What Is WeChat Marketing?

August 27, 2024

WeChat is the major platform leading China’s digital transformation. A “mega app” that encompasses major successful features of most western and Chinese platforms: Blog-like articles, digitally interactive experiences, WeChat Pay, e-commerce & e-booking with WeChat Mini Programs, Moments (a virtual space to share daily updates), Channels (for visual-led content), live streaming, enterprise solutions, even search engine, and more.

This Chinese social media has established itself as a major platform for content creation through articles and channels, now the roadmap for Tencent (WeChat’s owner) is to leverage Miniprogram to boost business growth further, as it has become part of users’ daily life, develop futuristic features on WeChat Pay, and make WeChat Search a user habit. This is a rapidly changing platform and brands need to keep up if they want to stay relevant to Chinese users.

WHAT IS WECHAT MARKETING?

  • Understanding the WeChat Ecosystem:

In the past three years, WeChat marketing and advertising underwent tremendous changes. With the emergence of the new social media apps, it proved that it’s not going away and also managed to strengthen its position by continuously adapting to the new consumer behaviours by expanding its features and consolidated its position as a top app in China.

We have observed new trends emerging while strengthening existing ones. Some of the major trends that took off were: 

  • WeChat channels & Live-streaming, 
  • WeChat work (WeCom),
  • Relevance of mini programs, 
  • Focus on content creators, 
  • Smart targeting.

  • Select the right WeChat Official Account for your brand:

There are mainly 2 types of Official Account: WeChat Service Account & WeChat Subscription Account.

WeChat service and subscription accounts offer very different user experience hence the user journey and landing on the article vary.

WeChat service Accounts have the same priority as a user’s contacts in terms of notification status and appear on the main page in chronological order.

 

WeChat subscription accounts are gathered in a separate folder where accounts are shown according to an algorithm (most often read accounts) compared to the chronological order before.

 

  • Audit of other players & Gap Analysis

Identifying Key Players’ Strategy

Identify the key players in China. To do so, it is important to examine the activity and performance of your competitors on WeChat.

How to do the screening?

  • Quantitative and qualitative data including views, comments, likes, wows to illustrate share of voice of each player to provide a detailed comparison of the landscape
  • Audit of the key content pillars, tone of voice, content formats, and top performing posts from to compile the standard of what’s out there within WeChat
  • Competitors’ menu and overall official account usability
  • Overview of the strategies employed by B2B/B2C companies and their relevance for your brand

Gap Analysis & Key Learnings

Analyzing areas where other key players are lacking, what kind of content or type of information is missing and identifying gaps that could potentially become an opportunity in the future for your brand’s own communication.

  • Identifying your Target Audience in China: 

Chinese Netizens

Understanding who a Chinese internet user is becomes crucial to reach the right audience with the right channels and communication methods. Each Chinese platform, be it Weibo, RED (Xiaohongshu) or Kuaishou is characterized by a different user profile and same goes for WeChat.  

WeChat is used on a daily basis by more than one billion people, it’s a huge and extremely diversified crowd. With precise segmentation, you will be able to reach your desired target audience with the most aligned messaging and maximize the ROI on WeChat.  

Who is your Target Audience on WeChat?

The first task is to define your target audience and understand their main characteristics, social behavior, consumption patterns and what are the key trends among the group. 

Secondly, examine how they behave on WeChat, what kind of content they interact with and what is their peak activity time on the platform to reach them with the right messaging at the right time.

Try to create a very detailed target audience personas to get a full portrait. 

Different Communication for Different Audiences 

We recommend pushing personalized messaging for the different target audiences.

Based on the personas you created, your brand on WeChat can do a backend segmentation or WeChat CRM system can share to a selected audience different WeChat articles at different times. Because everyone likes special treatment, explore how backend tagging and CRM can improve your customers’ user journey.

To do that, analyze your target audience again and what are their key preferences and motivations and define your content pillars based on that. 

Content that is better tailored to users needs and expectations will perform better and decrease the risk of unfollowing by the fans. It would also improve the overall user experience if the users don’t find the receiving content too intrusive or irrelevant. You can also consider sending additional, targeted posts to segmented followers on top of regular communication for all.

  • Define your Content Strategy

WeChat is already a highly saturated space with many accounts pushing quality content on a regular basis, either in the form of posts or WeChat ads. An average WeChat user only follows around 20 public accounts and spends around half an hour per day reading articles. It’s not easy to make it into this within a short period of time. This can be achieved with a clear vision of your target audience and perfectly crafted content. 

WeChat Content 

In very basic terms, WeChat marketing strategy can be divided into content format and content topics. Beyond articles, the WeChat ecosystem offers many components that could be leveraged by brands in many interesting ways – official account menu, welcome message, H5, videos and more. 

We also recommend preparing different content for different target audiences and for fans at different stages of relationship with your brand e.g. new followers, potential customers, repetitive customers.  

WeChat Content Formats

Depending on the goal you want to achieve, you might want to choose different content types or combination of more touchpoints to take your communication to the next level. Top-notch account optimization is a requirement for successful interaction with your fans on WeChat, then you can experiment with different formats and styles of your WeChat articles and campaigns. 

WeChat Content Pillars

What are the most important topics that you would like to share with your fans and what are the topics that are the most interesting to your social personas? Focus on these areas and find a balance between brand and social-led content.

