What is WeChat official account?
WeChat official account is a special type of account on the WeChat platform launched in 2012. Companies use these accounts to get in touch with their customers, both actively and passively. Marketing, sales of physical products and the payment or booking of products and services are all available for companies to register in China. This includes Chinese businesses, joint ventures ( domestic and foreign partnerships), as well as foreign companies (WFOE’s) in China.
An official account is a powerful launchpad. The first step will be setting up an official account. This allows you to promote content, attract followers and link your account to a mini site hosted within the WeChat app itself.
Many Chinese use WeChat as a key source of their information. They even treat searching on WeChat like a news portal. It is not difficult for them to find you via the key words on your official account.
The most important thing with WeChat official account is to develop high-quality Mandarin Chinese content that is aligned with your brand but tailored for the end user in this different market place. Magnetic content can drive a lot of traffic to your account.
There is a different attitude towards companies and brands marketing themselves on the social media。In general, it is considered as a positive thing by Chinese users。It is not deemed to be a nuisance or intrusive like it is in the west, with the social commerce taking off like never before.
The workflow for these accounts is mostly the same: users can physically scan your QR code from your advertisement, search for your company within WeChat, or get redirected to your account from somewhere else. Your official account shows up in the user’s WeChat as soon as he/she clicks “follow”. Simultaneously, you receive all the user’s information.
Three types of official accounts
There are three key types of official accounts, each with its own features. It is critical to choose a right type because it cannot be changed once it’s registered.
1. Corporate account: this one is for internal use, for project management and private group chat, thus it is not designed for marketing.
2. Subscription account: this is a basic type of official account, used mostly for posting content. It allows one message to be sent to followers each day. Subscription accounts can be opened by individuals and organizations.
3. Service account: service account is available to organizations only. Unlike subscription account, it offers a higher level of functionality – such as QR code generation, geo-location features, and voice recognition. Service accounts are recommended for businesses selling products online and for WeChat pay integration.
Both subscription and service accounts allow for targeting messaging, increasing followers, sharing content, advertising, and for directing followers to your website. Which type you should choose depends on your business goals. If you are to post continual content then a subscription account might suit, but for more advanced function and for mobile commerce, you may need a service account.WeChat official account is a special type of account on the WeChat platform launched in 2012. Companies use these accounts to get in touch with their customers, both actively and passively. Marketing, sales of physical products and the payment or booking of products and services are all available for companies to register in China. This includes Chinese businesses, joint ventures ( domestic and foreign partnerships), as well as foreign companies (WFOE’s) in China.
An official account is a powerful launchpad. The first step will be setting up an official account. This allows you to promote content, attract followers and link your account to a mini site hosted within the WeChat app itself.
Many Chinese use WeChat as a key source of their information. They even treat searching on WeChat like a news portal. It is not difficult for them to find you via the key words on your official account.
The most important thing with WeChat official account is to develop high-quality Mandarin Chinese content that is aligned with your brand but tailored for the end user in this different market place. Magnetic content can drive a lot of traffic to your account.
There is a different attitude towards companies and brands marketing themselves on the social media。In general, it is considered as a positive thing by Chinese users。It is not deemed to be a nuisance or intrusive like it is in the west, with the social commerce taking off like never before.
The workflow for these accounts is mostly the same: users can physically scan your QR code from your advertisement, search for your company within WeChat, or get redirected to your account from somewhere else. Your official account shows up in the user’s WeChat as soon as he/she clicks “follow”. Simultaneously, you receive all the user’s information.
The Benefits Of WeChat Official Account For Your Business In China
China, a country of more than 1.3 billion people, is rapidly growing with its consumer market; more and more companies throughout the world look for ways to develop their marketing, branding and communication that is relevant to Chinese consumers.
WeChat, founded in January 2011 as a simple chat app with features and functionality similar to WhatsApp; over the following years, grew beyond anyone’s wildest dreams to become by far the most important app in China, with more than 860 million people using it to chat and share with friends, read news, play games, track their fitness goals, make voice and video calls, shop online, and even pay for lunch. Among these users, the largest demographic are young urban residents. This just happens to be the social group with the highest figures for making purchases using digital platforms in China. The Chinese youth are internet savvy and many have an increasing level of disposable income.
It is indeed a fascinating and powerful tool to use if your business is targeting China.
Here, though, it’s important to share a fact about WeChat marketing: WeChat is available worldwide, but the majority of users are in China. And in order to market to Mainland Chinese WeChat users, you need to have a business presence registered in Mainland China. International WeChat accounts not registered in China can only be accessed by users based outside of China.
Businesses based in the United States, South Africa, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Macau, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Thailand can use a WeChat official account to market WeChat’s estimated 100 million international users (including Chinese users in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macau), but you’ll be missing out on the massive Mainland Chinese user base. WeChat features also vary by region.
That said, WeChat has been making a push for international expansion, especially in Africa. It’s Africa’s fastest growing social media, and is estimated to have about 5 million users in South Africa alone (compare that to the 13 million South Africans using Facebook). So you shouldn’t overlook the WeChat marketing potential in the rest of the world, even if the numbers are not as tantalizing as that huge Mainland Chinese figure.
There is no other social media growing quite like WeChat in China and it is fair to say that it is impossible to ignore its impact for those who want to do business in China.