Digital marketing is unquestionably spreading like wildfire, but that only means that it is the newest method of reaching your target audience of high net-worth Chinese investors. Your objective is to reach the largest possible number of potential clients. Doing this will require investment in other more traditional strategies as well.
Print Advertising
“China is the world’s largest newspaper market, with 1,937 newspapers printing 43.9 billion copies in 2009, says a China.org.cn report, accounting for one in five newspapers printed worldwide.”1 Not impressed yet? Try this on for size. Twenty-five of the world’s newspapers with the greatest circulation are in mainland China.1 Daily circulation of newspapers in China in 2010 was at least three times the total distributed in the United States. This estimate is very conservative, as there is no reporting service in China to collect and compile accurate figures. In fact, attempting to calculate readership generates mind-boggling numbers.
While we see the newspaper market declining worldwide, China is an enigma as usual, because of the geographical, economic, and cultural divisions within the country. Virtually all the media is concentrated in the eastern urban areas of the
coun try. Considering the strong attraction of digital media among young people, it is reasonable that the majority of newspaper readers will be adult business people. They are your target market. You are offering a professional service. According to Nielson Media Research at the middle of the last decade, advertising by the professional services sector increased by a phenomenal 83%, and this sector outspent all others. No other sector experienced a similar growth rate. Oral hygiene products came in second at 68%.
While newspapers provide the widest print distribution, you must consider whether a newspaper will deliver the image that you want to project. You may want to consider placing advertisements in Chinese magazines. Although their market penetration is less broad, magazines tend to target well-defined groups, especially the wealthy, who, by the way, are more likely to subscribe to or purchase magazines.
Now, let us move from the broad penetration of newspapers, to the more targetdefined magazines, to a very narrowly focused print advertising medium that is read thousands of times daily and is almost ideal for advertising your EB-5 opportunities and services: airline magazines. Far and away, the Chinese who are flying around the globe, and especially to and from the United States, are high net-worth individuals. What more could you ask than to have someone else gather this target audience together hundreds of times a day? Think of this as a captive audience of target customers. When you compare the cost to the effective reach, it beats just about any other print advertising opportunity.
Something to Think About
Although the majority of Chinese speak Mandarin, the number of high networth Chinese who speak Cantonese is growing. It may be necessary to advertise in both languages. This may be even more important if you intend to advertise nationally in China. If you are targeting customers in a particular province, it’s much better to advertise using regional newspapers. However, national papers can also do well because some are more widely circulated than regional papers. Almost every city has a major newspaper. National papers include the China Daily, China Economic Times, China Public Security Daily, Economic Information Daily, The Economic Observer, Global Times, Gongren Ribao, Gunagming Daily, China News Digest, Legal Daily, Nongmin Ribao, PLA Daily, People’s Daily and Reference News.
Magazines and other weekly and monthly publications are also popular. You might consider placing ads in business magazines or others that HNWI are inclined to read dealing with health, lifestyle, sports, celebrities, love and other issues because different wealthy people also buy them. Popular magazines in Mainland China include the Beijing Review, Chinese National Geography, China Today, Caijing, Duzhe, More Hangzhou, Painkiller, Ray Li, Vogue China, Beijing This Month Publications, Beijing Scene, Feng Hua Yuan Magazine, Beijinger,
Yishu Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art, Outlook Magazine, Shanghai Business Review, and Xinmin Weekly. Non-Print Advertising High net-worth Chinese families are sure to have radio and TV in their homes and offices. While the downside to radio and TV advertising is always that it is fleeting, the potential impact of well-conceived ads promoting your EB-5 services and opportunities will be felt in the homes of your target audience. The keys to radio and TV advertising are placement, timing and frequency. As in the U.S., you need to be on the right channels, at the right times and often enough to catch your audience’s attention over and over again.
The Most Credible TV Advertising Is Free
This idea is so special that I may have to charge you for it separately: Market yourself to the business channels and programs on Chinese TV and radio. No doubt you are going to need some help with this, but you’re going to need help with any advertising. Establish your credibility by getting interviewed on camera or on the radio discussing the EB-5 opportunity. Your on-air presence will give you credibility that is unavailable through almost any other medium. Sharing your expertise, whether once or many times, sets you apart from the crowd. A Word about Advertising Agencies Again: you will not be able to advertise by yourself. You will need expert guidance and advice, and this will not be forthcoming from an EB-5 Agency. They will offer their assistance, but it will come at an extra price and it will not be the substantial help that you will require. They probably know as little as you do.
There are some bona fide, professional Agencies that understand the Chinese market and also operate in the United States. These Agencies can work with you to develop an entire media strategy, monitor and analyze results, and modify your strategy as necessary to achieve the greatest success.
Other Advertising
We have previously discussed attending trade fairs in the U.S., but don’t forget that China has its own trade fairs. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce offers listings of upcoming events. Certainly you will not be interested in all of them, but you should be interested in some of them, such as the International Economic and Trade Fair or the China International Fair for
Investment and Trade, among many others. Plan to attend one of these events, where you will be surrounded by potential clients. The opportunities to promote your EB-5-related business or project are virtually unlimited. The best marketing campaigns are not “either-or”considerations. The best opportunities are getting the right combination of marketing media mix. Advertising is not poker. Either you are all in or you are not in at all.