Determine the frequency of each topic and try to stick to it to not overwhelm your audience with similar stories all the time. 

  • Other Features to Leverage

WeChat is much more than articles – Tencent is constantly expanding its ecosystem of features that can be used by brands. In the past couple of years, new tools such as WeCom (previously WeChat Work), Mini programs, WeChat Channels, WeChat Search (Sou Yi Sou) or WeChat Beans have been introduced and we can only expect to see further new updates each year.  

Try to follow the latest WeChat/Weixin news and experiment with new tools to keep up with the changes taking place on WeChat and Chinese social media. 

Take a look at some of the key tools that you can use in your brand communication on WeChat.

  • Interactive posts,
  • WeChat Channels,
  • Mini programs,
  • H5 pages,
  • Surveys,
  • Live-streaming,
  • Coupons,
  • and more.

  • Distribution & Amplification

Because WeChat is a semi-closed platform a thoughtful and well-executed content amplification plan is a must. Every day and every hour, WeChat users are bombarded with articles from millions of WeChat official accounts competing for their attention and clicks. It’s crucial to make sure that your carefully prepared content reaches your target audience in the most effective way. Let us help you to discover multiple touchpoints through which WeChat content can be accessed and understand different methods of content amplification, both organic and paid, to make sure that your WeChat marketing and distribution strategy covers all of them.

48 hours

Lifespan of a WeChat post is extremely short. The most critical time is the first 48 hours after the publication – this is when 90% of reads and interactions happen and the rest usually within total 7 days after the publication. Therefore it’s extremely important to grasp this moment to keep the ball rolling and ensure that the post is 100% optimized for WeChat and checks the boxes of shareability or the ‘wow’ factor.

When you post a new article, WeChat users first see the preview of the post. When your brand secures at least the opening of the article, you can work towards a positive reaction, for example share or ‘wow’.

Organic distribution

By organic distribution, we mean all the promotion methods that you don’t need to pay for and purely utilize your own resources. Keep in mind that these methods can be relatively time consuming and require some effort on your and your team’s end. Some of our favorite organic methods include:

  • Optimized WeChat SEO,
  • Private traffic management, 
  • Backlinking to previous articles, 
  • Internal teams mobilization to spread articles (sharing, wow, Moments),
  • Collaborations with other partner accounts,
  • Linking from WeChat Channels video. 

Paid promotion

Due to the semi-closed nature of WeChat and a more and more saturated environment, especially when it comes to official accounts, organic reach is decreasing with each year. On the other hand, paid promotion like WeChat ads can get you very far and help you to reach millions of new potential customers. 

The main two types of official accounts to get followers and articles views are:

  • WeChat Moments ads,
  • WeChat Banner ads.  

WeChat Moments ads — displayed within user’s friends’ updates on Moments. WeChat strictly limits the number of ads displayed to each user on their Moments and when scrolling though Moments for a longer period of time, the user might come across max. 3 ads. A Moments ad can drive users to a landing page, video, mini program, shop, coupon and more. This type of ad is suitable for big-scale campaigns as the minimum budget required by Tencent is 50,000 RMB (7,500 USD). 

WeChat Banner ads — usually displayed at the end of a WeChat article, banner ads can drive users to follow a WeChat Official Account, view articles, download an app, signup link or to a customized landing page. Much more affordable than WeChat Moments ads, you can start promoting with minimal budget. 

KOL marketing

If you follow Chinese marketing trends closely, then you are probably already familiar with the KOL marketing. KOL, which stands for Key Opinion Leader, is a fastly growing way of promoting your brands with the help of influencers. Brands fell in love with this kind of marketing because compared to Western influencer marketing, KOLs  are perceived as more trustworthy in opinion of the Chinese consumers and this trend doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. You can choose from a wide range of big and small KOLs across different industries. 

You can adopt various strategies when working with Chinese KOLs.

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WeChat: Your Ultimate Travel Planning Tool

July 6, 2023

WeChat, widely known as China’s all-in-one super app, has revolutionized the way people communicate, socialize, and conduct financial transactions, but now we’ve got yet another sector coming into the ring.

While it was not initially designed as a travel planning tool, recent developments within the platform indicate a growing appetite to venture into the market share traditionally dominated by Online Travel Agencies (OTAs). This shift is particularly notable, given the whirlwind of changes the travel industry has gone through in recent years. After three long years of restricted international travel due to the global pandemic, the world is witnessing a resurgence in wanderlust. As a result, there has been a noticeable surge in travel-related content on WeChat. Users are sharing their travel experiences, tips, and recommendations, transforming the platform into a hub for travel enthusiasts.

Moreover, recent statistics reveal that a substantial portion of the Chinese population is eager to resume their international travel plans. According to a survey published by Dragon Trail Research, an astounding 60% of Chinese individuals have expressed their intentions to travel abroad this year. This renewed enthusiasm for international tourism presents a unique opportunity for WeChat to leverage its existing user base and expand its influence in the industry.

In this article, we will delve into the emerging travel-related features on WeChat and analyze how they position the platform to potentially challenge the dominance of traditional OTAs. We will also explore the implications of WeChat’s growing travel focus, both for its user base and the wider travel industry, as we navigate the new landscape of post-pandemic tourism.

