Ten years ago, had someone told you online gaming would become a multi-million-dollar company boasting one of the largest audiences in the world, you may not have believed them. But that is exactly what has become of the online gaming industry. The esports industry is valued at $900 million, some experts forecasting the competitive gaming market to break the billion-dollar mark in the near future. Millions of fans around the world sit down in front of their computer screens to watch online matches for their favourite competitive, player-versus-player games. The popular team-based game ‘League of Legends’, for example, drew in over 100 million views during the World Championships in 2019 – nearly as many viewers as the Superbowl. Nine esports teams around the world have a net value of at least $100 million. Just a few years ago Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots, bought an esports team for $20 million. Business is booming, and the tech-wave is only prospected to keep on rolling. For brands looking to get in on the action, an esports agency can help fine tune your marketing strategies.

For Players

With big industry comes the need to craft a strong brand to pave your way and make your mark. Esports fans are known for being loyal and dedicated to the brands and personalities they follow, but the digital audience comes with its own unique set of challenges. An esports agency will help you build your brand and online presence, turning your passion into a vibrant career.

There is more to branding than simply having a few social media accounts and a logo. Good branding creates a story. It brings you and your audience closer together in a shared journey of growth and excitement. In the new age of advertisement, connecting to your audience is more important than ever before. People want to feel connected. They want to be there, not only as a fan or consumer, but further as a teammate. Working with an esports agency can help you build meaningful connections with your fans and establish a loyal community who are always in your corner.

For Business

The esports industry has also created a large market for businesses. In 2019, Esports Ads was launched to catalogue both endemic (brands that create products used in game-production or for playing games) and non-endemic brands engaged in esports. The public database is one of the largest marketing databases in the world, and can offer a glimpse into how a diversity of brands and products have found success by marketing through the esports industry. For a brand to find success in this niche market, however, their marketing strategies must be engaging and clever. Esports audiences can be a fickle crowd to please, more less grab their attention. By working with an esports agency, brands can have insider knowledge on the best approaches to marketing to a global online audience.

Through sponsorships, big name brands have worked to push the scape of esports, and tournaments can be reminiscent of professional sporting events. With the increase of advertisements and sponsorships, the prize pool for esports is swelling, the 2019 Dota 2 International prize pool climbing to a high of over $34 million. Some of the more common brands that have succeeded with the esports crowd include brands related to computer parts and accessories as well as energy drinks. Coca-Cola, Redbull, and Mountain Dew, for example, have engrained themselves within the market by sponsoring events and tournaments for some of the largest gaming companies in the world such as Blizzard Entertainment and Riot Games. That being said, brands that aren’t directly related to esports have also found an avenue to this digital crowd through esports as well. Automotive, telecom, and apparel have all utilized the growing esports audience to strengthen their brand and make a few extra bucks. Brands that are not directly linked to gaming need to work harder to craft marketing material that caters to this audience, and working with an esports agency can be a beneficial and lucrative venture for brands looking to plug into the digital market.

Esports has cemented itself into popular culture and is quickly becoming one of the largest industries in the world. Millions of fans participate in events, and this participation is made incredibly accessible through the platform of online media and online games. Not only is esports drawing in millions of fans around the world, it is further making a once elusive audience more reachable. Through an esports agency, brands can have a direct link to a massive audience of loyal and passionate fans. These loyal fans come with their own challenges, and any brand hoping to tune in needs to adjust their strategies and marketing efforts to appeal to this niche computer savvy crowd. The effort is well worth it.

In today’s day and age, finding a digital marketing agency in China is not difficult. What’s difficult is finding one that is good: one that understands all the latest digital trends while leading you into the marketplace smoothly. The solution is simple: while searching through the list of agencies, just ensure that they are experts in the six following factors any great digital marketing agency should be proficient in. If you’re uncertain about their proficiency in any given factor, don’t shy away from asking them before hiring them. After all, a highly dynamic marketing agency in China must understand your marketing requirements, niche products and target audience well before getting into business with you.

1. Competitor Analysis

Find out the kind of research they do beforehand vis-a-vis your competitors in the market. Learn how they’d go about understanding the strategies incorporated by your competitors in order to help grow your online presence (which is everything in China). If they can come up with brilliant ways to reach niche audiences while using innovative branding tactics that not only promotes your business but ensures brand recognition, you might be considering the right digital marketing agency in China!

