WeChat Channels – How to Post for Success?

May 7, 2022

WeChat Channels, which was released for beta testing in early 2020, is a relatively new short and largely untapped video platform within WeChat that allows users to produce and share short video clips and photographs to their own WeChat Channel.

The WeChat Channels feed also allows users to discover information posted to other Channels (by their friends and other WeChat accounts). Here’s our Beginners Guide to WeChat Channels if you want a shorter version or TL: DR one

WeChat Marketing Strategies

WeChat Channels, with over 200 million MAUs (Monthly Active Users), are becoming an increasingly essential touchpoint for marketers in China. They greatly aid in brand discovery because the content is displayed to all users rather than just followers, as is the case with articles on official accounts. With fully open content dissemination and adoption of hashtags, content is discovered in a whole new way on WeChat. Compared to official accounts where updates are only visible to followers, this is truly a gamechanger. 

What Are Some of the Advantages of WeChat Channels?

Channels provide numerous options to promote your brand by encouraging people to share with their friends or in their Moments. Viewers can like and comment on the post, as well as on the remarks of others. Channels content liked by your contacts will be automatically shown to you in the tab ‘Liked by friends’ and they will see content liked by you too (unless you change your privacy settings). 

Each WeChat Channel post may have the following elements:

  • A short description 
  • A number of relevant, popular, branded and contextual hashtags
  • A location tag
  • A link to an article on WeChat Official Account or a red packet 
  • A link to an online event (live streaming)

Trending Content on WeChat Channels

The most popular WeChat channel content is very similar to that found on Douyin or TikTok. It is viral in nature and is driven by trends and hashtags such as dancing challenges, lip-sync skits, memes, and fashion and food-related videos. 

However, Channels are also a great brand discovery tool for B2B brands with a much more mature audience that uses WeChat on a daily basis for professional communication – educational content and news are among the top content. That’s why visual and video professional content has much higher chances to resonate on WeChat compared to other short video platforms. 

According to the Weixin Class pro, Tencent will pay even more emphasis on Channels in the coming months, and there are already some modifications in the works, such as the addition of WeChat’s own services menus.

Read about WeChat Class PRO 2022 (WeChat creator’s annual competition)

A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Channels on WeChat

Step 1: Open your WeChat account.

To begin, log in to your personal WeChat account using the WeChat app.

Even if you have an Official Account on WeChat, Channels must first be launched by personal accounts before they can be linked to brands.

Pro tip: Before you start, keep in mind that if you want to link between your Official Account and Channel account (these two are not automatically connected), the admin of the OA and Channel account must be the same. 

Step 2: Proceed to the WeChat Channels tab.

Once you’ve logged into your personal account, go to the main navigation bar and click on the ‘Discover’ button, then select ‘WeChat Channels.’ This will take you to the WeChat Channels feed.

Step 3: Select the camera icon in the upper right corner.

You should see a small camera icon in the upper right corner of the WeChat Channels feed – click on it, and then the ‘new channel’ option appears.

Step 4: Complete your WeChat Channel profile.

You will then be prompted to submit the following information:

  • Name (use your brand name)
  • Bio
  • Gender
  • Location 

Fill these in and click ‘create’.

Next steps: As a next step you might want to connect your official account with the newly created Channels account and apply for verification (blue tick). 

Posting on WeChat Channels

Today, we’ll go through how to post on channels to get the most out of your efforts.

There are two methods for posting to Channels.

  • One from the mobile (for brands account only for the admin mobile)
  • One from the computer (operators can be added in the backend)

Apart from a number of video editing capabilities that are useful for on-the-go artists (adding music, cropping video), both offer the same options for post-production optimization.

WeChat Channels

WeChat Channels Backend View

WeChat Channels Content Types – Formats

What goes into a post on a WeChat Channel?

  • Up to 9 images can be uploaded.
  • Videos can be up to one hour long, 2GB in size, and in mp4 format.

Pictures function similarly to Instagram carousel posts, but video footage can be preferred by the algorithm. So, if you have a few photos, you can try to edit them into a film to get better results.

When it comes to videos, bear in mind that the attention span on WeChat is relatively short, so while you can publish extended movies, try to make them brief and relevant.

Choose a vertical format whenever possible! Users usually check WeChat Channels on mobile devices, therefore horizontal may not be attractive for viewers.

WeChat Channels

Tips to Optimize Post Description 

  • Length – Keep it brief and to the point, just like you would for Instagram. Keep in mind that only the first few lines of our copy will display, therefore hook.
  • Hashtags – will help to increase your visibility, but Channels are not entirely hashtag-driven platforms. Concentrate on a few well-chosen hashtags, such as your business name, campaign topic, or broad topic. Put the hashtags at the beginning or end of the copy.
  • Mentions – In your post, you can tag the accounts of other Channels. Excellent for collaboration. 
  • Location – you can include it to boost exposure, but it’s optional.
  • Link – From an official account or a red cover, you can link to an article. To find your article link, open it in WeChat and click (…) in the upper right corner, then ‘copy link.’ Use this feature to direct traffic to your official account.
  • Activity – you can add a link to a live-streaming event 
  • Time of publication – You can schedule your post or publish it immediately.

Conclusion

Short video content has become the latest trend in China and is growing at an astonishing speed. It is reported that the number of short video users has reached 920 million by end of 2021.*  

WeChat has been pushing users to make and watch videos on WeChat Channels, so it may see increased traffic in the near future. If you wish to know more about WeChat channels or need assistance in optimising your WeChat account, please contact our team. We use our knowledge and expertise to help businesses build meaningful partnerships and develop their network among Chinese customers. For additional information, please contact at contact@thewechatagency.com.

You may also like

Xiaohongshu RED Beauty Trends 2022 – What’s Hot?

May 5, 2022

Xiaohongshu, a lifestyle platform, released a report dedicated to the trends gaining popularity at the beginning of 2022. Called Little Red Book, or simply RED, attracts a big number of beauty enthusiasts. As of now, it has over 200 million monthly active users. Beauty has consistently been one of the most popular content categories on Xiaohongshu, owing to a large user base with a strong interest in beauty and makeup.

Women account for 89% of clients who view beauty-related articles, while those aged 18 to 34 account for 87%, according to the survey. More importantly, many of them are now in the habit of using the site to study skincare and beauty items before purchasing them. Recently, we dug deeper into RED marketing with our Quick Guide to Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book) Marketing and talked about 5 Reasons to Leverage RED/Xiaohongshu and How to Set Up an Account?

Earlier this month, China’s lifestyle social platform Xiaohongshu released its 2022 Xiaohongshu Beauty Trends Report. The report provides valuable insights into what trends are emerging in the beauty sector from a large user base that is highly interested in beauty and makeup. It allows brands and investors to iterate their products in response to market demand and develop more targeted marketing and investment strategies. 

Xiaohongshu forecasts trends based on content searched on the platform in the previous year, including ‘efficient skincare,’ ‘haute makeup,’ ‘stacking products,’ and ‘gender neutrality.’