WeChat as a one-stop platform to organize a trip

Mini-programs are the core of any planning tools on WeChat. Chinese Travel Consumption Trends White Paper 2023, released by Tencent Marketing Insight and Tongcheng Research Institute highlight the value and popularity of WeChat mini-programs for Chinese travelers. According to the findings, 61% of respondents said they use WeChat mini-programs to purchase travel products and services while on trips. Additionally, 34% stated that they utilize mini-programs for accommodation, transportation, attraction tickets, activities, and/or F&B, while 24% each use the mini-programs of travel platforms and OTAs.

Brands can leverage mini-programs in many ways. For example by embedding a link within the articles, pin to their official account WeChat menus, and much more.

WeChat mini-programs are simply convenient and don’t require downloading additional apps. On top of that, since they are vetted by Tencent they are also perceived as more reliable.

Mini Programs Travel WeChat

👀 Discover more about WeChat Mini-Programs

WeChat Search is another amazing tool in the WeChat’s arsenal. Users can search for virtually any kind of information from quick results for the weather forecast at their destination to suggested flight routes or accommodations.  In the Search results, users can also browse through official WeChat accounts, video content, mini-programs, and more. Filtering option help them to find relevant information quickly.

One particularly eye-catching feature that can be leveraged by brands is ‘search takeover’ where brands can customize their result card and include buttons driving to different functions like booking.

WeChat Search Travel

🔍 A Quick Guide To WeChat Search

Travel Content on Official Accounts

WeChat Official Accounts, let’s not forget content published on official accounts. They remain the most important source of information and updates for Chinese travelers. That’s why it’s so important to keep them up to date. Menu, which is a close equivalent of a website, should be updated and make it easy to navigate for FAQ. Chinese customers will appreciate responsive customer service and auto-replies.

Articles can serve as a great source of inspiration. Taking into account that 17% of Chinese travelers admit that they use WeChat to plan outbound trips, there is a big chance that they might come across the content that spark their wanderlust within the platform. This rising interest in globetrotting content is already visible. According to Q1 2023 WeChat Rankings Report, average views per post on WeChat rose by 41% for airlines. Similarly, 30% for cruise trips, 42% for attractions, and 15% for hotels.

WeChat Articles Travel Tourists

✈️Reaching Chinese Tourists: Online Travel Agencies and Social Media Platforms [2023]

Last but not least, WeChat Channels can be used to find new inspirations. Viewers can discover hot spots in cities and unknown places worth a visit. With similar to Douyin’s algorithm-based feed, Channels are the must-have hub for visual video content on WeChat. Global and local attractions are already using built-in live-steaming features. Users can also browse content based on their location in order to find new hidden gems. They can also create their own content and raise awareness and promote places through UGC (user-generated content).

WeChat Channels Travel Tourists

🎥 WeChat Channels – How to Post for Success?

Conclusions

WeChat recently published a post on how the app can be used for planning a trip from the scratch. All without the need to download any other apps or leaving the platform. Click here to check it: 微信搜一搜是懂五一的. If you have any questions about leveraging WeChat for tourism, please contact our team. We use our knowledge and expertise to help businesses build meaningful partnerships and develop their network among Chinese customers. For additional information, please contact at contact@thewechatagency.com.

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Exploring WeChat Channels Backend: Features & Stats

April 28, 2023

WeChat Channels: In today’s digital age, social media has become an essential part of our lives. From personal to professional use, we all use social media platforms to connect, share, and grow. One such platform that has gained immense popularity in recent times is WeChat Channels. Channels are one of the most important features that Tencent plans to invest in this year. We wrote more about it in WeChat Channels: An In-Depth Look at the Statistics and the Future Plans.

One of the key features of WeChat is that it can be accessed both from the mobile and desktop levels. While the mobile version is ideal for content creators who want to create and share content on the go, accessing Channels through the desktop version offers more functions and a clearer overview of statistics.

Some of the key channel statistics that WeChat provides are follower metrics, message data, engagement metrics, average open rates, location and demographics, and content performance. WeChat’s channel statistics provide valuable insights for businesses to track their performance and make data-driven decisions to optimize their marketing and engagement efforts on the platform.

Let’s dive deeper into this to understand how the WeChat Channels backend works to take the utmost advantage of the platform for different business needs.

You can access it at: https://channels.weixin.qq.com/

 

WeChat Channels Backend Homepage:

One of the key features of WeChat is its desktop-level functionality, which allows users to schedule the publication of posts and view important daily data.

WeChat Channels Backend Homepage Desktop

WeChat Channels Backend Homepage

Upon logging into WeChat, users can see the most important daily data from the previous day. This data includes key statistics such as the number of views, likes, and comments on recent posts. This information is useful for businesses and individuals who are interested in tracking the performance of their content on the platform.

In addition to viewing daily data, users can also schedule the publication of their posts directly from the desktop. This functionality allows users to plan and prepare their content in advance, which can be particularly useful for businesses and individuals who want to maintain a consistent posting schedule.

 

WeChat Channels Content Management:

Preparing and scheduling social media content can be a time-consuming task for content creators. On the desktop backend of WeChat Channels, brands have the ability to prepare their posts and schedule them for publishing at a later time. This includes the ability to upload videos or create carousels of images, write engaging copy with relevant hashtags, add location tags, and schedule the post for a specific date and time.

