With over 800 million internet users, and 98% of them using mobile devices, online advertising is the most effective way to reach Chinese consumers. However, the digital ecosystem in China operates differently from the West, meaning businesses need to adapt their advertising strategies to local platforms.
1 Baidu Tuiguang
Baidu Tuiguang is the homegrown equivalent of Google PPC platform. Since Baidu is the dominant player in the search engines, it accounts for 60% of the market share. If you want fast results and allocated budget to go all out, setting up an account isn’t free. It’s quite expensive, and the process is also a bit complicated than setting up a Google AdWords campaign.
Baidu requires companies to submit business documents, proof of ownership of the website, comply with the content rules, initial deposit as minimum as 900 USD (5000 RMB) and other things. So, overall, you need a Chinese SEO expert to help you.
How much it will cost?💰
Baidu Tuiguang, Baidu’s pay-per-click (PPC) advertising platform, operates on a bidding system where advertisers pay for each click on their ads. The cost per click (CPC) varies based on factors such as keyword competitiveness, industry, and target audience. As of recent data, the average CPC on Baidu ranges from approximately $0.5 to $1.00 USD, but for highly competitive keywords, it can escalate to $20 USD or more.
2 WeChat
Boasting 1 billion (MAU) monthly active users as per the latest data, foreign companies can’t overlook the power of WeChat to expose their services and products in this platform. Users spent most of their time chatting and socializing in this platform, but for companies to set up paid ads, at least one verified Official Account is required, either a Service or Subscription type.
The platform provides much exposure for a variety of brands especially those in the beauty, fashion, and luxury brands, but the cost of advertising is also high.
How much it will cost?💰
Minimum Budget: The entry-level investment for both domestic and international companies is 50,000 RMB (approximately $7,000 USD).
3 Sogou
Sogou takes the second spot in China’s search engine. One key advantage for marketers who would like to use this is that it has partnerships with other local social media companies like WeChat that allows users on Sogou to search for content as well.
Paid ads are cheaper than Baidu and are in favor for companies that want to launch targeted ads for niche markets. Please take note that it may not have a high ROI and hits compared with Baidu’s Tuiguang, having only 15% of the market share.
How much it will cost?💰
Sogou Ads typically starts keyword bidding at 0.10 yuan per click, though the actual cost can vary based on competition, industry, and the chosen bidding strategy.
4 Sina Weibo
Another platform to watch out for and could be an option based on your audience is what people dubbed as China’s Twitter since the name Weibo means in English as “micro-blogging.” Sina Weibo is the widely used platform among Chinese netizens, and for foreign companies, a Corporate Weibo account is required to launch these ads.
How much it will cost?💰
Foreign companies can go through the overseas verification process if they don’t have their trademark registered in Mainland China, plus some challenges along the way and you need to pay for about $800 to $1000 or more for the process itself. Local companies get to set up and verify the account for free but need to submit business documents.
5 Toutiao
Toutiao is China’s news aggregator platform. As a News app, it has a wealth of data on preferences, topics, and interests, which makes the ads more targeted. Launching an ad can push it to the user’s feed, thus whatever matches that user’s preferences or recent searches.
The ads appear in-line that blends with the relevant headlines, entertainment, and news that the user is browsing. Toutiao also operates like a mobile reading and entertainment platform where at some point, it somehow mimics the Facebook advertising model because the content is pushed in the user’s feed, in-line with the posts and based on the previous online behavior for good matches.
How much it will cost?💰
Small-Scale Campaign (Testing Phase)
- Budget: 5,000 – 10,000 RMB
Medium-Scale Campaign (Brand Awareness & Lead Generation) - Budget: 30,000 – 100,000 RMB
- Large-Scale Campaign (E-commerce, Product Launch, High-Impact Ads)
- Budget: 200,000+ RMB
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