Survey finds digital marketing has still miles to go in China

Marketing professionals from China had the lowest digital mindset in the Asia-Pacific region despite the rapid development and high penetration of mobile devices in the country, a global survey said on Tuesday.

The survey was jointly conducted by the California-based computer software company Adobe Systems Inc and global executive affinity group CMO Council. About 87 percent of the respondents from China exhibited faith in the competitive advantage created by digital marketing, including marketing campaigns launched on websites, social media, mobile devices and other platforms with the help of big data. However, this is still lower than the 92 percent observed throughout the entire APAC region on average.

According to market consultancy firm eMarketer, China had the world's largest number of mobile Internet users at 500 million by 2014, which is more than three times the number of mobile Internet users in the United States. However, inconsistent with the rate of this high mobile penetration, only 33 percent of the respondents believe that the proliferation, appeal and capability of mobile devices are driving the acceptance of digital marketing.