WeChat Channels Backend Post Scheduling

WeChat Channels Backend Post Scheduling

In addition to these key features, brands can also add a short title for SEO purposes, helping to optimize their post for WeChat search engine and improve its visibility for the Channels algorithm. By carefully crafting the title and post description along with hashtags, content brands can increase the chances of their post being discovered by users who are actively searching for related content.

🏆 Explore top practices for WeChat Channels posting in WeChat Channels – How to Post for Success?

 

WeChat Channels Data:

The statistics page is where the most important information sits. We have access to all the data, including followers’ data, demographics, and post data. 

Firstly, we can see changes in the follower base. 

It is worth noting that following the WeChat Channels account requires a separate action to follow. As of now, official accounts where brands post articles although can be linked in many ways do not share the follower base pools. 

WeChat Channels Data

WeChat Channels Data

On this page, we can track changes in the follower base by different time ranges and actions performed. We can also see our followers’ demographics, such as gender, age, location, and system used.

 

Secondly, we can see data regarding our posts. By day and time periods, we can see total views, engagements, and source of traffic. 

For each unique post, we can see: 

  • Completion rate
  • Views
  • Average playtime
  • Engagements such as likes, recommendations, comments, shares
  • Set as ringtone

 These data points help content creators to understand what kind of content is resonating with their audience. This way they can optimize their strategy accordingly.

 

Other functions of WeChat Channels desktop:

In addition to the above data points, the WeChat Channels backend also provides other important functions. For example, live-streaming, e-commerce, comments, and private message management. These features can be linked with WeCom, WeChat’s enterprise communication and management platform. The heating tool is another useful function that allows content creators to boost views and increase exposure.

Live-streaming: WeChat allows users to live stream videos from their desktop. This feature can be used for personal or business purposes, such as conducting online workshops, tutorials, and product demonstrations.

🎥 Learn more about WeChat Channels Livestreaming in one of our most popular blog posts

E-commerce: WeChat has a built-in e-commerce platform that allows businesses to sell their products directly on the app. It allows for a seamless and instant shopping experience.

Comments and private message management: WeChat’s desktop backend allows users to manage their comments and private messages more efficiently. This feature can be used by businesses to improve their customer service and respond to customer inquiries more quickly.

Heating tool: WeChat’s heating tool is a feature that can be used by businesses to boost their views and increase exposure. This feature can be used to promote a business or product to a wider audience.

Explore our Beginner’s Guide to WeChat Channels

Conclusion:

In conclusion, the WeChat Channels backend is a powerful tool that provides valuable insights and statistics for content creators to analyze their performance and optimize their strategies. By leveraging this information, content creators can understand their audience better and tailor their content to engage and grow their followers. With the help of additional functions such as live-streaming, e-commerce, and heating tools, content creators can further enhance their presence on WeChat and achieve their marketing objectives.

If you want to know more about the Chinese market and how we can help create successful WeChat campaigns for your business contact our team. We use our knowledge and expertise to help businesses build meaningful partnerships and develop their networks among Chinese customers. For additional information, please contact us at contact@thewechatagency.com.

 

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Maximizing WeChat Channels: An In-Depth Look at the Statistics and the Future Plans

February 16, 2023

WeChat, China’s biggest app, grew from just a chatting messanger to a major business platform a long time ago. And Channels, the video sub-platform of WeChat, is becoming one of users’ and businesses’ favorite features.

Channels advanced last year, with more services and content available to both consumers and businesses. Since the start of its internal beta testing on January 21, 2020, it has experienced significant user engagement. The feature, which enables anyone to record, create, and share videos, saw total user time exceed 80% of that of Moments, the latter of which offers mutual contacts with asynchronous photo, video, and audio sharing.

If you’re not very familiar with WeChat Channels yet, explore our introductory post for beginners here – A Beginner’s Guide to WeChat Channels.

Now, let’s analyze the WeChat Channel statistics and growth plan for 2023.

 

WeChat Channel Statistics

WeChat Channels have powerful tools for businesses to connect with their target audience and drive growth – with the help of innovative content.  The total number of views has skyrocketed, with a 200% YoY increase and a 400% YoY increase in video views based on AI recommendations.

The number of daily active creators and video uploads has also surged, with a 100% YoY increase, and significant growth in the number of viral videos and original video views. However, short videos are not all. 

Live streaming has also seen tremendous growth, with a 300% increase in users, a 156% increase in viewing time, a 614% increase in content creators, and an 83% increase in broadcast time.

🎥 Learn more about live-streaming on WeChat Channels

WeChat Channels continue to expand its support with new features like live streaming e-commerce, quick sharing, and product windows. This makes more brands eager to leverage a massive userbase to drive their sales and reach their target audience. 

The GMV of live-streaming e-commerce on Channels has grown by over 800% since 2021. Moreover, the average transactions now exceed RMB 200.

Top Events in 2023

WeChat Channels have become one of the most popular platforms for users to watch and share short videos. 

It’s clear that short videos are a hit among WeChat Channels users. The number of views for short videos in 2022 increased by 237% compared to the previous year, showing just how popular they have become.

When it comes to the most popular short videos, five topics stood out. These were the workplace, cultural history, financial management, eloquence/speech, and trivia. This shows that users are interested in a wide range of topics.

