Resellers of online marketing services are typical in the search marketing agencies of China. The problem with them is that resellers get paid by Baidu to service customers, which means that they have incentive to increase marketing campaigns without regard to your profits. In the worst cases, resellers do not pay any attention to the metrics of your advertising campaign and simply spend all your money in a mindless fashion. As savvy online marketers know, money spent poorly will yield poor results. While Western agencies tend to work with multiple ad platforms on a single campaign to find out what works the best for your offerings, Chinese agencies may work with only one service such as Baidu. Thus you should not expect the same service in China you are accustomed to in the West and you should keep a close eye on your campaign to make sure your money is not being wasted.
Foreign marketers have an advantage over local Chinese marketers because of the high value Chinese consumers place on Western brands. Do not hide the fact that you are a foreign brand, the Chinese find this exotic and high-quality. Just make sure that what you are offering is well-adjusted to the Chinese marketplace.
Many of your competitors will be foreign companies with big advertising budgets. The best strategy to compete with these deep pockets is to do solid testing to find specialized areas of the market. Big advertisers tend to bid on the basic keywords and thereby drive up the price. The way to win against them is to specialize through extensive testing. It is important to test multiple landing pages, websites, products and ad copies. Start your advertising budget low at first to test these different factors and gain profitability. Once you find the right combination that consistently makes you money, it is then time to scale your campaign for bigger results. Learn more about the largest search engine in China.
