Digital Marketing in Hong Kong: An Insider’s View

When we talk of digital marketing in Hong Kong, a lot of people immediately look for content marketing, social media marketing, or web development methods. However, not a lot of teams and companies get to make a mark in their respective industries – even with the help of digital marketing. Why is that? Well, if you want to get into digital marketing in Hong Kong, it helps to be aware of not just how to appeal to the Hong Kong market, but also why the digital marketing in Hong Kong appears the way it is. That’s because digital marketing’s impact in Hong Kong differs greatly compared to other countries.

Digital marketing in Hong Kong took a while to get into the marketing scene. In fact, there’s a bit of an interesting connection between digital marketing as a field and Hong Kong’s relationship with marketing in general. And understanding how this bit of history works might be able to give you the kind of edge you need in your digital marketing approach. Here’s the inside story on why digital marketing in Hong Kong is the way it is: 

Digital Marketing in Hong Kong: The Present

If you want to succeed in digital marketing in Hong Kong, you’ve got to start at the very beginning. This likely means starting to build your knowledge base as to why Hong Kong’s current marketing atmosphere is the way it is. Here are some points in Hong Kong’s digital marketing atmosphere you should consider, especially with regards to the presence of digital media:

• Why is digital marketing struggling to be a hit? A lot of professionals in digital marketing might notice a difficulty in appealing to modern Hong Kong customers with their marketing strategies. This can be weird, considering the fact that a lot of digital marketing approaches that work in the West might not necessarily be appealing to the Hong Kong market. Well, this might be because of Hong Kong’s atmosphere towards digital marketing at large.

1. • There might still be attachment to traditional print and television media when it comes to the spread of information. While Hong Kong remains to be a technological juggernaut, a report shows that advertisers still rely a bit on television to reach their customers.
   • Businesses don’t seem to necessarily shift to digital marketing easily as well. Given that Hong Kong’s audiences seem to find traditional media more attractive, it’s less likely for businesses in Hong Kong to immediately shift to digital much easily as well.

• More companies and businesses in Hong Kong see the value in digital marketing. Another important consideration with regards to Hong Kong’s growth in the digital marketing scene is how companies have begun seeing the worth of investing in digital marketing strategies. This means more and more businesses have begun taking a more focused approach with regards to how they want to pull off their branding online.

1. • A lot of companies have begun showing greatest interest with regards to campaigns in digital, regardless of their niche and industry. These include financial institutions and fast selling consumer goods, as well as new creative startups. Thanks to the influx of these new companies, this means more and more businesses will likely take the leap towards digital.
   • The growth of social media has also shown more businesses in Hong Kong the value of investing in their own brand. This is reflected with the shift of a lot of companies’ focus to divert less attention towards operations and look more into customer behavior. This means it’s also likely for them to be on the lookout for marketing specialists that specialize in social media content. 
   • There’s also the growing interest in the impact of content marketing to sales. While a lot of companies have relied on freelancers in previous years, more and more businesses have begun making in-house teams that have a better grasp of their company ideology and how they want their content to appear. 

• Growing talent means growing industries. Hong Kong has no shortage of talented professionals, and this is all the more so the case when it comes to marketing specialists. Growth when it comes to Hong Kong’s talent pool means more and more individuals that have training with digital marketing strategies. As such, more and more businesses now have opportunities to hire and get teams of professionals with various backgrounds.

1. • Digital marketing in Hong Kong, as a growing industry, means there aren’t a ton of extremely “ideal” candidates for marketing positions. However, this also opens doors for professionals to showcase other aspects of their skillsets, especially in other fields. This opens up opportunities for workplaces to have a diverse set of professionals with different points of view and outlooks that can encourage creativity and innovation.
   • The expansion of digital marketing in Hong Kong means there’s also room to cultivate talent overseas. This allows companies to develop better connections and a network inside and outside related fields. This also enables companies to expand their horizons and get to know how their Western counterparts approach a particular topic or niche. 

• There’s future in digital marketing. The above points don’t necessarily imply that there’s no hope left for digital marketing in Hong Kong, though. It’s important to take into account the fact that a lot more businesses and marketers seem to develop a newfound interest in helping the atmosphere of digital marketing in Hong Kong grow. And this development, while a bit slow, seems to pick up momentum. Interestingly, this also means there’s likely to be great developments in the work for digital marketing soon. 

1. • This is also in part thanks to the new approach taken by Hong Kong leadership, especially with promises to focus more in financial technology, courtesy of the Innovation and Technology Venture Fund. This fund, which amounts to around USD 256-million, will be funding a lot of technology-related ventures of the country, including marketing. 
   • A campaignasia report states that while advertisers do spend in television advertising, the prior admanGo report didn’t seem to monitor spending towards programmatic advertising, paid social, and paid search digital advertisements.
   • It’s also predicted that digital marketing revenue can reach as high as USD 6.6-billion in Hong Kong in as early as 2021, as evidenced by a trend of growing confidence on the part of advertisers. 

Digital Marketing in Hong Kong: An Ongoing Story

If there’s anything the above has told us, it’s that digital marketing hasn’t had an easy history in Hong Kong. In fact, there’s still a bit of difficulty in digital’s entry into the mainstream market. However, companies and teams like Pnetform Web Development have been constantly proving their audiences – and especially their clients – that there’s a future in digital marketing. And like other pioneers in future industries, it’s these teams that relentlessly innovate their digital marketing game in Hong Kong that may likely prove digital marketing has potential in the market. Hopefully, with the knowledge from the above historical points, you’ll be able to propel your company or your brand to a position where you can use digital marketing to your advantage.