Managing Weibo Account for a Foreign Company

By KoMarketing Associates

Setting Up a Weibo Account

What information is required for foreign companies to register a Weibo account in China?

A Weibo account requires a Chinese phone number to register. Similar to other Chinese online marketing platforms, such as Baidu and WeChat, Weibo requires users to submit a Chinese phone number to open an account. Once submitted, the system will send you a code via text to verify your identity.

This process can be simplified if you have a business presence in China or local Chinese staff members on board. If not, you will likely need help from a professional international marketing agency.

How do foreign companies in China choose an appropriate name on Weibo?

Unlike Twitter, where users can market themselves with a descriptive name and a handle name, you can only use one name on Weibo. The handle name is the same as the descriptive name. Most companies use their company names for Weibo, but there are also some exceptions. For example, Ying-Chao Logistic adds the name of their industry after the company name, Deppon Official Weibo Account uses their Weibo identification, and McKinsey Magazine shows that Weibo is a channel where they publish.

To compliment a chosen display name, Weibo allows you to leverage 70 characters to describe your business. A short bio is important for people to see a quick snapshot of your business, so make sure you take it seriously.

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Managing Your Website’s Baidu SEO in China

By KoMarketing Associates

Web Hosting & Servers

Why should foreign companies operating in China host a version of their website on Chinese servers?

As an international digital marketing agency, we often work with US companies who want to enter China via syndicated Chinese websites. One of the most frequent questions we’re asked is: Why do we need to host in China? There are two key reasons:

First, the Great Firewall of China has a significant impact on the Chinese user experience of your site. A study from CDNetworks shows that the average loading time of international sites is 33 seconds. In our own experiences with clients, loading time for sites not hosted in China ranges from 10 to 40 seconds.

Obviously, no one will have the time (or patience) to wait that long for a website to load. Users will close your site while it’s still loading.

Second, like other search engines, website speed is critical to Baidu. A slow loading website is difficult to crawl and index and may be identified as an unstable site by Baidu.

How can a foreign company operating in China host its website on a Chinese server?

To host in China, you need to work with your site developers closely for creative options. Some of our clients opted to set up a brand new site hosted in China; others chose a content delivery network (CDN) to boost site speed, and some chose to use a mirror site on the China server, but only serve priority pages to the Chinese audience. You need to evaluate the costs and benefits of each option to make the judgment for your business.

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Expert Spotlight: Michael Michelini, Founder, Global From Asia

Who is Michael Michelini?

Michael Michelini: I am the founder and host of a weekly podcast, Globalfromasia.com which has turned into a full-on blog, service platform, and builder of global (cross-border) e-commerce businesses.

Michael Michelini, Founder, Global From Asia

Global From Asia (GFA) is about the current shift in the world as Asia as the center for doing international business – more specifically called cross border business. As a “foreigner” (non-local Hong Kong-ese) you can still fully own 100% and control your company from Hong Kong SAR (special administrative region), with easy access in China and Southeast Asia.

Due to changing times, Hong Kong has been much more challenging to do banking, and we work with you on the process by sharing in our blogs, and also working on more services and options for you. This is the real core value statement of Global From Asia – to make it as easy as buying a product on Amazon as it is to do international business.

Click here to join our community of business owners and executives doing business in Asia!

Tell us about the Cross Border Summit

Michael Michelini: The Cross Border Summit is an annual conference bringing together top e-commerce cross border business leaders from around the world to share expertise about business strategy, marketing, team building, and other strategies to stay ahead in today’s global world.

While internet and technology have done amazing things to improve society and business, it has sprouted competitors from around the globe.

Keep on top of these trends by attending the Cross Border Summit!
Learn more here & Register here

Cross Border Summit
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Industry Spotlight: Mobile & Digital Payments in China

China’s Transition to Digital and Mobile Payments

Why is mobile payment so popular in China?

Compared to other countries, mobile payments have taken off extraordinarily fast in the Chinese market. The reasons why include high mobile phone and internet penetration, better social integration and widespread merchant adoption.

As of December 2016, there were 731 million internet users in China, making up about 53% of the total population. Of these 731 million internet users, 95% of them access internet through their phones, or 695 million mobile users. As mobile usage increases, so does mobile payment.

As mobile payments have gotten more popular, the use of credit cards has decreased. Credit cards had a hard time taking hold in the market due to widespread mistrust of using credit and discomfort with the idea of borrowing money. As mobile payments are tied to debit cards, users were able to trust it more. Additionally, mobile payments platforms are highly interwoven into daily life. Both Alipay and WeChat have multiple functionalities, which make them easier to use for payments both online and in store.

Unlike credit and debit card payments, mobile payments generally only require a QR scan. This has led to widespread adoption of Alipay and WeChat among businesses as it is relatively cheap and is faster and more convenient.

How do Chinese consumers pay for offline purchases?

Popularity of payment methods vary by city tier level. Amongst the 1st tier cities (including Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou), mobile payment apps like AliPay and WeChat Pay have near dominance at 94.1%. This number drops for 4th tier cities in favor of cash.

