Beyond Bilingual – Marketing to Canada’s Chinese Community

Companies entering the Canadian market must meet legal requirements for French and English, to comply with federal language laws. Now forward-looking businesses are going further, with a multilingual marketing approach aimed at Canada’s growing population of Chinese-speaking visitors, immigrants, and investors. 

A growing (and affluent) Chinese-speaking demographic in Canada is proving an attractive market for many companies. Now they are looking for ways to connect with this audience, in their language, on the social media platforms they use. LAT president Lise Alain saw this trend emerging early about 10 years ago, in 2012, with the growing popularity of Chinese apps like Weibo. 

“Seeing the growing number of Chinese residents in Canada, companies wanted to reach out to these prospective customers but didn’t know where to start. Adapting content for Chinese customers is more challenging, given that they are typically not active on mainstream social channels. It’s important to go a little deeper and understand the differences in culture and online habits.” 

Corporate Training for the Chinese market in Canada

Faced with growing questions from the tourism industry, LAT responded by creating a unique corporate training program: LAT’s Golden Dragon (China-ready) Training. 

“Our Golden Dragon Certification and Marketing Program is a four-module training course,” says Alain. “It is a great starting point for companies wishing to better understand the Chinese traveller. We cover Chinese culture, service preferences, digital and mobile trends, and industry-specific training for your sector.” 

Alain says the vital next step is knowing where to find your customers. 

“LAT’s talented Mandarin and Cantonese speaking translators and marketing specialists stay up to date on the social media platforms the Chinese community are using (hint: it’s not your corporate Facebook page!). They deliver content with the authentic tone of native speakers, examine the response, and fine-tune for greater engagement and measurable results. We are seeing our clients build their audience and drive engagement through these efforts.” 

Vancouver Airport finds success with WeChat

Thousands of Chinese-speaking travellers pass through Vancouver International Airport (YVR) every day. For a busy airport like YVR, it is crucial to pass important travel information to people effectively, so they engaged LAT for multilingual expertise. 

“Although many Chinese-speaking travellers are bilingual or multilingual, they still often find it easier to read lengthy travel-related information written in Chinese, if the option is available,” says Tianran Wu, LAT’s Marketing Coordinator. “Since its inception in 2018, YVR’s WeChat account has become a well-known and reliable source of information for Chinese travellers. Followers have grown by 33% in 2021, despite the COVID-19 pandemic. We are so happy YVR is able to reach out and help more people.” 

For any company considering the Chinese market, in Canada or beyond, it’s critical to understand the importance of engaging with Chinese customers on their favourite digital platforms such as WeChat, Weibo, and Red. Furthermore, Facebook is not available in China. LAT’s WeChat marketing course provides essential knowledge for a good foundation, offering tools and tactics for establishing a presence in Chinese social media and gaining followers. 

“WeChat emerged as a messaging app like WhatsApp or Line, but quickly evolved beyond that,” notes Tianran. “Its social media arm is just as strong as Facebook. Nevertheless, WeChat and Facebook are very different in terms of user base, services and design. Luckily, LAT has translated its years of expertise into our WeChat courses, with the best answers readily available for you!” 

Understanding essential marketing strategies for multilingual campaigns

What are ‘WeChat Moments’? How do you use ‘WeChat Pay’? How do influencer marketing and customer services work on WeChat? LAT well understands these differences – and the cultural and behavioral reasons behind them. If you want to reach Chinese-speaking consumers in Canada, LAT can help you craft your marketing messages for the best results.