WeChat Stickers – A Quick Guide

May 18, 2022

WeChat (微信, Weixin) is China’s most popular social media platform – no less than 1.27 billion users use the app on a monthly basis. It has outgrown its initial messaging functionality a long time ago and now is a powerhouse offering a myriad of options for users including interacting with brands on different levels. 

By 2023, the predicted e-commerce gross merchandise value (GVM) on WeChat would be 13 trillion RMB (more than 2 trillion USD). Hence, making it a vital platform for brands to connect with their target audience.

WeChat has various features that help brands increase engagement and interact more effectively with their customers. The WeChat Sticker is one such tool that brands can leverage. 

What Are WeChat Stickers?

Global consumers devote significant time to social media and instant messaging applications. Every internet user has sent an emoji at some point, and over 10 billion emojis are transmitted each day. Emojis and stickers in messaging apps are quickly becoming an important element of our online language, if not our culture. Netizens use this special “language” to communicate with one another while also having fun. Chinese netizens, particularly Chinese millennials, are no exception.

With 50 billion messages sent on WeChat every day, many of them are WeChat stickers. WeChat stickers are simply light-weighted png or GIF files shared directly from the keyboard in the WeChat message window. It’s not surprising to see stickers appearing in both personal and professional conversations and group chats. In fact, many users proudly boast their sticker collections or even create their own. While most of the stickers take the form of cute animals, brand mascots, and animated delicacies, some of them can express a deeper sense of humor or irony. 

Behaviors Around Stickers

Chat interactions on WeChat are frequently sprinkled with animated stickers, in both professional and personal contexts. Stickers are used to express emotions (such as joy or pity), infuse humor into a conversation, and deliver seasonal holiday greetings. 

In reality, because outward expression of sentiments and attitudes is discouraged, as well as a predilection for an obscure sense of humor, Chinese users are even more passionate about the so-called 表情包 (Biao qing bao=facial expression pack, Chinese for stickers pack used on messaging applications). 

How users can get stickers?

WeChat stickers can be found through browsing the app’s sticker section, searching for keywords, or bookmarking stickers and sticker packs provided by friends. Users can store sticker packs (collections of 16 or 24 stickers) or individual stickers on their accounts so they can use them readily in chats.

How Brands Are Utilising Them?

Businesses are repurposing the WeChat sticker frenzy as marketing tools to help their brands expand. Brands looking to digitalize their image and engage with consumers throughout their everyday activities are discovering that stickers can make their messaging stick.

Many social networking networks provide emojis, GIFs, and sticker sets to express emotions via mobile app messaging functions. WeChat stickers are widely used in mobile messaging platforms.

Example: The luxury company Louis Vuitton celebrated its founder’s 200th birthday in August 2021. Louis Vuitton devised a game for their global audience to commemorate the occasion and this game is available for download via WeChat and is available in both English and Chinese.  In “Louis the Game,” players must find 200 collectible candles to mark the anniversary; each one unlocks stories about Louis’ life and family. The game also includes 30 NFTs that players can gather along the journey. Moreover, Louis Vuitton designed a limited-edition series of WeChat stickers that users can share with their friends. The set includes Louis Vuitton-branded game items such as a key and candle.

WeChat Stickers Offer Key Advantages for WeChat Marketing in China

Stickers are an excellent tool for promoting your WeChat marketing in China. 

Stickers are great tools for:

  • Raising brand awareness
  • Interacting with your followers in a playful way
  • Promoting your brand, brand elements, and more importantly brand mascot
  • Connecting better with tech-enthusiastic Gen Z 

 

Who Should Create WeChat Stickers?

The great news is that virtually all brands can create their own sticker collections and leverage them in their communication. Obvious candidates are tourism destinations, the F&B industry or fashion but branded sticker collections for B2B brands are a great idea too. Employees cannot only use more fun ways to say ‘Thank You’ or ‘Meeting room is ready’ but also to use stickers with conversations with their contacts outside of the company. 

WeChat Stickers

Stickers promoting a Chinese tourist destination, French culture, Japanese food

How Brands Can Create Stickers?

Brands have two options to share their stickers with their fans.

(1) Publish a WeChat post with branded stickers for users to download. Users can long-press each sticker and save them one by one. 

This method doesn’t require setting an enterprise account therefore you can be more creative with your stickers and include your brand logo.

(2) Launch stickers without the brand/product name directly on the WeChat Stickers Gallery. Users will be able to download the whole pack or selected ones. 

In this scenario, you might have to remove your brand name or logos to pass the verification so your creations do not fall under the promotional stickers category. Alternatively, you can submit more documentation for Tencent.

WeChat Stickers

Stickers from Starbucks, Tiffany’s and Montagut The latter posted within an article

Registration materials required by Tencent:

  1. Go to the WeChat stickers portal
  2. Account information: company name and e-mail
  3. Registered company information: business license, license registration number, merchant ID (optional)
  4. Authorization Letter
  5. Operator information: name, ID card number and scan, phone number, active WeChat linked to a bank card  

Submitted stickers must respect WeChat’s audit standards and do not fall within the list of restricted topics like medicine or finance. WeChat doesn’t allow stickers with clear promotional and advertising content. We can help you navigate through these requirements. 

The general review period is ten working days.

WeChat Stickers

Conclusion

Emojis and stickers have become an integral component of internet conversations all around the world, and they have altered how teenagers and the younger generation connect with one another. A picture is worth a thousand words and can assist to lighten the mood, making online communication more engaging and fun. How can international brands use this instrument to enter into the lives of Chinese consumers?

The following are some major takeaways for international companies looking to leverage branded stickers in China:

  1. In China, stickers are more popular than emojis.
  2. WeChat dominates the Chinese internet messaging app market. International companies should release their branded emojis and stickers on WeChat rather than the App Store or Google Play Store.
  3. Before designing customised emojis and stickers, international firms should be very explicit about their aim and target audience. When customers can relate to the stickers, they are considerably more inclined to share them.
  4. Learn about the habits of Chinese millennials and the Chinese communication culture. Incorporating buzzwords or famous phrases into branded stickers could be a smart approach but requires understanding and cultural sensitivity. 
  5. Branded stickers should have a good balance of product and brand marketing and intriguing content (e.g., witty messages, cute graphics) to make them more appealing to consumers.

