Continuing our series of articles exploring the benefits and challenges for Western water companies doing business in China, Aquatech Online talked to Thijs van der Toom, Managing Director and co-founder of NextportChina.
Specifically, we talked marketing and communications in China, social media, especially WeChat, and what a water tech company in Europe needs to know before entering the Chinese market.
A journey towards marketing in China
“I always have been fascinated by China since high school. I read especially about Chinese history. But I didn't have the courage to study sinology. Instead, I took the safe route of studying business administration,” van der Toom told Aquatech Online.
However, the pull of China was never far away, and he enrolled in extra courses to study Chinese history, politics and economics. He later studied a Master’s degree in Chinese economy and business.
“That brought me to China in 2009 for an internship in Shanghai. And then the moment I landed there, 15 years ago, I immediately really liked the city, its ambience, the dynamics. It's really so completely different from what I was used to. I had already travelled quite a bit, but China was completely different, and I really got fascinated by it and decided to stay longer, so I got a scholarship.”
We use WeChat as a marketing and sales tool for B2B companies, for water companies, you can think about it as having everything you need there, all in one place
The scholarship was at the Sichuan University in Chengdu, a city which had been recommended by his teacher at Leiden University’s Synology department. “Lots of mountains, good food, nice people. I brought my mountain bike as a true Dutch person. I did a lot of riding there in the mountains close to Tibet and I learned the language.”
Working for digital agencies opened his eyes to how different the online landscape is in China compared to Europe.
“Back then the Chinese government had imposed what we here now call the ‘Great Chinese Firewall’. It prevents big western platforms from being accessed by Chinese netizens. As a result, China developed its own ecosystem of platforms.”
Returning to the Netherlands in 2012 after three years in China, van der Toom met his business partner and together they realised that there was a real need for supporting companies that want to be visible on the Chinese Internet but do not know how to get started. And so NextportChina was born.
Social media in China
In the western world, it's quite straightforward: We have a few big platforms, such as Google, Facebook, Instagram, and they get most of the traffic. In China, the landscape is very different, which is something western companies need to understand. Also the way Chinese users interact with social media is very different compared to their western counterparts.
“The competition is fierce, with hundreds of players active in numerous verticals. There are general players like WeChat and Weibo, but also platforms that resonate with specific demographics, like Red, Bilibili, Douyin (TikTok), and those targeting more specific markets, such as Alibaba (B2B), Taobao (C2C) and TMALL (B2C),” adds van der Toom.
“We started NextportChina, to serve those European companies that have beautiful products or services and want to get exposure for their offering; we help them with that. Now our digital agency has a staff of 14 Chinese in Amsterdam. When we do the campaigns for a company, we first of all decide which platform they should be on.”
Often, it's WeChat, but it can also be Douyin, which is the Chinese name for TikTok. RED is also a really big platform - in China it's called Xiaohongshu - which is similar to Instagram. For Google you have Baidu and Qihoo.
“So we look at our clients and say, OK, who do you want to reach out to and then we decide which platform they should be on,” adds van der Toom. “We will register their presence, and often operate their accounts on their behalf. So, we create the content, run the campaigns, and promote them via advertisements and influencers.”
For water tech companies, active in the B2B sector in China, the best channel that can help them fuel their growth is WeChat.
The WeChat ecosystem
WeChat has 1.309 billion monthly active users (MAU). It is an entire ecosystem in one platform, incorporating social media, corporate websites, e-commerce (WeChat Pay), apps, video, and more.
The stats are impressive: 45 billion messages sent daily, with 780 WeChat moments shared daily; 20 million officially registered accounts, with 80 percent of users accessing official accounts; 800 million WeChat Pay users, a 40 percent market share (as of 2019); four million WeChat mini programs (like apps) with 400 million daily active users.
“When we had started in 2012, it was just a chat, like WhatsApp, basically just an instant messenger app,” beings van der Toom. “From there it grew into everything you can imagine in one app, that's basically how I normally describe WeChat. Fast-forward to 2024 WeChat is still one of China’s most used apps. It's really the starting point of the mobile life of hundreds of millions of Chinese.”
It's really the starting point of the mobile life of hundreds of millions of Chinese
Its popularity stems from what it contains and what it allows users to do without leaving the ecosystem.
