Do you want to do business in China? Yes!

This sounds like a new American dream for many entrepreneurs looking to invest in markets of China and be among the cool businesses that can pull it off. But did you know that several businesses fail to impress Chinese consumers?

In 2011, China became the second most fast-growing economy of the world, by the end of 2019, it is now The Fastest Growing Economy!

China is the temptation for many global brands; the world has seen Benz, McDonald’s, KFC, and many others trying to persuade the Chinese audience. Some were good at it while some made silly blunders when it came to translating the slogans and taglines. This makes one thing clear; translation is a part of the global marketing strategy to enter the Chinese domain.

According to Shawn Mahoney, managing director of EP China consulting group,

“The lack of understanding of the legal and cultural environment has led to most failures. The only difference is between the success and failures are the people, who are willing to talk and learn about how things work on the ground, those are successful”.

China is a Mosaic Market

Doing business in China requires patience, etiquette, and language. Brands are prone to hire Chinese translation services to indicate the regional and local differences and turn them as a part of the homogenized market of China.

China is divided into two major markets; foreign and local. The foreign market retails all the latest products and services from all around the world while the local market has lower quality and technology. The reason for low quality is that Chinese consumers don’t want a perfect product, the products need to be affordable only.

That’s quite different from what a consumer in the west wants. Therefore the vast market’s needs are ever-changing and businesses unable to keep pace with the demands ultimately doom.

If you plan to invest in China in an offshore production company or start your business from scratch you need to learn from the best examples so far. Just keep in the mind the cultural and logistical differences that differentiate the Chinese market from the rest of the world’s markets.

Using Digital Marketing

WeChat started as a platform for young foreign professionals called InternsInBeijing. Jeff Frey, a Swiss national and graduate from Tsinghua University was the mastermind behind it.

The reason why this app earned nickels right away is, China lives in the digital world, more than 95% audience is busy in mobile phones and placing orders for the next day. So is developing an app and working on it profitable? It is.

The sheer size of the economy of China can be scary for young entrepreneurs but you have the facility to access the audience and target the segmented market thanks to the digital world. KOLs are the real persona affecting the consumers and influencing them to buy the products. Key Opinion Leaders are not celebrities, in fact, they are the regular people with lots of followers, and usually, they are the bloggers, opinionated for their life theory. For instance, China’s Gen Z; Zhang Dayi and Becky Li are some of the top influencers. The KOLs buy the products, tell their friends and post reviews about them. It’s the latest digital marketing approach and gives direct access to a private audience too.

So if you have Key Opinion Leaders inside your pocket, then consider at least thousands of followers right away!

Adapt the Sales Pitch

Localization is effective for exclusive sales. Not only the content can be localized but also sales team can learn from the local values and pitch the audience the right way too. Understanding the core values of Chinese culture and consumer behavior can be of great help.

For successful sales, you need to provide specific information and keep the core values in mind. Like the use of colors or symbolized features for products and services is an effective tool.

Customers want a product that can solve a problem, their focus is not on the product’s quality. You can plan your sales pitch around this concept. It’s weird for a westerner to understand Chinese values the austerity and savings but this works in the favor of the company. You do not have to spend millions on a product’s quality; rather ensure it just fulfills its purpose.

Chinese are committed to the product not to the brand whereas the western consumer is more committed to the brand and if it fails to impress them, they switch to other available options. So it’s important to customize the sales pitch and to ensure you provide the information correctly. Therefore, you need to pay special attention to the Chinese language and culture.

Flow of Information

China is a country where having local partners is the best thing for a foreign brand. Despite a good translation and localization, you may not be able to reach the target audience as desired.

The reason is simple; you do not have access to the market. The local suppliers or partners are familiar with the market trends and it’s good to have a friendly person at hand to pitch sales. Businesses need to have friendly contact in the local and foreign markets.

Building trust in China is a process, it’s about the potential of the entrepreneur (what he brings to the table) and then a healthy relationship is built with the country. It also depends on the type of industry for instance; tech companies do not need several fancy dinners to come in contact with each other. They can collaborate their work analogy over a teleconference and such.

Tech companies are always in the rush, as competition is quite high in China, they don’t waste time thinking whether they will do partnerships or not. The social connections give them much-needed information so either you do the partnership immediately or you don’t, there’ no in-between.

Build a Strong Local Team

One cannot emphasize enough on how important local teams are. Every business will face ups and downs. If you fail as a brand that means you did something wrong. Localization can help you only so much. If you do not have a local team you won’t be able to reach the target audience perspective. Companies need to prepare for the long term, for this purpose you need to work on building a solid foundation in China.

Chinese translation services are just one side of a team, you need designers, editors, marketers, strategists, and project managers, etc., who have been working in the local market for a long time.

Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution was the reason behind a drastic change in how we perceive growth. Now fast forward it to the 21^st century and illustrate the changes in the business world. It’s a far cry from the actual theory but it gives you a much-needed perspective on how markets grew and established all over the world. How businesses adapted according to the environment and survived through the natural elimination process.

The modern economy, global and local, is fast developing and to no one’s surprise, China is surpassing as one the fastest growing economy. China is a fine example of the grandeur and a plethora of cultures but European or American companies find it the most difficult to adapt their market values. Many tried and failed big times while some recovered from the fast-changing trends.

It’s hard to keep up in China. Business customs and etiquettes are different than the rest of the world and the market is culturally sensitive too.

The Business World of China

How long does it take for a company to develop a strategy? Perhaps at least 6 months?  The major drawback the foreign companies face is their long term planning is useless in the Chinese market. Trends and consumer buying habits change often which makes these gold-digging companies dumbstruck.

It’s important to realize that Chinese markets work anti-clockwise.  Many fail to succeed so keeping this factor in mind some things need to be considered as a foreign business;

Be Fast and Furious

China has a fast developing market. Trends may change overnight which leaves businesses hanging by the thread. You do not have to be a  company loaded with money; all you need to be is smart.

Companies working alongside Chinese translation services understand this factor more than any other company. Translators can relate to the native market, the consumer pattern, and sometimes even predict the trends too. It’s best to work with a native translator to overcome the communication barriers.

You may not be aware of the fact but Chinese companies can

• Manufacture 100,000 bikes in overnight
• They generate a replica of iPhone in one night and so on

It’s not even an exaggeration by any means. Zara is one of the world’s most popular retail brands. It was late in the game to enter China in 2012, their major focus was not on the sales but on how to minimize the risk in the unknown territory of China. Thanks to their modern web design, they catered to the attention of Chinese consumers and adapted their advertisement style to make them the best fit for local behavior.

Perfectionism is a Lost Cause

In China at least you do not strike for a perfect product, you always aim for a fast sale. The reason behind this strategy is that Chinese consumers are used to not having a 100% perfect service or goods. As long as your product functions for time being and is in trend, it will sell.

This sound absurd from western consumer’s point of view who are always looking for the product worth investing in. They want a long-term benefit rather than for a few hours. So it answers one of the pending questions: the mindset of Chinese consumers and western consumer is a lot different.

For instance, Google is a popular search engine in the western world but due to its disagreement on censorship with the Chinese government, China allocated Baidu as the national search engine.

What are you saying? Chinese do not use Google? Yes, they don’t. Baidu is the official Chinese version of Google. The reason is Baidu understands the local market better than Google does. Its features are more adaptive and changeable overnight like bulletin boards mobile search, advanced technology research in Mandarin, and so on.

Change the Western Mindset

Launching a product costs tons of money. But one successful product in the U.K doesn’t guarantee success in the Chinese market. From product launch to consumer behavior, every experience is unique so it’s better to adapt according to the Chinese market.

To become successful, you need to be flexible in business and marketing strategies. It’s a smart move to understand Chinese culture and traditions. That’s when localization will come into play.

Starbucks dominated the Chinese market in a short time. More than 90% of consumers are mobile users and therefore Starbucks initiated the use of WeChat, one of the most used apps in China. With this tool, they launched recent campaigns, informed consumers about the latest item on the menu and discount offers.

The most successful campaign so far is “How are you feeling today?” and users answered with a relevant emoticon.

Starbucks tailored marketing campaigns according to the cultural preferences of the consumers and keep changing it with the latest market trends.

Plan for Short-Term Strategies

This is the most effective way to make your way in China. Long-term strategies cost more and are not workable in the fast-changing economy of China. A short-term success works in favor of China, which given business plenty of time to change, bring creative customized ideas for branding and advertising.

Using Chinese translation service is a welcome strategy on board and each foreign company can use their help to adapt according to the Chinese market.

In 2013, Coca Cola recycled its campaign “Share a Coke” in China. Originally this campaign began in Australia in 2011 which showed a 4% increase in sales. Chinese consumers showed an optimistic response as Coca Cola focused on trending words like “fans” or “your sweetheart” instead of using a regular name like Paul or Sara.

Unlike the western market, the Coca Cola campaign localized according to the local market showing a boost in sales.

Follow the Tips to Survive

In terms of culture, China has a particular distinctiveness. To become a successful brand you must be creative and show flexibility;

• Learning Chinese or hiring a native linguist always works in your favor
• They help to interpret the meaning and cultural connotations
• Moreover, the use of a social media platform like WeChat is yet another effective tool to target your audience so you can kiss twitter and Facebook goodbye and adapt to Chinese versions of communication
• Keep evolving.

A tip may not be perfect but it gives you a much-needed perspective and insight about the market. China is different, so be like Chinese.