Before starting any marketing strategy or plan, it is always important to identify your target audience. Gender, age group, location, race, employment status and income are some of the factors to consider when identifying your target demographic. However, when it comes to Chinese consumers, there are three other demographics that need to be considered. These are Chinese exchange students, Chinese tourist, and Mainland China consumers.
Mainland Chinese consumers
In just a few years, China has become one of the strongest economies in the world. As a result, many brands have changed their focus to targeting Chinese consumers.
But targeting Chinese consumers is not as simple as you may think. The culture and mindset of Chinese consumers are vastly different to consumers based in western countries. It is particularly important to understand the behaviours of Chinese consumers and localise strategies and content tailored to your target demographics. For example, if you are planning to target Gen-Z, it is important to understand what platforms they use and how to communicate with them through these platforms.
Chinese consumers know that many companies are targeting them, so it is important to understand what drives them to a brand and how to engage with them if you plan to enter the Chinese market.
Chinese Exchange Students
If your goal is to target Chinese consumers outside of China, then you should consider targeting Chinese students. This might be a surprise, but there are several reasons why you should target Chinese students.
Firstly, unlike Chinese tourists, Chinese students stay abroad longer, usually over a year. This gives brands and companies the chance to build awareness and brand loyalty.
There is also a strong word-of-mouth culture in China. As a result, students living abroad are highly likely to tell their friends and family in China about brands and companies they like. So, if said friend or family decides to visit them, they are likely to purchase from or visit that brand or company while on holiday. It will also make it easier for brands and companies to enter the China market in the future as a presence has already been created.
Chinese Tourists
Chinese tourists have become the focus for most brands and companies outside of China, and who can blame them. In 2019, there was a total of 883,073 Chinese tourists in the UK and the total expenditure in 2019 totalled to £1.71bn. However, unlike Chinese students, tourists only stay abroad for a short period of time. Therefore, it is important to know the key periods when Chinese tourists travel (e.g., Summer Holidays, Chinese New Year, Golden Week, etc).
There are 2 ways to target Chinese tourists. The first is to create and promote digital campaigns (e.g., social media campaigns, ad campaigns, etc) prior to key periods. For example, if you want to target Chinese tourist during Golden Week, we advise starting launching campaigns at least 2 months before. Another way is to promote to Chinese students currently living abroad. As mentioned earlier, there is still a big word-of-mouth culture in China. If Chinese students like brands, companies, or places they have visited, they are very likely to recommend them to their friends and family in China.
If you are looking to attract Chinese consumers for 2021, do not hesitate to reach out to us. We would be more than happy to provide you with more insight into this demographic.
