Business in china Archives

This Week’s China Learning

November 9, 2021

2021 Beauty Industry White Paper

Although this white paper focuses on China’s cosmetics industry, many of the conclusions are applicable to China’s other industries.

Main takeaways:

A content-focused strategy is becoming increasingly important, rather than a price-focused strategy.
Brand building has been a priority for both foreign and domestic brands. They are increasingly focusing on long-term brand equity/notoriety rather than short-term ROI.
In China, young internet customers remain the most significant market for most brands. Women under the age of 40 account for approximately 70% of the global cosmetics market, significantly outnumbering their demographic share.
As the appeal for transactional techniques fades and becomes increasingly unsustainable, younger consumers are more affected by brands and content that resonate on an emotional level and match with their value system. As a result, marketing is far smarter and more fascinating now than it was in the days when all you had to do was decrease the price.

Link: https://www.kantarworldpanel.com/cn-en/news/2021-Beauty-Industry-White-Paper?utm_source=news_chinaskinny_com&utm_medium=email&utm_content=The+Weekly+China+Skinny&utm_campaign=20211102_m165346214_20211102+-+1&utm_term=2021+Beauty+Industry+White+Paper

B2B Marketing in the Post-LinkedIn Reality

Maimai 脈脈 is a homegrown social-networking platform for professionals to create business connections, the Chinese equivalent of Linkedin. It now has more than 80 million high-value real name users with more than monthly active users of 30 million.

Through Maimai, marketers can convey their advertising message into different types of Ad formats including Splash Ad, Native Ad, and instant message, etc. Additionally, marketers could target the audiences in different positioning based on their geographic location, gender, career position (C Levels/ Directors / Managers grade), job industry (Business / Legal / Finance/ Design/ IT, etc), and even their specific company.

Link: https://www.xinergy.global/maimai-the-chinese-linkedin/

The older Chinese consumers turning silver into e-commerce gold

A few months ago, the Chinese government was encouraging the biggest Chinese apps to prepare elderly-friendly versions. More than 264 million people, or 18.7% of China’s population, are aged over 60 in a country that is ageing rapidly, according to census results published in May.

COVID-19 forced many Chinese 60+ online making for an expanding population of “silver-haired” internet users who have made the move to online shopping in China in the past year, nudged by the coronavirus pandemic, government policy and e-commerce giants. JD reports that retirees living in major cities, with money to spend and plenty of time, were some of the most prolific shoppers since the pandemic, with over half of the goods catering to the elderly bought by users themselves this year.

In the first three quarters of this year, purchases by the silver-haired demographic grew almost fivefold year on year, with users focusing on leisure purchases, such as gardening supplies and package tours. To really tap this market, online vendors need to simplify their designs or offer user-friendly guides for their apps or websites.

Link: https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3153456/older-chinese-consumers-turning-silver-e-commerce-gold

GUCCI– burst game

For its product burst, Gucci, a worldwide luxury brand, devised an innovative H5 game that allows users to engage, comprehend items, and expose brands by avoiding obstacles in the tunnel.

Burst’s shoes “gallop” in a 3D three-dimensional colour tunnel. At the 8m position, there are two operation guide arrows. Users can use the up and down arrows to directly drag bursts around the tunnel to escape impending obstacles by clicking and dragging it. There are timers and score reminders in the game. If you run into any barriers, the game will automatically finish and the game results page will appear.

Luxury brands are ditching KOLs for virtual influencers in China: how Alexander McQueen, Dior and Prada are turning to digital avatars and AI idols to woo millennials

Making their way from music to fashion, virtual idols are paving the way for mixed reality initiatives, increasingly appealing to younger, digitally native consumers.

As more consumers move online, they will increasingly demand compelling narratives like Maie’s from their virtual idols. It seems, every luxury consumer will be able to hatch their own virtual idols in the future.

Link: https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/luxury/article/3153210/luxury-brands-are-ditching-kols-virtual-influencers-china

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What’s New in China This Week?

November 2, 2021

How Chinese Retailers Are Reinventing the Customer Journey

China’s retail sector is both enormous and rapidly developing, with an estimated value of $5 trillion by 2020. It is also heavily computerised. And, as a result of the epidemic, digital has become a strategic priority for all retailers.