Find more news related to WeChat on our blog

If you wish to know more about WeChat stickers and other engagement tools, 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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China News for the Week

May 11, 2022

Top 5 Chinese Tech Firms Have Lost Nearly Half of Their Combined Market Cap in 2 Years

Why it matters: After two decades of phenomenal expansion, the top five Chinese tech behemoths have lost at least 46% of their total market capitalisation.

  • In April 2020, Apple’s valuation = Alibaba+Tencent+Meituan+JD.com+Pinduoduo the top five Chinese tech firms
  • In April 2022, Apple’s valuation = 49 top Chinese tech firms combined. Apple’s valuation has more than doubled while many Chinese tech firms’ valuation has decreased or stagnated

What are the reasons? 

  • A saturating local market
  • Pandemic outbreaks
  • US-China trade tensions
  • Rigorous government regulations
  • The loss of the “upbeat spirit” of China’s business world.

Link: https://technode.com/2022/05/09/top-5-chinese-tech-firms-have-lost-nearly-half-of-combined-market-cap-in-2-years/

Chinese Internet Users Buy Fake Covers After Social Media Forcefully Reveal Their Locations

Why it matters: Chinese internet users are playing cat and mouse with the country’s social media sites, which have violated users’ privacy by requiring them to give their geolocation.

Many people have been surprised by the new rules. Many popular marketing personas with international pictures and selling qualities, for example, are demonstrated to be based in China.

As a result, several enterprises are now selling services that change IP addresses on e-commerce platforms like Taobao for as little as RMB 6 ($0.9) per day. Many of these businesses claim to be able to change location information (in Chinese) on platforms such as Weibo and Douyin.

Link: https://technode.com/2022/05/07/chinese-internet-users-buy-fake-covers-after-social-media-forcefully-reveal-their-locations/

Why Is Email Marketing Ineffective in China?

An email has never been popular in China in comparison to the West. Experian Market Services statistics from 2015, which examined email marketing success in selected Asia Pacific nations, showed that China’s total opening rate was barely 10.5%, compared to 33.1%  in New Zealand.

Chinese users check their emails 22% less frequently than users worldwide. Smartphones have mostly overtaken desktops as the primary computing device in China. The country was a late adoption of computers, and as internet cafés began to develop in the 1990s and early 2000s, young people began to engage with one another using social messaging apps such as QQ.

Email marketing frequently disappoints marketers because the majority of Chinese do not regularly check their personal emails (if they have one at all) and would expect the brands they care about to meet them in their native digital environment.

WeChat brand accounts are far more engaging than email and can provide information on several elements of the brand.

Link: https://daoinsights.com/opinions/why-does-email-marketing-not-work-in-china/ 

The Future of E-Commerce on Douyin and 5 Tips on How to Prepare

In China, TikTok is known as Douyin. With over 600 million active daily users, it’s a hugely popular short video app. That equates to half of China’s population.

Unlike TikTok, Douyin clearly integrates e-commerce. Douyin users can complete purchases within the app by clicking links within each short video. Douyin thus becomes a viable sales channel, perfectly adapted to impulse purchases.

Link: https://agencychina.com/blog/e-commerce-on-douyin-5-tips-how-to-prepare/ 

WeChat to Reveal Users’ IP Location on a Public Posts

WeChat announced on Friday that it will begin displaying users’ whereabouts when they post on a public account.

WeChat, which is controlled by Tencent, said it would soon begin testing the setting, which only applies to users of its “public platform,” where they can comment on news, essays, and other written content published by official accounts.

The new settings will show the province or municipality of Chinese users who post on public accounts. Posts made by users from other countries on public accounts will show the nation indicated by their IP address.

WeChat, which has over 1.2 billion monthly users, stated in a notification that the action targeted misinformation about “local and international hot-topic topics,” but did not elaborate.

Link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/-utfIpLwq7Iq6GKqldKRhw

A Part of Gen Z Decides to Give Up Filters on Social Media

Posting on WeChat is becoming increasingly tiresome for many individuals. Typically, it takes them 5 minutes to take photos and 1 hour to edit them in Photoshop, plus they have to think of an interesting environment to write in. Finally, it appears to be extra labour.

As a result, as more people become dissatisfied with social media, they want a platform that is easier and less stressful. Then, all of a sudden, a new app becomes extremely popular. It’s called “BeReal,” and it was created in France.

Users cannot upload photos to this platform. Instead, they can only utilise the app’s camera to snap a live photo. Furthermore, the platform lacks a filter and editing tool, so users may only send original photographs. Furthermore, BeReal does not allow users to choose when they want to snap photos and share them. Instead, the system tells every user to perform everything at once. Every time, users have only 2 minutes to shoot photos and upload them before it is too late. BeReal wishes to save the most genuine moment in your life. Furthermore, you cannot choose not to be genuine because both of your phone’s cameras will be activated, allowing people to see both your face and where you are. Finally, there are no “like,” “share,” or “comment” buttons on BeReal; the only way to communicate with your friend is to take a picture of yourself and send emoji.

The concept of BeReal is that they want people to calm down and forget those annoying data, while just focusing on what is happening in real life. Perhaps because of that, BeReal suddenly became popular. In the first quarter of 2022, the number of users increased by 315%. And it has become the Top 4th app in America, France, and England, just behind Instagram, Snapchat and Pinterest.

In France, 80% of the users are Gen Z, mainly because they are tired of pretending and being identified by others. They are not afraid of being “ugly”, they just want to be themselves rather than live in other people’s comments.

Link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/5L0JpmtmXZ-j7Va2sVB-xQ

Glamping Swept China’s Social Media This Labor Day Holiday

Because of the COVID-19 control measures and continued domestic travel limitations, Chinese people spent their Labor Day holiday this year on short getaways and staycations. The most popular topic these days is “glamping” (glamorous camping). According to Ctrip data, online traffic for “camping” reached a historic high on the first day of the holiday, and search volume jumped by 90% over the previous week. There are nearly three million campaign-related UGC (user-generated content) entries on Xiaohongshu, ranging from gear photos to the journey itself.

From January to April of this year, the number of participants on Ctrip was five times that of the entire year of 2021. In addition, the number of camping facilities has increased by 800% since this year.

Camping can be classified into two categories: luxurious camping and survival camping. The first emphasises quality, whereas the second emphasises the difficulty of surviving in the field. The most popular is luxury camping because most people prefer to explore nature rather than build a genuine fire. And those stunning photographs on social media have had a huge influence on individuals who have never gone camping before, making camping a new fashion trend among young Chinese visitors.

This brisk growth portends a bright future for the outdoor equipment and apparel business. According to Daxue Consulting, the sector would be worth $100 billion (666.8 billion RMB) by 2025. Luxury residences were eager to seize this opportunity. Prada debuted its Outdoor Collection last year, a distinctive ready-to-wear line inspired by the great outdoors.

However, this part still has many obstacles, such as style, functioning, colours, activities, and so on. Players in this game should think outside the box and be more creative while maintaining quality.

Link: https://jingdaily.com/glamping-labor-day-china-prada-beast/?utm_source=Jing+Daily+Subscriber+List&utm_campaign=069f57ad7b-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_03_12_06_39_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8dec01cd8d-069f57ad7b-40884038

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WeChat Menu Basics: Introduction for Brands

March 16, 2022

What is WeChat Menu?

Aside from articles, one of the most important functions that companies can use on WeChat is the Menu – it’s always-on content that brands can use in a variety of ways.

The WeChat menu is where users will search for key information, such as your company’s contact details, brand story, key products, product line introduction, and more. They can simply access these menu tabs when they click on your WeChat official account.

To begin with, the WeChat menu is similar to the menu on a website, and you can replicate or mirror the menu from your official website by taking into account which information are the most important for your China’s audience. As you will see in this article, a well-crafted menu by directing the users to relevant tabs can increase sales and increase lead generation. Menu tabs can be updated on regular basis and some can lead to ongoing events or campaigns. 

WeChat Menu Backend

Menu – More Important than One Thinks

According to Digital Luxury Group, of all the engagement activities carried out by followers, Menu Clicks ranked the highest of all types of engagements with official accounts at an astounding 73%. This might be a shock for many brands that mainly focus on producing amazing weekly content but often neglect regular updates of their WeChat menu. Users tend to engage with brands on WeChat when they are looking for specific types of information or services, which are generally accessed through the menu tabs therefore menu serves a different purpose than weekly articles. 

WeChat Menu Stats

Why Use The WeChat Menu?

Best first impression: When a user clicks to follow your account, they receive an automatic welcome message. You can edit and craft this message by using WeChat links directing to menu tabs, e-shops, contact forms, etc. Make sure it’s concise and not too long.

Smoother user journey: The menu helps users quickly find all FAQ (frequently asked questions) information. From the menu, they should be able to access e-commerce (if applied), customer service, and brand introduction. This is something that WeChat users are used to and automatically check when following a new account. 

Stay up-to-date: Look at the menu as your information hub for the Chinese market as it’s quite possible that your Chinese customers will check your WeChat menu more often than your website. Carefully focus on the most important tabs like brand introduction, current product catalog, contract details page e.g. one of the biggest mistakes we’ve seen it’s uploading contact details as image, therefore, emails or phone numbers can’t be copy-pasted causing inconvenience for potential customers. 

Gain new followers: Although the menu is only visible to users who visited your WeChat account and won’t necessarily help with the initial account awareness when you manage to hook your visitors with the menu, you can lead them through a rich brand experience journey. That’s why investing more time and effort into creating menu content is crucial. 

WeChat Menu Backend WeChat Menu Backend

WeChat Menu Montagut WeChat Menu Montagut WeChat Menu Montagut

Who Can Enable the Menu?

The menu function is accessible by two types of accounts:

– Verified subscription accounts,

– Service accounts.

The good news is that all overseas companies applying for a service account can enable a menu on their official WeChat account. The menu can be set up and edited using the desktop official account WeChat backend. 

Menu Tabs

From the technical point of view, the menu can consist of a maximum of three columns and each can have a maximum of five sub-menus. Your menu can have a total of 15 tabs. In special cases, if you need more submenu tabs, there is also an option to create a menu tab showing a collection of related articles for more advanced WeChat users. You can contact us to find out more. 

However, we don’t recommend setting up a maximum amount of many tabs as it might be slightly overwhelming for the users and make it hard to find the information that they are looking for. Remember that the core of the WeChat menu is its functionality. Hence, 8 or 9 tabs is ideal.

There are a few options to build your menu:

Sub-menu content

  • Send a Message  
    • Article,
    • Text message,
    • Image,
    • Audio,
    • Video.
  • Jump to Web page:
    • WeChat article – best user experience as the page loads quickly, and beautiful posts can be created.
    • External website – not recommended since if the website is hosted outside of China, it will be extremely slow. If it is in English, it will be discouraging to readers.
  • Jump to Mini Program

Jump to ‘WeChat Article’ is the most user-friendly solution. 

WeChat Menu GB  WeChat Menu PG

How to create a menu?

Step 1: On the top left of your public account page, you’ll notice a “menu” icon appear after you’ve created your service account or had your subscription account certified.

Step 2: Create three first-level menu items and second-level sub-menu items for each of them. 

Each menu column name can consist of up to 4 Chinese characters or 8 letters

Each menu tab name can consist of up to 8 Chinese characters or 16 letters

Step 3: Now it’s time to start creating content for your menu. Click on each item to create content when users click on each tab. As mentioned above you can ideally link it to either one of the messages you just produced, an existing article, WeChat mini program or an external webpage (make sure the webpage displays well on mobile and fast enough for WeChat user standards).

Sometimes it can take up to 24 hours for a new menu to appear on your account. Be patient!

Conclusion

Here are the important things to know about the Menu:

  • WeChat menus are becoming one of the most clicked types of content in the WeChat official account ecosystem. 
  • They are your brand information hubs for the Chinese market. 
  • Brands can set at most 3 menu columns with each menu column set a max of 5 sub-menus. In total, a brand has 15 sub-menu tabs to leverage.
  • WeChat’s official account backend allows tracking follower behavior to understand the click rate of each menu. We will cover WeChat menu optimization and other advanced options in our next post. 

