Marketing a product in China is an endeavor that will send chills down any entrepreneur’s spine. The vast market, still full of untapped potential, is riddled with nuance when it comes to consumer behavior. Not only do companies have to make sense of marketing channels and trends to reach Chinese consumers, but they also need to possess a deep understanding of the culture that underpins their tastes and values.
Navigating these waters can be difficult for local businesses, much less an international one, which is why Working with Bloggers, Influencers, and KOLs by Ashley Galina Dudarenok and Lauren Hallanan is a great resource for those starting out. Veterans in the Chinese marketing space, the authors provide Western audiences with a useful entry point to working with local influencers or KOLs–a powerful strategy for engaging with shoppers in the world’s most populous country.
The punchy book wastes no time diving into the topic, providing relevant case studies, how-tos for finding the right KOLs, and tips for launching a successful campaign. It strikes a balance between providing basic information, such as tables of all the important social networking sites and popular KOLs, and introducing concepts and strategies that are specific to China.
For example, one of the chapters delves into multi-channel networks (MCNs), or brokers between brands and influencers, discussing how the former can tap into this unique system to maximum effect. The authors also examine live-stream shopping, which has become one of the most compelling ways to engage and reach Chinese consumers, but is relatively unseen in the West.
Dudarenok is known for being an expert on ecommerce in China and has authored several other books about the topic in her Digital China series. –MC
Cover art courtesy of Alarice.
Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash
