Speak to Media Specialists at Star China to Boost Marketing to Chinese
Announcement posted by Star China 29 Mar 2019
Chinese advertising agency Star China says social media marketing is a must have for many retailers and brands. With generous financial support from their parents, Chinese international students have strong purchasing power and are now becoming the influencers of their peers in China due to the wide use of social media.
As these students travel back to China they influence them with what they are wearing, eating and discussing. These young customers spend most of their time on social media. Therefore, social media marketing is a must have for many retailers and brands.
The Australian government is also targeting the Chinese tourists and students. Australia will spend more than $5 million advertising to young Chinese urbanites to persuade them regional Australia isn't dangerous and they should come despite the lack of free WiFi.
China is Australia's biggest source of tourists and international students but there were fears last year these two important export industries could be damaged amid tension in diplomatic relations. Chinese tourists are worth A$11.5 billion ($11.95b) a year to the economy.
A major tourism advertising campaign on billboards and metro stations in Chinese cities begins this week with colourful imagery of Australia's natural scenery – plus a crocodile – and the slogan "Too Australian for words".
Tourism Australia will pay A$3.28 million, and tourism operators including Qantas will pay A$1.78 million, for the advertising.
"Australia already has a strong affinity amongst Chinese travellers; however, we must continue to find new ways to appeal to the Chinese market," said Australia's Trade Minister Simon Birmingham.
He said the fastest growing group of Chinese tourists were the "free and independent travellers" who are younger, more adventurous and stay three times longer than Chinese tourists on a group or package tour.
Whereas Chinese students tend to spend most of their time in the major Australian cities (88 per cent) and half of their spending goes towards education fees, the "free and independent travellers" or "FITS" are more likely to travel to regional Australia as well.
Australia was targeting this group to encourage them to make repeated visits to Australia, outside of peak Chinese holiday periods such as Chinese New Year.
But a report from Tourism Research Australia has highlighted some of the problems in getting this sector of Chinese tourists to regional Australia. Time (71 per cent) was the major constraint, followed by cost (32 per cent).
The research also found "a view entrenched by the experiences and attitudes of Chinese society that personal safety would be compromised in regional Australia".
But the biggest complaint about regional Australia was the lack of free WiFi.
This had become a tourism marketing problem for Australia because half of this segment of Chinese Millennial travellers used social media, and more than a third used travel review sites, to plan their holidays.
Star China says to target Chinese customers, advertisers should use social media platforms WeChat and Weibo. The agency says there are over 30 media accounts on WeChat in Australia, and they can assist companies select the right media account. Also, Star China can help with registering on the WeChat official account.
For more information on Chinese media buying, wechat advertising, social media content creation and more, visit https://starchina.com.au/