Chinese WeChat audiences are accustomed to being courted via well-considered, highly engaging content strategies. As a result, it’s incredibly important for new entrants to this market to invest in original and authentic content, ready to disperse across marketing channels on the popular WeChat platform.
In this article, we’ll walk you through some of the strongest strategies.
Before you get set up, you’ll need to evaluate the type of content to create and publish, based on your offer and industry. B2B vendors will typically need to focus on well organised presentations, covering service or product information in an engaging and informative manner.
In contrast, DTC, e-commerce and lifestyle brands will need to focus on and understand virality, learning how to cooperate with new trends to maximise content marketing reach.
When encouraging a Chinese audience to authentically engage with your brand on WeChat, your first action will be to establish an Official Account on the platform. This helps to lay the foundations for a successful content marketing strategy on the platform and provides an array of practical marketing functionalities.
Setting up an Official Account with WeChat can be a complex task, but you can read the VIVA CITY step guide for a complete breakdown of the process. All VIVA CITY customers are supported end to end through the setup and verification process by a dedicated customer success manager.
An Official Account is comparable to a business’s official Facebook page – allowing a brand to “set out their store” cohesively and consistently, aiding discovery and nurturing trust.
Although the exact functionality of your WeChat Official Account will vary depending on the type of account your business has selected, all Official Accounts offer the opportunity to establish an authentic presence on the platform through content marketing.
Once set up, your business’s Official Account gives you access to a suite of powerful WeChat marketing features, which can be used to engage and build Chinese audiences quickly.
Let’s explore six of the key opportunities…
WeChat's Article functionality unlocks practical content marketing capacity – perfect for growing an engaged Chinese audience. With your Official Account, you are able to publish long-form content at least four times a month.
This content should include relevant updates, new offers and new trends relating to your industry. Organic and authentic content typically performs best, as opposed to marketing lead content. Make sure to pay close attention to design and structure for the best results.
WeChat articles can also feature QR codes & Cards, allowing your followers to discover more of your business’s content, further down the content marketing funnel. They can also provide quick-access to Mini Programs – powerful “apps” which sit within WeChat and streamline active engagement such as form filling, appointment booking and more – giving your audience the ability to quickly move into an active sales funnel.
Here is an example of an article from the iQstudents Official WeChat account.
By incorporating WeChat Mini Programs (MP) as a conversion tool at the bottom of your content marketing funnels, you can provide a sleek, branded and highly intuitive mode of engagement that captures interest, customer details and requests.
Your WeChat strategy needs to be capable of delivering frictionless, impactful brand experiences to your customers. It also needs to help your customers engage with your brand in a seamless way and Mini Programs are a great way to achieve this.
Fully customisable in terms of their design and functionality, there’s scope to streamline a wide array of practical, beautifully branded experiences for your customers – all of which benefit from the user never needing to navigate away from the WeChat platform.
Common features used in Mini Programs include:
Product or Service Information
Location-specific content
Easy document sharing
Appointments & Booking widgets
Chatbots
The best “attract and convert” marketing strategy for UK vendors on WeChat is to combine the content-based reach of an Official Business Account with the powerful, practical functionality of a Mini Program.
Once created, WeChat Mini Programs are easy to manage and update using the VIVA CITY platform.
WeChat Channels is a free shot-from video streaming application designed into WeChat. This section of the platform was incorporated to cater to younger audiences, making it an important touch-point for enterprises looking to succeed in the Chinese market.
Engagement rates on Channels are incredibly high. Marketing through this section of WeChat gives you the ability to:
Establish brand image and enhance brand awareness.
Attract and gather customers.
Promote products.
Boost sales via live streaming and campaigns.
Incorporate video content into overseas WeChat Mini Programs.
WeChat groups are a powerful way to locate potential leads in one place.
Groups are set up by WeChat users who share common interests. For example, Chinese students often set up WeChat groups with peers staying at the same student accommodation or studying at the same university.
WeChat groups can contain up to 500 users and are a great way for brands to build and nurture a highly engaged audience or nurture a group of Key Opinion Customers (KOCs).
Marketing and Customer engagement through WeChat Groups can be both time and cost effective , so long as brands engage authentically and add value to the groups through education and post with purpose, rather than pushing your brand offer outright.
Chinese influencers play a significant role in Chinese consumer trends - Consumers tend to pay close attention to their peers. The Chinese consumer displays a distinguished skepticism which is why they rely on communities built around topics they are interested in to attain authentic, real world content.
KOL marketing is currently considered to be one of the most efficient kinds of marketing strategy on WeChat in 2023. You’ll need to identify key KOL’s related to your brand’s offering and then allocate a portion of marketing spend into investing into mobilising these KOL’s for brand promotion.
If your brand already attracts Chinese customers, finding and incentivising appropriate KOLs and KOCs can represent a rewarding strategy. UK Student Accommodation providers, for example, often build strong relationships with KOLs and KOCs that have a strong connection to the location of their properties. This helps create authentic, highly relevant social media posts on WeChat, which in turn ripple out to other platforms such as RED and Weibo.
WeChat personal account users can post on WeChat Moments. Moments acts more like a traditional social media timeline, so WeChat users can keep their followers up to date with timely posts.
WeChat Articles, Channel Videos and Mini Programs can all be shared on WeChat Moments, so if you have already developed a modest audience on your WeChat personal account, you can easily share branded content in a seamless and fun way.
Empowering brands with the tools they need to sell through WeChat is our mission.
VIVA CITY can help you develop your own personalised Mini Program and streamline your WeChat content and sales strategies. Mini Programs will bolster your brand's WeChat conversion capabilities and, as a result, provide significant opportunities when building effective sales funnels with your Chinese audience.
Want to see exactly how?