WeChat Ads vs Baidu Ads: Best Strategies in 2024
Should we use WeChat Ads or Baidu Ads? This is a typical question for companies that want to advertise in China. The truth is that both are excellent methods to boost businesses in expanding their audience and increasing sales.
Together with the China experts at WeChat Advertising, let’s take a deep dive into the potential and possible pitfalls of WeChat ads and Baidu ads. Read up on the most effective advertising platforms in the “Middle Kingdom” WeChat and Baidu, and how they compare in terms of audience, reach, cost-effectiveness, and other KPIs.
Now, without further ado, let’s get started.
Digital Marketing in China
First of all, let’s take a look at the online advertising landscape in China. Did you know that the “Middle Kingdom” is actually the second-largest market in the world for search advertising with a volume of more than 60 billion USD in 2024?
And the total advertising volume in China is projected to reach 189 billion USD in 2024. By 2028, it is expected that 80% of the total ad spending will be generated through mobile devices.
As you may know, the online environment in China is a bit different from the Western world. That’s mostly because popular social media apps like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp as well as Google among many other websites are blocked in China. Besides, the needs of online users and their behavior are quite different.
Now, as you may know, WeChat compares to Facebook, and Baidu is the Chinese equivalent of Google.
The key differences between WeChat and Baidu for advertising and marketing are as follows:
| Baidu | |
| – “PUSH” platform – Most popular social media in China – Billion-strong audience – Useful for driving brand awareness, sales, leads or follower growth | – “PULL” platform – Largest search engine in China – Affordable and effectiveIdeal for driving leads |
So, what does all of that mean in detail? Let’s find out!
WeChat Ads
Now, we have already talked in detail about WeChat ad types, real-life examples, and how to get started. Here is a brief summary and reminder:
Established in 2011 by Tencent, WeChat (微信) has become China’s most popular and important app today, boasting an impressive 1.3 billion monthly active users.
Advantages for Brands on WeChat
As such, having a brand presence on WeChat is ideal for:
- Expanding your Chinese audience
- influencer collaboration, e.g. product seeding (free samples to KOL for promotion)
- paid ads
- Connecting with millions of potential customers
- through brand stores, live streaming, comments, messages, groups, promotions, etc.
- Boosting sales
- Target ideal demographic for qualified leads that convert to sales
- Raise your brand awareness in China
- Including competitive positioning
That sounds good, right? So, advertising on WeChat is basically a must, right? Let’s take a closer look.
WeChat Ads: Pros and Cons
In terms of advertising, there are currently five options on WeChat
- Moment Ads
- Official Account Ads
- Video Account Ads
- Mini-Program Ads
- Search Ads
Read up on selecting the right business account on WeChat (Official Account) for your brand. In terms of WeChat ads, here are their potential ups and downsides.
| Advantages | Pitfalls |
| – Gigantic user base/reach – Large variety of targeting options – Among most cost-effective marketing tools in China – Considered THE most important social platform to run ads for B2B companies | – High competition for ads – Target audience capture by algorithm not as precise at times – Ad managers must be able to read and write Simplified Chinese – Knowledge of Chinese culture and specialties a must for ad success |
For more information, read up on how to set up WeChat ads in the dashboard back office. Next, let’s take a look at China’s largest search engine.
Baidu Ads
Founded in the year 2000 by Robin Li and Eric Xu, Baidu (百度) is barely known in the Western world. However, in China, Baidu has a search engine market share of more than 60% and offers a large variety of services, including maps, cloud, news, wiki, and much more.
Today, Baidu has about 667 million monthly active users for their app alone, and the platform processes 5 billion queries every day! Note that, like Google, many users just open Baidu in a browser and are not logged in to the app.
Now, before we take a deep dive into advertising options on Baidu, let’s briefly see how they compare to Google ads, which you may be more familiar with.
Baidu Ads vs. Google Ads
Even though both platforms have different algorithms, they are common metrics for organic rankings like relevance, mobile optimization, quality links, and so on.
They also both serve ads that show up next to organic search results.
The backend features to set up and manage ads are similar on both Google and Baidu. However, opening a Baidu PPC account is a more complex and lengthy process compared to a Google Ads Account, particularly for non-Chinese companies.
Just like on Google, Baidu ads with long-tail and buyer-intent keywords yield better results, especially considering the growing trend of voice search in China.
Finally, unlike Google, Baidu provides a tool called Jimuyu (基木鱼), accessible via the Baidu PPC Platform. With Jimuyu, brands can create landing pages for ads, which are typically approved faster, load quicker, and result in reduced overall costs.
Baidu SERPs
First of all, let’s find out what organic and paid search look like on Baidu. Based on the example for “English language training” (英语培训), the search engine results pages (SERPs) on Baidu look as follows.
