I just read an article, B2B Checks Out Marketing 2.0, on eMarketer.com for a survey result published by ANA (Association of National Advertisers). eMarketer.com is always worth a read for digital marketers although the focus is very US-centric. I am interested in borrowing two key findings from the ANA survey and compare to what the B2B marketers are doing in this region.

I couldn’t find any detail of the survey sample. Which means I don’t know the characteristics of the respondents. But I think for a B2B marketing research, trade characteristic is a crucial variable. Anyway, common understanding towards the trade characteristics here in China are mostly export-driven in the light-industry sector and import-driven in the technical and heavy-industry sector. This generalization poses a reverse scenario in the West. So, when I move on, my observation for any significance is built upon this understanding.

According to the ANA survey, over 50% of B2B marketers in the US use primarily proprietary websites and emails for lead generation. 51% of the surveyed US B2B marketers used advertising on a website for an event in 2007.

In China, my observation tells B2B marketers spend money on third-party, not proprietary, websites for lead generation, pay for an event but not getting used to advertise on a website for an event. Unlike the US marketers, China B2B marketers use own websites and emails for display advertising, not lead generation.

According to the ANA survey, US marketers are increasingly using new media such as podcasts, blogs, and RSS feeds for B2B brand marketing.

Talking about adding blog into B2B marketing mix, in China, according to the latest CNNIC (China Internet Network Information Center) report, we have 49.35 million bloggers. 66 million blog readers believe that blog contents are credible and authentic. This is equivalent to approximately 31% of total Internet users in China. The sizable blogosphere and high degree of user adoption prove the popularity of Chinese blog media.

Whether or not blog or other CGM type of media will be adapted by the B2B marketers in China, my observation lies in the users demographics.

1. 64% of the blog network users are between the age of 16 – 25 according to the latest blog and social media study published by Baidu (China Web2.0 Review has the summary). I believe this age range doesn’t fit into the B2B cohort.
2. According to the Netguide 2008 survey, China B2B transaction volume in 2008 has a projected market worth US$218.9 billion. The report also said Alibaba alone accounted for 70% B2B online market share in China.

Alright, if we bring two variables together, that will give us a hypothetical correlation: 36% blog users might be involved in B2B blogging and Alibaba alone is accounted for 70% B2B online market share in China. Let’s disprove this correlation.

Alibaba isn’t ranked among the top 20 blog networks in China, but it does have a blog feature. It is only available on Alibaba.com.cn and all the blog contents are published in Chinese. They are insignificant for reaching the international buyers. My educated guess is all the bloggers on Alibaba.com.cn are aimed at the domestic market. And the Alibaba bloggers contribute small traffic to the Chinese blogosphere.

On the contrary, Global Sources has a blog site, Smartchinasourcing.com, published in English. The site is designed to promote Chinese exports to international buyers. But Global Sources doesn’t have the lion’s market share in the B2B market. The GS bloggers only represent a small fraction of B2B marketers in the region. Do we have other B2B blogs outside the key players networks? In my experience, I hardly come across the odd.

So, this is the picture that I want to give you. Even though the B2B marketers in China has included blogging in the media mix, it won’t be as significant as the trend surveyed by ANA in the US. At the moment, RSS-based new media are insignificant for the international trade marketing and promotion. But I believe there is room for the applications to grow when the buyers become less price conscious and more brand conscious.

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