Read more about in the second part of this article: WeChat Menu Basics: How to Optimize WeChat Menu?

Are you looking for setting up your very own WeChat Menu? Please get in touch with our team. We apply our knowledge and experience to assist businesses in forming meaningful connections and expanding their consumer base in China. For additional information, please contact us by phone – Shanghai or Hong Kong

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Advertising on RED/XiaoHongshu

February 21, 2022

Xiaohongshu, also simply called RED, is one of the fastest-growing smart social commerce apps on the market, with over 100 million monthly active users. RED provides multinational brands with enormous opportunities to maximize their potential and establish a strong presence in China. It’s for this reason that famous brands like Louis Vuitton and YSL are clamoring to advertise on the site. If you are not convinced yet check our previous post 5 Reasons to Leverage RED/Xiaohongshu and How to Set Up an Account. 

In the ever-changing digital landscape, it’s a must-have Chinese marketing channel for beauty, lifestyle, and fashion brands. 

RED helps marketers to engage and sell to their target market by utilizing a filtering algorithm that tailors material to users’ likes, which is one of the most significant advantages.

The most effective strategy to reach users is to advertise in the app’s newsfeed. User-friendly and authentic material with clear reasons to interact is preferable. We recommend to use a mix of multimedia with enticing descriptions with hashtags to cover a variety of views depending on the objectives and industry subjects. 

One of the key ways to gather popularity on RED is of course collaboration with KOLs and KOC ​​which we will cover in our next posts.  

Who are Chinese influencers: KOL and KOCs? 

Today, we will focus on how you can advertise using RED’s native media buy system.

While advertising on the platform is certainly beneficial to your business, navigating XiaoHongshu’s merchant setup can be tricky. There’s a lot to consider, and there’s not a lot of help available. Here’s all you need to know about selling on XiaoHongshu without the hassle!

Step 1: Create an account on RED / XiaoHongshu

To begin, you must first create an account on XiaoHongshu’s enterprise system. If you’re an incorporated business with your own email account, this should be pretty simple.

Step 2: Provide information about your business

After you’ve created an account, you’ll need to fill out the following information:

  • Company information and qualification: like your contact information, location, the origin of your goods, trading model (cross-border or general commerce), and business type. Also, include a Chinese business license or letter verifying your right to sell in China and proof of incorporation.
  • Financial information: your bank details, account number, billing currency, and sort code
  • Brand information and qualification: adding your brand name, description, and photos, as well as whether you’re a single or a multi-brand company. Also, I Include trademark certificates, permission to resell other brands (if applicable), and authorization to sell under your own brand.

Step 3: Review of qualifications on RED

After you submit the above information, XiaoHongshu will review your application and determine whether you are eligible to sell on their site. If all of the information you supplied is correct, you can complete it as soon as one week after your submission.

Step 4: Fill out the contract

When RED approves your application, you’ll receive both a digital contract to sign through email and a physical contract to return by mail. Read these over with a lawyer and sign them as soon as possible if you wish to move further.

Step 5: Take up the XiaoHongshu training

The completion of XiaoHongshu’s online training program is the final stage in the application procedure.

This section contains all you need to know about selling on the platform, and you won’t be able to start your store until you finish it. Set aside some time to concentrate on this – it will benefit you greatly in the long run.

Time taken to register: The length of time it takes to register is mostly determined by how quickly you can complete all of the paperwork, complete your company introduction, submit photographs, and so on.

If you do everything correctly from the start, you can administer the application in one week.

Costs included: Deposits and operating fees are included in the cost of selling on the platform. Deposits vary depending on your company’s “characteristics,” your qualifications, and the type of store you intend to open.

The deposit is usually RMB 20,000 and is returned three months after the store is closed.

Conclusion

Xiaohongshu’s unique stance as a trustworthy, celebrity-approved distributor of international products is an ideal route for businesses. Especially for ones looking to leverage the social commerce trend as part of the e-commerce revolution for purchasing superior products.

However, marketing in China is never simple. There are language barriers to overcome, rules to follow, and high costs to consider. All of that makes starting all too risky.  

That is why at KRDS, we commit to assisting businesses to achieve marketing success in China. If you require further support with setting up your 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 us by phone – Shanghai or Hong Kong

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WeChat (Weixin) Class PRO 2022: Top Highlights

January 18, 2022

WeChat which is known as Weixin (pronounced way-shin) in China is the country’s killer app, a highly addictive social networking tool that allows smartphone users to send messages and share news, photographs, videos, and web links, similar to WhatsApp in the United States or Line in Japan. 

Every year, WeChat organizes the annual conference “Open Class Pro” aimed at WeChat creators to find out what that number means for small businesses and what other new plans the networking giant has in the works.

WeChat Open Class Pro Highlights

1. On January 4th, 2022, at the annual event promoting the app’s new functions and strategies, a group of middle-ranking Tencent executives dubbed “WeChat lecturers” worked together to persuade Chinese users, including content creators and merchants, that the app would continue to be an important tool for entertainment and business in China with its mini-programs and short videos.

2. One of the main takeaways from the event was that the number of mini-programs – primarily created by third parties – has been gradually increasing, with 450 million daily active users expected by 2021. WeChat users visited small programs 32% more frequently in 2021 than the previous year, according to the Shenzhen-based tech giant.

  • In 2021, according to Lake Zeng Ming, CEO of Tencent’s Weixin Open Platform, more than 700 million individuals used pandemic-related services such as Covid-19 testing and vaccination appointments via WeChat micro-apps.
  • Tencent also stated that over the next three years, it will pay 10 billion yuan (US$1.57 billion) in subsidies to small merchants to encourage them to modernize their digital infrastructure.


3. Tencent also held a special session at the event on Channels, the app’s own short video service that will launch in 2020 and compete with Douyin, which has over 600 million daily active users in China.

Tencent has taken a step-by-step strategy to promote Channels, giving video content a more prominent position on WeChat. Channels had amassed 200 million users as of June 2021, according to the most recent data from Tencent, but WeChat has not given updated user counts since.