WEChat Channels Stats 2023

For those looking to be entertained, WeChat Channels has a plethora of options. The top five concerts in 2022 included “Yearning” by Li Jian, Cui Jian’s first online concert, the Backstreet Boys’ first-ever online concert, Luo Dayou’s “Childhood” concert, and “You Want a Good Concert.”

Backstreet Boys WeChat Channels

In addition to entertainment, WeChat Channels users are also looking for ways to improve their physical health. The top six fitness keywords searched by users were yoga, bodybuilding, boxing, body, aerobics, and diet meals.

For those looking to explore, WeChat Channels offer a wealth of travel content. For example, the top 10 most popular destinations in WeChat Channels included: 

  1. Yellow River Xiaolangdi Reservoir,
  2. Huashan Long Sky Boardwalk,
  3. Tiananmen,
  4. Leshan Giant Buddha,
  5. Yellow River Hukou Waterfall,
  6. Tianmen Mountain in Zhangjiajie,
  7. Forbidden City,
  8. Gulangyu Island in Xiamen,
  9. Macao Green Mao Port,
  10. Former Residence of Chairman Mao in Shaoshan.

 

WeChat Channels’ Growth Plan 

In the fast-paced digital world, it’s essential for businesses to keep up with the latest trends and technologies to reach their target audience. WeChat Channels is one such platform that provides a unique opportunity for businesses to reach a vast audience through its innovative features and rich content ecosystem. According to WeChat Weixin Pro Class 2023 (our coverage of the 2022 edition available here), Tencent plans to invest more into Channels in the coming years. 

 

Short Video

The short video feature on WeChat Channels has seen significant growth in the past year. As a result, with more and more creators joining the platform, the content ecosystem has become more diverse and prosperous. 

Moreover, the time spent by WeChat Channels users has also increased and is now approaching that of WeChat Moments. The video views based on recommendation algorithms have increased by over 400% YoY, making it a great opportunity for businesses to reach a vast audience.

To provide comprehensive author services, WeChat Channels has upgraded its creator traffic and honor incentives, with new product capabilities such as online content heating, video product sharing, and video monetization tasks.

These tools will provide creators with more monetization options and help them grow and get better returns on WeChat Channels. 

In 2022, the number of daily active creators and video uploads increased by more than 100% YoY, original content played increased by 350% YoY, and the number of creators with 10,000+ fans increased by 308%. 

 

🗺 Learn how to optimize your WeChat Channels posting with our quick guide

WeChat Channels Video

Live Streaming

WeChat Channels’ live broadcasts have become an integral part of users’ social lives, covering a range of content from hot events to daily information communication and celebrity speeches. Above all, it provides a platform for individuals to start broadcasting and showing themselves, encouraging diverse content production. 

The platform provides a rich live broadcasting ecosystem:

  • the viewing scale increasing by 300%,
  • the viewing time by 156%,
  • and high-quality launch time by 614%.

WeChat Channels has always encouraged the production of diversified and high-quality content. In order words, providing a platform for “every individual to pick up his mobile phone and start broadcasting.” 

As a result, this led to a significant increase of 101% in 2022 and total anchor revenue growth by 447%.

To sum up, live streaming will invest 5 billion in traffic incentives and more rich and perfect realization tools and incentive policies to help every individual have a good start, growth, and income. 

E-commerce Live Streaming

Live Streaming Channels

The commercial potential of WeChat Channels live broadcast has continued to grow. With sales increasing by more than 8 times YoY and the platform’s public purchase conversion rate by more than 100%. 

The top three categories of consumption are clothing, food, and beauty. Finally, it’s worth noting that the purchasing power on WeChat Channels is split between 20% male and 80% female users. This information is useful for businesses and content creators looking to target specific demographics with their products and services.

The launch of WeChat Channels stores provides businesses with convenient and efficient business tools, with over 90% of sales coming from the WeChat Channels store. The platform has connected over 1,000 service providers, contributing over 30% to Channels’ sales.

Firstly to better support brand merchants, WeChat Channels will soon release an incentive plan for merchants. Secondly, Tencent will provide more opportunities, including traffic, brand identity, and other services. For instance, the platform will also continue to increase its support for service providers and focus on investment. For example, in areas of identity authentication, traffic incentives, and operational tools.

Conclusion

WeChat Channels have come a long way, with improvements in short video, live broadcasting, and e-commerce. Above all, with the continued development of the ecosystem and the implementation of incentive policies, WeChat Channels will continue to attract more users and creators, providing a platform for rich and diverse content. 

If you want to know more about WeChat channels and help create a content strategy for WeChat, contact our team. We use our knowledge and expertise to help businesses build meaningful partnerships and develop their networks among Chinese customers. For additional information, please contact us at contact@thewechatagency.com.

 

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Live Streaming on WeChat Channels

June 7, 2022

Live streaming is the new Holy Grail for brands and businesses that are constantly looking for new methods to better engage their customers. This allows businesses to better understand their customer preferences, which aids in sales conversion and increases brand awareness. 

WeChat is a great medium for getting to know your customers and providing them with a variety of content that keeps them engaged and connected to your brand.

In this article, let’s look at another type of content to broadcast within the WeChat ecosystem beyond the WeChat Article and WeChat Channels video feeds: live streaming on WeChat. Tencent offers two different ways to stream live video: 

  • Through own mini programs’ integrated live streaming capability,
  • WeChat Channels’ built-in feature.

