Baidu Pay Per Click: Seven Tips for a Successful Campaign

Are you looking to expand your business to China with Baidu PPC ads? Before you begin, there are some essential tips to consider, so let’s take a look at a few!

When in Rome

When in Rome (or China), it’s best to do as the locals do. This means catering to your Chinese audience where necessary. For example, at the very least, you should have your Baidu PPC ads and website displayed in Chinese. You’ll also want to ensure your campaign isn’t a mere translation of those you direct at English consumers. Take note of Chinese consumer habits and behaviors rather than relying on which keywords worked for your English audience. It may even become beneficial to adjust your products to better suit this new target audience.

Embrace Your Foreign Image

While it’s crucial to respect and understand the Chinese web-culture for Baidu PPC ad campaigns, you shouldn’t hide where you’re from either. If you’re a foreign business, this can actually be an appealing aspect of your company to the Chinese audience. Foreign companies, especially those from the West, are often perceived by locals as higher quality than their Chinese counterparts. This means that showing off your origins can be an excellent marketing tool, and it shouldn’t be pushed aside.

Human Contact

Your Chinese audience will expect quick access to real-life people to help with information, or for other reasons. Having fast responding, live chat sections, phone lines, or other sources of human contact for your company’s Baidu PPC ads and website will be essential to maintaining a satisfied Chinese audience.

Account Set-Up

Setting up your account for Baidu PPC isn’t as simple as Google AdWords. You’ll need to have a few different documents translated into Chinese and submitted. Some of these documents include business licenses, recent bank statements, authorization letters, and photographic evidence of your office building. Without these, you won’t get too far, so it’s best to get them sorted right away.

Restrictions

Baidu PPC also comes with restrictions for your advertisements. It’s vital to understand these at length before you proceed, as they may not be the same as what you’re used to. Some regulations include banned words and phrases, such as: Best, Number One, Trustworthy, Guarantee, Exclusive, etc.

Web Analytics for Pay-Per-Click

Web analytics for Baidu PPC will also vary from what you’re used to seeing with Google AdWords. To use Google Analytics, you’ll have to add custom Google URL parameters to these Baidu ads, that way Google can access the information it needs to provide you with your analytics.

Strategy Before Money

Unless you’re one of the big dogs already, you likely won’t have millions to spend on your ad campaigns just yet. It’s not a great idea to just aimlessly throw money at your Baidu PPC ads and hope for success. You need to focus on building quality products, a good brand reputation, and creating strategic growth plans for your company. Carefully employing your tactics and maintaining high quality will help you to begin increasing your consumer base, which in turn will give you a wider margin of profits to invest back into your advertisements. As your company grows, you can continue to invest more in your ads, until eventually, you’ve reached the top.

Overall, there are lots of things to consider when operating Baidu PPC campaigns. With the right tactics, cultural insight, and technical knowledge, you’ll have the head start you need to begin advertising overseas.