The authors draw from their research on Chinese retailers to explain five lessons that Western companies can learn from China as they develop their own digital market offerings:

Create single entry points where customers can access all their potential purchases.
Embed digital evaluation in the customer journey.
Don’t think of sales as isolated events.
Rethink the logistical fundamentals.
Always stay close to the customer.

Link: https://hbr.org/2021/09/how-chinese-retailers-are-reinventing-the-customer-journey

Luxury Brands and 11/11

Alibaba is actively promoting innovative digital retail solutions for luxury brands and is gradually expanding its virtual services and experiences. While the majority of luxury purchasing still takes place in physical stores, online and omnichannel expansion has constantly expanded – according to Bain & Co, China’s luxury internet penetration will increase to 23% in 2020, up from 12% the previous year.

Gucci, Vacheron Constantin, and Maison Margiela, for example, recently teamed with Tmall Luxury Pavilion to expand services previously only available in physical stores, such as membership benefits, sales associate consultations, and after-sales services.

This year’s 11.11 Global Shopping Festival, the world’s greatest retail extravaganza by sales, has over 200 luxury businesses offering a variety of services ranging from bespoke engraving to cleaning and repair services. Other highlights include a digital exhibition, an art presentation by a virtual influencer, Chopard and Cartier showcasing their items in 3D, AR try-on, and top executives joining firms’ live streams.

Link: https://www.alizila.com/alibaba-janet-wang-china-luxury-innovation-1111-shopping-festival/

China Brands Go Global

Report selected 100 Chinese brands present abroad and analyzed them. The purpose of the top 100 Chinese brands list was to look at consumer brands that have the most direct impact on global consumers – both in terms of sales and (more significantly) in terms of brand/audience impact and potential.

While many of the enterprises have their own websites, the vast majority of sales are made via ecommerce sites such as Amazon and AliExpress. While most brands have official accounts on three or more channels, social media is used more to enhance performance, such as digital advertisements (CPC), rather than to cultivate customer affinity. Brand content and organic growth are underserved because the focus is solely on advertising. Most brands have a small number of followers and a poor level of engagement.

Big event sponsorships: While these high-profile, high-budget endeavours are remarkable, they are often premature vanity projects for brands that have yet to gain traction in the market. These approaches are hoped to be fast-tracks to brand equity.

Link: https://www.talktototem.com/china-insights/china-brands-going-global

WeChat Brand Channel

It’s a partnership between WeChat Pay and Channels; with this step, traffic from offline channels/mini programmes will be sent to WeChat Channels. There are five major benefits of using the Brand Channel.

Turn to Channel’s video after offline payment: When users complete the payment, they will see the Brand Channel button and watch the videos
Reserve the live stream after payment: The brands can add this feature to the payment page, so the users can make a live stream reservation during their payment
Brand hongbao: The brands can send hongbao by QR code, when the users scan the QR code, they will receive the hongbao and use it when they pay the bill. On the receipt page, the users can get in the brands’ channels and explore the dedicated video
Turn to Channel’s video after mini-program payment: The brands can add the Channels’ content in the mini-program page, so when the users browse the page, they can see the video amongst the products
Coupons: The brands can combine the video to the coupon, so the users can watch the video when they get and use the coupon

Link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/ZtJ5Pji6KwcPTMwS51PNEQ

WeChat update version 8.0.16 supports one-click to close personalized advertising

WeChat version 8.0.16 shows an updated pop-up window with revised privacy protection guidelines to advise users of changes to privacy guidelines and information sharing disclosure.

The “personal information and permissions” entry has been added to the bottom of the “WeChat – I – Settings – Privacy” interface.

You can now turn off “personalised advertising” with a single click in WeChat’s “personalised advertising management” and set the switch to “closed.”

It’s important to note that turning off “personalised advertising” does not imply that you’ll never see advertisements on WeChat again. Instead, you will turn off the display of ads that are relevant to you, but you will continue to get broad commercials.

Link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/fV5k4jVUCtvpzjO3UGFVXA

One mobile phone number can register multiple WeChat ID

A new function appears in WeChat version 8.0.15, which allows users to quickly register another WeChat signal without an additional mobile phone number.