Brands that decide to use their own mini-programs to live stream have more flexibility when it comes to the live stream format but on the downside, these sessions won’t be discoverable on the growing Channels tab. Tencent has ambitious plans for Channels as it was highlighted during the Weixin Pro class earlier this year with already more than 450 million Daily Active Users. 

In the last couple of months, we’ve seen WeChat boosting its live steaming feature by providing brands with more ways of promoting their live streams and increasing the number of touchpoints where users can discover them. WeChat Channels accounts’ main page even shows how many live streams each account hosted.

In our blog post today we will focus on how to live-stream using WeChat Channels. 

What Are the Benefits of Using WeChat Channels Live Streaming?

WeChat live streaming is a new feature that allows you to live stream videos directly from your WeChat account. It’s an amazing tool for businesses and individuals who want to get their content out into the world and engage with their audience. Here are just some of the benefits of using WeChat live streaming:

  • It’s easy to use. Unlike other streaming platforms, WeChat has an intuitive interface that makes it easy for anyone to create a live broadcast.
  • The platform is free and easy to access on any device (desktop, laptop, tablet, or mobile). You can even access it from multiple devices at once.
  • Businesses can learn about the feelings of the audience right away by looking at their comments and reactions. They can also get honest customer feedback in real-time.
  • Learn what matters to customers when it comes to product selection.
  • Brands can reach a larger audience with less effort than ever before.
  • Companies can increase brand awareness and build a loyal fanbase.
  • Accounts can seamlessly incorporate e-commerce into their live streams and conserve with the clients. 

Top Live-Streaming Formats & Approaches

WeChat Channels Live Streaming Formats

Top WeChat Channels Live Streaming Formats

  • KOLs, live streamers 

Format: The host of the Livestream introduces and tests products.

Objective: Mainly to drive sales

Examples: Lee, Only

  • Fashion show

Format: A Livestream of a fashion show, with no host for the most part.

Objective: Awareness

Examples: Armani, Givenchy

  • Discussion rooms

Format: Hosts speak about various topics and respond to questions

Objective: Awareness, sometimes sales

Examples: HEYTEA, Shiseido

Livestream – Discovery: How Do Users Find Out About Live Streams?

Users can learn about your live streams in a variety of ways, including:

  1. A brand can add a plate informing about the upcoming live stream into the article. 
  2. WeChat displays a red dot and the name of the account that is currently live-streaming on the ‘Discover’ page.
  3. The streams of subscription accounts are promoted within the subscription folder with the currently streaming accounts encircled in red.
  4. A button to ‘reserve‘ (be alerted) when the live stream begins is included in all accounts.
  5. On the main channel page of WeChat Channels that are now streaming, there is a tile displaying the stream cover.
  6. Brand zone when searching for the brand through WeChat Search.
  7. And potentially more to come.
WeChat Channels Live Streaming Discovery Touchpoints

WeChat Channels Live Streaming Discovery Touchpoints

💬 If you are new to WeChat Channels you might want to get more familiar with the best tactics and grow your fanbase before organizing your first live-streaming sessions: WeChat Channels – How to Post for Success? 

Notable Livestream Features

  • Livestream – Purchase Path: When visitors enter the live-stream room, a floating window displays on the screen with a link to a direct e-commerce product page. By clicking on the ‘shopping bag’ icon, users can browse additional products. Users can look up additional information about a product and add it to their cart, or they can buy it right away and pay.

    WeChat Channels Live Streaming Purchase Path

    WeChat Channels Live Streaming Purchase Path

  • Livestream – Customer Service: Users can use the ‘comment’ function to ask questions, and they can also go to ‘customer service from the product page. Brands can also include a button to add a WeCom customer service contact to talk to the sales team one-on-one. By clicking on the ‘phone’ symbol (a rarely utilized feature), users can call the host live. Users can also participate in a live video or audio call with the host in real-time.
  • Livestream – Sharing a Stream: The stream can be shared with friends or uploaded to Moments. The user will be given a preview similar to WeChat Channels (live-stream cover). The preview will be blurred if the live stream has already ended. Users can click to reserve a live stream if a brand has already planned one.
WeChat Channels Live Streaming Sharing

WeChat Channels Live Streaming Sharing

  • Other features of a live stream: Livestream also offers the ability to hold lucky draws and create red packets. Users are invited to ‘comment’ (typically a brief message) to enter a random drawing for a prize – usually a tiny e-commerce coupon (which is quite popular). Red packets gifts can also be set up by hosts for their guests (Not very popular)

How to apply for WeChat Live Streaming?

Brands cannot start a live stream automatically. WeChat requires a formal application in the WeChat Channels backend to open the live streaming function.

Fill in:

  • The type of live streaming, 
  • Short-term and long-term plans, 
  • Contact information.
WeChat Channels Live Streaming Application

WeChat Channels Live Streaming Application

For the live stream, the WeChat Channel operator can stream directly from their mobile phone or computer desktop. 

When the application is approved in the WeChat Channels backend will share the streaming address and key provided by the video account assistant to output live streams through third-party platforms such as OBS.