The Four Major Beauty RED Trends 💁‍♀️

 

  • Haute Makeup
    Simultaneously, searches for personalized and custom makeup increased in 2021, as individuals sought makeup that might transform potential flaws into distinct qualities. Searches for “Square face makeup” jumped 1100%, “How to define olive skin” increased 470%, and “Facial angling” increased 163%.

 

  • Stacking products
    Combining the use of various items, according to Xiaohongshu, became popular since it was supposed to provide an exponential effect. Searches for “lip oil layering” and “perfume layering” jumped by 135% and 82%, respectively.

 

  • Efficient skincare
    When it comes to skincare products, quality always outweighs quantity. Searches for “simple skincare” grew by 170%, while searches for “skincare pyramid” increased by 560%.

 

  • Gender neutrality
    On the site, men’s attractiveness has grown in popularity. Men are searching for a broader range of beauty goods than perfumes, facial cleansers, and lotions. Searches for “Men’s eyebrow shape” and “Men’s cosmetics cream” increased by 130 and 354%, respectively.

Some of the RED Report’s Key Takeaways

 

Men’s beauty is emerging: More categories of cosmetics have been added to men’s beauty wishlists, in addition to the evergreen perfumes, facial cleansers, and lotions. Furthermore, the survey revealed a significant increase in men in 2021, with 14% of these becoming content creators. This group has the potential to push more men to abandon outdated notions of masculinity. Hence accelerating the rise of gender-neutral beauty labels.

Self-acceptance drives personalization: Similarly, the report demonstrates how Xiaohongshu users have embraced variety. This transition is evident in the emergence of personalized and tailored makeup showcasing the distinctive qualities of beauty customers. The practice of layering multiple cosmetics, such as lipsticks and perfumes, exemplifies the desire for individuality. Some of the brands gaining benefits from these are Perfect Diary, Proya, Carslan, FlowerKnows, Zeesea, and more.

The need for cosmetics ingredients is increasing: Cheng Fen Dang (成份党) has been a key trend impacting the beauty landscape in China since its inception in 2017. This exclusive club, founded by skincare enthusiasts with scientific degrees, discusses the professional understanding of cosmetic components and how they influence different skin types. Some of them use personal social accounts to provide product reviews that evaluate various substances and their features, which have become reliable sources of information for locals. 

Xiaohongshu’s Beauty Influencers

The number of beauty-related artists in Xiaohongshu is increasing, with a 14% increase in male users in 2021 (it didn’t happen without some controversies – see our news bulletin). Beauty influencers are also increasingly younger. The group born after the year 2000 accounting for 20% of the platform’s beauty creators. Almost 70% of Xiaohongshu’s beauty producers live in major cities.

Check out our previous posts to discover more about how to advertise on RED.

Conclusion

If you wish to know more about Xiaohongshu or need assistance in creating content, please contact our team. We use our knowledge and expertise to help businesses build meaningful partnerships and develop their network among Chinese customers. For additional information, please contact at contact@thewechatagency.com.

 

 

 

You may also like

Weekly China News

April 26, 2022

WeChat Tests a New Retweet-Like Feature

The feature allows users to re-share content posted by others. Users can press and hold any post on Moments to activate the re-share function. The feature will make it easier for WeChat to track the source of popular posts. 

WeChat also added more support for embedding images and files in group announcements.

Link: https://technode.com/2022/04/24/wechat-tests-a-new-retweet-like-feature/

Introducing WeChat Farm, A New Opportunity for Luxury Brands

What Happened: WeChat has introduced a new feature that allows users to express their moods or feelings by using a new option called “Add Stickers.” To express their status, users can now use whimsical animal stickers as well as backgrounds that match cartoon memes and emojis.

The Jing Take: In the digital era, social currency, or influence on social networks and communities, is crucial. A brand might easily be forgotten if it does not understand how to use social marketing, especially in China.

As sections of China remain closed, what better way for luxury to experiment with the burgeoning digital fashion sector than to offer WeChat avatars? The fad is still in its early stages, but there is no better moment to get involved than when people are cooped up at home and looking for fresh online entertainment options.

Link: https://jingdaily.com/wechat-farm-sticker-digital-luxury/

How Luxury Brands Should Navigate Chinese Fonts

A new initiative aims to “rectify the problems of incorrect and non-standard use of Chinese characters and to eliminate ‘ugly’ and ‘weird’ font usage which contain vulgar and sloppy exaggerations and deformations in fonts, or violate the writing norms, cultural connotations, and aesthetic standards of Chinese characters.”

Though characters appear to be an obvious and go-to strategy for companies in China, they are one of the most difficult aspects to design, particularly when it comes to commercial font selections.

Link: https://jingdaily.com/chinese-fonts-regulations-dior-prada/ 

ByteDance Tests a New Social Media App Targeting Power Readers: Report

  • ByteDance, the creator of hugely popular short-video apps Douyin and TikTok, is reportedly internally testing a new news aggregation social app called Shiqu.
  • The new app could put ByteDance in competition with other Chinese apps that focus on creating a thinking community, such as the social and review platform Douban and Quora-like Zhihu. 
  • Shiqu looks to be catering to a more sophisticated user base that wants a customized reading experience and communities to discuss ideas.
  • At the moment the app still hasn’t been opened for public registrations.

Link: https://technode.com/2022/04/06/bytedance-tests-a-new-social-media-app-targeting-power-readers/ 

This Generation of Young People Refuses to Wait Long for Pre-sale

Zhang Xin, a Post-90s girl, thought as a consumer that she was spending money to find rage by going from spot to pre-sale for 7 days and then to pre-sale for 15 days. Zhang Xin finally broke through after a 30-day or even 45-day pre-sale. There are millions of people in the small red book with the same concept as her, and everyone is suffering from pre-sale.

Young people are no longer silent in order to purchase clothing in stock. They seek to disrupt the pre-sale routine and no longer serve as a “scapegoat” for corporations looking to transfer risks. # The topic of extraordinarily long pre-sale # related content, which has been read by more than 100 million Weibo hot searches and 5 million Xiaohong book readers This year’s youth are attempting to show their discontent.

A Taobao customer service said that the return rate of pre-sale clothes is much higher than that of spot goods, and the return rate of clothes with a pre-sale period of more than 15 days can even reach 90%.

Even if the return rate stays high, the shop will still choose for pre-sale. In comparison to consumer complaints, store owners are more concerned about the potential of an inventory backlog. No one can anticipate the sales amount with any degree of certainty. Pre-sale has become the most secure option for shoppers in times of tremendous uncertainty.

If the pre-sale period in pinduoduo surpasses 7 days, the products will not be featured on the platform first. Previously, Taobao had temporary rules in place, and TikTok and the sale of items were not prioritised.

Link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/QqbEyfeKJ-v34HPMrxeZow

Will Farfetch Take the Lead in Online Luxury E-Commerce?

In 2020, Alibaba, Richemont, and Artemis invested $1.15 billion in Farfetch, a luxury retail site, and developed a marketing plan geared to the Chinese market. It will formally launch its flagship store on Tmall in March 2021, offering over 3,000 small and independent brands.

