A marketing perspective on driving sustainable growth in APAC
The Chinese consumer market represents one of the most significant opportunities for Australian businesses today. With Chinese tourists contributing billions to the Australian economy annually and a growing Chinese diaspora community with substantial purchasing power, the question isn't whether Australian brands should engage in Chinese marketing Australia strategies. It's how to do it effectively.
The answer lies in two platforms that dominate Chinese digital life: WeChat and Little Red Book (Xiaohongshu). While most Australian brands remain focused on Facebook and Instagram, forward-thinking companies are already capturing market share by meeting Chinese consumers where they actually spend their time online.
This isn't about translating your existing social media content into Mandarin. It's about understanding fundamentally different digital ecosystems where social media, e-commerce, and everyday communication merge into seamless experiences.
Australian brands don't need to expand internationally to reach Chinese consumers. They're already in your market, searching for your products on platforms most businesses ignore.
If you're planning to simply repurpose your Instagram content with Chinese translations, it will work for short-term campaigns and for a handful of industries but not for the long term.
Chinese social media platforms operate within a completely different digital ecosystem. The Great Firewall blocks Western platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Google, meaning Chinese consumers (both in China and many living in Australia) rely exclusively on domestic platforms for information, entertainment, and shopping decisions.
But the differences go far deeper than accessibility. Chinese platforms have evolved into "super apps" that integrate multiple functions Western users would need separate applications for. WeChat, for instance, combines messaging, social networking, payment processing, booking services, and content publishing all in one platform. This integration means Chinese consumers don't separate their social media experience from their shopping journey. They expect to discover, research, and purchase products without ever leaving the app.
The cultural nuances matter just as much as the technical ones. Chinese consumers build trust through different mechanisms than Western buyers. While Australian shoppers might read professional reviews or trust brand advertising, Chinese consumers heavily rely on Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs), peer recommendations, and visual proof from real users.
For Australian brands, this presents both challenge and opportunity. The Chinese diaspora in Australia numbers in the hundreds of thousands, with significant concentrations in Sydney and Melbourne. Chinese tourists, when travel is unrestricted, spend more per capita than visitors from any other country. The daigou economy (Chinese personal shoppers who purchase Australian products to resell in China) generates substantial revenue for local retailers.
Yet most Australian brands are invisible to these consumers because they're not present on the platforms where purchasing decisions are made. Success in Chinese marketing Australia requires meeting consumers in their native digital environment with strategies built specifically for how they discover, evaluate, and buy products.
WeChat isn't just popular amongst Chinese speakers. It's essential. With over 1.3 billion monthly active users globally, WeChat dominates communication for Chinese consumers both in China and abroad. For Chinese residents and students in Australia, WeChat is their primary connection to home, their news source, their payment method, and increasingly, their shopping platform.
The platform offers two main business account types:
Subscription Accounts allow daily posts and work well for content-driven brands. If you're focused on education, thought leadership, or regular engagement, this is your starting point.
Service Accounts, limited to four posts monthly, offer more advanced features like WeChat Pay integration. They're ideal for businesses focused on transactions and customer service.
WeChat Mini Programs represent perhaps the most powerful feature for Australian brands. These lightweight applications live within WeChat, allowing users to browse products, make bookings, or complete purchases without leaving the app. An Australian tourism operator could build a Mini Program where Chinese travellers browse tours, check availability, and book experiences, all whilst chatting with friends about their upcoming trip.
The beauty of Mini Programs is that they remove friction from the customer journey. Chinese consumers don't need to navigate to a separate website, create a new account, or figure out an unfamiliar payment system. Everything happens within their trusted WeChat environment.
The content strategy for WeChat differs significantly from Western platforms. Chinese users expect substantial, valuable content, not the short, snappy posts that work on Instagram. Successful WeChat articles often run 800-1,500 words, combining educational information with subtle brand messaging. An Australian skincare brand might publish detailed articles about ingredient sourcing, the science behind native botanicals, or routines for different skin concerns.
WeChat Official Accounts function as owned media channels, giving brands direct access to subscribers without algorithmic interference. Unlike Instagram where your posts might reach only 5-10% of followers, WeChat delivers your content directly to subscribers' feeds. Australian brands should use QR codes in physical locations, on product packaging, and in other marketing materials to drive WeChat follows.
