How to Promote Real Estate with Chinese Influencers in Canada
Chinese Influencer Marketing is still a relatively new concept for real estate marketing, and we were the ones to pioneer it in the Vancouver market, working with lifestyle influencers and content creators to promote projects like The Saint George, Claridge House by Polygon, SOLO 4 by Appia Developments, NUVO by Anthem Properties and more.
DOES CHINESE INFLUENCER MARKETING WORK FOR REAL ESTATE?
The big question is always, does it work? Buying a home is a big decision, so don't expect viewers to watch a video and then walk into your sales centre with a cheque. What you can expect is to drive awareness for your project, which is why we find that influencer marketing is most effective during the first 2 months of the project launch phase. The Catalyst Method is to get our influencers in during the very first round of realtor previews, and then have their videos launch during the buyer previews phase. Clients have called us and said they did get walk-ins that their sales team successfully converted from watching our influencer videos - so yes, it does drive relevant traffic! Our most recent project SOLO 4 sold a record-breaking 280 homes in 10 days - now that's traction.
IF YOU DON'T TRACK IT YOU LOSE IT
How would you track all of this activity? It depends on the platform that you are on. Here are a few ways to get started:
Use tracking links in your WeChat advertorials to drive traffic to relevant pages and to help you monitor your sales funnel.
This past year saw another wave of immigrants coming to Canada from Hong Kong, and to get ahead of this trend we began working with Cantonese YouTube influencers in 2021 already, showcasing numerous real estate projects across Greater Vancouver. This video of a project in Kitsilano has over 10,000 views!
WeChat Advertorials: usually there are 2 options, inserting the salesperson's QR code so you can drive sales inquiries directly to the sales team OR you can drive traffic to your project landing page with a QR code that has a Google UTM tracking link embedded. This way you can see the incoming traffic and website behaviour in your Google Analytics.
YouTube: There's been a big wave of immigration from Hong Kong in the past 2 years, and Cantonese Chinese Influencers have become a source of influence for brands across Canada. How do you track the activity on these YouTube videos? Provide the influencer with a bit.ly tracking link to drive views to your landing page so you can see the traffic in your Google Analytics.
Little Red Book: This is the hottest platform in North America for Chinese Influencer marketing in 2022. We've been talking about it since early last year (did you hear us when we were screaming from our soapbox for everyone to get on the platform?!)
How can you track the activity on here? Note that Little Red Book does not allow any form of QR code insertion into your post or even mentions of it in the influencers' post copy, or else the system would flag the post or even remove it from the platform. Reach is also severely limited for any posts that include any way to drive traffic off the platform. In other words, don't insert phone numbers or website links into the post copy! The best way is to have something generic that says "Mention you saw this video and the sales team will share more information available just for our viewers with you!"
Little Red Book is definitely the star of Chinese social media platforms in 2022. We’ve worked with Chinese influencers on this platform across North America to promote real estate, fashion and luxury goods, premium skincare, and consumer lifestyle brands.
Remember: If you can't see the funnel, you don't know if it's working!
Want to collaborate with us to map out your marketing funnel on Chinese digital to drive real results? We help you set up tracking for Chinese digital channels so it's fully transparent which channels are working for you and which aren't. Our Chinese Influencer Marketing Specialists even help you craft exclusive offers for your Chinese target audience to increase your chances of converting. Multi-cultural marketing means not one size fits all, and we're here to help you find the right fit for your brand.
Shoot us an email at info@catalystagents.com to set up an information call with our Chinese Influencer Marketing Specialists!