4. Weixin’s annual conference in Guangzhou also highlighted advancements in the app’s payment and search functions, as well as the commercial version.  But it was the app’s “channels” feature’s short videos and live streams that grabbed the Internet by storm.

Social Impact Methods in Empowering the Vulnerable

  • Weixin has included a new option for older users called Easy Mode, as well as an improvement to the Parental Control Mode for underage users, further boosting connections with age-specific updates.
  • Weixin launched a scheme for over 60,000 Shenzhen sanitation workers that allow them to eat for only 0.01 yuan a week at roughly 1,000 restaurants throughout the city. To assist gather funds, more than 20,000 eateries and their customers in China joined the philanthropic project.
  • In another case, Weixin developed the Star Knows campaign and used the Mini Program to enlist the public’s love and support in order to expand the number of books available to rural children.
  • Weixin also employed the Mini Program to assist Chinese users in becoming more environmentally conscious. Weixin launched the country’s first educational mini-program dedicated to the science of carbon emissions to raise public understanding of climate change.

The 2022 Open Class PRO conference went all out to achieve net-zero emissions, with speakers and guests wearing clothing made entirely of recycled plastic bottles. According to professional calculators, this event established a balance between emissions created and emissions removed from the environment

Weixin stated that it will continue to improve its products and provide support to developers, content creators, and partners in order for them to survive in the dynamic ecosystem and collaborate to provide more people-oriented innovative services.

How Did Small Businesses Benefit From Weixin Mini-Program?

Case study

Xiao Mian, a popular street meal from China’s southwest serves hot, tingly, and mouth-numbing dishes. Su Xuxiang, on the other hand, sees a lot of potential for delicacy across the country. Weixin’s noodle business has grown to 150 locations nationally in the last seven years, thanks in part to his mini-program feature.

Benefits

Yujian Xiaomian, co-founder of SU XUXIANG stated “Weixin was the first platform we used for orders and payments. We opted to employ the mini-program features two years ago. It not only improves our service, but it also allows us to better understand our clients. With the users’ permission, we can see what foods they prefer and where on the menu they spend the most time. It has also aided us in attracting six million people’’

Mini programs are less expensive and easier to develop than standalone apps, making them perfect for low-budget start-ups.

Tencent’s Weixin, or WeChat, claims that 450 million people used its mini-programs on a daily basis in 2021. These mini-programs are WeChat-based services provided by third parties. 

According to Weixin, small and medium-sized firms created 90% of new mini-programs in the previous year.

Tencent’s XU YANGYANG Catering and Life Services Business Weixin Open Platform is a platform created by Weixin. “COVID-19 cases continued showing up all over the place in 2020, wreaking havoc on dine-in services. That’s why, in addition to catering, we encouraged contactless ordering in barbershops and laundry services. The number of mini-programs and daily active users had doubled a year later. Most crucially, the number of transactions increased by a factor of five. We believe we’ve improved the efficiency of enterprises and society, which will lead to a stronger economic recovery.”

Conclusion

  • If you’re targeting higher-end customers, WeChat Mini-programs will almost certainly remain an important element of your marketing ecosystem. This is because they make it easier to convert new users.
  • Users that try out services through the WeChat Mini program are considerably more likely to upgrade to a Native App.
  • They’re a powerful tool because of their capacity to transform WeChat content into e-commerce.

If you require further support with setting up 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 us by phone – Shanghai or Hong Kong

 

Sources:

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2022-01-07/VHJhbnNjcmlwdDYxODQ1/index.html

https://chozan.co/wechat-vs-weixin/

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/weixins-open-ecosystem-reports-user-and-engagement-growth-301455662.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weixin

https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3162340/chinas-ubiquitous-wechat-doubles-down-mini-apps-short-videos-it-faces

https://walkthechat.com/wechat-mini-programs-simple-introduction/#:~:text=If%20you’re%20targeting%20higher,convert%20to%20a%20Native%20App.

https://recordtrend.com/industry-information/all-highlights-of-2021-wechat-open-class-pro/

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Creating Your Own Red Packet Cover On WeChat—The Ultimate Guide

January 13, 2022

It is a widespread custom for adults to gift red packets containing monetary gifts to children during Chinese New Year. However, in recent years, the habit of presenting friends and coworkers has transferred to China’s super-app, WeChat. As a result, the opportunity for brand visibility and interaction arose thanks to this behavioral change. Last week, we covered different ways in which brands can engage with their audiences during the Chinese New Year, today we will dig more into how to create your own red envelope on WeChat. 

What is a WeChat Red Envelope?

Tencent’s WeChat red envelope (or WeChat red packet cover – 红包封面) is a WeChat-based feature that was developed in China. But the concept itself is not new. In fact, it’s based on the Chinese tradition of hongbao (red envelope, or red packet), in which money is presented as a gift to relatives and friends. 

Tencent released the function in January 2014, and it has since grown in popularity, with Tencent reporting 2.3 billion transactions on the first day of 2016.

Users can give monetary presents to other users within a private conversation or group chat in the form of virtual ‘credits.‘ A user’s WeChat Pay account gets credited with funds that can be utilized to make purchases. 

WeChat offers two sorts of ‘red envelopes’: pairwise red packets, which send money from a private chat between two users, and group red packets, which distribute money in a group chat. After posting the ‘grouped’ red envelope to a group chat, the app assigns the amount in each envelope to each receiver at random. Fights for the biggest win of an envelope is a common and fun sight at the annual dinners across China.

Why Do Businesses Require Red Packets?

Moreover, there are other motivations for mobile payment companies to compete during this period, aside from the red packets being a cornerstone of WeChat’s development history. Because the Lunar New Year is the most important Chinese celebration of the year, there are more transactions than at any other time of the year. 

Thus a number of other brands, such as Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Versace, Burberry, and many more have incorporated the red envelope concept into their Chinese New Year’s marketing strategies. This year with more and more hype around red packets, payees are especially encouraged by brands to transfer ‘lucky money to a friend, thereby assisting the brand in expanding its brand awareness. Sometimes, like in the came of Gucci, users need to book their slot to receive the cover they can use via a mini-program to make it more exclusive. 

