APAC marketing refers to marketing strategies and activities specifically tailored to the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, which includes countries such as China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and more.
APAC is made up of diverse cultures, languages, economic stages, and consumer behaviors, making it essential for marketers to adopt localized strategies to effectively engage with different audiences within the region.
Marketing to the APAC region is important for B2B sales due to:
- Economic Growth and Market Potential: APAC is one of the fastest-growing regions in the world with a rapidly expanding middle class and significant advancements in technology and infrastructure. This growth presents vast opportunities for B2B companies looking to expand their global reach.
- Diverse Markets: The APAC region is incredibly diverse. Marketing strategies that work in one country may not be effective in another due to different cultural norms, languages, and business practices. Tailored marketing approaches are necessary to address these differences effectively.
- Digital Adoption: High rates of digital adoption in many APAC countries, especially in terms of mobile usage and internet penetration, create unique opportunities for digital marketing strategies. B2B sales strategies increasingly rely on digital channels to generate leads and build relationships.
- Local Competition and Compliance: Understanding local competitors and regulatory environments is crucial. Localized marketing strategies can help B2B companies navigate these complexities more effectively, ensuring compliance with local laws and regulations while competing with domestic businesses.
- Building Relationships: In many APAC countries, business relationships are built on trust and personal connections. Effective marketing in these regions often involves building and maintaining strong relationships with potential and existing customers, which is crucial for successful B2B sales.
Ready to start marketing to APAC customers? Read on to learn:
- The common challenges in marketing to APAC
- How 6sense is geared to help mitigate those challenges
- An APAC marketing success story
- Future trends in APAC marketing
The Best ABM Tool for APAC Marketing
Getting started with an APAC ABM strategy requires some help due to its vast diversity in cultures, languages, economic development, and technological adoption. You need experts in ABM, experts in the APAC region, and expertly designed software made for account-based everything.
6sense is an industry-leading tool in account-based and digital marketing that enhances the precision and effectiveness of B2B marketing efforts. Our platform leverages AI and big data to provide comprehensive insights into buyer behavior, enabling marketers to target accounts more accurately and engage them at the optimal time in their buying journey.
It eliminates and mitigates many of the common challenges revenue teams face when trying to enter and expand into new markets, such as:
Cultural and Linguistic Diversity
APAC encompasses numerous cultures and languages, making it challenging to create campaigns that are universally appealing and effective across different markets. Missteps in cultural nuances or language can lead to brand miscommunication and potential backlash.
6sense provides detailed analytics and insights that help marketers understand specific market characteristics, including buyer behavior and preferences. This data is crucial for creating culturally and linguistically appropriate content that resonates with diverse audiences across the APAC region.
Varying Levels of Market Maturity
Economic and technological maturity varies widely across the region, from highly developed markets like Japan and Singapore to emerging markets like Vietnam and Indonesia. This variation affects consumer behavior, media consumption, and the effectiveness of different marketing strategies.
6sense’s predictive analytics capabilities enable marketers to identify and prioritize the accounts most likely to convert in different stages of the buyer’s journey. This is particularly useful in APAC’s varied economic environments, allowing companies to tailor their strategies to match the maturity level of each market.
Digital Fragmentation
Different countries in APAC prefer different digital platforms. For instance, while Facebook and Twitter are popular in many countries, platforms like WeChat in China, Naver in South Korea, and LINE in Japan dominate local markets. Understanding and leveraging the right platforms is crucial for effective digital marketing.
6sense’s ability to coordinate campaigns across various channels and platforms is essential in APAC, where digital landscapes differ significantly from one country to another. 6sense ensures that marketers can reach their audience on the right platforms at the right times, enhancing campaign effectiveness.
Regulatory Compliance
Each country in APAC has its own regulatory framework governing data privacy, advertising, and business operations. This can be a significant hurdle for marketers unfamiliar with, or unprepared for, these regulations.
6sense aids in navigating complex regulatory environments by ensuring that data handling and marketing practices comply with local laws. This is invaluable for companies operating across multiple APAC jurisdictions, helping them avoid legal pitfalls and build trust with their customers.
High Competition and Customer Expectations
The APAC market is not only large but also highly competitive, with both local and international brands vying for attention. Additionally, APAC consumers often have high expectations regarding customer service and engagement, requiring brands to deliver exceptionally personalized experiences.
By utilizing intent data, 6sense helps companies detect which businesses are in the market for their products, even before these prospects actively engage. This early detection allows for more strategic and timely engagement, which is crucial in a competitive landscape like APAC.
Integrating 6sense into B2B Marketing Strategies in APAC
To effectively integrate 6sense or another ABM solution into their APAC B2B marketing strategies, businesses should:
Define Clear Objectives
Understand the specific marketing goals and challenges within each APAC market. Define what success looks like in different contexts, whether it’s increasing market share, enhancing customer engagement, or driving specific product lines.
Segment and Target Accurately
Use 6sense to segment the market based on buyer intent and readiness to purchase. This segmentation should also consider cultural and regional nuances, which are critical in APAC. Tailor marketing efforts to these segments, focusing resources where they are most likely to yield results.
Optimize Content and Messaging
Leverage 6sense’s insights to create content that resonates with each target segment. This involves localizing content not just by language but also by addressing local market trends, challenges, and preferences. Ensure content delivery is timed according to when accounts show peak interest and engagement levels.
Leverage Multi-Channel Strategies
Utilize 6sense’s cross-channel orchestration capabilities to ensure that messaging is consistent across all platforms used by target accounts. This includes everything from traditional email campaigns to digital ads on platforms popular in specific APAC countries.
Monitor and Adapt
Constantly review the analytics and reporting tools within 6sense to monitor campaign performance and market trends. Be ready to adapt strategies based on real-time data, which is crucial in the dynamically changing APAC markets.
Train and Align Teams
Ensure that marketing, sales, and customer service teams are well-trained on how to use 6sense and understand the insights it provides. Align these teams around a unified approach to customer engagement, ensuring that everyone uses the 6sense platform and its data insights to enhance customer interactions.
Case Study: JLL
JLL, a global real estate services company, aimed to support enterprises looking to establish or expand Global Capability Centers (GCC) in India. They faced challenges in navigating the emerging APAC market and lacked intelligence on potential clients.
To overcome these challenges, JLL implemented 6sense’s predictive and orchestration solutions. They used 6sense to target potential buyers in India at different stages of the buying journey, using targeted display ads and LinkedIn ads. The content of the ads was tailored to the buyer’s stage, providing relevant information and guidance.
The results of JLL’s international marketing strategy were remarkable. Within just 45 days, they achieved a 70% account engagement rate and saw a 178% increase in engaged accounts during the campaign. These results allowed JLL to optimize their resources and focus exclusively on in-market accounts, eliminating go-to-market waste.
The Future of APAC Marketing
Future marketing trends in the APAC region are heavily influenced by digital transformation, which is reshaping how companies connect with and engage their audiences. Driven by technological advancements, changing consumer behaviors, and increasing data availability, several key trends are expected to dominate the landscape:
Increased Use of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
AI and ML are set to become more deeply integrated into marketing strategies. These technologies offer powerful tools for data analysis, predictive analytics, and customer insights.
In APAC, where consumer preferences and behaviors can vary widely across regions, AI-driven insights will be crucial for personalizing marketing efforts at scale and enhancing customer engagement.
Growth of Voice and Visual Search
As internet connectivity and smartphone usage continue to rise across APAC, more consumers are using voice and visual search capabilities. These technologies are becoming integral parts of the digital experience, prompting marketers to optimize their content for voice search and invest in image recognition technologies to capture the attention of users utilizing visual search tools.
Expansion of 5G Technology
The rollout of 5G networks across APAC is expected to significantly impact digital marketing by enhancing mobile connectivity and enabling richer, more engaging content formats.
This will likely lead to an increase in video content, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) experiences, which can be used to create immersive marketing campaigns that were not previously possible due to bandwidth limitations.
Emphasis on Omnichannel Marketing
The customer journey in APAC is becoming increasingly complex and interconnected across multiple digital and physical touchpoints. An omnichannel approach, which provides a seamless and consistent experience across all channels, will become more critical.
Businesses will invest in integrated technology solutions that can connect data points from various channels to create a unified customer profile and deliver a cohesive customer experience.
Data Privacy and Protection Focus
With increasing concerns about data privacy, countries across APAC are enacting stricter data protection regulations. Marketers will need to prioritize data compliance as a legal necessity and to build trust with consumers. Transparency in how consumer data is collected, used, and protected will become a key component of marketing strategies.
Summary
APAC marketing is a crucial aspect of B2B sales, given the region’s economic growth and diverse markets. To effectively market to APAC customers, businesses can leverage tools like 6sense, which helps mitigate common challenges as well as empowers companies to define strategic objectives, segment and target their APAC audiences, optimize content and messaging, and more.