You must also carry out real-name authentication of WeChat payment if you need to transfer, send, and receive red envelopes and other operations in WeChat without binding your mobile phone number. You are not required to bind your mobile phone number if you need to transfer, send, and receive red envelopes and other operations in WeChat without binding your mobile phone number.

Link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/h5Tlo2NIsfVLlZMpISRbFg

Meta’s chief of Metaverse tells us what the future holds for the former Facebook

Meta aims to build solutions to social media problems that have yet to be solved in the future.

Meta has big aspirations for the metaverse. On Instagram, there’s a huge universe of artists, and there are a lot of people creating stuff on Facebook. Virtual commodities will undoubtedly play a significant role in Meta’s metaverse.

Link: https://www.cnet.com/tech/computing/metas-chief-of-metaverse-tells-us-what-the-future-holds-for-the-former-facebook/

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Podcasts in China

November 2, 2021

Despite the fact that podcasting has been around for almost two decades in the United States, with more than 41% of adults aged 18 and above listening to a podcast at least once a month in 2021, it is still a relatively new industry in China. Listeners in China are more familiar with government-controlled broadcasting and state-owned public radio than with on-demand audio content from private creators.

Ear Economy in China

However, in recent years, the internet audio business, also known as the “ear economy,” has grown rapidly. Podcast listening has become a regular fad in many young Chinese consumers’ lives.

As a result of the expansion of commuter culture and easy access to different media content. Given the pervasiveness of smartphones in Chinese culture, all audio-visual content is now mobile-friendly. This is one of the factors that can be used to explain why podcasts are becoming more popular.

Chinese podcast listeners are estimated to reach 85.6 million by the end of 2021, second only to the United States. Nonetheless, given China’s massive population, this only accounts for 6.1% of the country’s population, indicating that there is plenty of room for the market to expand.

The Growing Popularity of Podcasts in China

China’s low adoption isn’t due to a lack of interest in digital audio. In this sense, Chinese consumers have a wide range of options, including ebooks, audio live streaming, social audio, and karaoke, all of which fight for ear time.

Regardless, China’s desire for podcasts—which is defined as any audio-first serialised episodes that can be accessed via digital streams or downloaded, as well as heard as podcasts via video platforms—is apparent.

Chinese tech companies, including some of the country’s most well-known digital giants, are jumping into the booming audio category, establishing dedicated “podcast” sections. Tencent Music and Entertainment, for example, has recently been promoting “long-form content.”

Chinese Podcast Listeners’ Demographics

The root of China’s developing podcast market is a growing demand for tailored, personalized, and individualised media tastes as a result of economic liberalisation and urbanisation. The thriving sector includes a wide range of themes, from travel to hobbies — and everything in between.

In terms of audience, over 68.2% of respondents live in top-tier or coastal cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, according to the PodFest China 2020 Chinese Podcasting Listeners and Consumption Survey. The majority of podcast listeners are under the age of 35, with more than 88.5% being under the age of 35.

Podcasting is also popular among the well-educated, with 86.4% of listeners having a bachelor’s degree or more, but only 28.6% of short-video users had attended college.

Conclusion

China’s podcast sector appears to have a bright future. In 2019, China’s podcast sector generated US$193 million in revenue, making it the world’s fastest-growing podcast market. The market is expected to grow at a 37.3% CAGR before 2024, reaching a total value of US$689 million in 2024, owing to increased listener numbers, making China the world’s second-largest market if the revenue target is met.

However, the market expansion will need to be closely monitored in the future. With only 6% of the population reporting that they listen to podcasts, there is a lot of room for expansion. As a result, starting a podcast for your company could be a wise decision for the future of your business.

Do you think starting a podcast is simple? Well, think again. You do need considerable support and guidance. Hit us up to get the ins and outs sorted professionally and launch a cohesive campaign.

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China’s Weekly Overview

October 26, 2021

Does Your Brand Need a Weibo Profile?

Many international companies begin their Chinese social media presence with a WeChat official account, but having a Weibo account can also help them gain awareness.

Weibo posts are visible to more users and non-followers than WeChat posts because of a distinct feed structure. However, as Weibo is one of China’s oldest social media sites, new platforms are appearing all the time. It’s best to assess target audience behaviour and then invest funds and effort into the most relevant combination of social media, depending on the target demographic.