For Australian businesses, WeChat serves multiple audience segments simultaneously:
The integration of WeChat Pay cannot be overlooked. For Chinese consumers, mobile payment via WeChat Pay is the default transaction method. Australian retailers with WeChat Pay capability immediately signal legitimacy to Chinese shoppers and remove a significant friction point from the purchase process.
If WeChat is where you build relationships, Little Red Book (Xiaohongshu) is where you capture desire.
Little Red Book has emerged as the most influential platform for product discovery amongst Chinese consumers, with over 300 million monthly users, predominantly affluent, educated women aged 18-35. The platform combines elements of Instagram's visual appeal, Pinterest's discovery focus, and Amazon's product reviews, creating a unique environment where users actively seek recommendations before making purchases.
Users refer to the activity on the platform as "种草" (zhòng cǎo), which literally means "planting grass." The metaphor is perfect. Users plant seeds of desire for products in each other's minds, which grow until the urge to purchase becomes irresistible. This isn't passive scrolling. It's active research by consumers with high purchase intent.
For Australian brands, Little Red Book Australia presents an extraordinary opportunity. The platform's users are fascinated by Australian products, particularly in categories where Australia has inherent credibility:
Posts featuring Australian landscapes, clean ingredients, and origin stories consistently outperform generic product content.
The platform's content formats range from photo carousels (up to 9 images) to short videos and live streaming. Photo posts remain the most popular format, requiring careful attention to aesthetic principles that resonate with Chinese users: bright, aspirational imagery with comprehensive details.
Unlike Instagram where minimalist aesthetics dominate, Little Red Book users want to see products from multiple angles, with close-ups of textures, ingredients lists, and real-world usage scenarios. They want information, not just inspiration.
Geographic tagging is particularly valuable for Australian businesses with physical locations. When users in Melbourne search for "Melbourne cafes" or "Sydney skincare stores" on Little Red Book, properly tagged content appears in results, driving foot traffic from Chinese tourists and local community members.
This makes Little Red Book an incredibly powerful local discovery tool, not just an international marketing platform.
The daigou economy relies heavily on Little Red Book. These personal shoppers (often Chinese students or residents in Australia) source products based on trending posts and customer requests from their networks in China. When a product gains traction on Little Red Book, daigou operators notice and begin purchasing in bulk from Australian retailers.
This creates a multiplier effect. One successful Little Red Book post can drive direct consumer purchases, plus wholesale volume from daigou operators, plus increased brand awareness that feeds back into the cycle.
Little Red Book's search functionality means content has a long-tail life. Unlike Instagram posts that disappear from feeds within hours, Little Red Book content remains discoverable for months or even years through search, making the platform ideal for evergreen content about product benefits and usage guides.
This changes your content strategy. You're not just creating for the immediate audience. You're building a searchable library of valuable content that continues working for you over time.
Success on Little Red Book isn't about follower counts. It's about creating content that compels action.
The platform's algorithm prioritises engagement depth over vanity metrics. Saves and shares carry more weight than likes because they indicate genuine interest and intent. When users save your post, they're bookmarking it for reference when they're ready to purchase.
This means your content strategy should focus on utility and value, not just entertainment. Give people a reason to save your post for later.
Users can spot promotional content immediately and respond with scepticism. The most effective approach blends education, entertainment, and subtle product integration. Rather than "Buy our amazing skincare!" successful posts read like helpful advice from a knowledgeable friend.
Share your origin story. Explain your ingredients. Show behind-the-scenes processes. Give honest comparisons. Chinese consumers value transparency and education.
Visual aesthetics must align with platform culture. Whilst Instagram favours moody, artistic photography, Xiaohongshu marketing thrives on bright, detailed, slightly oversaturated imagery that pops in the feed.
Text overlays in Chinese highlighting key benefits work well. Before-and-after comparisons, process shots, and comprehensive product lineups all perform strongly. Show the product in context. Demonstrate actual use. Provide visual proof of claims.
Influencer partnerships require careful vetting on Little Red Book. Mega-influencers with millions of followers often deliver lower engagement rates and appear too commercial. Micro-influencers (10,000-100,000 followers) and Key Opinion Consumers (KOCs, everyday users with smaller but highly engaged followings) typically deliver better ROI because their recommendations feel genuine.
Look for influencers whose audience matches your target demographic, whose content style aligns with your brand values, and who demonstrate authentic engagement (not just high follower counts).
Captions on Little Red Book require thoughtful keyword optimisation. The platform functions partly as a search engine, with users actively looking for specific information: "Australian vitamin C serum," "Melbourne brunch spots," "baby formula comparison."
