EduGlobal Blog
Navigating Social Media in China
Amanda Mohar
Manager, Communications
Marketing communications professionals in all parts of the world are a-Twitter over the power of social networking. No campaign, it seems, is successful without at least a Facebook page, Twitter feed and YouTube channel. So you can imagine how surprised unknowing clients are to learn that a similar strategy just isn’t going to work in China. Not only are these online destinations inaccessible this side of the Great Firewall, even when they were available, domestic alternatives were still the preferred network and platform for the local market. Regardless of the cause, Chinese netizens show a clear preference to domestic sites more often than in any other country in the world. The Facebook frenzy, it appears, did not make it to China.
So if Chinese students aren’t on Facebok or Twitter or YouTube, where are they? And how can foreign institutions capitalise on this opportunity? All across the country, you’ll find students in three main locations: SNS (Social Networking Sites), BBS (Bulleting Board Sites), and domestic micro-blogging platforms. Let’s take a closer look at a few SNS institutions should know about.
Maximising Efficiency in Recruiting for Niche Schools
James Aldridge
Director, CEC China
EduGlobal offers a wide range of services designed to meet client needs across a wide spectrum of institution type, size, notoriety, and objectives. One of the more challenging areas is finding a way for niche schools, such as elite private boarding schools, to efficiently establish a presence and effective recruitment strategy that targets the right numbers of the right students in the right market demographic.
Representatives of these schools often find that their trip to China is never long enough to accomplish all they want; their student numbers are good, but not what their boss wants them to be; they’ve been to fairs; they’ve visited agents; they’ve met with partner schools. Through all this, though, they're not wholly satisfied. What can these institutions do to get a leg-up on their competitors?
The Importance of Up-to-Date Newsletters
Cecilia Wang
Service Center Manager
As head of our Service Center at EduGlobal, a big part of my job is managing and distributing information about each of our client institutions so that we can get the latest institution information into the market and handle all enquiries appropriately.
Each school, program, department and major can often have a unique set of details that clients want local potential students to have access to. The students want this information, too, which is why they often search online and through Chinese-based web portals to find answers to their questions.
The Importance of Parents in the Study Abroad Process
May Song
Client Relations Manager, Australia
More and more Chinese parents have realised that the world is becoming more international, and the competition their children will face in the job market will be more severe, as job seekers begin to enter the market from all over the world. How can parents help their own child to be assured a bright future? Many see the solution is sending them abroad for further study, and at an increasingly young age. Of course this is a big choice, and one that both parent and child will take very seriously. While considering their options, parents will have a great deal of questions and some confusion, and they won’t make a final decision until everything is clearly planned and laid out. It's very important for recruiters as well as institutions to understand that the study abroad decision is not just about the student, but about the family as a whole.
New Customs Regulations in China Could Cause Trouble for Foreign Recruiters
Michael Streat
Director, EduGlobal Communications
From July 1, 2010 China Customs have introduced new regulations that could affect the delivery of institution promotional materials, such as brochures, into China. In essence the new regulations require that recipients of brochures in China must engage a customs broker to clear the shipment before it can be delivered. This would mean that the recipients, often agents or hotels, would have to pay a customs broker and any resulting duties charges before they would receive the brochures.