Now, as new COVID-19 outbreaks in China affect offline business once more, the industry behemoth discovers another massive growth potential. Here are a few reasons why Farfetch could become the top in luxury e-commerce.

Great performance on digital sales

In China, digital sales of personal luxury goods outpaced physical sales across all categories, increasing by almost 56%t. And this rapid digitalization has worked in Farfetch’s favour. In 2021, Farfetch achieved its first full year of profitability with revenue jumping 35% to $2.3billion, supported by over 3.6 million customers.

Forging strong ties with China’s VIPs

After acquiring New Guards Group in 2019, Farfetch eventually opened Tmall Luxury Pavilion stores for Off-White, Ambush, and Palm Angels in early 2022. In addition, the corporation has made a concentrated effort to build Chinese brands such as Shang Xia, Uma Wang, Canotwait_, and Team Wang.

Furthermore, the luxury platform is dedicated to a high level of localization, from employing social networks such as WeChat, Weibo, Douyin, and Xiaohongshu — its major traffic and conversion touchpoints — to developing customer interactions. Offering luxury events such as dinners, master workshops, and art exhibitions to “Private Clients” is a key element of Farfetch’s China business. Farfetch China is now the most localised Western luxury portal operating in China.

Investing in the future

It announced the acquisition of resale platform LUXCLUSIF in December 2021, with the goal of dramatically increasing its resale capabilities through features such as automated pricing and authentication.

Sustainable goods are also on the rise, rising three times faster than conventional commodities. That’s why, in October 2021, the British-Portuguese retailer created There Was One, a sustainable brand described as upgraded closet basics that transcend the hype.

Finally, Farfetch is also leaping onto the luxury beauty bandwagon, estimated to be the second-largest category within the personal luxury market after leather goods. In January 2022, it announced the acquisition of cult favourite luxury beauty destination Violet Grey — best known for vetting beauty products with its community of makeup artists, dermatologists, estheticians, and influencers

Standing out from the crowd

Despite mounting competition from international e-commerce platforms, Farfetch has maintained the strategy by focusing on both brand awareness and sales, boosted by its localization and diversification strategies.

Link: https://jingdaily.com/farfetch-luxury-ecommerce-alibaba-neiman-marcus/

You may also like

Latest News from China

April 20, 2022

China Online Advertising Market Insights 2022

  • In 2022, 43% of advertisers in China expect to increase spending on digital marketing, 
  • The top online advertising media are:
    • E-commerce 47%, 
    • a short video (16.6%) 
    • News (16.6%)
  • In 2021, short video advertising continued to expand at a rate of over 31%.
  • Platform traffic, which accounts for 74% of a brand’s advertising budget, is the most important KPI.
  • 70% of advertisers indicated they’d pay greater attention to the platform’s ability to innovate.
  • 90% of advertisers feel that integrated marketing is becoming increasingly crucial.
  • After short videos, live broadcasts, and newsfeed ads, SEM is predicted to become the primary online advertising channel by 2022. (since 2019, Tencent, and Alibaba set up independent search engines to strengthen the integration entrance function of each service module).

Content ecology search ads are search ads on content platforms such as Toutiao, Douyin, Xiaohongshu, Zhihu, etc. SEM are search ads on search engines such as Baidu and  Sogou. E-commerce ecology search advertising includes search ads on e-commerce platforms such as Taobao Search, JD search and Pinduoduo search. Social ecology search advertising includes search ads on social platforms such as Weibo and WeChat

Link: https://www.chinainternetwatch.com/31087/online-advertising-market/

‘The NFT Thingy Is Starting to Burst,’ Warns Nassim Nicholas Taleb

The NFT thingy is starting to burst. All you need is higher interest rates for things that make no sense to start making no sense.

“Jack Dorsey Tweet NFT Once Sold for $2.9 Mil, Now Might Fetch Under $14K”.

The origins of speculative investments like NFTs are ultralow interest rates and market pandemic monetary policy.

The market has been anticipating the end of the market epidemic monetary policy of ultralow interest rates and cheap money for some time. Taleb appears to be saying that much of the cheap money has gone into speculative investments like NFTs and that this trend is ending. “People have lost their minds,” C.Z. Zhao, the billionaire creator of Binance, remarked of the $69 million auctions of an NFT piece of artwork in 2021.

Others like the recipient of that $69 million fortune, an artist known as Beeple, also worried that NFT art was in a bubble but believe the technology is going to outlive that. 

He said that the internet, in its nascence, was also a bubble—and it eventually burst.“But it didn’t wipe out the internet,” he said. “And so the technology itself is strong enough where I think it’s going to outlive that.” A whopping $44 billion was spent on NFTs last year, Fortune previously reported.

Link: https://fortune.com/2022/04/16/nft-thingy-starting-burst-warns-author-the-black-swan-predictor-2007-2008-financial-crisis-nassim-nicholas-taleb-cryptocurrency/

WeChat Announces Progress on Fix for Enforced Following of Accounts While Ordering

  • When consumers wish to prebook, queue or order from an online menu in a restaurant, one of the most popular methods is to scan a QR code to gain access to the menu.
  • Users are often obliged to follow the restaurant’s official WeChat account as a result of this, with no option to opt-out. Many people have viewed the approach as a violation of consumers’ rights.
  • The Shanghai Consumers Council concurred and proposed that little if any, personal information be carried through when clients scan to order. Furthermore, eateries should provide manual ordering choices as well.
  • It sent a notice to official account developers, asking them to look into a problem in which customers are obliged to use official WeChat accounts while ordering through QR codes at restaurants. The platform is reminding developers, according to the letter, to check for any associated issues and to guarantee that the client experience is overall positive.

Link: https://pandaily.com/wechat-announces-progress-on-fix-for-enforced-following-of-accounts-while-ordering/ 

The End of Celebrity Marketing in China?

Celebrity marketing events in March 2022 fell by 50.9% compared to the same period last year, according to a recent analysis by Shiqu Insight Engine.

Co-branded marketing and new product marketing, on the other hand, increased by 91.3% and 57.6%, respectively, while sports marketing increased by 6.6 times. Brands that fail to respond swiftly enough to their ambassadors’ inappropriate behaviour are also caught in the crossfire.

Link: https://jingdaily.com/celebrity-marketing-traffic-stars-decline/ 

Consumers Hope to Get Rewards from the Brand for Loyalty | 2022 Digital Trend Report

Cheetah Digital, a marketing platform company, and consultancy, a consulting firm, jointly released the 2022 digital trend report.

The report shows that consumers want their loyalty to the brand to be recognized.

The study investigated the different reasons why consumers like brands and found that 78% of consumers like a brand because it rewards their loyalty.

In addition to being rewarded for their loyalty, consumers also believe that their favourite brands provide a consistent customer experience (80%).

About a third of people feel frustrated when they receive news that they cannot recognize their shopping or loyalty history.

Similarly, data trust is also important. Consumers surveyed (74%) claimed to have a favorite brand because it uses their data in a way that makes them feel comfortable.

