What Should You Pay Attention to When Doing Content Marketing in China?

China's content marketing industry refers to the process of attracting, retaining and increasing target audiences by creating high-quality and valuable content, and ultimately achieving marketing goals. Classification based on content form is the most mainstream classification method for China's content marketing industry. Text marketing, image marketing, video marketing and audio marketing are typical forms. From the perspective of the industrial chain, the industrial chain of China's content marketing industry can be divided into three links: upstream, midstream and downstream. The upstream involves content production, copyright procurement and content marketing planning, including advertising companies, creative agencies, self-media, KOL, etc. The midstream is content marketing service providers, who formulate marketing strategies through secondary processing and packaging content and pass them to downstream customers. The downstream includes advertisers and marketing agencies, who promote products and services through content marketing to increase user conversion rates and sales; from the perspective of market size, according to data, the market size of China's content marketing industry is expected to reach RMB 274.3 billion in 2022. This figure shows the strong growth trend of content marketing in the Chinese market. According to market trends and economic forecasts, it is expected that by 2027, the market size of China's content marketing industry will increase significantly to RMB 830.428 billion.

Content Marketing Industry Classification

Classification based on content form is the most mainstream classification method in China's content marketing industry. Text marketing, picture marketing, video marketing and audio marketing are typical forms. Text marketing has the characteristics of high flexibility, wide applicability and low cost; picture marketing has the characteristics of high intuitiveness, strong expressiveness and strong visual impact; video marketing has the characteristics of strong visual impact, high expressiveness and strong emotional communication ability; audio marketing pays more attention to the expression and transmission of sound, and is more suitable for providing immersive experience and emotional communication. According to different audiences and marketing goals, companies can choose different forms of content marketing to achieve the best market effect.

Text marketing is the process of attracting, retaining and increasing target audiences and achieving marketing goals through high-quality copywriting, articles and other content. Typical text marketing content includes short articles, long articles, press releases, event announcements, etc. These contents usually use attractive titles, wonderful introductions, fluent writing, and interesting, useful, and valuable content to attract readers' attention, increase brand awareness and trust, and promote sales and customer loyalty and other marketing goals. The characteristics of text marketing are high flexibility, wide applicability, and low cost. Compared with other forms of content marketing, text marketing is easier to produce and publish, and can be flexibly customized and adjusted according to different audiences and needs.

Image marketing is the process of attracting, retaining and increasing target audiences and achieving marketing goals through excellent images and graphic design. Typical image marketing content includes posters, advertising pictures, cartoons, charts, etc. These contents usually use attractive visual elements, vivid colors and creative designs to attract readers' attention, improve brand awareness and trust, and promote sales and customer loyalty and other marketing goals. The characteristics of image marketing are high intuitiveness, strong expressiveness, and strong visual impact. Compared with other forms of content marketing, image marketing can better convey information and emotions, and is also easier to be remembered and spread by the audience.

Video marketing is the process of attracting, retaining and increasing target audiences and achieving marketing goals by creating excellent video content. Typical video marketing content includes brand promotional videos, product introduction videos, user story videos, etc. These contents usually use attractive storylines, wonderful pictures and sound effects to attract the audience's attention, improve brand awareness and trust, and promote sales and customer loyalty and other marketing goals. Video marketing is creative, interesting, interactive and measurable. Compared with traditional text, picture and voice marketing, the biggest advantage of video marketing is that it can fully display the characteristics and advantages of brands and products, and is more likely to resonate with the audience and arouse their desire to buy.

Content Marketing Industry Characteristics

China's content marketing industry is characterized by diversified business models, fierce competition and diverse user portraits. Enterprises need to continuously innovate and formulate differentiated marketing strategies to adapt to market changes and improve advertising effectiveness and conversion rates. At the business model level, diversified business models such as media buying, native advertising, KOL/Internet celebrity marketing, interactive marketing and content creation jointly promote the rapid development of the industry. At the competitive environment level, China's content marketing competition environment is fierce and the competition subjects are diversified. In terms of user portraits, young people, female users, ACG enthusiasts, and rural and third- and fourth-tier city users constitute the main consumer groups in the content marketing industry. Enterprises need to formulate differentiated marketing strategies based on the characteristics and needs of these user groups to improve advertising effectiveness and conversion rates and further seize market share.

1. Business Model

The content marketing industry has a variety of business models, including media buying, native advertising, KOL/influencer marketing, interactive marketing, and content creation and sharing.