Including relevant search terms naturally within your caption improves discoverability dramatically. Think about what your target customers are searching for, and make sure those terms appear in your content.
Community management on Little Red Book demands more than occasional comment responses. Chinese consumers expect detailed answers to their questions, often asking for specific usage instructions, ingredient breakdowns, or purchasing information.
Brands that respond promptly and comprehensively in Mandarin build trust and often convert commenters into customers. This isn't optional. It's essential to your success on the platform.
Let's look at what strategic Chinese marketing actually delivers for Australian brands.
Roland Piano needed to build brand awareness amongst Chinese-speaking families in Australia seeking quality instruments for their children's musical education. Over three months, their campaign generated 429,885 impressions and 33,625 page views across WeChat and Little Red Book platforms.
The WeChat Component
The WeChat component reached over 50,000 users through highly targeted Moments and Group Push promotions. By layering demographic, geographic, and psychographic data, they connected with families who had genuine upgrade needs rather than just general brand awareness.
The Little Red Book Performance
On Little Red Book, Roland Piano's In-Feed Advertising achieved a 6.65% click-through rate, exceeding the 3.0% expectation by 121.6%. This exceptional performance came from understanding that educational content resonates with Chinese-speaking audiences who value informed decision-making. Model comparison content and articles explaining the differences between piano types outperformed generic promotional content.
The Influencer Strategy
Their influencer collaborations highlighted another crucial lesson: authentic storytelling outperforms polish. The influencer who achieved 19.3% engagement rate (2,565 impressions, 1,262 page views, 244 engagements) created video content that genuinely explored parents' concerns about choosing pianos for their children's education, not scripted advertisements.
Lin's video content with authentic storytelling achieved the highest engagement, whilst Tiffany delivered 4.7% engagement rate (2,061 impressions, 1,184 page views, 56 engagements).
Flowers Vasette, a premium Melbourne florist, built their Little Red Book presence from zero over nine months, achieving 144,732 page views and 1,416 organic followers. More importantly, their audience spent 373 hours engaging with content, proof of genuine interest rather than vanity metrics.
Understanding Cultural Moments
The Melbourne florist's success came from understanding cultural gifting occasions. Their content calendar aligned with Chinese New Year, Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, graduation season, and the Chadstone store opening, moments when Chinese families in Melbourne naturally think about flowers and meaningful gifts.
Strategic Influencer Activation
Their strategic influencer network demonstrated smart resource allocation. They sourced and vetted 61 influencers but strategically activated only 12 for high-impact posts aligned with key cultural and seasonal moments. This selective approach meant every partnership delivered maximum impact, expanding reach efficiently whilst reinforcing the brand's relevance in lifestyle and gifting conversations.
The Results
The campaign generated 9,449 page visits, 3,076 likes, and 186 quality comments from invested audiences. By positioning Flowers Vasette within emotional purchasing windows and making the brand feel local, accessible, and premium simultaneously, they established themselves as part of Melbourne's lifestyle fabric for Chinese-speaking residents.
Nick Reece's Lord Mayoral campaign launched his Little Red Book presence from scratch during the election period (August-October 2024), reaching Melbourne's Chinese-speaking community with exceptional results: 123,858 people reached and 28,394 followers gained in just three months, with 28,000 followers coming in the first two weeks alone.
The Content Strategy
The campaign posted 3-4 times weekly, creating 41 posts that generated 104,905 home page visits, 34,371 likes, and 12,831 engagements. Top performing posts achieved 380,000+ views, with multiple posts going viral during the campaign period.
The Demographic Precision
The demographic targeting proved remarkably precise: 68% female, 65% young adults aged 18-34, exactly the engaged citizens political campaigns need to mobilise. Most significantly, 88% of followers found Nick's page through active search (51% post search, 37% page search), demonstrating they weren't accidental followers but people specifically seeking information about local leadership and community issues.
The Authentic Approach
Videos featuring Nick with his voiceover proved particularly effective, allowing viewers to connect with him authentically rather than through polished political messaging. This personal approach built trust through genuine storytelling.
The Outcome
Nick Reece won the 2024 Melbourne Lord Mayoral election and now serves as Lord Mayor for a four-year term. The Little Red Book strategy contributed crucial Chinese-speaking community support that translated to actual votes, proving that culturally authentic Chinese marketing delivers measurable impact beyond awareness metrics.