On the other hand, consumers may also receive a red envelope with a surprise discount after purchasing something in-store using WeChat Pay. These companies are often FMCG brands because a discount signals value and are generally not an incentive that luxury brands want to be associated with.

Step by Step Guide on Customisation Process of The Red Envelope

Step 1: Registered account and Required materials

Chinese mainland WeChat official account is open to everyone for registration: http://cover.weixin.qq.com 

Red Packet Cover On WeChat

Step 2: Submission for review

Check the official WeChat page for design requirements and specifics. 

  • Format: PNG / JPG / jpeg
  • Width and height: 957 * 1278 pixels
  • Size: ≤ 500kb

Red Packet Cover On WeChat

After you’ve finished customizing the red envelope, send it to the WeChat team for review.

Audit Cycle: The audit cycle is generally 1 working day.

Audit Result: The results will be published on your official WeChat account and sent over by mail after the audit is completed (WeChat envelopes). You can also check the status of the audit in my “seal” at the same time.

Red Packet Cover On WeChat

Step 3: Payment and refund

Select the number of users of the red envelope cover after approval and pay the payment item to create an order.

Price: The red envelope cover costs one yuan per piece.

Payment method: Payments can be made via Wechat, internet banking, or an offline transfer or remittance.

Refund: Only when the red envelope cover is removed from the shelf due to infringement, and there is a red envelope that is still within the distribution validity period and has not been successfully received by any user.

You will get a return for unused red envelopes at a rate of 1 yuan per piece.

Red Packet Cover On WeChat

Final Step

Step 4: Release cover

The cover can be distributed to the selected user after it has been properly purchased. It will expire after six months. Users will not be able to receive it after it has expired.

Distribution methods include:

  • QR code
  • Serial code
  • Link

According to the activity scenario, user group, collection rules, other factors, the customization party can choose the best distribution strategy.

Red Packet Cover On WeChat

Step 5: Trial cover

After each red envelope cover’s approval, ten trial covers for ten Wechat accounts can be obtained.

The cover is effective for two hours after scanning the code and can be used an unlimited number of times. The trial run expires after two hours have passed.

Red Packet Cover On WeChat

Step 6: User to use

Users can use the cover up to 3 months after they receive it as many times as they want. The received cover will automatically become invalid after the expiration date and cannot be used again.

 The red envelope display, which has been sent, will not be affected.

Red Packet Cover On WeChat

Step 7: Data analysis

Following the distribution of the cover, you can view real-time distribution data. You can also check data from the previous day, and cumulative statistics on the site. It includes:

  • covers purchased,
  • covers received,
  • red envelopes issued,
  • red envelopes opened,
  • how many times users accessed the red envelope details page,
  • how many times the users view the cover story,
  • and the number of times the viewers skipped the cover story.

Red Packet Cover On WeChat

Red Packet Cover On WeChat

Conclusion

Way to carry on traditions change these days. The one thing that has remained constant is the desire to enjoy the company of loved ones during this special time of year.

Also, around this time of year, the red envelope is a great way to attract a wide spectrum of customers and build your customer base. As a result, any company seeking to build a business relationship with the Chinese market should consider taking advantage of these prospects.

If you require further assistance with customizing your red envelope, 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 us by phone – Shanghai or Hong Kong

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WeChat Stats 2021

December 29, 2021

Weixin, which means micro message in Mandarin, was the name given to WeChat when it first debuted in 2011. It began as a simple communication programme, essentially a Chinese equivalent to WhatsApp, as its name suggests. The platform was developed and owned by Tencent, a Chinese internet giant and one of the world’s most valuable firms.

WeChat began as a simple messaging network, but it has evolved into much more. WeChat has basically become the home screen for many Chinese smartphone users thanks to its mini programmes platform, which allows almost any operation to be accomplished from within the app.

That being said, if you want to extend your business into the Chinese market, you’ll need a strategy that centres mostly around WeChat marketing, with an emphasis on WeChat users.

Here are some interesting WeChat statistics to help you see how powerful this platform really is. After all, there’s nothing like hard evidence, right?

WeChat: Active Users
WeChat has a monthly active user base of about 1.225 billion people.

Since its release in January 2011, it has grown by leaps and bounds. It evolved to become an important aspect of people’s lives, allowing them to communicate with friends and family via text messages, voice conversations, and video calls.

The aggregate monthly active users of Weixin and WeChat reached 1.225 billion in December 2020, up 5% year on year. Every day, 45 billion messages are sent and received on WeChat.

WeChat: User Demographics
Almost 40% of WeChat users are between the ages of 25 and 35 years old. Females account for 42.8% of users, while males account for 57.2%.

25 % of WeChat users in China are between the ages of 25 and 30, while another 13.8 % are between the ages of 31 and 35. Users under the age of 24 make up the greatest age demographic (33.5 %).

This is closely followed by users over the age of 41, who account for 19.1% of the total. If your company caters to these demographics, WeChat marketing could be very helpful to you.

WeChat Pay & Mini Programs Stats
WeChat Pay is used by 87% of Chinese consumers to make online payments and WeChat Mini Programs are used by almost 400 million people every day.

WeChat Pay is the second most popular online payment service in China, trailing only Alipay. Men and women make up an equal number of users, and the majority of its consumers (34%) are between the ages of 25 and 34, with the second-largest sector (28%) being between the ages of 35 and 44.

More than 400 million people utilise Mini Programs on a regular basis, resulting in total sales (GMV) more than double in 2020.  In addition, the average number of Mini Programs utilised per user climbed by 25% year over year, and the average transaction value increased by 67%.

WeChat: Market Share
WeChat probably accounts for 10-15% of the social media market, with over 1 billion active users. WeChat, on the other hand, is arguably the most popular social site in China, accounting for 34% of the country’s total data traffic

No other app in the world has this level of dominance in such a big market. In comparison, Facebook accounts for only 14.1% of North American traffic. In China, WeChat accounts for more than double that.

WeChat: Revenue
WeChat made 108.2 billion RMB in sales in 2020. In 2019, they received 82.3 billion RMB, compared to 72.7 billion RMB in 2018.

