Andrea Plawutsky from Amplify Me on: Becoming China Ready, 8 Tips for Tapping into a New Market & Selling Benefits not Features

Becoming China Ready, 8 Tips for Tapping into a New Market & Selling Benefits not Features

Andrea Plawutsky is the Director of Amplify Me, a Tourism Consultancy specialising in the Chinese market. Andrea and I have crossed paths at numerous industry events and functions. I value her perspective on a wide range of industry related topics. In particular, I was interested to chat with Andrea about the growth of the inbound Chinese visitor market, and discuss how Australian tourism businesses can tap into the market by becoming ‘China Ready’.

Becoming China Ready

Becoming ‘China Ready’ relates to how businesses can better equip themselves to successfully attract, engage and host Chinese visitors. Andrea and I discuss key areas that business owners should consider, if they wish to become China Ready and capitalise on this rapidly growing sector.

Andrea sheds light on the importance of truly understanding the Chinese culture. And suggests how to provide Chinese visitors with a welcoming service in a context that is relevant to them.  We chat about what makes a location desirable and how, as an industry, we have to work together to ensure the Chinese people choose Australia over other highly desirable international destinations.

Andrea and I discuss symbolism and the Chinese love of a play on words and how this can be used to make guests feel more comfortable. We also chat about ensuring the right appliances and commodities are available to enhance a guest’s experience and reduce your business expenses. Andrea shares an exciting method for truly uncovering how to sell tourism products to Chinese visitors. Andrea urges everyone serious about tapping into the market to consider taking up this challenge.

8 Tips for Tapping into a New Market

Andrea provides lots of great insights into becoming China Ready, in particular she shares eight specific tips for tapping into the Chinese market. Her advice is very sound and can be used as a guide by business owners wanting to attract any international and unexplored domestic markets.

The eight tips provided by Andrea centre around the following topics: defining your audience, reviewing your product, engagement, being digitally visible, improving your outward presence, reputation management, partnerships and cultural understanding. Tune into the episode to hear more information about each of these key areas and learn how to use Andrea’s advice to grow your business.

Selling Benefits not Features

Andrea points out that the Chinese are much more emotive than Australians when it comes to marketing a holiday destination. We, as a nation, tend to sell the features of a product. However, the Chinese are looking to connect with a product on a deeper level. If we want to entice international visitors, we have to become better at selling the benefits of a product, not just listing the features.  ‘Essentially, its advertising going back to its truest sense. In that it describes how the product is going to make someone feel’, explains Andrea.

Taking this a step further, Andrea suggests that we try and tie experiences back to something that is culturally significant to the visitor.  Australians are great at telling stories about people and places, but if we don’t give it context for the listener then it doesn’t really mean anything. When considering the Chinese market, Andrea suggests relating experiences to a Chinese poem, song, or even a character. Businesses owners can help visitors relate by tying their product to something that is significant to the guest. Then use it to help tell a story. By doing this, business owners can build an emotive connection with people.

Also, in this week’s podcast

In this episode Andrea and I also discuss:

  • Andrea’s exciting and extensive career in the Tourism Industry
  • What sparked Andrea’s love for China
  • Significant changes in China over the last few decades
  • How the lack of legacy systems allows for innovation and change
  • How target markets in China differ to those in Australia
  • Small changes business owners can make to enhance the Chinese visitors experience
  • Why the number 8 is considered lucky in China
  • Mobile payments and social media in China
  • Essential review platforms to monitor
  • The importance of shareable moments
  • Managing guest expectations
  • Using appropriate language translation tools
  • The advertising power of reviews
  • Why partnerships are essential to business growth
  • The need to prioritise travel over everything else

Link to podcast