2. The Importance of SEO & Keywords

You must get a feeling of the agency’s proficiency with number crunching and analyzing, which is most of their work anyway! In order to provide measurable results, they must be able to reach consumers using a uniform voice.

While writing content, they must ensure that it is relatable: all people prefer companies that have a touch of humanity in their writing. Whether you’re a B2B or B2C, ensure the brand voice remains consistent throughout all facets. This ensures that your marketing strategy creates long-term relationships with the consumers. Any digital marketing agency that prioritizes this knows what they’re doing. Now, when it comes to keywords, ensure that the agency understands your company’s objectives and needs to come up with some reference keywords. This helps the consumers find your content using the said keywords. The importance of keywords in digital marketing goes without saying, hence, ensure they are proficient in that area. And lastly, the importance of Search Engine Optimization is crucial while promoting any brand online. Almost 75% of consumers that make online purchases use search engines- therefore, ensure that the agency leverages this potential and uses SEO techniques efficiently to amp up your website traffic and visibility on all search engines in China!

3. Public Relations in China

In China, public relations happens online: DPR (digital Public Relations) has a serious impact on the Chinese customer. Press releases help bring relevant information to the target audience (and possibly help widen the circle). DPR is considered more efficient because it spreads like wildfire, has a wider reach and is less costly. Essentially, if you’re looking to increase your brand’s popularity and do personal branding, look for an agency that is pro at DPR in China.

4. e-Reputation Matters

You want to know how your hired digital marketing agency would handle a potentially sticky situation. Any brand could be on the receiving end of a bad buzz. The important thing to find out is that the agency is committed enough to hide negative comments everywhere and offer necessary articles and testimonials to compensate for the hiccup. Online public relations is a lot more serious than you’d expect; it’s all about boosting your brand over the Chinese internet market. Additionally, find out what they’re like building relationships with other online communities; this will give you an idea of the brand exposure and positive results you can heap from hiring the right agency.

5. KOL Marketing Experience

In China, Key Opinion Leaders have a big say in convincing consumers to trust a brand. Almost 750 million people use smartphones and social media platforms daily, and the line between professional and personal use of social media platforms gets thinner every day. Find out the agency’s experience with KOL marketing and how successful they’ve been in the past.

6. Creating the Right Website

And finally, you need a website in China for the Chinese market. Ensure that the digital marketing agency is well-known for increasing brand credibility and visibility online (you may inquire about their previous client’s success stories). Making your own Chinese website is not an easy task (involving migration and translation); the right digital marketing agency in China would take care of these tasks as well as appropriate web design and overall management of the website. Therefore, hire smart!

Marketing is an essential function of any business. To be able to sustain in the age of the internet of things and to tap into the pool of revenue-generating netizens, it is important that any business today have an online presence and invest in digital marketing activities to augment their traditional or other marketing efforts. Digital marketing is an umbrella that involves many components like search engine optimization, pay per click ads, social media marketing, online directory listing, and so on. The beauty of online marketing is that it can work effectively on small budgets and for new or small businesses as it does for well-established or large ones. Here is how digital marketing makes that possible.

Improve brand recognition and recall

With digital marketing, you don’t need to spend tens of thousands of dollars on that single ad in the magazine or the display hoarding just to get people to notice you or remember your brand name. With the right search engine optimization processes in place, your website will show up on the top results every time a customer searches for a keyword related to your product or service. The more they see your webpage, the more they are likely to click through, and the better the chances that they remember your brand.

Build a brand reputation

Digital marketing, when implemented right, can serve as an alternate means for word of mouth marketing. Online listing directories, websites, and social media pages are all great tools to display testimonials from clients. All of these platforms have separate sections where customers can leave feedback for your product or service and give you star ratings. This helps validate your business to leads and potential new clients. The more positive reviews you gain over time, the more reputation you build for your brand through digital marketing. The mechanism is also a great way to gather quick feedback and improve your offering, should customers be unhappy with any of it.

Bring in revenues faster

Certain kinds of digital marketing, pay per click ads to be specific, are highly targeted, and pull the right kind of audience towards your websites. The advantage here is that clicks are typically generated by people interested in your business. This is made possible through keyword searches applied to your ads. One example is Baidu PPC ads, an important component of digital marketing in China (adstochina.westwin.com/digital-marketing-in-china). As a result, you have a higher chance of converting the clicks into useful leads or well-paying customers by providing them with the right information about your product or service.