Additional options: 

  1. Target Audience: when applying for the broadcasting, the brand can choose to allow only users on the list to watch your live broadcast – this requires uploading a list of WeChat IDs of selected users. 
  2. Products & Coupons: brand can upload a list of products and coupons in the backend that can be later on used and shared with the viewers during the session. 
  3. Teasers & reservations: brand can create a live steaming reservation and fill in the live steaming time and introduction. After successful creation, a brand can then insert the reservation card into the official account posts. At the same time, it can also be directly displayed in the video of the channel. A QR code is also available to download.
  4. Additional links: there are 4 types of links that that account can place during the live streaming:
    • Link to the next live stream and its reservation (to receive notification)
    • Link to the official account article
    • WeCom customer service contact card
    • Hongbao – red packet.
WeChat Channels Live Streaming Links

WeChat Channels Live Streaming Links

Before preparing your next live streaming session don’t forget to read out article on live streaming dos and don’ts.

Conclusion

WeChat has emerged as an extremely useful and powerful tool for businesses looking to expand to the Chinese market. From its live-streaming feature to its various other content, WeChat represents the growing trend of mobile-first social media. 

Its continued success is evident in the way it has already become an indispensable platform for businesses to market their products and build brand influence, not just in China but across Asia. That’s something brands would be wise not to overlook. 

If you wish to know more about WeChat and its various features, please contact our team. We use our knowledge and expertise to help businesses build meaningful partnerships and develop their network among Chinese customers. For additional information, please contact at contact@thewechatagency.com.

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WeChat Channels – How to Post for Success?

May 7, 2022

WeChat Channels, which was released for beta testing in early 2020, is a relatively new short and largely untapped video platform within WeChat that allows users to produce and share short video clips and photographs to their own WeChat Channel.

The WeChat Channels feed also allows users to discover information posted to other Channels (by their friends and other WeChat accounts). Here’s our Beginners Guide to WeChat Channels if you want a shorter version or TL: DR one

WeChat Marketing Strategies

WeChat Channels, with over 200 million MAUs (Monthly Active Users), are becoming an increasingly essential touchpoint for marketers in China. They greatly aid in brand discovery because the content is displayed to all users rather than just followers, as is the case with articles on official accounts. With fully open content dissemination and adoption of hashtags, content is discovered in a whole new way on WeChat. Compared to official accounts where updates are only visible to followers, this is truly a gamechanger. 

What Are Some of the Advantages of WeChat Channels?

Channels provide numerous options to promote your brand by encouraging people to share with their friends or in their Moments. Viewers can like and comment on the post, as well as on the remarks of others. Channels content liked by your contacts will be automatically shown to you in the tab ‘Liked by friends’ and they will see content liked by you too (unless you change your privacy settings). 

Each WeChat Channel post may have the following elements:

  • A short description 
  • A number of relevant, popular, branded and contextual hashtags
  • A location tag
  • A link to an article on WeChat Official Account or a red packet 
  • A link to an online event (live streaming)

Trending Content on WeChat Channels

The most popular WeChat channel content is very similar to that found on Douyin or TikTok. It is viral in nature and is driven by trends and hashtags such as dancing challenges, lip-sync skits, memes, and fashion and food-related videos. 

However, Channels are also a great brand discovery tool for B2B brands with a much more mature audience that uses WeChat on a daily basis for professional communication – educational content and news are among the top content. That’s why visual and video professional content has much higher chances to resonate on WeChat compared to other short video platforms. 

According to the Weixin Class pro, Tencent will pay even more emphasis on Channels in the coming months, and there are already some modifications in the works, such as the addition of WeChat’s own services menus.

Read about WeChat Class PRO 2022 (WeChat creator’s annual competition)

A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Channels on WeChat

Step 1: Open your WeChat account.

To begin, log in to your personal WeChat account using the WeChat app.

Even if you have an Official Account on WeChat, Channels must first be launched by personal accounts before they can be linked to brands.

Pro tip: Before you start, keep in mind that if you want to link between your Official Account and Channel account (these two are not automatically connected), the admin of the OA and Channel account must be the same. 

Step 2: Proceed to the WeChat Channels tab.

Once you’ve logged into your personal account, go to the main navigation bar and click on the ‘Discover’ button, then select ‘WeChat Channels.’ This will take you to the WeChat Channels feed.

Step 3: Select the camera icon in the upper right corner.

You should see a small camera icon in the upper right corner of the WeChat Channels feed – click on it, and then the ‘new channel’ option appears.

Step 4: Complete your WeChat Channel profile.

You will then be prompted to submit the following information:

  • Name (use your brand name)
  • Bio
  • Gender
  • Location 

Fill these in and click ‘create’.

Next steps: As a next step you might want to connect your official account with the newly created Channels account and apply for verification (blue tick). 

Posting on WeChat Channels

Today, we’ll go through how to post on channels to get the most out of your efforts.

There are two methods for posting to Channels.

  • One from the mobile (for brands account only for the admin mobile)
  • One from the computer (operators can be added in the backend)

Apart from a number of video editing capabilities that are useful for on-the-go artists (adding music, cropping video), both offer the same options for post-production optimization.

WeChat Channels

WeChat Channels Backend View

WeChat Channels Content Types – Formats

What goes into a post on a WeChat Channel?

  • Up to 9 images can be uploaded.
  • Videos can be up to one hour long, 2GB in size, and in mp4 format.

Pictures function similarly to Instagram carousel posts, but video footage can be preferred by the algorithm. So, if you have a few photos, you can try to edit them into a film to get better results.

