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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Weibo and it’s Status in 2021

September 20, 2021

Globally, the number of people using social networking sites is constantly rising without an end in sight. By the end of 2021, there will be over 3 billion people using social networks. And with over 2 billion monthly active users, Facebook is the most widely used social media site in the world.

 

Meanwhile, WeChat, China’s most popular social media network, has more than 1 billion monthly active users all on its own. This suggests that the app and other social media giants, in general, are used by nearly all Chinese citizens.

 

However, ever since China set up the Great Firewall of China and internet censorship, in 2008, western social media giants like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube can no longer be accessed in China. As a result, in 2009, Sina Corporation launched Sina Weibo, a microblogging site similar to Twitter and Instagram, to replace the social media giants. 

 

  • Wangyi Weibo was launched in 2010 and claimed 260 million registered users by 2012. However, Wangyi Weibo vanished by the end of 2014.
  • Later, Tencent introduced Tencent Weibo in 2010, but it failed to attract a big following. 
  • Following which, Sohu launched Sohu Weibo, but it never really took off.

 

Because of this, among all the ‘Twitter lookalikes’ that were launched after 2009, only Sina Weibo, has been around to tell the tale. With more than 300 million monthly active users since its launch, Weibo became China’s biggest social media platform after Tencent’s WeChat.

 

Despite the platform’s success since its launch, its supremacy is now being challenged by competitors like WeChat, Toutiao, Zhihu, Douyin, and others. But despite the fact that Weibo has lost some of its shine as China’s social media leader, it is still expanding rapidly, making Weibo marketing a vital tool for companies looking to expand into the country.

 

The following features on Weibo can help brands gain visibility in the China market:

  • Weibo Influencer campaigns
  • Weibo advertising
  • Weibo lottery
  • Cross-promotion
  • Organic growth

 

Despite its ups and downs, the platform is on the rise in 2021. Sina Weibo has 566 million monthly active users in the second quarter of 2021, an increase of 43 million from the previous year’s second-quarter total. The Chinese version of Twitter has quickly risen to prominence as China’s go-to micro-blogging destination.

 

In addition to text, Sina Weibo users can include photos, gifs, and videos in their posts. Weibo now allows users to post audio, video, and photo files, as well as animated gifs. Besides being able to follow friends and celebrities, users may also send and receive messages and search for information using keywords.

As for the Weibo user base, compared to WeChat, Weibo has a significantly younger base. Weibo users are quite young: 30% of them are under 20 years old and 48% are aged between 30-39 years old. This is a significant factor for the placement of your brand and products in the Chinese market. Weibo is also a very dynamic and animated site, and users expect businesses and KOLs to engage at a high level and respond quickly to their posts. Chinese users, particularly Gen Z users, frequently use Weibo to learn about new companies and promotions from major influencers in the industry.

 

In conclusion, compared to other social media platforms, Weibo has a powerful ability to connect with the younger Chinese audience. Thanks to its vast user base, user affective states and engagement rates,Weibo is still on the rise. As a result, if you are looking to grow your brand presence in China and your target audience consists vastly of Gen Z, then you need to use social media platforms like Weibo.

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What is Bilbili and Why Brands Must Consider it When targeting Gen Z

September 14, 2021

When it comes to establishing a business and grabbing the Gen-Z audience through Chinese video-sharing platforms, forums such as Douyin and Kuaishou that create short-form videos take up the majority of air. Hence, one of the fastest-growing social platforms among China’s Generation Z called the Bilibili is often overlooked.

 

What is Bibili?

Bilibili, often known as B site, is a Chinese video-sharing website where users can contribute and read “bullet” chats, which are real-time comments sent while users watch videos. Bilibili is, without a doubt, an ACG (anime, comics, and games) platform at its core and its homepage looks like any other video-sharing site on the surface, but the aesthetics are dominated by anime characters and screenshots from video games. It is because of this content that the daily active user rate has exceeded 65 million, surpassing Youku to become China’s third-largest long-video platform.

Unlike other Chinese video-sharing services such as Youku, iQiyi, and Tencent Video, Bilibili emphasises professional, user-generated material, hence earning recognition as the Chinese version of YouTube.

Users spend over 80 minutes every day on the platform, resulting in 4.7 billion monthly interactions. It also appeals to one out of every two young people in China. The platform has a highly balanced user base of 49% female and 51% male users, making it one of the most popular video platforms in the country.


Why must brands consider Bilbili?

Bilibili’s new e-commerce mini-programs debuted on the platform in April 2019. After Alibaba invested in Bilibili, it changed its online marketing strategy, focusing on e-commerce rather than user acquisition. Because of the evolving Gen-Z lifestyle, which includes online shopping as one of their most popular pleasures, it has recently become a more profitable enterprise due to which many brands are seeking to register an official Bilibili account as a means of tapping into China’s youth market.

Brands can use this platform for branding by using the “Splash Screen Ads”, which usually appear when users first open the App. Such ads were used by brands such as Swaroski to promote themselves among young Chinese audiences. Brands can also use the service to host virtual presentations and live streams.


How can brands leverage the platform?

Businesses can also use Bilibili to promote their products through its marketing platform, “Sparkle” (Huahuo), which can help with monetization by offering features like smart price recommendations, exhibiting sample work, and access to data on followers and user interaction. Another way to promote their business on Bilibili is by partnering with well-known key opinion leaders (KOLs) or key opinion consumers (KOCs) who engage with Gen Z consumers. 


How to engage with the audience on the platform?

