With over 1.26 billion monthly active users, WeChat is China’s super app and a must-have for any brand’s marketing strategy in the country. It offers a variety of functions, including WeChat Pay and customer service as well as geo-localization. It is also a great platform for building brand awareness and loyalty programs.
Unlike other social media platforms, WeChat for Business allows companies to open an official account inside the app and gain followers without paying for advertising space. There are two different types of WeChat for Businesses: subscription accounts and service accounts (and enterprise accounts). The latter offers additional functionality, such as a store, data collection and more. Foreign companies are only allowed to create a service account, whereas subscription accounts require a company registration in mainland China.
WeChat Marketing is all about publishing high-quality content that your followers want to read, listen to or watch. It’s also about creating a schedule and timing for publishing that is consistent with the peak times of engagement on your social media platform. Lastly, it’s important to understand the unique characteristics of the Chinese market and how these may impact your marketing efforts on WeChat.
The most popular type of content on WeChat is video. It is reported to be twice as effective at driving engagement than written articles. With this in mind, video content should be a key focus for your WeChat marketing.
In addition to creating engaging content, it’s crucial to have a solid localization plan that ensures your messaging resonates with Chinese consumers and aligns with their cultural values. In addition, it’s important to keep in mind that WeChat use tends to peak around national holidays such as Chinese New Year or the Mid-Autumn Festival.
A WeChat marketing strategy also includes converting followers into members by providing incentives like promotions, discounts, lucky draws or souvenirs to encourage them to scan the QR Code and join the brand’s community. In addition, it’s common for brands to embed a QR Code linked to their WeChat official account on physical products that consumers can then scan in stores.