Link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/VGp5wjodQJ_tDkHhgelQFQ

Bilibili Marketing Guide: E-commerce, KOL Promotion & Ads

Bilibili, a famous youth-oriented video streaming and sharing network, is thought to be the most similar to Youtube. However, Bilibili’s distinguishing characteristics and distinct community culture set it apart from its western equivalents.

The bullet comments mechanism, which displays all incoming comments on the screen, is one of Bilbili’s most noticeable features. Chinese viewers prefer watching films with live comments because it gives them a greater sense of belonging and sharing. This sense of belonging contributes to the platform’s growth: Bilibili is used by one out of every two young people in China. Young individuals under the age of 35 make up 86% of the 202 million Monthly Active Users on the network.

Engagement rates also benefit from this feeling of community: users spend more than 80 min per day on the platform, generating 4.7 billion interactions per month. Bilbili now offers official KOL collaboration, e-commerce integration and ads solutions.

Link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/QFI34y5qjRJ7OiPK22rLgA

Brands invest in Metaverse

From Bloomberg, the scale of Metaverse will be 800 billion USD in 2023. In this double 11, there are not just real products, we also meet some new friends from Metaverse. Small holds an online exhibition called the Metaverse Art show, users can search in Tmall the keyword and then enter in the Show.

For example, Burberry launched a digital elfin, which is unique and in limited edition, you can buy this and get a limited scarf. Tmall also collaborated with the other 9 brands and released Musical Instruments. One brand created just one instrument and the users can buy it.

All these NFT products were made by the Ant Chain, the Alibaba blockchain supplier. They design, produce digital products for the brands, and also provide the cochain and distribution.

Link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/JMCsZPs61DmGYA6gD3pP-g

Kuaishou brand advertising multi-form help live marketing

Eye-show: Excellent exposure drainage — Open screen Eyemax straight to the broadcast room. Eye-show is mainly suitable for strong brand promotion, new product launch and other scenarios. In the past, high-quality entry data was favoured by advertisers.
Feeds – show: Video streaming native scene – a single column of information flow straight to the broadcast room. The product form can meet the marketing demands of the brand-customer information flow directly to the live broadcast room. At the same time, based on the basic ability of the brand information flow, the material can be saved to the customer’s personal home page for a rich promotion, laying a foundation for the subsequent content marketing.
Simple broadcast room: Fully immersive live streaming experience –A single column of information flows straight to the studio and then escalates. Brand information flow new live fully immersive style — advertising style simple studio and through the show live broadcast real-time images in a single stream, achieve the purpose of life for heating, the real-time image lead to the recommended flow, further shorten the user to watch live path, native display optimization experience, and expand the clickable region into the air.

Link: https://wemp.app/posts/b7ea071a-ed55-457e-96fe-f9aa69b7d1a0

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The Idol Economy in China; Who are KOLs and KOCs?

October 25, 2021

Idolising stars and celebrity worship has become an increasingly important part of modern Chinese culture. Chinese Gen Z’s are continuously engaged with internet information as a result of growing up in a connected environment, and they are especially attentive to what their idols have to say.

With the debut of innumerable TV series, brand endorsement deals, and the growing KOL market in China, these trends have naturally aided the rise of China’s idol economy.

Who are KOL’s and KOC’s?

In a world dominated by social media and influencer marketing, key opinion leaders (KOLs) and key opinion consumers (KOCs) have become integral aspects of brands’ online marketing strategies to raise brand knowledge and recognition among their target audiences. Despite the fact that they both advertise products or services, they are two very different things.

A key opinion leader (KOL) is a well-known figure whose endorsement of a product is valued by a larger audience. Individuals who are trusted and respected for their status quo or expertise are known as KOLs. KOL’s include people such as actors, models, and celebrities, as well as people who have built a name for themselves on social media platforms.

KOCs, on the other hand, are valued for their insight into products and services based on their personal experiences. They are people that do not conform to the status quo, making them relatable to the public. Although KOCs have a smaller following — only a few thousand — than KOLs, their fans are extremely loyal.