Specifically, media purchase: companies achieve brand communication by purchasing advertising space and partners' platform resources . For example, companies place advertisements on platforms such as Sina Weibo and Toutiao; native advertising: companies integrate advertising with content and improve advertising effectiveness by inserting advertisements in natural content environments. For example, companies place native advertisements on platforms such as Zhihu and Jianshu; KOL/Internet celebrity marketing: companies cooperate with opinion leaders or Internet celebrities with high influence to promote brands through their social media channels. For example, companies cooperate with Internet celebrities on platforms such as Xiaohongshu and Weibo; interactive marketing: companies use social media, short videos and other platforms to carry out interactive marketing activities to interact with consumers and increase brand attention. For example, companies hold challenges and topic interactions on platforms such as Douyin and Kuaishou; content creation: companies provide users with valuable information and improve brand reputation by producing high-quality content. For example, companies publish original video content on platforms such as Bilibili and Youku. These business models provide companies with multiple channels to reach target audiences and increase brand awareness, loyalty and sales.

2. Competitive Environment

Competitive entities are diversified, competition among major platforms is intensifying, and technological innovation and change are constantly driving industry progress.

In terms of the diversification of competitors, the competitors in the content marketing industry include advertising companies, Internet companies, self-media, KOLs and other types. According to data, the company with the highest market share in China's content marketing industry in 2021 is ByteDance (18.4%); in terms of intensified platform competition, with the rise of emerging platforms such as short videos and live broadcasts, the competitive landscape of the content marketing industry has become increasingly complex. The major platforms compete for market share by optimizing algorithms, improving user experience, and introducing new features; in terms of technological innovation and change, with the continuous development of technologies such as AI, big data, and 5G, the content marketing industry is also constantly changing. For example, AI technology can achieve personalized recommendations and make advertising more accurate; big data technology can tap into user behavior and preferences to help companies develop more effective marketing strategies.

3 User portrait

In terms of user portraits, young people, female users, ACG enthusiasts, and users in rural and third- and fourth-tier cities constitute the main consumer groups in the content marketing industry. Young people: As of December 2022, netizens aged 20-29, 30-39, and 40-49 accounted for 14.2%, 19.6%, and 16.7%, respectively. They are the main consumers in the content marketing industry . Young people have a keen insight into new things and trends, and are the target users that major brands are competing for; Female users: In the consumer field, female users have a high degree of attention to beauty, clothing, skin care and other commodities; ACG enthusiasts: With the popularization of ACG culture in China, more and more young people are keen on entertainment forms such as animation, games, and COSPLAY. According to data, the market size of China's ACG content industry in 2021 is about 63.2 billion yuan. This makes ACG enthusiasts an important target user group in the content marketing industry; Rural and third- and fourth-tier city users: With the popularization of the Internet, users in rural and third- and fourth-tier cities have gradually become the new consumer main force in the content marketing industry. As of December 2022, the size of China's urban Internet users was 759 million, accounting for 71.1% of the total Internet users; the size of rural Internet users was 308 million, an increase of 23.71 million from December 2021, accounting for 28.9% of the total Internet users.

Content Marketing Development History

As an emerging industry, content marketing has gone through three stages: germination, start-up, and maturity, and has now entered a new stage. With the continuous development of technology, digital marketing methods are also constantly improving. The popularity and development of social media have made content marketing more important. Many companies have begun to use social media as their main marketing channel and have begun to pay attention to content marketing. In the future, the content marketing industry will continue to develop and innovate to provide companies with more effective marketing strategies.

Germination period 2000~2010

During this stage, companies began to realize the importance of digital marketing and began to explore digital marketing methods. With the popularization of the Internet, many new marketing channels began to emerge, such as search engine marketing, social media marketing, and email marketing. During this period, professional content marketing companies also began to emerge to provide digital marketing services to companies.

This stage is mainly about enterprises independently creating, placing advertisements, and promoting brands. Enterprises will produce some promotional materials such as copywriting, posters, short videos, and promote products and services through online media, forums, and search engines.

Start-up period 2010~2015

During this period, with the continuous development of Internet technology, digital marketing methods have also been continuously improved. The popularity and development of social media have made content marketing more important. Many companies have begun to use social media as their main marketing channel and have begun to pay attention to content marketing. During this period, many professional content marketing companies have also begun to rise.

This stage is mainly due to the rise of big data and social media. Enterprises began to focus on the collection and analysis of user data, as well as marketing promotion on social media. At the same time, some companies specializing in content creation and marketing planning also emerged.

Maturity period 2015~2023

At this stage, the content marketing industry has become a very mature industry. Enterprises are paying more and more attention to content marketing, and many enterprises have begun to use content marketing as their main marketing strategy. The popularity and development of social media have made content marketing more important. Many enterprises have begun to use social media as their main marketing channel and have begun to pay attention to content marketing.

This stage is mainly about the development of intelligent and data-based marketing models. Technologies represented by AI are constantly being applied to content marketing, and companies are beginning to focus on data-driven marketing strategies, such as content distribution and personalized recommendations. At the same time, new media such as live broadcasts and short videos have also become important channels for content marketing.

