Most of us believe that mobile instant messaging (MIM) is the next big thing in digital media. However, many marketers may find it challenging to figure out the best possible ways to engage their customers through MIM. With the release of WeChat in 2011, even small companies are now emerging as major market competitors.
With more than 300 million users, the mobile phone text and voice messaging communication service supports text and video chat, video calling, photo/video and location sharing, discovering new people, broadcasting messages, group messages and photo sharing. Many marketers find it a unique way to engage their customers and fans of their brands.
How to Use WeChat for Business
Use Verified Accounts
Individuals can follow verified brand accounts by either getting a member of their WeChat network to share their account or scanning a QR Code.
High quality creative content is key to attract audiences. The verified account allows a brand to post rich media content including audio messages, videos, photos and text to followers of their WeChat stream.
Use Membership Functions to Convert Followers
WeChat membership functions can actually convert your followers into members. The functions create loyalty programs where individuals can use their geo-localized membership cards to pair up with users by their WeChat ID or phone number. This allows brands to adapt their marketing content and highlight sales promotions to a certain section of consumers.
There are three typical ways to apply WeChat into your marketing activities:
- Issuing a virtual VIP card.
- Sending promotional offer notifications.
- Delivering e-coupons.
To initiate business interactions with your customers a welcome message is a crucial step, especially for newbies. You can also ask questions to convert inquiries to several sets of prescribed answers. To respond correctly to your customers, you can use five types of content including text, audio, visual, video and text+visual.
In addition, you can also choose to respond with a URL of a mobile-friendly site. Most importantly, the conversation remains confidential between you and your fans unless you or your fans wish to spread it out.
Use WeChat QR Codes to Promote Your Brand
You can actively convert fans through various means. One such means is to make your brand’s QR Code featured in all point of purchase materials. Always give your consumers a reason to scan your QR code. A few inducements, such as top up promotion for a purchase, discounts, lucky draws, souvenirs or a free WiFi pass code are always appreciated.
Additionally, adding your QR code on your packaging is another great alternative. The best tactics to consider are to either feature your brand’s WeChat QR code on your Weibo page or promote your WeChat activities through wall posts to grab the attention of audiences.
Share Your Brand Images
Brands can get their due attention by displaying their logos on the subscribers’ personal pages. This allows brand followers a way to show off their personal tastes and preferences and you can choose whether or not to showcase your logo.
Incentivize to Entice Followers
WeChat’s API allows you to integrate the services into mobile apps to entice followers. However, consumers who follow a business on WeChat should be given a motivation to sign up. Offer prizes, POS promotions, pictures or entertainment to optimize your conversion rate.
Create a Mini Website
Apart from conversation based on chats, WeChat enables brands to set up a full mini website to complete their brand experience. This website can be divided into two-level menus which can work as a series of marketing purposes. These two-level interacting menus are an important tool to better manage interaction with your fans. This can be set up on the WeChat account panel or with the help of third-party services.
WeChat is a marketing platform where brands can geo-target their community and specifically categorize people according to their gender and location.
I haven’t tried it, but it sounds interesting. I’ll have to give it a deeper look.
Yes Brandy , you can definitely go for a trial..:)
Aira Bongco
I have tried using WeChat before and I must admit that there are better alternatives. I don’t really have anything against WeChat. It is just that the platform can be quite tricky to use not to mention that it can run incredibly slow too.
Sandi
Aira,
What are the better alternatives?
Thank you,
Sandi
Hi Aira
Thanks for your comments. Do understand your viewpoint. May be at present there are better options than “We- chat” , but may be in future they will definitely try to provide better services by overcoming their limitations.
Well apps like WeChat definitely provides upper hand for every businesses to promote their business in a best positive manner. But believe it needs to work better then expected, to act faster under the current circumstances.
I agree to your point Steve. I am sure, that to keep pace with the growing technology, WeChat would also come up with more ideas to promote business and work faster under the existing scenario.
Freddie
One issue I have is that it seems WeChat doesn’t allow foreign businesses to set up company pages, they have to be Chinese, with a Chinese business license number. Is there any way around this?
xzy
actually, you have to partner with a third-party service provider to set up the account.
wechat is a great tool to do business in China. However, I found it so tough to do because foreign company cannot get the official account from wechat.
It is good as long as you have special person to take care of it!
Camilla k
Hi! I am writing a bachelor thesis on how a maritime company in china can use wechat to brand themselves. We are looking at spesific acitivties that could engage their current followers, and further draw more customers to follow them on WeChat.
Do you have any suggestions?
Warren CK
http://apply.wechat.com/ for overseas wechat account opening. I help clients to develop mobile app on WeChat, let me know if you need help.
monik
Dear warren i hope you can help me to solve a doubt,, can i open an account and manage different companies accounts, to be the administrator? I will appreciatte your comments
Warren CK
Hi Monik,
You can do that if you have the expertise to develop the infrastructure. However it may not worth at the beginning since it cost more and you need to know the latest update which in Chinese.
Doudou
Warren, can you get in touch with me via email? We would like to set up a wechat mini website.
HelenP
Hi Warren CK, our company is looking into incorporating WeChat in our marketing strategy. Can you contact me please?
Hello Warren,
Please contact me so we may discuss a wechat account
Russ
Hi Warren. My wife and I are looking to export U.S. products to China through We Chat. Is this hard to do? We want to work with individuals in China. Thx.
Srinivas
Hi Warren
We are planning to set up We chat marketing strategy for our business, could you please us? Kindly share your email ID with, so we discuss further . Thanks
Srinivas
ee yuen
Hi William. I believe there are more functions like appointment bookings, e-commerce etc Are these limited to those business based in China? Thank you
I tried wechat before. But I later found out that there are other chat services which provide customized services for any business in anywhere in the world. You can design which questions you need to ask for your web visitors and expecting answers accordingly. This chat service is particularly good for businesses which spend thousands of dollars for adwords & Ppc . It’s now call my lead assistant.
Other usefull Tips for Wechat :
Share on Group
-Organize events and create connexion with followers
-create attractive and content that people will share
-Communicate with influencers
– Use the Ads to promote your channel
– organize Discount operation, VIP sales
Sarah
Hi William
Thank for the useful article.
I am using wechat and so as my company too. I notice there is a function on wechat which is totally mistery is the scan barcode function. Some items or goods barcode (not QC code) can be scanned by wechat and then obtain that item’s origin, price, the importer or manufacture, or some brief introduction of the item! A nice handy function for someone selling the goods. However, when I go online trying to find out how can I use this function, but I can’t find nothing!!!, I mean it is a completely mistery! I don’t if you could shred some light on this??
Regards
Sarah
Clive
Hi William, great article and just the reason I applied for a Subscription Account that has now been approved. I’ve created a WeChat ID using the Admin Panel, but don’t able to access WeChat App using that ID. Any ideas on what i might be doing wrong?
Annie
I have 500 phone numbers I want to reach out by using Wechat and I know they all have Wechat. How do I do the reaching out my business to them and what is the cost? Is there a person who can assist me with that in NY
Dave
Hi William, Thank you for such a wonderful information. we have an official we chat account. We are based in Shanghai. I want to know the settings to let our customers to scan our qr code for a free WIFI that they can use. It will be really helpful if you can tell me the step by step settings in English as the it is in Chinease and that makes it all the more difficult.
Thanks for the great help.