In our recently released report, “How a Western Software Company Overcame Piracy to Thrive in China,” we discuss how a US software company used China marketing to turn Chinese users away from pirated versions of its software.
Globally, the company’s products are well known, with the vast majority of customers outside of China buying directly from its global website. At first, the company thought its globally-leading position meant that Chinese enterprise customers could be attracted through basic inbound China marketing. However, piracy was so out of control that it was a real challenge for any potential buyer to understand if they were buying authorized products or not. ADG worked with the company to develop a proactive China marketing approach to communicate its value, the risks of hacked software, and how and where customers could buy the legitimate and supported products.
The company focused on demonstrating its commitment to the local market through activities including creating a local “.cn” website, building a local digital community for users and partners, translating SEO-optimized tutorials, user guides and videos, and making small investments in paid search.
Getting these massive, 700,000 word HTML-based user guides translated and SEO-optimized for Baidu was a large undertaking but drove nearly 50% of user views to the .cn website. As an added benefit, having this work outsourced in China was faster and saved the client around US$70,000 compared to quotes in the United States.
Finally, to develop its community in China, the company focused on where its partners and end users congregate online, including WeChat, Zhihu (China’s Quora) and local industry focused BBSs. By late 2020, the company’s users and resellers increasingly recognized and began interacting with the legitimate brand.
Download the full report to learn more about how this company is succeeding in China!