The most sophisticated Australian brands don't choose between platforms. They use WeChat marketing and Little Red Book in concert, recognising each platform's role in the customer journey.
Little Red Book excels at the discovery and consideration phases. Users browse aspirationally, seeking inspiration and researching products. This is where you capture attention and create desire.
WeChat dominates the conversion and retention phases. Once consumers have identified products they want, they often migrate to WeChat for deeper information, customer service, and transactions. WeChat Official Accounts provide detailed content, Mini Programs facilitate seamless purchasing, and ongoing messaging builds loyalty.
This integrated approach requires coordinated strategy. Cross-promotion between platforms drives traffic where it's most valuable:
The Nick Reece campaign demonstrates how focused platform strategy delivers real-world results. By concentrating on Little Red Book to reach Melbourne's Chinese-speaking community, the campaign achieved search-driven discovery that indicated high-intent audiences. When 88% of your followers find you through active search, they're more likely to take action, whether making purchases or casting votes.
Understanding why Chinese social media marketing matters is different from knowing how to begin. Start with these essential steps.
Not every Australian business will resonate with Chinese consumers. Categories with inherent appeal include:
If your products fall into these categories, you've got natural advantages. If not, you'll need to work harder to establish credibility and differentiation.
Are you targeting:
Each segment requires tailored messaging. Students care about value and local discovery. Tourists want authentic Australian experiences. The diaspora seeks quality daily products. Daigou operators need trending items with good margins. Mainland consumers want premium imports with verified authenticity.
Get specific about who you're trying to reach.
Quality content creation costs money. You'll need:
However, consider that Chinese consumers in your market are already searching for products like yours on these platforms. Every day you're not visible is a day they're discovering your competitors instead.
Little Red Book often serves as an effective entry point for product-based businesses given its discovery-focused user behaviour. The platform works well for:
WeChat makes more sense as a starting point for service businesses and those prioritising customer relationships. The platform excels for:
Start with one platform and execute it well rather than spreading resources thinly across both.
Major shopping events and cultural occasions require advance preparation:
The cultural calendar differs significantly from Western commercial holidays. Planning ahead ensures you're present during high-intent purchasing windows.
Flowers Vasette spent nine months building their presence to meaningful engagement levels. Most Australian brands should expect 6-12 months of consistent effort before seeing substantial traction and conversion impact.
This isn't a quick win channel. It's a strategic investment that compounds over time. The good news? Once you've built presence and authority, the platform algorithms and search functionality continue working for you.
Balance leading indicators with lagging indicators.
Leading indicators (early signals of success):
Lagging indicators (business outcomes):
Track both, but remember that leading indicators predict lagging indicators. If you're growing followers and engagement, conversions will follow.
Chinese consumers value consistency and sustained engagement. The compound effect of Chinese social media marketing (where content discoverability extends months beyond publication) requires patience to realise.
Don't launch with enthusiasm, post for two months, see modest results, and abandon the effort. That's wasted investment. Commit to at least 6-12 months of consistent presence before evaluating whether the channel works for your business.
While this article focuses on Chinese marketing specifically, it's worth understanding the broader context of brand building versus performance marketing in the APAC region.
Historically, rapid growth has reinforced a performance-first mindset in APAC, often at the expense of long-term brand building. In 2024, 49% of APAC marketers planned to increase performance spend compared to 38% globally. Meanwhile, just 28% expected to boost investment in brand building, trailing the global average of 35%.
Research from Kantar and Analytic Partners demonstrates that the greatest payback happens when performance-led and brand-led advertising work together.
The Brand Advantage: Median revenue ROI increases by 90% when moving from a performance strategy to a mixed approach.
The Performance Penalty: Median revenue ROI decreases by 40% when moving from a mixed strategy to performance-only.
Moving from a 70/30 to a 50/50 performance-to-brand split can lift baseline sales by up to 10%.
Your Chinese marketing strategy should include both:
Brand building activities (Little Red Book content, WeChat educational articles, influencer partnerships, cultural moment campaigns) that build awareness, consideration, and preference over time.
Performance activities (WeChat Mini Program promotions, targeted Little Red Book ads, conversion-focused campaigns) that drive immediate transactions and measurable ROAS.
The platforms themselves support both objectives. Little Red Book isn't purely brand building. When users have high purchase intent and save your posts, they're deep in the funnel. Similarly, WeChat isn't purely performance. Every article you publish builds brand perception and authority.