Analysis of the content marketing industry chain

The industrial chain of China's content marketing industry can be divided into three links: upstream, midstream and downstream. The upstream mainly involves content production, copyright procurement and content marketing planning. It includes the research and planning of original content, as well as the production and editing of content. The main participants are advertising companies, creative agencies, self-media, KOL, etc. Upstream companies are mainly content producers and copyright agents. They are responsible for providing high-quality content resources and promoting them to downstream companies through their own channel resources. Midstream companies mainly include content marketing service providers. They carry out secondary processing and packaging of content, formulate effective content marketing strategies, and pass them on to downstream customers to maximize marketing effects. Downstream companies mainly include advertisers and marketing agencies. They promote products and services through content marketing to increase user conversion rates and sales.

There are two main development trends in the industrial chain of China's content marketing industry

(1) Content marketing will gradually develop in the direction of diversification and personalization. As consumer demand continues to change, companies need to provide more diversified and personalized content marketing services. This requires content marketing service providers to have stronger creativity and execution capabilities, constantly explore user needs, and develop targeted marketing strategies.

(2) Data-driven refined operations. With the application of big data and AI technology, content marketing is gradually shifting towards refined operations. Companies will pay more attention to user behavior data, consumption data, etc., formulate more accurate marketing strategies, and improve delivery effects. At the same time, marketing effect evaluation will become increasingly important, providing data support for optimization strategies.

Upstream of the industry chain

The upstream of the industrial chain of China's content marketing industry mainly includes content production companies, copyright agency companies and content marketing planning companies. Specifically, content production companies are mainly engaged in content creation in the fields of film and television, literature, music, games, etc., and are the core resources of the content marketing industry. According to incomplete statistics, there are about 2,000 content production companies in mainland China, of which about 1,500 specialize in film and television content production; copyright agency companies are mainly engaged in copyright procurement and agency business, responsible for purchasing content copyrights and promoting them to downstream companies. According to incomplete statistics, there are about 500 copyright agency companies in mainland China; content marketing planning companies are mainly engaged in content marketing planning business, responsible for secondary processing and packaging of content, formulating effective content marketing strategies, and delivering them to downstream customers to maximize marketing effects. According to incomplete statistics, there are about 300 content marketing planning companies in mainland China. The distribution of these companies in the content marketing industry chain is as follows: content production companies occupy most of the core resources of the industry chain, accounting for about 60%~70% of the market share; copyright agency companies occupy a smaller part of the industry chain, accounting for about 15%~20% of the market share; content marketing planning companies are relatively few, accounting for only 10%~15% of the market share.

Midstream of the industry chain

With the continuous development of new media forms such as short videos and live broadcasts, China's MCN (multi-channel network) agencies are also rising rapidly. MCN agencies cooperate with content creators to provide them with platforms, resources and technical support, thereby helping creators to achieve fan growth and commercial realization in a short period of time. According to data, there are more than 40,000 MCN agencies in China in 2022. These MCN agencies are mainly distributed in first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. With the continuous expansion of the scale of Chinese Internet users, the user scale of new media platforms such as short videos and live broadcasts is also growing rapidly. As of 2022, the scale of short video users in China has reached 1.012 billion, and from May 2021 to April 2022, the Douyin platform has more than 9 million live broadcasts per month, sold more than 10 billion items, and the total transaction volume has increased by 2.2 times year-on-year. This provides a broad market space for the development of MCN agencies. From a competitive perspective, the continuous expansion of the scale of China's MCN economy has gradually saturated the market. The capabilities of different MCN agencies vary. In a fiercely competitive environment, the beneficiaries of the Internet celebrity economy are increasingly concentrated among the top players. According to data, nearly 500 million people watched the live broadcasts of Li Jiaqi and Wei Ya, two top anchors, on Tmall's Double Eleven pre-sale on October 20, 2021, with a total transaction amount of 18.9 billion yuan. In addition, as Internet giants compete for traffic, MCN agencies are facing diversified development paths. The differences in the positioning of various platforms have led to a preference for deep bundling of MCN agencies to which the top Internet celebrities belong, making the operations of MCN agencies also show their own characteristics. On the other hand, since 2020, less than 10 MCN agencies have obtained investment and financing, and investors' enthusiasm for MCN seems to have diminished. The vast majority of MCNs only stay in the B round or earlier in terms of financing, and most of them linger in the angel round and A round. From the perspective of the challenges and problems faced by the development of MCN in China, in today's era, MCN organizations are facing many challenges and problems, including the peak of short video dividends has passed, over-reliance on top anchors, immature celebrity incubation mechanisms, content homogeneity, single commercial realization methods, weak industry copyright protection awareness, and frequent negative public opinion. In order to cope with these problems, MCN organizations need to transform into a complete organization rather than an organization that relies on the support of individual figures. In addition, they also need to change the phenomenon of content homogeneity and strengthen copyright protection awareness.