When it comes to videos, bear in mind that the attention span on WeChat is relatively short, so while you can publish extended movies, try to make them brief and relevant.

Choose a vertical format whenever possible! Users usually check WeChat Channels on mobile devices, therefore horizontal may not be attractive for viewers.

WeChat Channels

Tips to Optimize Post Description 

  • Length – Keep it brief and to the point, just like you would for Instagram. Keep in mind that only the first few lines of our copy will display, therefore hook.
  • Hashtags – will help to increase your visibility, but Channels are not entirely hashtag-driven platforms. Concentrate on a few well-chosen hashtags, such as your business name, campaign topic, or broad topic. Put the hashtags at the beginning or end of the copy.
  • Mentions – In your post, you can tag the accounts of other Channels. Excellent for collaboration. 
  • Location – you can include it to boost exposure, but it’s optional.
  • Link – From an official account or a red cover, you can link to an article. To find your article link, open it in WeChat and click (…) in the upper right corner, then ‘copy link.’ Use this feature to direct traffic to your official account.
  • Activity – you can add a link to a live-streaming event 
  • Time of publication – You can schedule your post or publish it immediately.

Conclusion

Short video content has become the latest trend in China and is growing at an astonishing speed. It is reported that the number of short video users has reached 920 million by end of 2021.*  

WeChat has been pushing users to make and watch videos on WeChat Channels, so it may see increased traffic in the near future. If you wish to know more about WeChat channels or need assistance in optimising your WeChat account, please contact our team. We use our knowledge and expertise to help businesses build meaningful partnerships and develop their network among Chinese customers. For additional information, please contact at contact@thewechatagency.com.

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A Beginner’s Guide to WeChat Channels

April 8, 2022
WeChat Channels Video

Posting on WeChat Channels on Mobile

WeChat has developed a new dedicated space for video content, similar to Instagram Reels. It is targeted towards content creators, brands, businesses and individuals who want to reach out to a new (or existing) audience beyond their circle of WeChat followers.

This new touchpoint can potentially be a great convergence of opportunities, especially since the short video market is on a steep rise.

As of mid-2022, WeChat Channels have approximately 450 million Monthly Active Users, it’s a 50% growth since the last year and we can only see Tencent investing more and adding new functions as they have already announced at Weixin Class PRO – an annual conference for WeChat creators.

1. Introduction to WeChat Channel

What are WeChat Channels?

It’s not a new app. It’s a new feature inside WeChat that allows users, influencers, and brands to create short format videos (or carousel, up to 9 pictures) and distribute them on their feed. Other info that can be added to the post is:

  • Hashtags to improve discoverability
  • A WeChat Official Account article link, if any
  • A location

A video feed on WeChat Channels looks similar to the type of feed on other popular short-video Chinese apps like Douyin (Tik Tok as it’s known internationally – see what’s the difference between TikTok and Douyin) or Kuaishou. Users can scroll through the feed infinitely to discover what their friends & their favorite brands have posted as well as content from the other users, influencers and public accounts.

As with any feed, this feed too is ruled by an algorithm that displays content not only from your WeChat contact or the WeChat Official / WeChat Video Account you follow but also from the rest of WeChat, depending on your behavior on the app. That means WeChat users are able to explore content and follow users that are not in their contact and WeChat Official Accounts that they are not following.

This brings a new trajectory to increase discovery on WeChat, which has been a relatively closed ecosystem before (in terms of privacy settings and discoverability).

🔥We prepared this helpful step-by-step list for WeChat Channels – How to Post for Success? Get familiar with it to unlock your reach.

 

Here are some important algorithmic factors to determine content display:

  • Number of likes = Popularity
  • Geo-location
  • Your WeChat friends/contacts’ engagements and activities
  • Followed accounts

2. Posting on Channels

How to register to WeChat Channels to start posting

You can apply to post by clicking on the camera icon on the top right top of the screen from your WeChat personal account. For official brand account, the admin for both WeChat Official Account and WeChat Channels account must be the same. 

Here is the information to fill in during the registration of your Channels profile:

  • Name
  • Brief description
  • Gender
  • Location

Once completed and created, you are able to start posting.

We recommend that brands go a step further and undergo an additional verification process to enjoy more features like connecting their WeChat Channels video account to their official WeChat account (where articles are posted) and live streaming and e-commerce.

➡️ Check out our: ULTIMATE Live-Streaming Guide for WeChat Channels

 

Live Streaming Channels

Live Streaming on WeChat Channels

Functions that are accessible from the WeChat Channels Dashboard are:

  • List of WeChat Channels Account you follow
  • List of followers
  • Number of views
  • List of interactions (comments / likes / notifications) with your WeChat Channels Account

3. How to access the section ‘WeChat Channel’?

There are 2 main opportunities to drive traffic:

  • From the ‘Discover’ section

This feature is accessible from the ‘Discover’ section in the main menu. The ‘Channels’ item is just below the ‘Moments’ item.

  • By Sharing

There is a ‘Go to Channel’ CTA on the landing page after clicking on the Channels-related post shared card. 

 

WeChat channels provide a great opportunity for KOLs and brands to up their short-video game and leverage the huge WeChat user base at the same time. Because of the boom in the short-video market, many brands have already started leveraging WeChat Channel’s features, and more are pushing their marketing plans to accommodate it.

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