Is your China marketing ready to go in 2023?
Beijing-based digital marketers Dragon Trail International published yesterday a Chinese Tourism Recovery To-Do List that's a useful checklist for getting marketing to PRC restarted after a lockdown that lasted from 23 January 2020 to 8 January 2023.
Some key points:
- Make sure your social media accounts, links and autoreplies for China are still valid and up-to-date.
- Check that your WeChat Mini-program is accessible and current.
- Check that your website can be visited from PRC, and has a current SSL certificate, up-to-date content and correct Chinese-language meta information.
- Rebuild your trade network, as many Chinese international trade partners have gone out of that business.
- Relaunch B2B media campaigns targeting trade.
- Sign up for trade events.
- Review your target markets, brand image, positioning.
Dragon Trail analysts predict that outbound travel from PRC will be slow to recover in the first half of 2023 because of lag in recovery of airline capacity, which is at only 21% of 2019 level in 1Q2023. 42% of respondents to a survey said they wish to travel internationally in July or August - but mostly to destinations in Southeast Asia.
The USA continues to come in at or near last place as an aspirational 2023 destination for PRC residents because of COVID and incidents of anti-Asian hate as reported in Chinese media.
