Using social media for digital marketing is not new. It is not very surprising; more than four billion people globally use social media today.
Besides the enormous social media user population, social media platform features also allow businesses to engage with their audience. Firstly, the audience can follow and subscribe to the brand they like and get updated with the brand’s latest social media content.
Secondly, people can share or repost the brand’s content to their social media following.
And lastly, the brand and the audience can interact with each other through reaction buttons and comment or reply sections.
Digital marketing services utilise tons of social media platforms today, including LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok, but what remains undisputed is Meta’s Facebook. Almost 93% of digital marketers have used Facebook to promote their businesses. But there is also one social media platform slowly gaining the attention of social media management agencies— WeChat.
PART I: All You Need to Know About WeChat
WeChat is not relevantly new in social media marketing, but some areas are still uncharted and underutilized.
WeChat is a free-to-download messaging app not only growing in popularity in China but also across the globe.
Launched by the Chinese tech company Tencent in 2011, WeChat has the same functions and features as any other messaging app available. It has text chatting, voice messaging, and video calling. Users can also send images and videos. It also has minigames which users can play anytime.
Unlike other social media platforms, WeChat has expanded its platform to accommodate various functions.
The 4 Primary Functions of WeChat
Social Function
WeChat users can share content through WeChat moments and postings. Celebrities and influencers can also post content for their followers.
Communication Function
WeChat users can chat, call, video call, and send images to their friends, families, and colleagues using the platform.
Payment Function
WeChat users can perform a mobile transaction through WeChat Pay. WeChat Pay is a digital wallet that can be used to pay bills and products and transfer money.
Business Function
WeChat has partnered with third-party e-commerce platforms. It allows WeChat users to browse the e-commerce platforms without leaving the apps.
Brands can also create their WeChat marketing accounts, which can be used to roll out social media campaigns. Besides retail, the business side of WeChat also offers services, including ride-hailing and food delivery services.
Most importantly, WeChat enterprise is an internal communication platform for companies. There are currently more than one billion active WeChat users across the globe. 50% of the total WeChat users were 30 years old and below.
The flexibility and functionality of WeChat’s ecosystem make it a one-stop-shop place for users. A digital marketing agency can also take advantage of the useability of the app with WeChat marketing.
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PART II: How to Create a WeChat Marketing Account?
Digital marketing agencies have been using the dedicated business side of social media platforms for marketing, such as Facebook Ads, LinkedIn Ads, and TikTok Ads. WeChat advertising is becoming popular as well.
STEP #1: Choose a WeChat official account
There are three types of WeChat official accounts: subscription, service, and enterprise.
Subscription account
The subscription account is designed for writers, bloggers, celebrities, influencers, and other individuals, but it can be utilised as a WeChat marketing tool.
This account can publish up to six articles once a day. These articles can be for brand communication, information, and other content relevant to online reputation management.
Service account
The service accounts are designed for customer service and customer relationship management purposes. These accounts can also access WeChat Pay.
This account can publish up to six articles four times a month. The posts trigger a push notification to their followers.
Sales-oriented brands also use this account for digital content creation.
Enterprise account
The enterprise account is exclusive to the internal communication of the companies. It is similar to Slack and Meta’s Workplace Chat.
Among the three accounts, social media marketing teams use subscription and service accounts the most.
STEP #2: Build your WeChat shop platform
Small businesses often build their store on WeChat shops, which is also interconnected to WeChat Pay. Small businesses should create an account on the third-party e-commerce platform on WeChat, such as JD.com.
Once the business has created your WeChat store, they can start uploading their products and setting their prices.
STEP #3: Create content
Content within WeChat will generate traffic to your WeChat store. WeChat marketing teams should produce multimedia content, from blogs to infographics to videos.
It is advantageous to publish original and high-quality content as it gains more audience engagement. Businesses should take note that WeChat applies a limited number of posts per day, so it is critical for a social media marketing agency to determine the best time to publish content.
Now that businesses know how to create a WeChat account, one question remains: how can a WeChat marketing account benefit the business?
PART III: Benefits of WeChat Marketing
Is it worth it for businesses to invest in a social media management team that will manage the WeChat account? The answer is yes!
Here are the benefits of WeChat Marketing:
1. Wider reach
As mentioned, WeChat currently has more than one billion users, mostly from East Asia. Other social media platforms are already a saturated market. WeChat is an uncharted market, especially for non-Chinese-based companies.
Businesses looking for international ventures should invest in stronger and more inclusive digital marketing strategies on international platforms that cater to a global audience.
2. WeChat all-in-one tools and features
The WeChat ecosystem is very flexible, convenient, and usable. Being able to access messaging features, digital wallets, and e-commerce platforms within the app gives no reason for users to leave the app.
Businesses can take advantage of the social media and messaging feature for WeChat advertising. For example, rolling out marketing campaigns, posting shareable infographics, and informational blog posts increase brand awareness. It may also generate traffic from social media to the WeChat store.
The digital wallet allows users to purchase from the WeChat store seamlessly.
3. Advertising Integration
WeChat has A Facebook story-like feature called WeChat moments. It allows users to share images, short clips, and updates with their WeChat followers. In return, the viewers can also react to the shared moments. Businesses can use this feature as a WeChat advertising channel.
Besides the WeChat moments, businesses can also use WeChat’s geolocation feature, allowing companies to locate customers. Businesses use this information to offer targeted customers discounts and coupons, which they can redeem at their nearest outlet store.
4. Collaborate with influencers
As a social media platform, WeChat is a home for bloggers and influencers. Influencer marketing is a crucial part of digital marketing. Having a WeChat marketing account allows the business to collaborate with WeChat’s Key Opinion Leaders or influencers.
These influencers are instrumental in many online marketing campaigns because they can promote a business and its products and services to their followers and share links that will direct users to the WeChat store.
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5. Business-to-Business advantage
As mentioned, the WeChat enterprise account is designed for company communication. It is also a channel to generate sales for B2B transactions.
Today, many entrepreneurs prefer WeChat as a mode of communication rather than emails. Established businesses can easily reach these entrepreneurs and small e-commerce business owners via WeChat to generate digital sales.
6. WeChat stores
The good thing about WeChat is it is not only for social media marketing. It can also be an e-commerce platform. Through WeChat’s third-party e-commerce platforms, businesses can establish their WeChat stores.
As an e-commerce platform, WeChat allows followers to access your products easily by simply including a link to your shop on the blogs and articles the business post on their WeChat accounts.
Closing Thoughts About WeChat Marketing
One of the goals of social media marketing campaigns aims to generate social media traffic to the website. Companies have invested in these campaigns by paying ads, creating a brand page, and collaborating with influencers.
But with WeChat, everything has been made easy. For example, businesses can directly sell products within the app through the WeChat stores. Retailers can also promote their items on the same platform!
WeChat also allows businesses to foster their relationship with their followers through their WeChat service account, where they can address customers’ concerns, offer discounts and rewards, and provide helpful content.
The huge number of WeChat users can be considered a bonus! The good thing is that the future of the WeChat app looks promising with its consistent feature updates.
The question is: are you ready for WeChat marketing?
Growth Hackers is an award-winning digital marketing agency helping businesses from all over the world grow. There is no fluff with Growth Hackers. We help entrepreneurs and business owners utilize WeChat to generate qualified leads, optimize their conversion rate, gather and analyze data analytics, acquire and retain users, increase sales and productivity. We go further than brand awareness and exposure. We make sure that the strategies we implement move the needle so your business grow, strive and succeed. If you too want your business to reach new heights, contact Growth Hackers today so we can discuss about your brand and create a custom growth plan for you. You’re just one click away to skyrocket your business.