Main page
- New Oriental（新东方） – image/text ad (verified)
- Longre Education Group（朗阁）- image/text ad
- Longre Education Group（朗阁）- image/text ad (verified)
- Longre Education Group（朗阁）- image/text ad (verified)
- Jinbo Education (金博教育) – image/text ad (verified)
- Hello Kid – organic search result (image/text)
- Baidu Huilife (百度惠生活), Baidu owned platform of local businesses – organic search result (image/text)
- Gateway language village (平和村英语) – image/text ad (verified)
- Organic search result (text)
- Organic search result (text)
- Organic search result (image/text)
- Organic search result (image/text)
- Organic search result (image/text)
- Organic search result (text)
- Organic search result (text)
- Organic search result (image/text)
- Related searches – organic search result
Side view
- Related brands – organic search results
- Related stock exchange (HK) – organic search results
- Contact Baidu to place ads – organic search result
The blue “Baidu Guarantee” (保障) mark means that Baidu has checked the website, verified it, and gives a guarantee, whereas you can get a refund in case fraud occurs. The text next to the blue mark means “ad” (广告), and shows users that the content is paid advertising.
Next, let’s talk about the benefits for brands when displayed at the top of SERPs on Baidu.
Advantages for Brands on Baidu
Ranking high on Baidu has the following benefits for brands:
- Increased visibility: brand awareness and recognition
- Trust: high authority and credibility
- More traffic: drive organic traffic to your website or landing page
- Competitive edge: over competitors who rank lower
To sum it up, brands that rank high on Baidu enhance their online presence, reputation, and sales, in the Chinese market.
Digital Marketing on Baidu
On Baidu, digital marketing is divided into two segments
- Search engine optimization (SEO): optimization of website content to organically reach higher ranking on Baidu’s SERPs (search engine results pages) when users search for a specific keyword
- Pay-per-click ads (PPC): paid advertising
So, let’s take a look at paid advertising modules.
Baidu Ad Types (PPC)
Ads on Baidu are clearly marked with a blue tag that reads “Advertisement” (广告). These are the options to choose from:
Text Ads
This may be the most popular PPC ad on Baidu.
Example: search for “study abroad in USA” (美国留学)
Even though images are optional, it is highly advisable to add a powerful visual as it will help to grab the user’s attention in a world of digital overflow.
Image (Single, Multiple) & Text-Link Ads
Visual PPC ads on Baidu come in various sizes and formats.
Example: search for “English language training” (英语培训)
Multi-Text & Link Ads
These so-called “navigation ads” consist of a title, description, image, and text.
Example: search for “study abroad to USA” (美国留学)
Video & Text Ads
Video PPC ads on Baidu can be uploaded with a duration of more than 6 seconds.
Example: search for “English language training” (英语培训)
Mobile Button Ads
For mobile devices, you can place the following buttons on Baidu.
- Call phone number
- Download app
- Contact form
- Customer support
Example: search for “photo retouching app” (修图软件)
Additional ads on Baidu
These ads are not included in Baidu PPC and are ideal for larger international brands with a higher advertising budget.
Brand Zone
Brands can stand out with a so-called Brand Zone, striking text/image/video ads just below the search bar. Brand Zone ads on Baidu compare to Official Accounts ads on WeChat. Request a quote from Baidu based on keywords and the desired time period to achieve a certain search volume.
Example: search for Sephora (絲芙蘭 香港)
Baidu News Feed Ads
This ad format comes in various formats and appears as native ads, seamlessly integrated into the app. Baidu news feed ads are similar to WeChat Moments ads and can be booked by contacting Baidu.
Here is an example of a Baidu news feed ad for a psychological counselor exam:
So, how does all of this look in terms of pricing?
Baidu Ads Pricing
To run ads on Baidu, you first need an advertising account, which requires a verification fee of 600 RMB (~83 USD) per year.
Then, you need to pay a deposit, starting from 6,000 RMB (~830 USD), from which your ads will be deducted.
As of Q2/2024, pay-per-click ad prices on Baidu start from 0.30 RMB (~0.04 USD) CPC for all formats, depending on the competition in the respective industry.
Keep in mind that, just like on WeChat, certain industries are restricted/banned from advertising on Baidu, including medical and healthcare products and treatments, and cryptocurrencies.