Knowing this, marketers are taking various approaches to try to build trust in their data privacy protection, including a commitment not to sell information and seeking informed consent.

51% of consumers like a brand because they can communicate with the brand quickly and effectively.

Personalization is important for understanding consumer preferences. When consumers receive irrelevant content or offers (49%), when the message does not reflect their needs (41%), or when the brand fails to meet the needs of consumers after collecting information (35%), people are frustrated.

Consumers seem to be particularly open to certain areas of brand information.

Respondents said they either received the right amount of information or were even willing to receive more information about loyalty programs (71%), discounts (70%), VIP offers (68%) and brand value (65%).

Link https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/jXgbVdVDV7V54P5nmN9YWw 

Elon Musk Makes Offer to Buy Twitter

On April 4th, 2022, Elon Musk announced that he had purchased 9.1% of Twitter. The news that the world’s richest man was now (briefly) the largest shareholder in his preferred social media platform. However, later on, he changed his idea to purchase the entire company. He offered $54.20 a share, valuing the company at roughly $43 billion.

  • Employees at Twitter are worried about Elon Musk’s takeover bid.

Things were a little different within Twitter. The news that Mr Musk wanted to buy the company and reshape it in his image shook much staff over the last ten days.

  • Musk wants to ‘unlock’ Twitter’s potential for free speech

“I invested in Twitter as I believe in its potential to be the platform for free speech around the globe,” Mr Musk said in a letter sent to Bret Taylor, the chair of Twitter’s board, on Wednesday. “I believe free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy.”

Mr Musk has long used Twitter to slam critics, mock Tesla short-sellers, and suggest extravagant space exploration plans. In addition, he has distributed false information concerning the pandemic. In a tweet in 2018, he pondered about taking Tesla private and falsely stated he had secured finance for the transaction, for which he was fined $40 million by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

According to the letter written to Twitter’s chair, if Mr Musk’s buyout offer is not approved, he will “need to reconsider my position as a shareholder”.

Link: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/04/14/business/elon-musk-twitter

Secondhand Luxury Is Key for China’s First Time Buyers

In 2021, Chinese consumers are expected to spend $73.6 billion on luxury goods in domestic stores, up significantly from $53.6 billion in 2020 and nearly double the $36.9 billion spent in 2019.

Because Chinese younger people, mostly millennials and Gen Zers, are increasingly inclined to purchase secondhand luxury products, there could be a secondhand luxury boom in 2022.

The main reasons are as follows,

  • With international travel still unlikely for many consumers and viruses threatening offline retail, young consumers may turn to e-commerce for the convenience factor.
  • There are always long waits in queue to get a limited edition or it requires to purchases a package deal in the offline shop to get a brand-new product. While the younger generations are not that patient, they prefer to get what they want right now.
  • The price hicks in those luxury brands like LV, and Chanel drives more consumers to the secondhand luxury market.

The issue in this sector right now is that there is no clear market leader. As a result, market challenges such as authentication and fakes continue to exist.

International luxury resale platforms aiming to get into the Chinese market will also need to think about more differentiators to help them compete with domestic rivals. Global players can compete in two ways: by stressing their ability to source from other countries and by boasting about their authentication credentials.

After all, the greatest service should be the deciding element for customers in this luxury resale e-commerce site.

Link: https://jingdaily.com/secondhand-luxury-is-key-for-chinas-first-time-buyers/

You may also like

A Quick Guide To WeChat Search

April 19, 2022

WeChat Search called Souyisou (搜一搜) is WeChat’s own search engine, which was launched in 2017 and allows users to research any kind of information. Besides messaging and connecting with others, WeChat offers a search feature that can provide some interesting information about brands and persons alike. It emerged as a competitor to other search engines and is steadily expanding its market position and improving the platform’s search functions.

At the moment, its market share it’s still relatively low but with the access to the search trends of its regular 500 million users. Earlier this year, Tencent confirmed at WeChat (Weixin) Class PRO that Seach will be one of the priorities in 2022.

WeChat Search Numbers

How to Search on WeChat?

To start searching for information on WeChat, you can see the search bar automatically on top of the main page (previously users had to drag it down to prompt the bar but now to popularize the usage of search, it’s an always-on feature). Alternatively, users can access the search option from the Discovery tab or long-press on a keyword anywhere in WeChat and click ‘search’.

How Does the WeChat Search Engine Work?

Previously, WeChat users mainly used search to find relevant keywords in private or group conversations on WeChat. However, with time, WeChat started to index information across almost the whole WeChat ecosystem as well as other Tencent products. 

When you search, the screen will display Search Engine Results Pages (SERP) with filtering options on the top.

Current filtering options are WeChat official accounts, Moments, articles, Baike (WeChat Wiki), Novel, Music, Mini Program, GIFs, Videos, Zhihu, Channels, etc.

For brands to gain traction from all of these categories, it’s important to invest in different kinds of search results. Brands should optimize the official account, but they can also increase search results by publishing posts on Zhihu (Chinese Quora), Sogou Baike (Chinese Wikipedia), and other Tencent-backed platforms.

WeChat Search

What Are the Data Sources for the Search Engine?

The search engine isn’t the same as Google’s or Baidu’s. WeChat Search is a feature that is only available in the WeChat app. Since this year, Tencent has also gradually unrolled it for WeChat PC and Mac users for desktop as well. 

When you search on Google or Baidu, for example, you’ll normally see adverts at the top, followed by the most recent news, and finally the most popular pages. When conducting a search on WeChat, however, you will find that the results are displayed in a different order.  The most recent news concerning the word you’re looking for will appear first, followed by your friends’ use of the word. Then at the bottom, you will find other random articles on the subject.

This means that you’ll be able to find practically everything published within WeChat and only within WeChat. That’s also where you can notice the difference between Google and Baidu, which both show anything that’s been published online.

What can we search on WeChat?

Only information that has been uploaded to the WeChat app can be found using the WeChat Search Engine. The search result will offer you a variety of results; however, you can narrow down your search by selecting one of three categories:

Moments 

This will allow you to search through your contacts’ moments. If one of your contacts published a Moments post in Shanghai, mentions Shanghai in the text of the WeChat Moment, or is a WeChat user with an account in Shanghai, you can find it by typing Shanghai into your filtered search.

Official Accounts

You can discover all of the official accounts relevant to what you’re looking for through your search. It’s a great approach to discovering new WeChat Official Accounts.

Articles

​​WeChat will offer you related articles submitted to the app, ordered by relevancy when you search on a topic. You can also keep filtering and arranging your search by other parameters to get exactly what you’re looking for. You can, for example, see the articles that you’ve read in the past or articles from the accounts you follow. 

Mini Programs

Finally, you can quickly find relevant mini-programs – be it bus tickets QR codes, e-commerce and so on. 

Indexed content

WeChat crawlers index the following types of content: 

  • Posts on WeChat Moments,
  • Articles published by OAs,
  • Official Accounts,
  • Mini Programs,
  • Products and services,
  • Internet content via the Sogou 搜狗 search engine,
  • 3rd party platform content from the following social apps: Zhihu (the Chinese version of Quora), Zaker (news), and more.