The 2021 stats for WeChat’s revenue is yet to be released, but with their constant innovation, its revenue is expected to rise again. This year, the Chinese messenger’s mini-programs facilitated 1.6 trillion RMB in annual transactions. If the increase in revenue attributed to their mini-programs is any indicator, they’ve had a fantastic year.

The Future of WeChat
WeChat will certainly be successful in China and will continue to expand. WeChat’s penetration rate in Western countries is expected to rise as well outside of the country. COVID-19 has hindered WeChat’s growth because of travel restrictions that prevent Chinese tourists from visiting. However, once the pandemic has passed, WeChat, particularly WeChat Pay, is likely to make a more serious foray into foreign markets.

In fact, Europe has been identified as a crucial growth region. WeChat Pay had been popular among businesses that serve Chinese tourists prior to the outbreak. As a result, the number of merchants accepting WeChat Pay in Europe climbed by 3.5% in 2019. Around 11% of Chinese overseas tourism was spent in Europe.

Conclusion
The stats presented above is rather remarkable and demonstrate how strong WeChat has proven to be. So, if you haven’t already considered incorporating it into your entire marketing strategy, now is the time to do so.

If you require further support with setting up your 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 us by phone – Shanghai or Hong Kong

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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E-commerce Platforms in China

December 7, 2021

 The Chinese economy has grown at an extraordinary rate in the last three decades. New buying patterns have been shaped by social progress, technology advancements, and rising disposable personal incomes. 

With this growing economy, it’s no surprise that Chinese e-commerce platforms are booming. Live-streaming e-commerce, social e-commerce, and cross-border e-commerce are only a few of the new e-commerce modes that have evolved in the market. 

According to a report released by China’s Ministry of Commerce, national e-commerce transactions totalled 34.82 trillion yuan in 2019. There were 10.63 trillion yuan in online retail sales, up 16.5% from the previous year, with physical goods accounting for 8.52 trillion yuan, or 20.7% of total retail sales in the market, and online retail sales of physical goods accounting for 8.52 trillion yuan, or 20.7% of total retail sales in the market.

 

E-commerce during the Pandemic

However, the global pandemic has had a significant impact on e-commerce. Many experts agree that Covid-19 has had a big impact on consumer behaviour in the first quarter of 2020. However, by 2021, it is obvious that e-consumers have adjusted to the new global environment, with China’s numbers increasing by 17%.

E-commerce has been able to grow as a result of social networks, which have made promotion, communication, and online purchase easier. Furthermore, Chinese apps such as WeChat have made it easier for consumers to buy things directly from manufacturers.

 

How can brands leverage e-commerce platforms?

To vary their marketing, brands are increasingly developing a mix of daily short videos and live streams within their own social e-commerce platforms. Unlike traditional out-of-home advertisements, where brands are limited to the number of products advertised, e-commerce platforms may now successfully use social media to quickly showcase a variety of different products in order to attract a larger audience.

Using e-commerce platforms in China can be beneficial to a wide number of enterprises. This has become crucial for businesses as a method for generating organic traffic, accurately identifying a targeted customer audience, standing out from competitors with exclusive discounts, and reducing advertising costs.

In China, there are numerous e-commerce platforms. So, which platform is ideal for you if you want to sell your products online?

 

Some of China’s leading e-commerce players

 

  • TMall TMall, or Taobao Mall is a B2C (business-to-consumer) platform.The majority of its merchants are professionals with a legal entity in China’s company registration system. Because all of the goods on Tmall are official and authentic, the average price is higher than on Taobao.The number of international brands and merchants on Tmall Global expanded by 60% year over year as of December 31, 2020. At the same time Paid GMV on Tmall Global increased by 37%.

    This platform is ideal for luxury brands, apparels, electronics, cosmetics and skincare sectors.

 

  • TaobaoTaobao is China’s largest consumer-to-consumer (C2C) e-commerce platform. The website is owned by Alibaba Group, a Chinese internet and technology corporation based in Hangzhou. According to a 2020 report, the platform’s monthly active mobile users reached 902 million, with a rise of 22 million in a single quarter, and yearly active consumers reached 779 million.

    This platform is ideal for all kinds of online businesses.

 

  • PinduoduoPinduoduo is a new but competitive e-commerce platform in China. It was formed in 2015, yet it only took four years to attain a trillion-yuan gross merchandise volume.  Its main benefit is social e-commerce, where consumers invite their friends to buy things and receive discounts.According to Pinduoduo’s most recent financial report, the number of active purchasers on the platform reached 788.4 million at the end of 2020, up 35% from 585.2 million at the end of 2019.

    This platform is ideal for the agricultural and food sectors.

 

  • JD.comWhen comparing Taobao to eBay, JD.com, the second largest B2C platform is comparable to Amazon. It primarily sells 3C products, including cell phones, laptops, and home appliances. They source products directly from brands and suppliers, who then distribute them to clients via JD.com’s official courier.JD Daojia, JD.com’s grocery services. With a total GMV of RMB 21.3 billion in 2020, it grew 102.9% from the previous year.

    This platform is ideal for apparel, electronics and fresh food sectors.

Social commerce

  • DouyinOne of the most popular social media networks, Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, is working on an e-commerce website. Since June 2020, ByteDance, the company that owns Douyin, has established an e-commerce department as the first level business unit.Douyin E-GMV commerce’s topped 500 billion yuan in February 2020, more than tripling that of 2019.

    This platform is ideal for the cosmetics, accessories, clothes and food sectors

On our blog, we’re also covering e-commerce on Kuaishou. You can also learn how niche perfume brands are accelerating on e-commerce platforms.

Conclusion

The Chinese internet market is by far the largest in the world, with over 850 million subscribers. Even though China has not yet achieved high-income economic status, it is well on its way, with income levels in the largest cities now approaching those of the most advanced economies. 

Furthermore, the country’s technological thirst propels the e-commerce business ahead, making it a leader in a number of categories, including mobile commerce and payments.

The current situation today in the Chinese eCommerce market is exciting. Because platforms are competing to be the most appealing to customers and companies. This competition not only implies more tools for merchants and consumers, but it also means less stringent registration criteria for companies looking to register on these platforms. 

Hence, this is an ideal way for international companies to reach the Chinese market. If you require further support with setting up your 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 us by phone – Shanghai or Hong Kong

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What is Zhihu? And 4 key benefits of using it.