Baidu Ads: Pros and Cons
As with everything in life, advertising on Baidu also comes with benefits and limitations.
| Advantages | Pitfalls |
| – Largest search engine in China – Among the most affordable yet effective advertising options in China – Picking the “right” keywords is crucial for success; ideal is high volume and low competition – Best ROI for B2B and service businesses (particularly those in niche markets) | – Setting up a Baidu PPC account takes some time (usually 3-4 weeks until verification and approval) – Watch keyword selection and targeting options; otherwise, conversion rates can be lower compared to other platforms – Reach outside of China is very (!) limited – The whole Baidu platform including customer support is only available in Chinese language – Knowledge in localization crucial for ad success – Lower attributable ROI for ecommerce, since Chinese users tend to make ecommerce purchases on major ecommerce platforms such as TMall |
But how are Baidu PPC ads set up in the back office? Let’s take a look.
WeChat Ads vs Baidu Ads: A Comparison
When it comes to two of the most popular apps in China, let’s first take a look at their structure side by side.
| Baidu | ||
| Blocked countries | India | India |
| Characteristics | Many functionalities, deeply rooted in the daily lives of Chinese people | Dominant search engine in China, wide range of services, AI integration |
| Ad labeling | Clearly recognizable as such | “Ad” label next to paid search results |
| Monthly active users | 1.3 billion people around the world, 80% in China | 667 million monthly active uses, 92% in China |
| Audience | Chinese in China and around the world | Focus on Chinese in China |
Now, let us shed light on advertising options on WeChat and Baidu, as well as how to get started.
| Status Q2/2024 | Baidu | |
| Main difference | “PUSH” marketing (ads, promotions, direct sales) to reach the right audience through targeting. | “PULL” marketing lets your audience find you when reaching for certain phrases (keywords), and offering them solutions to their questions or problems. |
| Ad Benefits | – Brand awareness – Boost sales or leads – Attract followers | – Targeted traffic to website = leads – Visibility and brand awareness |
| Ad Requirements | – WeChat Official Account – WeChat Advertising Account | Baidu Ads Account |
| Ad Types | – Moments ads – Official Account ads – Video Account ads – Mini-Program ads – Search ads (Read more here) | – Text ads (with/without image) – Image (single, multiple) + text-link ads – Multi-text & link ads – Button ads for mobile: phone, app download, contact form, customer support – Brand Zone – News Feed ad |
| Targeting Options | location, age, interests, keywords, employment, home ownership, marital status, etc. (Read more here) | focus on keywords, audience secondary (location, age, device, education, interests, income level, remarketing, etc.) |
| Ad Prices | – Scheduled ads: from 1,000 RMB (approx. 150 USD) one-off – CPM: from 1.50 RMB (~0.20 USD) | CPC: from 0.30 RMB (~0.04 USD) |
| Setup Fee for Official/Ads Account | No setup fee | 600 RMB (~83 USD) verification fee per year |
| Direction | Typically to landing page within the WeChat ecosystem | Typically to brand websites outside the Baidu ecosystem |
| Restrictions | 26 categories restricted/banned | 14 categories restricted/banned |
| Ideal for | B2B businesses, B2C businesses, education | Businesses other than e-commerce |
This brings us to the end of a detailed comparison article on WeChat ads vs Baidu ads with many real-life insights and practical tips that help your brand stand out from the crowd.
Tips from our Experts: WeChat Ads vs Baidu Ads
Based on many years of real-life experience, we are excited to share these practical tips with you for running effective WeChat ads and Baidu ads.
- Audience: Use interests and keywords to target your audience
- Content: Localize and tailor your messages and visuals for your Chinese target group
- Optimize for Mobile: Large images and few words are easy to grasp when scrolling on phones
- Disruptive Content: Use stand-out images and videos to grab the user’s attention when “doom scrolling”
- Strong Offer: Include e.g. free trial, free shipping, etc.
- CTA: Include a clear “call to action”, e.g. visit shop
For more information, take a look at these FAQs about WeChat advertising. Our team of China specialists is ready to boost your brand further in the world’s largest e-commerce market.
The Takeaway – WeChat Ads vs Baidu Ads
When comparing WeChat ads and Baidu ads, both have undeniable relevance in the Chinese market. While WeChat scores with its gigantic audience and everyday presence that boosts brand awareness and sales, the strengths of Baidu ads are in reaching people that are searching for what you are selling.
The key difference between marketing and ads on these two platforms is that WeChat is a “PUSH” channel and Baidu a “PULL” channel:
- This means with “PUSH” marketing on WeChat, you actively target and address your ideal audience with ads, promotions, direct sales, and so on.
- On the other hand, “PULL” marketing on Baidu guides your ideal audience to find you when they search for certain terms (keywords) by providing solutions to their questions and issues.
Are you interested in learning more? Or are you eager to get started with your WeChat and Baidu advertising journey right away? Our experts in China are ready to assist you with firsthand experience and technical proficiency.
Message WeChat Advertising now for a complimentary consultation. We have more than one decade of real-life experience and success in Chinese advertising on WeChat and Baidu under our belt. We are excited to share our knowledge and help your business succeed as well!
