With countries all over the world going on self-quarantine due to COVID-19, business has moved online and everyone’s working from their homes. But where Europe seems to only be going under harsher lockdown, Asian countries appear to be slowly moving towards recovery.
China has once again opened Wuhan, where the virus was first reported, and people are beginning to go outside again. The South Korean government is considering easing the emergency restrictions. And other major players, like Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong, despite having their troubles, seem to be doing a decent job of keeping the virus mostly under the lid.
As the local businesses move into the rejuvenation phase, now is the best moment to ride the wave and get your place in the market. Not to mention that making your move now would likely cost less than usual, since with the coronacrysis many agencies and media are willing to offer services at a discount. Below are some advices that I will give you for your promotion.
Create a visually impressive website
An important thing to note here is that most of our advices relate to promotion opportunities that can be accomplished online. With the virus outbreak businesses around the world have moved from the physical plane onto the digital one. Many rules have changed and if businesses want to succeed in this new reality, they will have to adapt.
Which is why building a proper website is crucial – it’s going to be the “face” that potential clients will judge you by.
Make sure to translate the website into the language of whatever country you want to work with. English is good, but Asians (and not only them) generally feel more at ease when they can communicate in their native language. Adding to that, if you have or plan to make official accounts in the country’s social networks – like WeChat or Weibo in China, for example – you must add links to them to your website. And finally, you must have a smoothly-working mobile version of your website – after all, 45% of the Asia Pacific population have been using mobile internet services in 2018, and that number is only expected to grow.
Working with media
Working with media requires a delicate approach and an understanding of certain nuances.
Let’s look at Japan. Local companies are always very careful in studying potential partners. The same can be said about the media – before they agree to publish a material about your product, they will certainly ask you to provide as much information as possible in order to study and decide whether you are suitable for their target audience.
In China, due to its enormous size and a large pool of media, it is important to rely not only on the quality of resources, but also on their quantity – so, even if some resources refuse you, there is always an opportunity to publish on others.
In the case of South Korea, the local consumers can be somewhat capricious – for media, this will mean that almost any material that you want to publish, the resource will definitely re-write in order to adjust it to the editorial policy and make it more interesting to their readers.
Adapting to social networks
Social marketing is a very important tool in Asia – local social networks are developing extremely fast and have become a useful way to get information.
In China, due to the strict government policies, popular networks like Facebook, Twitter or YouTube are banned. But fortunately, China has its own alternatives – WeChat, Sina Weibo, Youku, etc. If you want to succeed, you will have to study and adapt to new platforms.
In the case of South Korea, the success of the product is directly influenced by how it fits the latest trends in the country. Chats on Kakao Talk and blogs on Naver are the most popular among local platforms. YouTube is also getting recognition.
Fortunately, unlike the other two countries, Japan fully uses such common and well-known platforms as Facebook and Twitter. However, there is also LINE – perhaps the most popular network in the country, and this one you will have to study up on.
Cooperating with influencers
There is also an element common and equally useful to social marketing in all three countries – key opinion leaders (KOLs), also called influencers. Typically, the ones to become influencers are popular and influential bloggers or superstars – people who have the ability to influence the actions of the audience. Such people often have an understanding of the latest trends, as well as the attention and love of the public.
The business world is now entering a new reality, where companies are moving their activities online. Online conferences, webinars, distance working – all of these things had already existed and now have come to the forefront. Even when the pandemic passes, it is likely that this new development will continue – modern technologies make it possible.
For many people, being able to adapt to the new order of things will determine how successful their businesses will be in the not too distant future.
Written by Valentina Drofa. Have you read?
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