This Russian founder shares specific strategies for foreign companies to enter China

This article is part of Tech in Asia’s partnership with The Jay Kim Show where we publish the revised transcripts from the show’s podcast interviews with top entrepreneurs. This is heavily revised from the original show transcripts. For the full interview, go here.

Ashley Galina Dudarenok is the founder of Alarice International, a marketing agency that focuses on Chinese social media. She also owns ChoZan, an online membership platform for marketers who work with Chinese social media.

Born in Russia, Dudarenok has been living in China for 12 years now. In my interview with her, she breaks down the social media landscape in China, discussed specific strategies for foreign companies looking to enter the region, and how exactly influencer marketing can help them.

A photo of Ashley Galina Dudarenok.

What does the social media landscape in China look like?

China is extremely different. We all know that. The first thing to understand about China is that it’s not one market. I think a lot of people still don’t get that. When they enter China, they think they are entering a single market.

But China is more like Europe. It has 23 provinces, cities with special administrative status, and 33 distinct markets. You won’t sell or market to somebody in Iceland the same way you do to somebody in Spain. And selling to somebody in Shanghai is very different to marketing to a guy from Guangdong or Heilongjiang.

However, there are two things that unite the whole market. First is putonghua, which is Mandarin. Literally, no matter where you live in China, you speak the language.

Second is the social media mania. The first big social platform that won the hearts of millions of Chinese people was the micro-blogging site Weibo. Initially, there was a war between different types of Weibo; Sina Weibo won in the end. Then, one more platform popped up—Diandian.

In 2011, Tencent introduced WeChat, and a lot of Western people don’t understand what’s the big deal—it’s just the Chinese version of WhatsApp. But WeChat is really an operating system for life in China. It lets you send a newsletter directly to the phones of your followers, link your online shop, create an app, provide customer service, and launch campaigns or H5 pages with all the videos and clickable stuff.

Besides that, there are more than 60 different platforms—from live streaming platforms like Meipai and Yizhibo to copycats of YouTube like Youku and specialty marketplaces like Xiao Hong Shu (or “Little Red Book”). There’s also a lot of niche platforms that we never hear about outside of China but are extremely popular and specialized.

What’s the best strategy to get into China?

The first thing you need to do is to understand whether you’re ready for China. China is not for everyone. It is a crowded and an expensive market where you need to invest long term.

If you’re bringing a big company to China, you’re most likely already late. You’ll need millions of dollar to promote a new product, unless you’re in a niche market. If you’re a small business, it might be just too much of a market for you to enter.

So, there are threats everywhere when you talk about China. How will you know whether it’s the right market for you? My advice is to always ask yourself whether China is your top priority for the coming year. If your answer is no, then China should not be on your radar. You can only start moving forward to China if your answer is yes and you understand why you need to enter the market.

China is not for everyone.

Why is it too late for a foreign company to enter China?

How important is influencer marketing?

How should an entrepreneur use Chinese online shopping sites?