Don't artificially separate them. Plan integrated campaigns that move consumers through discovery, consideration, and purchase across both platforms.
While Chinese marketing offers tremendous opportunity, it's part of a larger strategic picture about how Australian brands approach growth.
The International Monetary Fund has revised its growth projections for APAC economies, reflecting a more cautious outlook amid global uncertainties. With increased competition and slower growth projections, brands can't rely purely on market expansion to hit targets.
This makes penetration in underserved segments (like Chinese consumers in Australia) even more valuable. You're not dependent on growing the overall market. You're capturing share from a specific, high-value segment that your competitors are ignoring.
Research shows that brands with strong equity are better positioned to sustain demand, command premium pricing, and weather economic uncertainty. They're more resilient and less reliant on constant bottom-of-funnel tactics to convert customers.
For Australian brands targeting Chinese consumers, building strong brand presence on WeChat and Little Red Book creates competitive moats that are difficult to replicate. Once you've established authority, built a follower base, and earned platform algorithmic favour, competitors face significant barriers to catching up.
Average CMO tenure continues to shrink, with most staying just two to three years. The pressure to deliver fast commercial results is real.
This makes Chinese marketing particularly attractive because it delivers both short-term and long-term returns:
Short-term: Daigou purchases, direct e-commerce transactions, in-store visits from tourists and local residents
Long-term: Brand awareness and preference that drives sustained consideration, repeat purchases, and premium pricing power
You can show results in quarters while building assets that compound over years.
At Mulberry Marketing, we're one of the few Australian agencies with genuine Chinese marketing expertise. We help brands connect authentically with Chinese-speaking customers through platforms like WeChat, Little Red Book (Xiaohongshu), and Douyin.
We bridge Western and Eastern markets. Most Australian agencies can't touch Chinese marketing. We specialise in it. If you're an Australian brand wanting to connect with Chinese-speaking customers, we're one of the few agencies who can actually deliver that with cultural authenticity and strategic know-how.
We understand the complete picture. Your Chinese marketing doesn't exist in isolation. It's part of your broader marketing ecosystem. We make sure your WeChat strategy, Little Red Book content, and Chinese campaigns work in harmony with your other marketing channels.
We've delivered real results. We've worked with brands across professional services, retail, government, and lifestyle categories. We understand what works, what doesn't, and how to navigate the cultural and technical nuances that make or break Chinese marketing success.
1. Strategic Assessment
We start by understanding your business goals, target audience, and current marketing ecosystem. Not every business needs Chinese marketing, and not every approach fits every brand. We help you determine if it makes strategic sense and what success looks like for your specific situation.
2. Platform Strategy
We develop a tailored platform strategy based on your objectives. Should you start with Little Red Book or WeChat? What content types will resonate? Which cultural moments matter most for your category? How do we measure success?
3. Content Creation
We create culturally authentic content in Mandarin that resonates with Chinese consumers. This includes photography, video, copywriting, and community management. Our native speakers understand not just language, but cultural context, platform conventions, and what drives engagement.
4. Execution and Optimisation
We launch campaigns, manage daily operations, engage with your community, and continuously optimise based on performance data. Chinese social media requires active management, not set-and-forget campaigns.
5. Measurement and Reporting
We track both platform metrics (followers, engagement, reach) and business outcomes (traffic, transactions, revenue). We connect the dots between your Chinese marketing investment and actual business results.
We don't offer cookie-cutter solutions. Your category, target audience, and business model require tailored strategies. A skincare brand needs a different approach than a tourism operator or a professional services firm.
We don't chase vanity metrics. Follower counts matter less than engagement quality. We focus on metrics that tie to business outcomes: saves, shares, comment quality, traffic, and conversions.
We don't promise overnight success. Building authentic presence on Chinese platforms takes time. We're honest about timelines and what to expect at each stage.
The Australian brands winning with WeChat and Little Red Book aren't lucky. They're strategic. They recognised opportunity, invested in execution, and built competitive advantages whilst others waited.
The Chinese market opportunity in Australia isn't coming. It's already here. The only question is whether you'll capture it.
Ready to make your brand visible to Chinese consumers? Start by:
If you're ready to explore what Chinese marketing could deliver for your business, we'd love to chat.
We partner with professional service businesses and lifestyle brands ready to reach Chinese-speaking customers with authentic, culturally informed strategies. We work with clients who:
Ready to explore new possibilities together? Get in touch for a conversation about how we can help you connect with Australia's Chinese consumer market.
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