Benefits of working with KOL’s and KOC’s

Working with idols is more profitable
Young Chinese fans idolise their stars and are willing to go to great lengths to support their celebrity idols. According to a recent survey, roughly a third of “Gen Z” respondents said they’d be willing to buy products that their idols recommended or used, and a fifth said they’d be willing to watch their idol’s Livestream and purchase virtual gifts.

Chinese celebrities do not fear marketing
Sponsorship arrangements are often avoided by Western celebrities because they believe that too much exposure could jeopardise their reputation. With Chinese idols, however, this is not the case. The local celebrities are easily involved in marketing and brand endorsement efforts to promote items via a variety of channels. This is due to censorship, which means that projects in China can be easily cancelled or repealed, thus idols must ensure that they have other sources of income.

The fan culture is a collaborative effort
A form of collectivism popular in China suggests that fans affect one another during the purchasing process, and studies demonstrate that “the more collectivist a person’s orientation, the more vulnerable he or she will be to social influence in the purchase decision. As a result, if Western businesses can win over the heart of one hardcore idol lover, they may be able to win over the entire fan base.

Conclusion

Marketers and retailers benefit from the idol economy, but few multinational companies are yet to capitalise on Chinese celebrities’ fame. This is primarily due to Western corporations’ continued lack of understanding of the Chinese fan economy and the youthful, impulsive consumer base that supports these idols.

The idol economy is expected to grow in the next few years, therefore international brands looking to stay ahead of the competition should seek closer links with the Chinese stars.

However, though the idol culture is prevalent in China, it is vital to exercise additional caution when selecting a reputable KOL, as there have been various KOL scandals in the past, and the Chinese government is attempting to simmer down the idol economy. As a result, seeking advice from a skilled partner is recommended.

Working as a partner, KRDS offers the expertise and abilities you need, including access to the relevant KOLs for your business and the know-how to quickly create Chinese social media KOL partnerships that meet your goals. We can also help B2B businesses with KOL collaborations by partnering with other renowned official accounts in the industry or niche experts. Please contact us to discuss further.

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What Happened in China This Week?

October 19, 2021

Chanel Takes on the Resale Market With One Bag per Person per Year Policy

Chanel limits the number of purchases for its most popular handbags to one of each per customer per year. The move is aimed at preserving the uniqueness of luxury goods, since the resale market has exploded in recent years, with proxy purchasers buying out stocks and diluting the brand experience when reselling to their own clients. Furthermore, China’s second-hand market is expanding.

China is well-known for its vast resale grey market, which is overseen by plenty of daigous. According to BCG estimates, Chinese consumers will spend $35 billion in the global luxury market in 2020, with $28 billion (80%) paid through the usage of a daigou service.

Link: https://jingdaily.com/chanel-limit-purchases-handbags-resale/?utm_source=Jing+Daily+Subscriber+List&utm_campaign=b5b170f8dd-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_03_12_06_39_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8dec01cd8d-b5b170f8dd-408268421

Taobao launches a new feature to embrace Double 11 shopping festival

Taobao launched a new feature called “Planting Grass Machine” 种草机 where users can browse product recommendation reviews that are posted by other users. It’s supposed to help consumers make better consumer decisions based on peer recommendation and it’s supposed to offer more variety of content and reviews than just KOL endorsements.

Any keyword typed in the “Plant Grass Machine” will take the user to a page of relevant lifestyle-sharing content.

Link: https://daoinsights.com/news/taobao-launches-a-new-feature-to-embrace-double-11-shopping-festival/

Double 11 x KOL’s reality show

In China, Livestream shopping has become a new trend, with more and more firms using it to market their products. This year, Austin, a well-known KOL, debuted a reality show called the Girls’ Offer. We can watch the show on Weibo, the Red and Douyin. During the show, we can see how he negotiates the price with the brands (most of them are cosmetics brands) and how the brands react to the challenges.

As the double 11 is coming, this show is like a teaser. The brands can get exposure before the big event, Austin will enhance his image and bring more traffic to his Livestream thanks to his professionality, the consumers can know in advance which brands will have the best offer for them.

Link: https://video.weibo.com/show?fid=1034:4690150597525601

Tencent’s WeChat to stop routinely accessing photos after a tech influencer publicized the behaviour on Weibo

WeChat’s background scanning for new photos was said to run every few hours and found using Apple’s new “Record App Activity” feature in iOS 15. The company said the behaviour will be removed from the app in a future update, but other apps have been found to do the same thing

Background scanning for new photos “will be cancelled in the new version”, a company representative said.