Two of the most popular ways for brands to engage with customers on Bilibili include partnering with influencers or opening a personal account.  In both cases, it’s critical to have a good understanding of the platform and the target audience. As we all know, the majority of Bilibili users are Gen Z, who are very engaged and on the lookout for authenticity. They are savvy consumers who are well-versed in e-commerce and thus have a lot of options. To win this group, brands should work on creating their brand image and connecting it to a lifestyle, a community, a passion, or an attitude, rather than just hawking their products based on numbers.


Conclusion

Therefore, it is without a doubt that Bilibili has effectively positioned itself as a unique social video platform, with a loyal user community that is deeply involved with the creators and companies that they see as supporting the community. That’s something you won’t find on most other Chinese social media and video platforms, which is why companies should consider Bilibili as a way to reach China’s Gen-Z.

 

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Your Weekly China Roundup

September 13, 2021

Growing Significance of Private Traffic

In China, a growing number of industries are incorporating private traffic into their digital strategy. Meituan, a food delivery app similar to Uber that has 450 MAUs, is one of them. Bonus fandom groups, where businesses may communicate directly with customers, are the newest additions to Meituan. Customers can find group access directly from the shop’s main page & u users are encouraged to join such organisations by CTAs implying that they will receive further coupons and offers.

At the same time, groups give users a place to express their comments and merchants a place to change their products. Meituan just implemented a new social feature: customers can now share their restaurant orders with their friends to enhance company awareness.

 

Link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/btw5G7GQvwOyNqgQQGbn3w 

 

Bilibili and Luxury Brands?

Bilibili, which began as an anime and comics platform, has evolved into a crucial platform for Chinese Gen Z, focused primarily on mid and long videos, and is currently China’s third largest video platform.

Beauty brands such as Shiseido and Lancome have already begun to experiment with Bilibli in order to reach Gen Z, but will luxury brands follow suit?

Bilibili is still relatively unproven in the luxury market, having only attracted a few early adopters such as Dior, Fendi, and Gucci to yet. The major disadvantage is the average age of a Bilbili user, which is still quite young. Bilibili has been actively pushing its e-commerce capabilities to its more than 62.7 million DAUs over the last two years.

Link: https://jingdaily.com/will-a-red-hot-bilibili-become-irresistible-to-luxury-brands-in-2022/?utm_source=CCI&utm_campaign=bca9179477-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_03_12_06_39_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f85454f2c4-bca9179477-408382229 

 

Why Chinese Brands’ Strategies are Important to Brands Everywhere


Chinese businesses differ structurally from those in other countries in that they place a greater emphasis on revenue growth and customer acquisition rather than profit, as most western brands do. As a result, they devote a considerably higher portion of their revenue to marketing and concentrate on hot platforms and key opinion leaders.

Since China has become the world’s factory, Chinese brands can swiftly imitate and improve what is being produced. Because most Chinese businesses do not have heritage brands to protect, they are less risk-averse than established western companies and are willing to attempt a lot more things. This lean startup, come-as-you-are strategy has now been embedded in the DNA of many Chinese brands. Everyone who has grown up in China has only experienced constant change, which has made them extremely adaptive and quick-thinking, especially in business.

Understanding how Chinese competitors operate is critical for brands in China. However, with Chinese businesses like SHEIN becoming more likely to compete in western markets, marketers and strategists working in other nations, including their own local markets, must understand how they operate.

 

Link: https://www.chinaskinny.com/blog/chinese-brand-strategies-to-watch/

 

AMX X Ayayi – the first Metahuman in China

AMX, a yogurt company, teamed up with Ayayi, the first Chinese Metahuman, to produce a digital yogurt based on user data. This digital yogurt is comparable to NFT, a one-of-a-kind cryptocurrency token that serves as a digital asset representation.

AMX gained more scientific and technological features as a result of this collaboration, which set it apart from the competition. AMX will use Xiaohongshu and Weibo to promote the idea that “Yogurt brands may also be popular and fashionable” in order to raise the brand’s visibility. AMX wishes to usher the company into the digital era.

On September 8th, Ayayi started working for Alibaba as the proprietor of Tmall Super Brand. She had her own ID card and launched the first NFT digital mooncake for the Mid-Autumn Festival.

 

Link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/TuX2Tv6d8sgReFQw2bRIfQ 

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How To Leverage Douyin For Advertising

October 20, 2020

Douyin has a massive influence among Chinese people, both young and adults alike, and a lot of brands have started to make appearances on the platform as well. It only makes sense to take a closer look on how they are leveraging a social media app for their promotion.

💹 Douyin (China’s TikTok) Statistics 2022 [UPDATED!]

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Breaking Down WeChat Advertising For Luxury Brands

July 14, 2020

WeChat has completely redefined luxury brand marketing in Mainland China ever since Dior posted its first WeChat Moments ad on the platform. After that, WeChat was quite readily embraced by many international brands who wanted to tap into the Chinese fashion community.

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How To Promote Your Account On WeChat

June 2, 2020

WeChat is more than just an instant messaging app. It has become a lifestyle for people living in Mainland China. It functions as a chat app, a marketplace, a dynamic marketing tool and much more. The number of monthly active WeChat users is over 1 Billion as of 2019, and around 80% of them are between the ages of 20 to 40. Its holistic ecosystem, with tools that enable companies to do everything from realization to conversion, makes it very convenient for brands and users to interact with each other. This opens up a lot of avenues for executing effective promotions and campaigns.

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WeChat Trends In 2020

January 23, 2020

2020: A Big Year For WeChat

WeChat is one of the biggest and most important platforms in the digital marketing game. For both freshers and professionals alike, WeChat brings a lot of opportunities for brand growth, community interaction and business development. So keeping up with the latest trends in the market become second nature to anyone who wants to leverage these opportunities.

Without wasting any more time, let’s dive into the treasure trove of WeChat trends that can be expected out of 2020.

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