com/?p=31554 The post Diversify Your Travel Customer Mix: Japan. Korea. China. appeared first on The Egg.

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How do Asian travelers spend differently?

In 2021, it’s projected that over 155 million people will travel abroad from Asia’s top 3 outbound travel markets—China, Japan, and Korea—as the world moves into a new normal.  

The focus for travel marketing in Asia has long been on Chinese travelers; however, Japanese and Korean travelers also bring significant value.  

Balancing the risk and broadening your mix across Asia’s top 3 outbound travel markets is critical for brand success. But each comes with unique search engines, social platforms, language challenges, cultural norms, and spending habits.  

Watch our on-demand webinar with Adrian Toy—a digital marketing leader who has been at the helm of brand giants like Melco Resorts & Entertainment, PUMA, Johnson & Johnson, and Bausch & Lomb—as we dive into building digital strategies that cater to the unique customer journeys of each market.   

Using the massive Chinese travel market as the benchmark, we’ll compare and contrast how Japanese and Korean travellers spend at each stage of the marketing funnel to help you maximize your overall return on digital marketing investment.  

Key Takeaways

  • Key trends in traveler behavior: User habits, purchasing influences, and buying patterns 
  • Seizing market potential in Asia’s top travel markets: How travelers engage and spend 
  • Areas for hope: Pent-up demand and digital opportunities 

Speakers: Travel + Digital Industry Leaders

Adrian Toy

Director, Neon Leaders

Adrian is a strategic marketer focused on customer experience to drive change in a business. He has held marketing and digital leadership roles in APAC on both the agency and client side for companies, including GE, Johnson & Johnson, Universal McCann, and PUMA. He was most recently the Vice President Digital for Melco Resorts & Entertainment, where he drove digitization of the consumer experience. Adrian consults to clients and specializes in agile marketing, digital transformation, social media, ecommerce, martech, and CRM. 

Richard Mabey

Managing Director, The Egg
Richard is the founder and managing director of The Egg, Asia’s leading independent digital agency. With offices across Asia and 60+ digital specialists native to those diverse locales, The Egg provides practical SEO, SEM, and social solutions for powerhouse global brands across vastly different national markets, online platforms, and consumer demands. Born in the UK, Richard has lived in Asia for 25+ years, establishing the company in Hong Kong in 1998 and leading it into the successful multinational firm it is today.

   

The post Diversify Your Travel Customer Mix: Japan. Korea. China. appeared first on The Egg.

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