In recent years, China’s big tech businesses have been under increasing pressure to address privacy concerns. In 2019, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology began checking apps for privacy issues on a regular basis. To date, it has identified over 1,300 apps for having too many permissions, illegally gathering user data, and misrepresenting customers.

Link: https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3151762/tencents-wechat-stop-routine-scans-photos-after-tech-influencer

LinkedIn’s China retreat stems from regulatory and competitive pressures as local recruitment platforms prosper

The decision comes only two weeks before China’s Personal Information Privacy Law, which is one of the strongest data protection laws in the world, goes into force. In China, where job seekers and professional networkers have a variety of options, LinkedIn had only made a limited impact.

LinkedIn first entered China in 2014, and with its partial exit, it has become the final big US social media company to leave the nation.

Link: https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-war/article/3152526/linkedins-china-retreat-stems-regulatory-and-competitive-pressures

Why Brands Need WeChat Index

Based on the official explanation from WeChat Index, there are two main ways:

Brands can create related content on WeChat, such as WeChat articles, videos, or advertisements, to increase their exposure.
Brands can improve the quality of content that is related to the keyword.

Brands may assess their level of popularity on WeChat and so determine whether they are top-of-mind for Chinese customers by watching the WeChat Index. Brands may also determine the return on investment of marketing campaigns by comparing their WeChat index records to the campaign dates and determining which days have the highest search volume.

Link: https://www.luxurysociety.com/en/articles/2021/04/wechat-luxury-index-2021-social-commerce

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WeChat for Education Sector

October 18, 2021

With the growing competition in the foreign education market, education brands are looking for new ways to attract Chinese students, such as incorporating e-learning courses, offering home and distance learning, and establishing physical campuses in China, among other things. As the educational landscape becomes more digitally disrupted, most educational marketers have begun to embrace digital platforms and compete in the brand and marketing area.

With over 1 billion registered users till Q1 2021, 780 million using WeChat Moments and 400 million using Mini Program, WeChat can be greatly beneficial to education sectors.

How does WeChat benefit the education sector?

One of the most difficult challenges for educational institutions such as colleges is building an efficient content marketing strategy that communicates to all of their various audiences.

WeChat advertising comes in handy in this situation. Because of WeChat’s developed digital ecosystem and vast user database, it is a common tool for education brands to leverage in their digital marketing plan. Marketers may use WeChat’s smart data capabilities to execute targeted ads and obtain vital consumer insights.

Creating well-developed, highly detailed personas — fictional characters that encompass a certain target group or demographic, based on market research and genuine data – is one of the first steps in constructing an efficient content marketing strategy for educational organisations on WeChat.

Here are some ways education sectors can leverage the WeChat platforms:

Product Promotion
WeChat advertising is helpful in guiding visitors to online sale sites when a business is launching a new collection or wants to promote hero products and stimulate direct sales through its marketing.

To advertise its Chinese EMBA courses, the Chinese University of Hong Kong conducted a WeChat marketing campaign. The ad’s creativity enticed users to schedule a one-on-one inquiry session in Guangzhou or Shenzhen. Users were routed to the university’s official website when they clicked on the ‘details’ button.

WeChat advertising is applicable to a wide range of scenarios, and brands can discover the appropriate solutions based on the characteristics of various sectors.
Lead Generation Campaign
In its ad structure, WeChat advertisements can enable simple sign-ups for lead generation campaigns. During the campaign, user conversion can be successfully boosted, which can also lead to increased brand recognition.

A WeChat moments ad intended at increasing the number of direct sign-ups for an education service company that provides counselling and help for students choosing international universities. The ad presented the major selling features of its service and offers with a basic creative and provided a list of its partnered schools and colleges throughout the world.

Others
WeChat also provides other services like selling webinars or one-on-one coaching sessions, selling books and products, translations, etc. Students can see everything from scientists teaching quantum physics to professors providing writing tutorials for college applicants. Amateur enthusiasts can also learn from mountaineers, hikers, and photographers.

Conclusion

The development of mobile technology has ushered in a new era of informal, personalised, lifelong learning outside of the classroom. However, when it comes to efficiently implementing mobile learning, we’re still figuring it out.