Downstream of the industry chain

Brand advertisers are important participants in the downstream of the content marketing industry. They are investors and promoters of advertising, and use content marketing to enhance brand awareness, shape brand image and drive sales. According to data, the scale of China's brand advertising market reached 692.5 billion yuan in 2022. Marketing agencies are an important force in assisting brand advertisers in implementing content marketing. They provide marketing strategies, creative design, advertising and other services to assist brand advertisers in achieving marketing goals. According to data, China's Internet advertising revenue for the whole year of 2022 was 508.8 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 6.38%, a decrease of 34.7 billion yuan. The scale of China's Internet marketing market in 2022 is expected to be about 615 billion yuan, a decrease of 0.37% from the previous year, and the total scale of advertising and marketing market is about 1123.8 billion yuan, a decrease of 3.19% from the previous year. From the core consideration level of advertisers in choosing content marketing vendors, first of all, advertisers will value the audience insights of content marketers. They hope that partners can have a deep understanding of the needs, interests and behaviors of the target audience in order to accurately target and attract the audience. Data plays a key role in this regard, and content marketers need to be able to provide detailed audience analysis and insight reports to help advertisers understand the characteristics of their target audiences and develop more targeted marketing strategies. Secondly, brand suitability is one of the important factors for advertisers to choose content marketers. Advertisers want to choose partners that match their brand image and values to ensure that the advertising content is consistent with their brand and effectively communicated. For example, a healthy food brand may choose to work with content marketers in the field of healthy lifestyle to ensure that its advertising is consistent with the interests and preferences of the target audience. Third, data-driven decision-making capabilities are crucial for advertisers. Content marketers should be able to provide well-founded recommendations and decisions based on data and analysis to maximize advertising effectiveness and return on investment. For example, content marketers can use real-time data to monitor the performance of advertising campaigns and optimize and adjust based on data results to ensure that advertisers get the best results.

Content Marketing Industry Size

According to data, the market size of China's content marketing industry is expected to reach RMB 274.3 billion in 2022. This figure shows the strong growth trend of content marketing in the Chinese market. According to market trends and economic forecasts, the market size of China's content marketing industry is expected to grow significantly to RMB 830.428 billion by 2027.

This growth trend is mainly due to: (1) the continued development of China's economy and the promotion of digital transformation. With the increase in Internet penetration and the popularization of mobile Internet, Chinese consumers' demand for content and access channels are increasing. This has led to brands and companies continuously increasing their investment in content marketing to attract and maintain consumer attention. (2) The importance of content marketing in various industries is also increasing. Not only in traditional media fields such as television, radio and print media, content marketing has become a mainstream promotion method. At the same time, on emerging media and digital platforms, including social media, video sharing websites and short video platforms, content marketing also occupies an important position.

However, the content marketing industry also faces some challenges and competition. As the market scale expands and competition intensifies, brands and companies need to continuously innovate and improve content quality to stand out in the fierce market competition. In addition, consumers are also becoming more sensitive to advertising and promotional content, so companies need to interact and communicate with consumers more skillfully.

Content Marketing Competition Landscape

At present, there are many participants in China's content marketing industry, and the competition is very fierce. According to data, the number of MCN manufacturers in China will exceed 40,000 in 2022. This huge number of participants reflects the high activity and attractiveness of China's content marketing industry. From traditional media to emerging digital media platforms, various companies have joined the competition, hoping to win brand cooperation and user attention through content creation and marketing activities. However, with the rapid growth of the number of participants, market competition has become more homogeneous. According to data, more than 61.9% of users believe that short video platforms have a problem of highly homogeneous content, and 59.2% of users have expressed concerns about the quality of anchors/net celebrities. In this highly competitive environment, MCN agencies also need to pay attention to user feedback and needs, and actively improve their products and services. By constantly interacting and communicating with users, MCN agencies can better understand users' preferences and needs, and provide them with more personalized and precise content and services.

From the perspective of the future competition landscape of China's content marketing industry, two major trends can be observed. First, the enrichment of the content matrix. As market competition becomes increasingly fierce, content marketing participants need to continue to innovate and provide diversified content to attract users' attention and establish deep connections with them. Through a rich content matrix, companies can meet the needs of different users, expand the audience range, and thus increase market share and competitiveness.

Secondly, the industry is shifting from extensive horizontal expansion of user scale to refined vertical strategies, focusing on tapping the attention value of individual users. With the intensification of market competition and the personalization of user needs, content marketing participants need to more accurately understand and meet user interests and preferences in order to provide personalized and customized content and services. Through vertical strategies, companies can deeply tap into the needs of individual users and provide high-value content that matches them, thereby achieving higher user engagement and return rates.