1.Email Centric vs. Phone Centric – China’s Digital Behavior is Different.
Email never took hold for personal communication in China. China skipped directly to chat and the mobile phone as a primary mode of communication.
Most Chinese digital platforms use cell phone for a users Primary Identifying Key and validation method. This has resulted in low usage of email and preference for SMS, and now, private chat as the preferred means of communication. Global platforms though are based on Email. As an example, HubSpot recently released a Visitor Identification API to track users across websites, but it only includes email and first name, last name as fields to map. This is not useful in China since websites use Phone numbers or WeChat OpenID for registration.
2.First Name, Last Name vs. Name – The Chinese Language and Culture is Different.
Speaking of name many unique characteristics of the Chinese Language itself provide difficulties for global platforms to be used in china, for instance names. In China first last middle name are three characters and typically all used together so in China there is just one name field vs a combined First Name and Last Name field. The mapping between these often times causes problems especially when personalizing communications. There are many such examples this is just one.
3.What’s App/Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/Paypal/Slack/LinkedIn vs. WeChat – China’s Digital Ecosystem is Very Different.
In a true case of digital innovation China has developed the SuperAPP, WeChat and it’s business oriented new sibling WeCom (WeChat Work) which encompass Private Chat, Sharing, Group Discussions, Payments, Business chat, Ads, Videos and more is the equivalent of multiple western apps.
It has become the most effective and common means of digital communication in China and has a whole series of features that are constantly being innovated and upgraded. Global platforms have not been able to keep up with the changes and in fact are falling further behind in their ability to integrate the latest features, for instance WeCom Group Send tasks API, which allows us to automate chat messages between sales and customers and is becoming a must have feature in China.
In addition, new channels are developing, for instance TikTok/Douyin which is becoming an important acquisition channel with it’ s own ecosystem of advertising and business friendly Super APP features.
4.Chinese Internet-related Laws – Global Platforms Often Don’t Function Well in China.
According to Chinese Internet-related laws, many of the Email or SMS services they integrate with either don’t deliver to China or suffer from bad deliverability.
Additionally, they do not integrate well with local tools. Seminars, Webinars and Conferences are operated usually with an event management tool and campaign is run through marketing automation tool. Global event tools are not built for the China ecosystem and domestic event tool workflows do not work as well.
5.Global Experience vs. China Experience – China Marketing Strategies, Tactics are Different.
Marketing Automation is complicated and a key component of the leading platforms is their training, education, and tactic sharing. Some of it is relevant and can be used but enough is different that the local know-how from a local provider will be just as important as the tool. For instance, for B2B Viral Marketing (LieBian) lead generation tactics for building word of mouth campaigns, local Chinese platforms will provide a tool to run these campaigns and respect the legal requirement that you only allow for incentivizing two levels of sharing, whereas global platforms do not even have it.
6.Western Speed vs. China Speed – Everything Changes Faster in China.
According to the IMF China is expected to grow 1.9% in 2020 which is 290% faster than Western Advanced Economies which contracted 5.4%. Incredibly for an economy which is already the second largest in the world this is actually an increase over 2019 where China was growing “only” 259% faster.
This level of growth and change has never been seen before so many assumptions about how things will go are not valid since this is the only time in history that this has occurred. The resulting impact for Marketers and technology platforms is that you can be sure that the level of unique needs, channels, and behaviors will at the very least continue and probably accelerate for the foreseeable future. This, then, is the fundamental gap between a Local and Global Marketing Automation solutions, in order to be ready for “China Speed”, and react to the ever-changing needs and trends, it needs to be built in and for China.
Very Direct Version:
- HubSpot doesn’t support phone number as main unique identifier very well. It is based off of Email which is not used as the primary key for identification in China.
- HubSpot is missing Chinese language specific features like combined name
- HubSpot does not directly integrate with WeChat official accounts and WeChat Work the two most important communication channels in china. You need to run campaigns where your leads are, we are optimized for WeChat. HubSpot cannot run campaigns well in WeChat. You will be losing leads
- HubSpot doesn’t have servers in China so performance may be slow
- HubSpot does not have tools and training materials for China marketing tactics like “LieBian” Viral marketing.
- HubSpot is not integrated with the other marketing tools that marketing teams use on the the ground.
- HubSpot will have a very difficult time catching up and keeping up as China’s digital ecosystem is continually changing.