“You can read the news, you can chat with your friends, you can pay with WeChat – i.e. can pay your utility bill, you can pay your taxi,” explains van der Toom. “All through the day you reach for WeChat for multiple things. It used to be that cash was king in China, but people rarely use it, you can’t pay for a taxi with cash anymore.”
And because people use it so much, it has also become the perfect tool to promote and sell your products, especially within the B2B industry.
“Traditionally, business cards were super important in China. You always give them with two hands – ‘here's my business card’. But now if you are at an event, a Chinese businessman won’t have a business card anymore, they always ask if you have WeChat.”
Why WeChat is so important for western companies
For B2B companies, WeChat is most often the best platform to be on. Google cannot be accessed, LinkedIn hasn’t really taken off in China, though it can be accessed.
WeChat is an ideal B2B platform because it effectively combines a company website, a newsletter, customer service, and advertising all in one place. For western companies, a corporate website will often perform poorly, it will load slowly and people will rarely view it.
“So, if you have your website hosted outside China, the performance is poor and if you want to have it hosted in China, you need a subsidiary in China. You need a Chinese business because you need a lot of licences to have your website up and running,” explains van der Toom. “But with WeChat you can circumvent that.”
“Also in the west, newsletters work well for B2B companies because we use e-mail on a daily basis. However, in China, people don't use e-mail that much,” van der Toom adds. “If you work for an international company in China, you will use e-mail to communicate with your suppliers or your clients outside China, but not really on a daily basis. So, newsletters don't really convert.
A WeChat Official Account really replaces your Western marcom channels
Again, WeChat provides the solution.
“You can send your newsletters via WeChat. You can also do your customer service on WeChat because if you have an official corporate account and you can advertise. So, a WeChat Official Account really replaces your Western marcom channels. You also have a timeline, like Facebook, and can offer services like live streams and payments.”
Having all those things in one place make it a powerful platform. The fact that you can tailor your content towards your specific target group makes it vital for water tech companies who want to operate in the Chinese market.
Types of content on WeChat
From a marketing perspective for a water tech company, your Official Account is the beating heart of your marketing activity on WeChat. And then connected to that Official Account can be a Mini Program, which is essentially an app within the WeChat app. In addition, you can advertise and offer localised videos. You can brand, promote and sell all on one platform. You can even add CRM tools if your account grows really large.
One major difference in terms of content on WeChat is that it tends to be longer-form, more blog-like, than you would find on Facebook and Instagram.
As an Official Account, you are only allowed to post four times a month. However, on each post you can attach eight items, effectively meaning you can post 32 items a month. Given the length of each post, however, most western companies usually share four items per post, sixteen per month in total.
“Most of the time content is about products, brand, sales, how distributors can reach the company, information about if they visited a fair in China… that kind of information is perfect for WeChat,” says van der Toom. “For western companies that create blogs, these are perfect for translation and use in WeChat, because your WeChat account is very accessible.”
Mini Programs are very useful. They allow you to share information about your products with clients; for example, with one click you can share a brochure using the Mini program, without leaving the ecosystem. Perfect during fairs.
Advertising on WeChat
Another really useful feature is that you can advertise via the WeChat system. It works using banners.
“So, if you are a water technology company, for example, and you want to reach the right stakeholders in the market, you can activate the advertising function, top up your budget and segment your audience – water industry, Shanghai area,” explains van der Toom. “You then decide on the purpose of the banner, i.e. clicking on it will take the person to your company’s Official Account, or you can link directly through to a Mini Program or a post.”
Another way to reach leads is to advertise on another Official Account. For example, a water tech company could advertise on the Aquatech account or run advertorials.
A WeChat Official Account adds validity to your business
“If you have a WeChat Official Account, potential leads and clients in China think, OK, they're serious about China,” explains van der Toom. “They know that we use WeChat, we can read everything in Chinese. This is a trustworthy company. It builds trust.”
It’s now relatively easy to get an Official Account. Before 2018, however, it was only possible to have an official account if you had a Chinese entity.
“After 2018, WeChat realised there are so many Western companies that want to be on WeChat,” adds van der Toom. “The company created overseas Official Accounts so you can now register an official presence on WeChat with your Western business licence. This has opened the doors for any foreign company to leverage WeChat for accelerating its growth strategy on the Chinese market.”
Aquatech China is the leading water technology trade show in China, covering all aspects of water: drinking water, industrial water, waste water treatment, sludge treatment, smart water solutions and water management.