See the example of the most important types of content featured by WeChat when searching for ‘Starbucks’ on the app. 

WeChat Search

WeChat Search

WeChat Brand Zone

Brands can also capitalize and literally ‘take over the search page with a customized Brand Zone. Brand Zone is a space on top of the search results page with key information and quick access to the brand’s official account, mini-program, sales channels, etc. It allows users to instantly see the most frequently searched information in one place. 

Check out examples of brand pages here:

WeChat Search Brand Zone

It looks like a brand mini page and its 5 modules are relatively customizable. You can edit the brand logo, contact information, and nearest shop, to attract the users. Companies can set up their WeChat Brand Zone in the WeChat backend however there are 3 types of categorization of WeChat Brand Zone score and visibility based on daily search traffic, WeChat Search Promotion Program and other requirements. 

WeChat Search Brand Zone Backend

How Can You Make Your Account Show Up in Searches?

The longer the official account has been active, the more likely the search engine is to favor pages from that account. However, the system considers the account’s level of authority, such as how many followers it has, how regularly it publishes, and if the articles are original or repurposed content from other sources. Therefore, it is important to keep your account active and up-to-date.

Brands must make sure that keywords appear regularly throughout the text and headline while developing content. The viewer engagement rate helps to assess the material’s quality. The SEO algorithm tracks the number of clicks, impressions, and post interactions, gradually moving the content up the SERP.

Your SEO performance

Check account performance in the backend to see how many average daily views and clicks you have in different categories. Look for how many times a direct link to your official account or specific articles were featured on SERP.

WeChat Search Data

Some tips on building SEO-Friendly Content:

  1. Keyword Research: Conduct a thorough search of the WeChat index to see which keywords related to the article or content pillar are among the most often searched on the platform.
  2. Keyword Optimisation: To maximize searchability and exposure, optimize and focus on where and how to employ selected keywords in the content – titles, descriptions, and headers.
  3. Content Dissemination: Increase the visibility of your content by enhancing its organic searchability and authority by generating views, likes, wows, and shares.
  4. Step Further: Invest in additional Tencent-backed platforms like WeChat Channel or Zhihu to improve searchability.
  5. Avoid image-based articles: Although undoubtedly graphic articles are very attractive for the users, WeChat is not indexing jpeg or png-based content. Keep that in mind when preparing your articles. 

In the tech world, WeChat Search is making waves. Hence, it is important to keep your account search engine friendly to increase visibility and engagement.

If you wish to know more about WeChat search, please contact our team. We use our knowledge and expertise to help businesses build meaningful partnerships and develop their network among Chinese customers. For additional information, please contact us by phone – Shanghai or Hong Kong.

You may also like

China’s Personal Information Law

April 14, 2022

On August 20, 2021, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress passed the Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL), which became effective on November 1, 2021. 

Since its first version was revealed in October 2020, the PIPL in China has gotten a lot of attention as a basic law that is equivalent to the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

According to the PIPL, multinational businesses (MNCs) that move personal information out of the country will also be required to get data protection certification from professional institutes.

Individual consent is the primary legal basis for processing personal data under the Personal Information Protection Law. It states that personal data must be processed in accordance with the principles of legality, fairness, good faith, minimum necessity, openness, and transparency. There must be specific and justified processing purposes as well.

What Are the PIPL’s Fundamental Components?

The PIPL applies to all individuals and organizations managing the personal data of people within China’s borders, both public and private.

Notably, the PIPL broadens the scope of Personally Identified Information to Personally Identifiable Information. PII is defined as a company’s ability to create identification through profile stitching of non-identified data.

For example, a person’s purchasing habits and locations, together with other behavioral data, can be triangulated using third-party-appended data to profile the actual identified user – that is, even when their email or phone number was not collected.

In the processing of personal information, the PIPL refers to the following Basic Principles:

  1. The principle of lawfulness, legitimacy, necessity, and good faith: Personal information processing must not be misleading, fraudulent, or coercive. Furthermore, it requires a specific purpose for information.
  2. Clear and reasonable purpose: Information processing must be directly tied to a valid purpose, and data collecting must be limited to only that which is required for that purpose.
  3. In the processing of personal data, transparency is essential in terms of the norms, purpose, method, and extent.
  4. Accuracy – Information must be collected and stored in an accurate, comprehensive, and up-to-date manner.
  5. Security – Personal information handlers must ensure that all personal information they process is secure and take all necessary precautions.

How Does the PIPL Manage User Consent?

The type of data and the intended use of that data determine how to obtain the requisite consent. If the data is classed as Sensitive Personal Information, or if it will be used for:

  1. Operations i.e. transaction fulfillment,
  2. Subscriptions i.e. a memberships,
  3. Marketing, for example, sending promotional communication,
  4. Profiling, for example, personalization. Sensitive Personal Information, as defined by the PIPL, includes a person’s specific identity and location, as well as other factors. This category includes the following types of information:
  • specifically designated status
  • religious beliefs
  • medical/health
  • biometrics
  • financial
  • personal information relating to minors under 14

Before sensitive personal information can be processed, separate consent (rather than “bulk” consent) is necessary. Furthermore, there must be a particular, essential, and reasonable reason to process the data. Companies must make protective steps to ensure the security of such data (which may require requisitioning a Personal Information Protection Impact Assessment). Also, they should inform individuals affected by the processing of such data of the need for it and how it affects their rights and interests.

PIPL Permissions

What Does This Mean for International Brands in China?

Most significantly, the PIPL eliminates the binary nature of consent. For example, a user may have agreed to market but not to profiling (which means they will no longer receive personalized adverts). Furthermore, a brand’s consent levels from the same consumer on different platforms are likely to be varied. Each platform, from WeChat to Tmall to JD, might be unique.

Brands must ensure that every activity it does in the future is consent-compliant. Everything about a transaction, everything about marketing, and everything about profiling. To ensure that any action they’re conducting is genuinely compliant, brands must check at a user’s current consent status across these three criteria.

Furthermore, obtaining maximum consent from each user is not simple. Brands that aim to obtain full express consent, including cross-border, get roughly 2% of the market. 

Consent A/B testing will be required by brands to determine which consents individuals are willing to give. Consider consent in every software solution used by brands.

Personal information handlers – especially international brands with offshore headquarters – must now obtain and assess consent at a much more granular level, and consent must play a central role both in their customer interactions and tracking, as well as in their back-end data handling, ensuring security control and DSR compliance.

User Consent

Last, but not least, when asking for consent from users the following information must be highlighted:

  • Data receiver – is data for internal brand processing only? Does it involve a third party (third parties include brand headquarters outside of Mainland China)?
  • Data usage – how the data will be used? For marketing purposes or personalization content?
  • Data duration – how long the data will be kept precisely. 
  • Data location – location of the content storage and additional cross-border consent.