WeChat is installed on practically every other person’s smartphone in China, as it is widely used in almost every field of life. This is the only app that overseas students in China use. As a result, any company looking to establish a presence in China’s education market should consider starting with a WeChat account and leveraging the available tools.

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Weekly China Insights

October 12, 2021

WeChat Launches Easy Mode for Elderly

The older generation, even though relatively mobile-savvy, faces a lot of challenges when it comes to mobile services, especially those related to COVID-19. By the end of 2020, more than 123 million Chinese netizens were aged over 60, accounting for 12.3% of the overall internet users. We can expect this trend to grow in the coming years.

That’s why the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology ordered 43 of the most used applications to take the lead in adapting to the needs of elderly users – Wechat, Taobao and other apps are launching ‘Easy Modes’ to cater to older netizens.

However, these improvements seem to be rather limited with a focus on bigger fonts and brighter colours instead of simplifying the user journey or incorporating voice assistant.

Link: https://daoinsights.com/news/wechat-launched-easy-mode-to-target-chinas-123-million-elderly-users/

Alipay consumption report during National Day holiday

Theme parks are the latest trend: visits soared 936% over the previous month. Fantawild, Disneyland, Universal Beijing Resort, Happy Valley, and Chimelong Resort are the top five parks. Museums, zoos, and resorts were among the top five mini-programs for picturesque areas.

The amount spent in duty-free stores and offline boutiques has surged: in Hainan duty-free stores, the amount spent has climbed by 87%t since 2019. In comparison to last month, the amount spent in boutiques and shopping centres jumped by 40%. Xi’an, Taiyuan, and Zhengzhou, all tier 2 cities, ranked first, second, and third, respectively.

Convenience Store consumption met the peak. Consumption at convenience stores has reached an all-time high. During the holiday, the most popular mini-program was about anti-covid-19, Travel tracking cards; others were about “Order by mobile phone” and Old clothing recycling.

Link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/V_j7k4GjvAUjD-OKmHsj8w

National Day WeChat status

During the National Day holiday, “wishing the motherland” was promoted as the top WeChat status NO.1. The top three are: wishing the motherland, fighting and the unknown.

Wechat status data show that girls love “chilling at home” more and boys “having fun” more. With the decrease of holiday balance, and the set amount of “exhausted” and “worried” is increasing.

More than 3 million WeChat users take more than 30000 steps a day, and more than 4.13 million WeChat users take less than 100 steps a day.

Link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/TtcEqzmS0WTRscFz6wLJ4g

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WeChat for Travel Sector

October 12, 2021

Everyone who has ventured into Chinese marketing knows that WeChat, the mobile app and social media platform with over one billion monthly active users, is the place to be.

WeChat has spent the last decade trying to make its users’ lives easier. In China, it has become a “one-stop” store for social and transactional events.

Businesses can promote themselves on WeChat by requesting an Official Account or partnering with other parties. You can generate content on the WeChat service account and directly communicate with and sell to your followers and consumers if you have an Official Account. Its vast features have shown to be advantageous to many business sectors.

How does WeChat benefit the Travel sector?

When it comes to travel, China continues to be the world’s largest outbound and inbound tourism market. In the past years, the number of domestic trips in China surpassed six billion, suggesting a ten-fold increase in comparison to ten years ago.

Travel agencies and hotels must discover innovative ways to give a holistic brand experience to their customers as the new generation of Asian travellers becomes more tech-savvy and knowledgeable.

WeChat & WeChat ads provide the global tourism sector with a real potential to communicate with locals without needing to physically be present in the country.

Some of the WeChat tools that can be leveraged by the travel industry are:

Check-In Service

China Southern Airlines has launched a WeChat mobile check-in service that allows passengers to skip the airport check-in wait. Once customers follow the airline on WeChat, they will be greeted with a message and instructions. Passengers must respond to the notification after which they will receive an electronic boarding card that can be printed at the airport’s self-service check-in facilities.

Price Comparator Function

On their WeChat account, Shangri-La Hotels is presently offering a price comparison function to help consumers get the best value for their vacation. Customers must choose a destination, a hotel, check-in and check-out dates, as well as the number of guests/rooms. The hotel price comparison search engine will then offer you the best rates for the hotel you’ve chosen instantly.