Give a better return on investments

Ads on billboards or print media cannot track the kind of audience that they were delivered to, how many actions were taken, or if a rise in your sales actually came from one of them. Digital marketing on the other hand comes with many handy analytical tools that give you a bird’s eye as well as drill-down detail of your efforts, including which campaigns ate the highest share of the budget, what kind of traffic they brought in, how they impacted following, and so on. Also, real-time alteration of campaigns and A/B testing of ideas is possible with online marketing. As a result, you can always pull out underperforming campaigns and pump in more money into those that bring you better revenues, all of which ultimately give better returns on investment.

Tap into a global audience

Digital marketing isn’t just for businesses that sell online. It works equally well for brick and mortar stores as well as small and medium businesses who often do not have deep pockets to advertise their brand through expensive media like print or television. Simple website, local business directory listings, and neat social media pages can all bring in a huge impact and draw the attention of customers with your service area, as well as those around the globe. For instance, you can attract Chinese tourists to a destination in your country by making using of digital marketing in China. Or, you may be a small confectionery store located in a small town in your country, but with carefully thought-out and well-implemented strategies, you can showcase your products to a global audience, and even receive a few orders from far away destinations.

Social media marketing in China is different than the rest of the world. If you want to reach and engage Chinese consumers, social media platforms like WeChat and Weibo are the way to go for. Here we have discussed steps to make your social media marketing benefits.

Basics of Weibo Marketing

Weibo is mainly used by Chinese users to keep them updated about the latest trends and entertainment. The platform is also popular to express social views. Businesses can open the Weibo account and post multimedia content to engage users. Here are the steps to use Weibo marketing to your advantage.

Setup Business Account

First, create an official account for your business. After the account is verified, you can enjoy benefits like advanced page customization, campaign management, and detailed information posts about your brand.

Weibo also supports e-commerce, and your business can take advantage of the Weibo window to sell products and services to Chinese consumers.

Market Your Business to Chinese Consumers

Weibo offers tons of advertising tools and avenues for brand exposure. This will help your brand in gaining popularity in Chinese consumers. The platform offers different packages for marketing, such as display ads, KOL marketing, and social search engine promotion.

Develop Content Strategy

To get maximum benefits out of your social media marketing in China, you need a strong content strategy and need consistent and frequent user engagement. It is necessary you develop a personalized content strategy for your target audience that resonates with their needs. Some of the content types that can be beneficial are:

Content Backed by KOL

Weibo KOLs are great to market your business. They have a respectable number of followers and are considered celebrities on social media platforms. They are experts in their niche fields and can provide personalized and useful content for your target audience. A right social media marketing strategy including KOL, can prove truly beneficial to your business.

WeChat is another leading social media platform in China, with a penetration rate of 80%. Good social media marketing in China would not work effectively without WeChat. Here we have discussed steps to make WeChat marketing beneficial.

Basics of WeChat Marketing

WeChat is a very different social media platform that allows you to do things that might not be possible with other social media platforms. Here are some tips to get the most out of WeChat marketing.

Competitor Analysis

Before developing a WeChat marketing strategy, do a competitor analysis. Such analysis will help you determine where your marketing budget should be put into to win over competitors.

If you are launching your brand in the Chinese market, you need to focus on other factors too. Some of them are brand positioning, market fit, and pricing. You should find out the channels your competitor is investing in. WeChat can act as a central hub for information where the company can distribute information, attract followers, and help in lead conversion.

Define Target Audience

China is absolutely massive in terms of population. Many companies target an extremely broad audience like people in Tier1 and Tier 2 cities of China. You need to narrow down your target audience by defining detailed personas like the content they read, what kind of things they like to buy, what kind of websites they visit. This will help businesses create content and advertisements that fit your target audience’s needs.

Having a well-defined audience makes marketing easier and a strong foundation of a successful marketing strategy that brings several benefits to the organization.

Choose Right Official WeChat Account

WeChat offers different types of accounts. Companies can opt for WeChat service accounts or Subscription accounts. Service accounts have advanced features. These accounts enjoy high visibility and are placed amongst WeChat connections. However, service accounts can only post four times in a month.

On the other hand, subscription accounts can post more frequently and more suited for advertisers.

Using WeChat Marketing Tools

WeChat offers several backed features that are useful marketing tools. The platform also offers social media listening and social media monitoring tools that can be used for analytics and receiving feedback on social media campaigns.

These are the main steps to make your social media marketing in China beneficial for your business.