The last point is especially important for international companies which intend to move or store the data they collect in China abroad – this will be particularly complex as it will require several steps including but not limited to registering the data transfer with the government or completing an assessment certified by a third party; implementing technical security measures to prevent foreign-government access to the data, and tracking onward transfer to other entities. Companies should think of local-based solutions first. 

Conclusion

The PIPL is a major piece of legislation that has far-reaching consequences. There are parallels to the General Data Protection Regulation of the European Union. 

It is vital that enterprises take the required actions to prepare for the PIPL’s implementation, as it applies to data handling activities both in China and beyond China.

If you wish to know more about the PIPL, please contact our team. We use our knowledge and expertise to help businesses build meaningful partnerships and develop their network among Chinese customers. For additional information, please contact us by phone – Shanghai or Hong Kong.

You may also like

A Recap of the Latest China Updates

April 12, 2022

Meet Poizon (Dewu), China’s Latest E-commerce Platform

 

  • What it is?
    Poizon is a full-fledged fashion marketplace that sells authentic designer and premium brand sneakers, garments, bags, watches, and accessories, as well as artwork. It began as a content-sharing community in 2015. The company then ventured into e-commerce and used specialised authentication. Its journey is built around two pillars: community and shopping, allowing for a closed content-to-commerce cycle.
  • What does it offer?
    • Verification and quality inspection process for each purchase. Poizon-branded packaging, featuring an exclusive certificate of authenticity, a tamper-resistant cable tie, and custom packaging, is included with items that pass the process.
    • The world’s largest AR shoe model library. Its “AR try-on” function is used by 30% of customers every day.
  • What makes it different?
    On-site orders through purchase links in the posts, and sharing authentic experiences and styling inspirations after receiving the products. This helps accumulate brand equity and establish loyal communities.
  • Why does it matter?
    90% of its users are Gen Zers. They are better educated, have a broader perspective, and are more concerned about quality. Poizon has established an online shopping destination as well as a virtual area in which to form emotional relationships with others, and they are motivated by the potential of the community.

    Poizon, unlike other social networking platforms and e-commerce sites, is in charge of everyday operations, which are usually outsourced to third-party organisations. For brand merchants, there is no registration charge, which is a high cost on marketplaces like Tmall. And all of its marketing and advertising tools are available for free.

  • Bottom line: Legendary collaborations like Louis Vuitton x Supreme and Dior x Air Jordan have proved that the resale value of luxury can concentrate brand equity. Leading premium brands, however, appear unwilling to open official accounts, based on the current brand portfolio on the marketplace. A prudent approach might be a one-off collaboration.

 

Link: https://jingdaily.com/poizon-china-ecommerce-streetwear-resale/?utm_source=Jing+Daily+Subscriber+List&utm_campaign=03272a45fc-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_03_12_06_39_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8dec01cd8d-03272a45fc-408272405

Tips on Increasing the WeChat Article Open Rate

  1. Leave out key information
  2. Catchy headlines
  3. Surprising – repeating characters or leaving extra spacing between letters
  4. Leverage buzzwords
  5. Relate to a common struggle
  6. Numbers in the titles
  7. Call out your target audience
  8. Problem + solution
  9. Be friendly and personable
  10. Categorize

Link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/ahD0qYcIxpW6Jd2UNq6jhQ

Xiaohongshu Wants More Male Users. It’s Using Women as Bait.

Is XHS drastically changing? Since the company has adopted a new growth strategy that prioritizes attracting more men to join the platform, many women say that they no longer feel safe and comfortable sharing their reviews.

https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1009886/chinas-instagram-wants-more-male-users.-its-using-women-as-bait

Taobao Tmall Released the Spring/Summer 2022 Fashion Trend Report. Based on Global Trends and Consumer Side Data, the Report Jointly Released Eight Spring/Summer Fashion Trends.

  • New Chinese style: Generation Z in China promotes design that is inspired by Chinese style and elements; at the same time, creative workers continue to produce excellent “New Chinese” products by delving deeply into the meaning of traditional cultural elements and combining them with the aesthetic concept of the new era.
  • The wearing style is generally made of body shapers, navel revealing styles, which accentuate the sensual and daring while integrating innocence and is influenced by the #Y2K style that has become trendy in recent seasons.
  • Free commuting: As working from home becomes the new normal, clothing is becoming increasingly integrated and diverse, and can be readily exchanged between office and leisure to meet the needs of many scenarios.
  • City Girl & Boy: Having a lockdown at home encourages individuals to engage in outside activities and get closer to nature. People are increasingly participating in outdoor recreational activities. Young people want a neutral combination, which combines leisure, sports, and other style components while displaying a basic and informal attitude and lifestyle.
  • Dopamine: This type of design can inspire joy and hope, restoring confidence and optimism for the future. Consumers are easily won over by design and experience that may elevate their spirits and promote optimism. Tufting’s popularity, both online and offline, is proof of this, as is the emergence of businesses like Merci Madame and Tagi, which demonstrate the trend’s market potential.
  • Holiday south France: go abroad vacationing still can stay only in imagination stage, “escape city plan” heat is not reduced, contracted and comfortable French country vacationing style catered to this one demand, attracted young city people with its peculiar languid, leisurely and comfortable with grace.
  •  High-performance life: safety and security as the most basic human survival law, is now under threat, it will drive the innovation of high-tech protective materials, promote the renewal and iteration of functional protective product design, so that science and technology empower, science and technology to benefit the world, in the field of fashion with products to provide people with a safe high-performance life.
  • Deconstruction: As customers place a greater emphasis on environmental protection, businesses and brands must assume greater social responsibility in designing and producing environmentally sustainable products that reflect today’s consumer values. In 2023, businesses’ objective of regeneration will become a prominent innovation field, as seen by the fashion industry’s launch of regenerative series, the use of recyclable materials in product design, and the creation of individual pieces through deconstruction.

Link: http://beautyland.creativeonshow.com/ifashion/index.html

You may also like

A Beginner’s Guide to WeChat Channels

April 8, 2022
WeChat Channels Video

Posting on WeChat Channels on Mobile

WeChat has developed a new dedicated space for video content, similar to Instagram Reels. It is targeted towards content creators, brands, businesses and individuals who want to reach out to a new (or existing) audience beyond their circle of WeChat followers.

This new touchpoint can potentially be a great convergence of opportunities, especially since the short video market is on a steep rise.

As of mid-2022, WeChat Channels have approximately 450 million Monthly Active Users, it’s a 50% growth since the last year and we can only see Tencent investing more and adding new functions as they have already announced at Weixin Class PRO – an annual conference for WeChat creators.

1. Introduction to WeChat Channel

What are WeChat Channels?

It’s not a new app. It’s a new feature inside WeChat that allows users, influencers, and brands to create short format videos (or carousel, up to 9 pictures) and distribute them on their feed. Other info that can be added to the post is:

  • Hashtags to improve discoverability
  • A WeChat Official Account article link, if any
  • A location

A video feed on WeChat Channels looks similar to the type of feed on other popular short-video Chinese apps like Douyin (Tik Tok as it’s known internationally – see what’s the difference between TikTok and Douyin) or Kuaishou. Users can scroll through the feed infinitely to discover what their friends & their favorite brands have posted as well as content from the other users, influencers and public accounts.

