A customer in Sydney might search for a local service in English, read reviews in Chinese, and prefer to review booking details in Simplified Chinese or Traditional Chinese.
For businesses serving Chinese-speaking customers in the US, Canada and Australia, that creates several opportunities to connect. It also means a translated ad alone may leave gaps between the first click and the final enquiry.
Google Ads and Meta Ads can both play a role. The starting point is understanding where your customers live, how they search, and which language helps them make a decision.
Start with the customers you can actually serve
“Chinese-speaking customers” covers people with different language preferences, backgrounds and buying habits. A useful campaign brief needs more detail than that label.
Define your service area or delivery market, the product or service you want to promote, and the language support your business can provide.
For written content, consider English, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese. Choose the versions that fit your intended customers, including ad copy, landing pages and follow-up information.
A customer who reads Traditional Chinese may search in English. Someone who reads Simplified Chinese may also prefer an English website for certain purchases. Give customers useful options, then use campaign results and enquiry feedback to refine them.
Language preference also differs from ethnicity. Build the campaign around communication needs and buying intent, rather than assuming a language setting identifies a particular community.
Use Google Ads to reach relevant searches
For Google Search campaigns, research the language customers use when looking for your specific offer.
Imagine a cleaning company serving Sydney. Its starting keyword ideas might include:
| Language | Illustrative keyword |
|---|---|
| English | end of lease cleaning Sydney |
| Simplified Chinese | 悉尼退租清洁 |
| Traditional Chinese | 悉尼退租清潔 |
These are examples to investigate, rather than confirmed high-volume keywords. Check demand in your service area and review the search terms generated by the campaign.
Translation is only part of this work. Customers may use different service names, local expressions or combinations of English and Chinese. A keyword that reads correctly can still miss the wording people actually use.
Google uses signals such as search language and user preferences to understand which languages someone understands. A multilingual customer can therefore encounter ads in more than one language.[1] Keep relevant English and Chinese ad versions available, with landing pages that suit each message.
Organise your keywords, ads and destinations so you can assess performance by language. Separate campaigns can help when budgets or locations need different management, but a small budget does not need to be divided into numerous tiny campaigns.
For local services, also review location options. Google’s “Presence or Interest” setting can include people outside an area who have shown interest in it. If you only serve customers within a particular area, consider whether “Presence” better fits your business.[2] Check actual enquiry locations as well.
For a more detailed Search-only guide, read How to Target Chinese-Speaking Audiences with Google Ads in 2026.
Use Meta Ads to introduce the offer
Facebook and Instagram give you room to show the service or product before someone actively searches for it.
For the same cleaning company, a useful ad could show the cleaning process, explain what is included, and make the booking step clear. Chinese copy and captions in Simplified Chinese or Traditional Chinese could support that message where relevant.
Start with the customer’s practical questions: What do I receive? Is it available in my area? What does it cost? How do I book?
Test language versions around a comparable offer. If the English and Chinese ads use different discounts, imagery and messages, it becomes harder to understand what caused the difference in results.
Audience setup needs attention too. Meta describes Advantage+ Audience as combining customer insights with AI to find relevant audiences, including people an advertiser might not have considered.[3] Review the controls and expansion options available in your chosen setup.
Where language controls are available, consider testing a language-restricted audience against a broader audience within the same service area, using relevant Chinese creative. This is a testing approach; the results should determine whether the extra restriction helps.
Measure qualified enquiries or purchases. An ad that attracts inexpensive clicks may still bring few customers.
Match the landing page to the ad
A Chinese ad creates an expectation that the next step will be understandable in Chinese.
If someone clicks a Simplified Chinese ad, a relevant Simplified Chinese landing page is a sensible starting point. An English ad promoting Chinese-language support could lead to an English page with that support clearly explained and an accessible Chinese option.
You can begin with one strong landing page for the service you are advertising. Make sure it covers the offer, service area, pricing or quotation process, and the next step.
Carry that clarity through the form, confirmation message and booking process. If essential instructions appear only in English after a Chinese enquiry, customers may need help completing the journey.
Be accurate about language support. Translated advertising does not automatically mean your team can handle customer questions in Chinese. Explain how customers can communicate with you, and provide what the ad promises.
Give each platform a clear job
Your initial budget should reflect the offer and the available demand.
For a local service with relevant searches, Google Search may be a useful place to begin. For a product that benefits from demonstration or visual discovery, Meta may deserve the first test.
You can add the second platform once there is enough budget to test it properly. Running both is useful when each has a defined role and you can assess the results.
For lead generation, track enquiry quality, service-area fit, bookings and sales. For eCommerce, review purchases, revenue and acquisition costs alongside margins and fulfilment costs.
Record which ad and landing-page language produced the result. This helps you compare communication approaches without guessing a customer’s identity.
Start with a focused test
A manageable first campaign could cover one market, one offer and English plus one relevant Chinese script.
Build the matching ads and landing pages, verify conversion tracking, then review search terms, enquiries and sales. Expand into additional language versions or locations when the evidence supports it.
At TerryKX Media, I help businesses plan and manage Google Ads and Meta Ads campaigns, including campaigns in English, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese. The work brings together keyword research, ad copy, landing pages and conversion tracking so you can see which activity is producing useful leads or sales.
Want to reach Chinese-speaking customers in your market? Get in touch with TerryKX Media to discuss your audience, current campaigns and next steps.
Sources
[1] Google Ads Help: About language targeting
[2] Google Ads Help: About advanced location options
[3] Meta Newsroom: How Meta is helping brands connect with customers through culture