November 23, 2021

WeChat, Weibo, and Douyin are almost certainly the first platforms that come to mind when it comes to social media marketing in China. While Zhihu may not be as well-known on a global scale, its reputation is unmatched. As one of China’s most reliable, expert-led social media platforms, it is worthwhile to investigate further.

Zhihu, which was founded in 2011, distinguishes itself from its competitors by offering high-quality questions and reliable responses. 

Its name is derived from the classical Chinese phrase 

“Do you know?”. 

The platform’s main feature is that users can ask and answer questions on a variety of topics, from software development to postnatal care

People can rate, bookmark, share, and comment on responses, as well as invite individual users to respond to their queries. Experts and professionals from a variety of industries utilise this platform to offer high-quality thoughts. 

According to the platform’s SEC registration statement, Zhihu is one of China’s “top five comprehensive online content communities.” It has 76 million monthly active users and 43.1 million cumulative content creators who have published 315.3 million questions and answers since it began as an invite-only service (as of 31 December 2020). 

Zhihu Marketing and its Benefits

Any company that wants to reach educated professionals in China with more disposable income should advertise on Zhihu.

However, certain brands will gain more than others from Zhihu marketing. Those in the B2B, IT, or professional services industries, for example, would be in the best position to boost brand awareness by providing true value to platform users. Whereas, fashion and beauty brands, on the other hand, are unlikely to succeed unless they’re expressly targeting the professional market.

 

Key Benefits 

 

  • Raise brand awareness by organising a Q&A session
    Zhihu is popular among the well-educated. According to studies, 80% of registered users have a bachelor’s degree or more, and 20% have had international educational experience. Zhihu’s user base is made up of people who have a lot of money, a lot of spending power, and a lot of knowledge, and who can talk about more high-level, technical, and premium issues.
  • 3rd-Party Mentions Can Help You Build Trust
    Being mentioned on the platform can help your company create credibility and go viral through word-of-mouth within the community because the majority of the users are well-educated. Many people come to Zhihu for in-depth evaluations and research when they need to make a purchasing decision, making it an immensely strong tool for soft-selling and influencing long-term buying decisions.
  • A well-educated user base
    Zhihu receives around 26 million daily visits on a typical day. This indicates that it is commonly used by Chinese internet users. As a result, Zhihu is an excellent platform for showcasing your brand to a big number of educated and well-off people. Given a large number of users and the platform’s “Q&A” character, this is a great platform for increasing brand visibility or marketing a new product.
  • High search engine authority
    Many popular search engines, such as Baidu, Sogou, and 360.com, rank Zhihu extremely high. It has a Baidu domain authority of 8/10 and a 360 search domain authority of 9/10. This demonstrates that major search engines trust Zhihu material, making it simpler for the platform’s content to rank high in search results.

 

Conclusion

Asking and answering questions, particularly ones that connect directly to your brand’s expertise is the simplest method to engage with the community. Users don’t respond well to overt promotion, so content should be meaningful and informative rather than brand-focused. 

Additionally, some of the platform’s newer features, such as Zhihu Live, can be used by firms to demonstrate their competence; for example, a cosmetics brand could live stream basic beauty demonstrations.

The company is preparing to develop a national knowledge-based content platform, thanks to some recent investments. It intends to expand spending on content, knowledge services, and marketing, as well as artificial intelligence technology for better content personalization. Therefore, with a large number of high-level intellectual users, Zhihu provides lucrative marketing opportunities for brands and organizations.

If you require further support with setting up your account please contact our team.   We use our knowledge and expertise to help businesses build meaningful partnerships and develop a digital marketing strategy that better targets and engages Chinese customers. For additional information, please contact us by phone – Shanghai or Hong Kong

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WeChat for Beauty/ Makeup Sector

November 9, 2021

Thanks to rising disposable incomes in urban areas, consumers in China are increasingly interested in health and beauty products such as cosmetics, perfumes, fashion accessories, and vitamin supplements.

The Chinese beauty, cosmetics, and grooming market is second only to the US in terms of size and maturity after several years of rapid expansion. Although some newbies to the industry have begun to climb the rankings, foreign brands continue to outperform domestic players.

Beauty Brands and WeChat

Brands in China are turning to the WeChat app to move beyond generic marketing and into a more personal level of connection, interaction, and targeting. Many people are discovering that using WeChat to take a customer-centric strategy produces greater results than merely posting and sharing blogs and other information.

Offering unique deals and exclusive content to subscribers, samples for testing, live event invites, games and competitions with rewards, and loyalty programmes are all examples of connecting with WeChat.

 

Why WeChat for Digital Marketing?

With so much growth expected in the cosmetics industry, it’s critical for companies to establish brand recognition in China. WeChat accounts for 47% of all mobile time spent and has 1.1 billion daily users, so it goes without saying that this app is critical for organisations looking to expand their digital presence in China. 

WeChat has accumulated a vast amount of user data as a result of its many capabilities and large community. In marketing, this translates to extremely useful data for Paid Media initiatives. In fact, many Chinese businesses begin their digital presence on WeChat before developing their own website or app.

 

How can WeChat Benefit your Beauty & Service Business?

  • Subscribers can get discounts, rewards, games, entertainment, interactive experiences, and other perks.
  • To fine-tune and optimise targeting based on interest, divide the audience into categories.
  • Customers can be geo-targeted and informed about upcoming in-store deals and specials.
  • Provide customised beauty solutions for each customer.
  • Interact and communicate with people one-on-one rather than in groups.
  • Provide a personalised answer to questions and inquiries (as opposed to automated).
  • During occasions that involve gift-giving, promote and offer extraordinary one-of-a-kind gifts (such as Chinese New Year).

 

Conclusion

WeChat Ads are a hot trend in China for breaking through and winning over the audience. WeChat offers a wide range of utilities and targets, making it a wonderful chance for businesses and marketers looking to break into China.

While WeChat has a lot of potential for beauty firms, getting started can be difficult. Get in touch with our team if you need assistance with this. We use our experience and knowledge to help businesses establish a digital marketing plan that better targets and communicates with Chinese consumers. Contact us via phone or email for more information.

 

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