Potential Market for E-Marketing in China
Given the fact that it has the largest population on the face of the earth, it should come as no surprise that China also has the largest number of internet users. There are presently over 400 million internet users in China, which account for one fifth of the 1.75 billion internet users the world over. Of these users, 176 million are users of social networking sites, and over 280 million are search engine users. Most notably, though, the value of online business transactions in China reached $36.5 billion in 2009. How huge this market is!
Despite the 400 million people who currently use the internet in China, this one billion people who are not yet online, and while it is naive to think that every single person in China will inevitably be an internet user, if internet penetration in China were to reach levels similar to those of the US, this would be an addition of over 600 million users to the web. Of these new users, many would be drawn to online businesses, further expanding an already vibrant and robust market. Most notably, these users will expand the field of potential customers which can be reached through careful advertising.
As the fastest growing economy in the world, China’s real GDP is expected to grow another 60% by the year 2014, bringing even more disposable income to the rapidly increasing number of internet users in China. Does it make any sense to not reach out to this group through internet marketing? By learning to effectively employ Chinese search engines, being culturally sensitive in how you target a foreign audience, and learning to navigate the language barrier, a relatively modest investment of time and effort may pay dividends later. For example, by simply translating the homepage on your website into Mandarin to encourage people to conduct business with you in English, your page will be able to appear in Chinese search engines.
Therefore, with China’s rapidly expanding economy and internet user base, it only makes sense to venture forth into Chinese e-marketing.