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Skills & Qualifications Desired for Our Interns

For Editorial & Research and Marketing & Business Development Tracks:

  • Knowledge of and interest in international trade, foreign direct investment, tax, accounting, law in China, India, and Southeast Asia;
  • Keen understanding of Asian business environment is essential;
  • Strong English writing and speaking skills a must;
  • Fluency in Mandarin Chinese, Hindi, or other Asian languages highly desirable, but not required;
  • Fluency in additional European languages are desirable, but not required;
  • Detail-oriented, proactive and diligent mindset;
  • Ability to multi-task and work independently under tight deadline;
  • Graduate university degree desirable, but not required;
  • Background in Media Management, Corporate Communication, Journalism, or Business Administration (economics, finance, statistics) is preferred;
  • Proven research and writing ability, copy editing experience (writing sample required in interview).

For Design & Web Development and Digital Marketing Tracks:

  • Strong interest in corporate branding, graphic design, and content marketing of professional services, pertaining to international trade, foreign direct investment, tax, accounting, law in Asia market;
  • Understanding of Asian business culture, business environment, and aesthetics;
  • Strong English communication skill with marketing copywriting & editing experience (marketing campaign writing exercise will be conducted during the interview process).
  • Fluency in Mandarin Chinese, Hindi, or other Asian languages highly desirable, but not required;
  • Fluency in additional European languages are desirable, but are not required;
  • Detail-oriented, proactive mindset with diligent work ethic, ability to multi-task and work independently on multiple projects under tight deadline;
  • Background in Graphic Design, Digital Media, Media Production, Website Design & Development, Digital Marketing & Social Media Management, CRM & ERP, and other Information Systems is preferred;
  • Good knowledge of HTML and CSS, JavaScript is a plus;
  • Good knowledge of WordPress;
  • Understanding of on-page and off-page SEO (Google, Bing), passionate on keeping up with the latest updates and implementing action plans accordingly;
  • Understanding of at least one CRM system (e.g. Microsoft Dynamics, SageCRM, Oracle On Demand, Salesforce etc.);
  • Understanding and experience working with marketing automation platforms (e.g. Hubspot, Marketo, ActiveDemand);
  • Experience on successfully running email marketing campaigns, ability to design and troubleshoot email templates is a strong plus;
  • Good knowledge of Google Analytics, ability to make data-based decisions on campaigns, content and infrastructure projects.

Daily Duties of Our Interns

Editorial & Research Track

  • Keep abreast of the latest regulatory issues, economic and political landscape affecting Asia;
  • Data mine existing business intelligence on doing business in emerging markets;
  • Research and copy edit investment resources such as daily briefs, articles, Q&As, infographic, and other forms of media for publication on platform;
  • Research and update regional business information and statistics;
  • Conceive and carry out collaborative research projects and produce well-written reports;
  • Administrative tasks as needed from time to time.

Marketing & Business Development Track

  • Data mine existing businesses and key person(s) responsible for strategy & intelligence on doing business in emerging markets;
  • Data mine professional and non-government organizations focused on improving transparency on doing business in Asia;
  • Data mine professional service providers assisting companies looking to do business and/or expand in Asia;
  • Assist the business development process in onboarding users to the platform
  • Assist in organizing prospective partner meetings to grow the relevance of the platform for investors, business organizations, and service providers
  • Prepare PowerPoint presentations, proposals, and engagement contracts for clients, partners, and service providers;
  • Administrative tasks as needed from time to time.

Design & Web Development Track

  • Work under the Director of Creative Design and the Director of Web Development;
  • Design, layout, update maintenance of company website UI/UX;
  • Design, layout, update maintenance of marketing collateral (company brochure, sales & marketing campaigns, event announcement, etc.) and business publications (guides and magazines);
  • Administrative tasks as needed from time to time.

Digital Marketing Track

  • Work under the Director of Web Development and Director of Sales;
  • User and Partner activation – assist in the process in onboarding users to the platform, assist in growing the relevance of the platform for key investors, business organizations, and service providers;
  • Design and implement targeted email campaigns then track data and present findings for deciding marketing strategy and implementation;
  • Development and maintenance of digital channels (websites, email, and social media), including online content distribution strategies, digital infrastructure, search engine optimization (SEO) and data analytics;
  • Creation, editing and promoting of multimedia content;
  • Maintain and update user registration database;
  • Management of social media accounts, using programs such as HootSuite and Audiense.
  • Assist in the preparation of PowerPoint presentations, proposals, and engagement contracts for clients, partners, and service providers;
  • Administrative tasks as needed from time to time.

What is our approach to research analysis and how does this approach impact your business’ decision-making process?

We understands that data, information, and insights are not synonymous. Our approach to research analysis considers the multiple perspectives of the client company, of the service provider, and of the organizational networks within the investment market in order to prioritize a list of Actionable Insights that benefits everyone in the eco-system.

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