As with any feed, this feed too is ruled by an algorithm that displays content not only from your WeChat contact or the WeChat Official / WeChat Video Account you follow but also from the rest of WeChat, depending on your behavior on the app. That means WeChat users are able to explore content and follow users that are not in their contact and WeChat Official Accounts that they are not following.

This brings a new trajectory to increase discovery on WeChat, which has been a relatively closed ecosystem before (in terms of privacy settings and discoverability).

🔥We prepared this helpful step-by-step list for WeChat Channels – How to Post for Success? Get familiar with it to unlock your reach.

 

Here are some important algorithmic factors to determine content display:

  • Number of likes = Popularity
  • Geo-location
  • Your WeChat friends/contacts’ engagements and activities
  • Followed accounts

2. Posting on Channels

How to register to WeChat Channels to start posting

You can apply to post by clicking on the camera icon on the top right top of the screen from your WeChat personal account. For official brand account, the admin for both WeChat Official Account and WeChat Channels account must be the same. 

Here is the information to fill in during the registration of your Channels profile:

  • Name
  • Brief description
  • Gender
  • Location

Once completed and created, you are able to start posting.

We recommend that brands go a step further and undergo an additional verification process to enjoy more features like connecting their WeChat Channels video account to their official WeChat account (where articles are posted) and live streaming and e-commerce.

➡️ Check out our: ULTIMATE Live-Streaming Guide for WeChat Channels

 

Live Streaming Channels

Live Streaming on WeChat Channels

Functions that are accessible from the WeChat Channels Dashboard are:

  • List of WeChat Channels Account you follow
  • List of followers
  • Number of views
  • List of interactions (comments / likes / notifications) with your WeChat Channels Account

3. How to access the section ‘WeChat Channel’?

There are 2 main opportunities to drive traffic:

  • From the ‘Discover’ section

This feature is accessible from the ‘Discover’ section in the main menu. The ‘Channels’ item is just below the ‘Moments’ item.

  • By Sharing

There is a ‘Go to Channel’ CTA on the landing page after clicking on the Channels-related post shared card. 

 

WeChat channels provide a great opportunity for KOLs and brands to up their short-video game and leverage the huge WeChat user base at the same time. Because of the boom in the short-video market, many brands have already started leveraging WeChat Channel’s features, and more are pushing their marketing plans to accommodate it.

You may also like

Different Types of WeChat Engagements: Demystified!

April 6, 2022

WeChat Article Engagements

Similarly to Western social media platforms, WeChat users can react to posts in different ways too. There is a like button and comment section, which are quite straightforward. But what about other reactions like wow or favorite? Recently, WeChat has been experimenting with article engagement by deleting and adding new buttons, thus WeChat engagements can be a little confusing for users or marketers who didn’t work on this Chinese social media platform before. 

Today, let’s demystify what’s behind each of those interactions. Which ones are more powerful than others, and how you can craft your articles and their elements to drive the desired type of engagement? Let’s break down the engagements and figure out what effects they have so you can properly build your CTAs.

First of all, the engagement buttons are located by the end of the article but users can also prompt them by clicking on three dots in the top right corner of the post.

At the moment, there are 4 engagement buttons that users can click on: share, favorite, like, wow.

Secondly, it’s important to remember that not all engagements are made equal. Liking and favoriting express personal appreciation of the content but do not imply any public endorsement or extra exposure for article circulation.

WeChat Article Footer Engagements

Types of Engagements:

Let’s dig into what each of these engagements and call-to-action entails:

  • Share – Users can share to their Moments (WeChat’s newsfeed), a private message, or a group of people. As a result, more people will see the post organically. 
  • Favorite – Users can ‘save’ an article to their personal ‘Favourite’ folder, which is only visible to them. No one else can see articles favorited by other users. We can compare it to saved tabs on your browser. 
  • Like (thumb up symbol) – Users can anonymously express their appreciation for the post; this will not result in any additional organic reach. Friends of users who clicked like will not be informed of this, nor will the post be recommended to them. 
  • Wow (star symbol) – users can show appreciation for the post publicly, the article will appear in the ‘Top Stories’ tab visible to their contacts as recommended content. It can greatly improve article exposure. 

Due to these differences and the relatively powerful benefits of share and wow interactions compared to like or favorite, we should treat all readers as potential content advocates who can help to spread it organically. 

As a result, we distinguish between non-advocative and advocative behaviors such as ‘wow-ing’ and sharing (to Moments, and/or via private messages and groups), which have a significant impact on the content distribution among readers’ contacts and are critical for organic development. Likes or favorites don’t really generate any additional exposure.

WeChat Engagements Data

Other Engagement Features

  • ‘Read more‘ button – this is the only place within a WeChat article where you can connect to an external page. You can link to your official website but note that people prefer not to leave the WeChat ecosystem.
  • Commenting is also an option on some accounts created prior to 2019. WeChat is not a discussion platform and users are not able to interact with the comments in a variety of ways. Also when a user leaves a comment, it doesn’t send a notification to their contacts.

To increase engagement, end the article by urging the reader to do one of the following: follow the account, comment, share, click on the ‘read more link, like, and Wow (在看).

Brands can now include a customized contact card that directs visitors to follow the account but eye-catching QR codes remain an effective technique to draw attention and encourage following.

Conclusion

Apart from engagement, keep in mind that an article should include these essential components:


Localization: Chinese users have different expectations than those in the West when it comes to digital. To build a genuine connection with your potential customers, it’s vital to localize your imagery.

Easy-to-read graphs and visual data: For example, when investigating financial brands on WeChat, market analysis proves to be the most popular type of content. While this will differ by industry, it is critical to deliver as interesting and relevant content as feasible. On WeChat, the competition is strong, with the majority of users following fewer than twenty Official Accounts.

Embedded photos and videos: WeChat users want extremely engaging material, so going beyond the text is critical.

A call-to-action: QR codes are king when it comes to connecting users to other sites and attracting new followers. Mini Program cards or image-based links to websites are also standard at the end of an article.

If you require further support with setting up your account e.g. creating an engaging and useful menu or assistance in learning more about WeChat, please contact our team. We use our knowledge and expertise to help businesses build meaningful partnerships and develop their network among Chinese customers. For additional information, please contact us by phone – Shanghai or Hong Kong.

 

You may also like

10 Ways for a B2B Brand to Generate Leads on WeChat

March 29, 2022

Lead generation in China, and especially for the B2B sector, might seem a bit challenging at first but doesn’t have to. In the past, many Western brands relied on LinkedIn when reaching out to new prospects in China, but since the platform transformed itself into CareerIn late last year and removed its social interaction component, it became quite obsolete in terms of lead generation. 

