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.