Smart Hotel Room

To improve WeChat customer service and introduce the concept of the Internet of things, Wechat launched this tool. This innovative technology transforms the WeChat app into a remote that allows visitors to manage all aspects of their room, including lighting, thermostats, and curtains, as well as lock and unlock doors. Customers must download the most recent version of the WeChat app, scan a room-specific QR code from the hotel room, and follow the particular instructions to use this service.

Other available tools include Online Booking Service, Loyalty Programs, Location-Based Service (LBS), Flash Sales, etc.

CONCLUSION

As China develops, the number of Chinese tourists continues to rise. With rising market demand and more inventive business models and development spots, China’s tourism sector appears to have adapted to the current condition of frequent epidemic prevention and control.

With the help of different tourism fairs and expos, China’s cultural tourism business is recovering, providing more chances and benefits to the global tourism industry. As a result, WeChat is the ideal medium for foreign tourism organisations trying to reach Chinese tourists.

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WeChat for B2B Sector

October 4, 2021

We’ve always heard that WeChat is a wonderful tool for marketing to customers. But what about B2B marketing on WeChat?

B2B Marketing on WeChat

Since the B2B e-commerce sector began to flourish in 2013, B2B businesses have had to adapt their marketing strategies to stay up with the ever-changing channels and platforms. Because marketing methods vary swiftly in China, western approaches may not produce the best outcomes for B2B companies. As a result, determining the best platform for building relationships and generating leads is crucial.

Tencent’s Super App, WeChat, provides the ideal ecology for B2B businesses. WeChat, which has over 1 billion monthly active users (MAUs) and 80 million public account followers, may help businesses expand if used effectively. Many Chinese people no longer carry business cards to networking events, meetings, or conferences. They merely scan each other’s QR codes on WeChat.

Businesses may conduct one-on-one direct conversations with their customers, as well as one-to-many messaging possibilities inside groups, multimedia communication, and mobile data sharing, all of which make WeChat a useful and successful corporate communication tool.

WeChat also has a multitude of built-in features, such as stock ordering and administration, quizzes, and lessons, to name a few. To get the most out of this platform, make use of as many relevant features as possible. Furthermore, the WeChat app makes any work-related information more engaging, fascinating, and enjoyable. As a result, every company’s marketing efforts should include WeChat B2B platforms.

Types of WeChat accounts

First and foremost, you will require a WeChat official account. Businesses can use a WeChat official account to communicate with customers and boost brand awareness.

The 3 types of WeChat official accounts are subscription, service, and corporate.

Both subscription accounts and service accounts are appropriate for B2B marketing.

Since it allows organisations to maintain direct relationships with clients, a service account is preferable for service-oriented enterprises and after-sales departments. Only service accounts have access to CRM, custom menus, payment integration, and mini websites.

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

What Are Some of the Beneficial Features of WeChat for B2B Marketing?

WeChat Web Analytics Tool
Businesses can utilise WeChat web analytics to see how customers engage with their websites and gather feedback on their performance in order to enhance their products or services.

WeChat Translation Tool
Businesses will benefit from WeChat’s in-app translation service, which is available for iOS and Android users. When doing business in China, you must be completely immersed in the culture. Poor translation will result in poor marketing outcomes and harm your brand’s image. It also aids firms in gaining a better knowledge of the demands and needs of their target audience.

WeChat Template Message Tool
Official accounts can utilise a template message to deliver crucial service notifications to their customers, such as a message informing them that a purchase has been completed successfully.

WeChat Communication Tool
Official documents, contacts, excel sheets, videos, and plans can all be sent over WeChat. The B2B segment allows businesses to communicate swiftly with one another via messages.

WeChat Group Message Tool
You can send gender and location-based group messaging to your target audience. This function allows you to reach the proper target audience while avoiding annoying other groups of people who aren’t interested.

Other features available include an automatic reply tool, a personalised menu tool, and many more.

Conclusion

WeChat B2B marketing is a wonderful tool for businesses looking to market their goods or services to Chinese customers. To create the best marketing strategy, you must not only use all of the features of WeChat B2B, but you must also understand your opportunities and challenges.

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