If your company has an official WeChat account registered on WeChat (the biggest app in China) then you’re on the right path. WeChat, contrary to Western social apps which are largely used for personal communication, is used for both private and business purposes by Chinese users. This difference can be a big advantage for B2B brands in China (WeChat for B2B sector). Because emails or website are not top of mind for brand communication, Chinese users expect to find detailed information and receive updates from brands on WeChat. Staying within the WeChat ecosystem can actually make it even easier to guide your lead through an exciting and successful brand discovery journey – see our previous post-WeChat Marketing vs Website Marketing.

In the B2B lead generation on WeChat and nurturing funnel, it’s vital to figure out how to grow your visibility as a B2B player, automate the processes while also allowing customer care and sales reps to better identify and close deals. Let us walk you through some of the most relevant tactics depending on the stage of your relationship with your leads on WeChat. 

Lead Generation – How to Grow Your Exposure?

Since WeChat is a semi-closed platform, meaning that non-followers don’t receive updates from your brand, it’s not always easy for brands to immediately grow their fanbase. However, depending on your budget or time, you can try different approaches to grow your exposure on WeChat among users who haven’t connected with your brand yet. 

Ads

Tencent’s WeChat advertising allows businesses to place promotional messages on users’ timelines, WeChat Official Account articles, and even third-party mini-programs. Brands can use WeChat ads to increase the number of followers on their official accounts, boost traffic to their official website or mini-programs. Cost-per-fan for a B2B brand can get quite high with sometimes approx. 70 RMB (USD11) and is not without some industry-specific restrictions but it is still a great way to get exposure and unfollow rate for industry accounts are significantly lower than for B2C brands.

WeChat advertising has 3 major types – How To Promote Your Account On WeChat?

Whitelisting 

A great way to gain your visibility is working with your industry hot accounts. We can compare this cooperation to KOL (Key Opinion Leader) influencer marketing but on a B2B level. A bigger account with sizeable exposure and authority reshares your article directly. There are two other whitelisted sharing options:

1. Displaying a link to the original Official Account: At the end of the article, as the original content creator, you can request (or not) to provide a link to your official account (the link will be automatically added).
2. Permission to edit: The original material created may grant permission to edit the article to the partner account (otherwise it will be forwarded exactly as the original version).

You can also reshare articles from other official accounts. Please note that some restrictions for international accounts might apply.

 

Channels – for brand discovery 

WeChat Channels is a video platform within WeChat that allows users to produce and share short video clips and photographs to their own WeChat Channel. It was released for beta testing in early 2020 and two years later it’s becoming one of the most important WeChat components actively improved and promoted by Tencent. Check out our Beginner’s Guide to WeChat Channels.

Thanks to hashtags it’s much easier to discover new content on WeChat than before. Also, because WeChat is the first choice for professional communication it’s only natural that B2B visual content has a much higher chance to gain traction there than for example on Douyin (TikTok).

Only this month, Tencent introduced a new set of features that B2B brands can enjoy right away on WeChat Channels. Brands can now add service menus to the WeChat Channels main page greatly improving user experience and adding new functionalities to the account. WeChat added also new options for WeCom and Channels integration.

WeChat Channels

WeChat SEO-friendly articles

Yes, WeChat has its own search engine (SouYiSou, 搜一搜) and it’s getting more and more precise to index content across the whole Tencent ecosystem. To have your content featured in search results publish articles with a focus on keywords with regularity. Content authority is important too so don’t forget to encourage the right engagements.  Leveraging the rest of the Tencent ecosystem like WeChat Channels can further improve your results.

WeChat, like other search engines, prioritizes the most relevant content. It is critical for brands to use keywords in article text and headlines when developing content. The viewer engagement rate is another parameter that WeChat search looks at. This covers impressions, clicks, and post-reactions. A higher interaction rate means a better ranking in the WeChat search results.

QR codes

Not to forget, QR codes are the lifeblood of the platform on WeChat. Ideally place them on your physical product, marketing materials, and online.

When a user scans a code, it can land on your official account directly. A code that also leads to a mini-program or a mini-site within the WeChat ecosystem. These may be readily customized to display your most critical information (much like a landing page). Since it does not require users to install any third-party programs, this direct presentation of information has been able to deliver a smooth customer experience for businesses.

Nurturing Your Prospects – Maintain Meaningful Relationships

WeChat users are already actively interested in your brand and landed on your official WeChat account welcome page. This is a great situation and you can leverage it. With account optimation, regular articles, and other tools you can reach out to your fans and keep in touch. It’s your turn to meet, or ideally exceed their expectations. 

Welcome message and menu

When new users start to follow your official account, they are automatically greeted with a welcome message. This micro-moment can help them to understand your brand better and encourage them to take the next steps if your welcome message is optimized to give them the details and information they need – apart from the text you can add links, images, mini-programs, and more in there.
WeChat Channels Menu
The menu is another element brands shouldn’t overlook and you might even decide to allocate more effort to it. Treat menu as always-on content. We talked more about what the menu is and why is it so important and how to optimize it in our previous posts.

Basic segmentation

If your business has many departments and clients are interested in different topics it’s a good idea to segment your followers. This way you can send them articles relevant to their departments. Ask users about their preferred departments in the welcome message and manually label them in the backend. This method works when you have a relatively small fanbase and only if followers reply.

CRM integration

More advanced segmentation and targeting require a proper CRM (Customer Relationship Management).  To maximize the impact of the WeChat unified ID, brands must establish a link between WeChat OA and CRM. If you want to run more complicated campaigns, you may need to connect them to a marketing cloud. Take, for example, Salesforce CRM and Marketing Cloud.

💼 Why should brands use CRM Integrations on WeChat and how about Salesforce?

WeCom

Tencent’s (WeChat’s parent company) version of WeChat for businesses, previously known as WeChat Work, is gaining traction among businesses.

WeCom is a business communication and office application that offers the same communication experience as WeChat. At the same time, it offers a broad set of open-source applications connected with the WeChat ecosystem.
It can assist businesses in connecting internally, with ecosystem partners, and with customers. It’s also worth noting that WeCom has an API that allows you to access and combine WeChat’s capabilities with other apps. 

WeChat WeCom

Private traffic

The use of private traffic is another element of WeChat B2B lead generation marketing. Setting up, monitoring and activating a WeChat group can take time. It’s a really great way to keep in touch with the followers and clients in real-time and initiate meaningful discussions.
Essentially, this is direct communication with lead segmentation. The scaling effect might convert more deals from a promotion campaign in the private chat group as more leads opt-in.

WeChat – A Great Tool for B2B Brands

As you can see, WeChat is more than just a social media platform. With its multitude of customizable tools, it offers a great approach to engaging with customers and increasing brand awareness. Bridging the gap between online and offline with a segmentation strategy and CRM can truly enhance communication with your prospects. 

Though WeChat lead generation has its challenges, it is a worthwhile process. If you want to get into the Chinese market, don’t miss out on this opportunity.

If you require further support with setting up your account or generation on WeChat, please contact our team. We use our knowledge and expertise to help businesses build meaningful partnerships and develop their network among Chinese customers. For additional information, please contact us by phone – Shanghai or Hong Kong.

You may also like