Snapchat courts Chinese advertisers with potential new hire

SNAPCHAT is looking for an international strategy manager to help it rebuild bridges with the Chinese market as it seeks to enable domestic businesses to access global markets with creative advertising campaigns on their app.

The job posting, which was recently discovered by Digiday, was uploaded on Dec 8. According to the company’s job posting, the manager would be based in Shenzhen, China, which also happens to be the same location where Snap Inc. recently opened a research and development office for its hardware division.

Interestingly, Snap’s Shenzhen facility is widely regarded as a location where further development of Snapchat’s Spectacles hardware is set to take place. Despite this, however, the designation of Snap’s international strategy manager seems to go far beyond the company’s hardware, as the new executive looks to be focused on growing the company’s advertising platform in the Asian economic superpower.

One thing of note, however, is the fact that Snap’s flagship product, Snapchat, is completely banned in China. Thanks to the “Great Firewall”, Internet users in the country are unable to access the popular social media platform.

We’re at the St. Regis in Shenzhen for Explore the New. Here, we’ll introduce Chinese businesses to the power of @Snapchat advertising. pic.twitter.com/9rRfxEGOG2

— Baidu Mobile (@BaiduMobile) November 13, 2017

With this in mind, it seems like the focus of Snap’s Shenzhen-based international strategy manager would be the utilization of Snapchat as a means for Chinese enterprises to reach a broader international audience.

In a statement to Digiday, a Snap Inc. spokesman affirmed the notion that Snapchat is not looking to grow its advertising initiatives in China. Instead, the new executive would be focusing on increasing the number local advertisers from the region.

“[This role] will be unrelated to our much larger hardware team and would be intended to benefit Chinese companies who sell products outside of China. This is something that many companies blocked in China still pursue,” the spokesman said, according to a Digiday report.

Overall, Snap’s initiatives to attract businesses in China is a notable opportunity for SMEs in the Asian economic superpower. The social media platform boasts 301 million monthly users, with 178 million users actively accessing the app daily, as noted in an Expanded Ramblings report. On an average day, Snapchat’s users send roughly three billion snaps in a 24-hour period. These stats, of course, present a huge opportunity for Chinese businesses of all sizes.

As noted in a Forbes report, Snapchat’s growing popularity and notably younger demographic is a goldmine for enterprises who would like to establish a strong online presence. Its capability to foster one-on-one engagement, its strong, active community and its notable “cool” factor all make Snapchat into a social media platform that could very well carry Chinese businesses well into the digital age.

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