Integrate WECHAT into Marketing Mix

Integrate WECHAT into Marketing Mix

WeChat, called Weixin in China, is China’s version of Whatsapp or Line, which has the one of largest user bases among the ever-growing number of chat apps. In just 3 years since Tencent debuted WeChat, it has become one of the largest social networks in China.

Here are a few of the most interesting Wechat statistics.

l  Release date of WeChat—January 2011

l  Number of registered WeChat Account—1.1 billion (until Jan 2015)

l  How many people use WeChat—600 million (until Aug 2015)

l  Top country for Wechat usage—China

l  How many people use WeChat outside China—100 million (until Mar 2014)

l  Average amount of time Chinese adults spend on WeChat daily—40 minutes (updated on Apr 2015)

l  Percentage of WeChat users that open it more than 10 times a day—55.2% (until Jan 2015)

l  Percentage of WeChat revenue in 2014 that came from mobile ad sales—69% (updated on Apr 2015)

l  Dollar amount of data that WeChat users consumed in 2014—$15.3 billion US

l  Percentage of WeChat users that are between the age of 18-36—86.2% (updated on Jan 2015)

l  Number of WeChat public accounts—8.5 million (until Jan 2015)

l  Daily growth on WeChat public accounts—8000 (updated on Jun 2015)

l  Number of different languages WeChat is available in—20 (until Jan 2015)

l  Number of countries WeChat has users in—200 (until Jan 2015)

l  Number of WeChat messages that were processed in a single minute on Luna New Year’s eve—10 million messages

As we can see from above, MIM (Mobile Instant Message) platform like Wechat has already become one of the biggest things in digital media. For most marketers, especially those with presence in China these days, it is essential for them to utilize this fast growing digital platform.

Unlike Weibo, Wechat is not a broadcast platform for timely content and frequent updates, but a one-to-one platform that allows brand and users to create small groups. Brand can send one message to their groups and can also create post on their official brand page. As a result, it is a great gateway to bridge customers between online and offline world.

Currently, there are two ways for brands to integrate Wechat into their marketing mix.

1.      Third-party integration

Wechat allows brands to create App that run within Wechat, making it possible for companies to market and sell product directly through them.

According to China Marketing, “Wechat, has beening building an entire ecosystem of interrelated services and functions that can be integrated directly within Wechat. Wechat users can now shop, book hotels, play games with friends, top-up mobile phones, buy and sell stocks, purchase air tickets and do many other things without ever leaving the app.”

2.      Built-in functionality

Wechat allows brands to create their own official accounts, which empowers them to reach customers directly. Unlike the traditional approach of mass broadcasting, customers need to first follow the official accounts, and then they are entitled to subscribe all the message. Marketers on Wechat can interact with followers by posting content such as special offers, videos and photos, and pushing these information to who choose to interact with their brands.

This functionality gives brand the opportunity to engage customers in a very organic way, which is highly effective

Many brands has been leveraging Wechat to create offline interactions. For example, the London luxury brand Burberry, interacted with their Wechat fans during its London runway show. When fans sent a text message to the official account, the brand instantly responded with a virtual plaque engraved with their names. Besides, it also offers audio commentary by Chinese celebrities. This campaign gave fans a first-hand experience of the runway show and therefore greatly narrowed the distance between customers and the company.

From my point of view, using Wechat to create O2O marketing campaign is a growing trend. Since Wechat is attracting more users every day and expanding to larger markets like Brazil and India, brands should understand and capitalize on this mobile platform as soon as possible in order to maximize the results.

Reference

http://expandedramblings.com/index.php/wechat-statistics/