The differences of Digital Marketing in China and Europe - eviom
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eviom / Blog  / The Digital World  / The differences of Digital Marketing in China and Europe
June 11, 2018

The differences of Digital Marketing in China and Europe

Europe is an attractive region for most Chinese firms who have an ambition for the European market. It provides a mature market with a high level of industrialization. But how is it possible to connect with a new audience from over 50 countries and 23 official languages? Expanding the online market is the key growth area for an enterprise.

How can products be known by customers without Baidu? How to advertise on social media without WeChat? And how do online sales work without Alibaba? Let’s see what is going to happen when China’s digital marketing meets Europe!

 

Search Engine Marketing: Baidu vs. Google

Inside the Chinese Internet environment, Baidu is without a doubt the most popular search engine. “Baidu it” to get any kind of information is chosen by over 80% of users in China. However, Google (or Bing) is the most important search engine in Europe. Google has 9% European users and is clicked about 1,000 billion times every month. If a European citizen wants to find valuable information, to pick a fancy restaurant, or to select an appropriate service, they will just google it. Besides, Google is equipped with a series of more complicated algorithm processors and a 10 times larger range of websites than Baidu. Thus, there is a demand that the marketing teams or agencies must equip with professional skills of search engines.

 

Social Media Marketing: WeChat vs. Facebook

Social media platforms are a useful tool for brands to increase traffic, find potential users, partners and new personnel. It brings a stable and effective profit with low investment. WeChat Official Account and Sina Weibo are the most important social media platforms in China. Larger companies post articles on WeChat and instant information on Weibo. Also video platforms such as Youku, iQiyi, Bilibili and Douyin are becoming very popular recently.
However, where should we find European followers without them? Mainstream social media platforms in Europe include Facebook, Twitter, Linkedln, Snapchat, Google+, Pinterest and Instagram. How could we organically combine the overseas social media and marketing strategy? How could these platforms provide us with advertising profit? It is an important issue for every company that strives to do business in European countries.

 

E-commerce: Alibaba vs. Amazon

Alibaba, JD.com and Vipshop are very successful e-commerce platforms in China. However, Amazon is the essential online consuming channel that has a very different operating model compared to Alibaba. Cross-border sellers have to set product keywords according to the local language and show eye-catching pictures for local consumers. Compared with Chinese consumers’ preference for price, European consumers that are mainly middle- and high-income groups are more sensitive to product quality. The audience’s differences determine that cross-border e-commerce companies entering the European market not only concentrate on creating branded products, but also choose e-commerce marketing strategies tailored to local conditions.

 

All in all:

China’s digital market is growing rapidly and has great potential. Europe on the other side of Eurasia has its own unique set of procedures. As a cross-border business, to successfully enter the other market requires a systematic marketing strategy. With excellent digital marketing, Chinese companies will make a great difference.