According to the most recent data, WeChat has passed a milestone of a billion users which puts it far ahead of any other Chinese social media platform. Measuring trends on such an enormous network could potentially bring the most statistically accurate data to marketers.

Up until a few weeks ago, it was not possible to get a hold of such metrics on WeChat. Fortunately, the platform has just released a new WeChat Index tool that allows viewing some basic trends on keywords.

The good news is that, from marketers’ perspective, WeChat is finally moving in the right direction. However, the bad news is that the data that is generated by WeChat Index is very limited. There are no any equivalents to options available from the previously reviewed tools: Baidu Index, Qihoo Index and Weibo Index.

In order to access the tool, user has to enter Chinese words “微信指数”into the search bar and tap on the first result. This opens up the prompt as shown above.

If one is planning to use WeChat Index frequently, it easier to simply pin this page to the top of the chat sessions by choosing option “Sticky on Top”.

Typing the keyword “iPhone8” returns the search trend graph:

Just like with the other index tools, the data can be viewed for 7, 30 or 90 days but there is no option to customize the date range:

It is still not clear what the total number (350,016 in this example) actually represents. In fact, it remains the same no matter what date range is chosen (a bug?):

Although, WeChat Index is a good start, in its present form, it can hardly offer any useful information. Also, it seems that only popular keywords, probably those with high enough search volumes, can be viewed.

Despite the fact that WeChat could record all the search and user related data, WeChat Index doesn’t display any geographical distribution, audience analysis or related keywords. So, essentially, it is only good for getting an idea on general search trends within the network for certain popular keywords.

Release of WeChat Index to the public is still a very good start and points to the possible course correction by Tencent. It has started to move, albeit slowly, from a private communication network to discovery platform.

Also, WeChat search function now has more options and is increasingly used for searches on wide range of topics. In order to read the articles from the search results, one has to follow the account it was posted on which opens another route for official WeChat accounts to acquire new followers.

Here are our tutorials on China keyword research tools:

Keyword research on Baidu: Baidu Index

Keyword research on Qihoo: Qihoo Index

Keyword research on Weibo: Weibo Index

Keyword research on WeChat: WeChat Index

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In this post we are going to have a look at top 5 of them.

5 Most Useful Features of WeChat for Marketers

WeChat groups

One of the most often overlooked WeChat features for marketers is WeChat groups where members can participate in discussions. Inviting customers to join a group can be an effective way to keep them engaged with a brand. Each group is issued a unique QR code that users can scan in order to join, however, as soon as the group reaches its maximum allowed capacity (currently 100) scanning QR code would no longer work. An easy work around this limit is to send an invitation to users to join a group – a group owner can invite unlimited number of participants to a group.

Payments

After launching its own payment system, WeChat quickly became one of the major ecommerce platforms in China, along with Taobao, Tmall and JD. Every official service account has an option to setup its own ecommerce outlet and receive payment from customers. Capability to handle payments “on the go” is one of most powerful features of WeChat for marketers. Instead of directing potential customers to a website where they can complete the purchase, WeChat now enables a near instant conversion.

Lucky draws

WeChat service accounts can incorporate many types of lucky draws that can be another effective way to keep customer engaged as well as acquire new followers. Lucky draws can take multiple forms – from quizzes to virtual scratch cards. There are number of 3rd party add-ons that can enhance WeChat accounts by “gamification” of the user experience.

Loyalty cards

As businesses and brands are constantly looking for new ways to improve their customers’ loyalty, membership and loyalty cards are increasingly moving into WeChat. This is another excellent feature of WeChat for marketers as it offers both convenience to customers by not having them carry their cards and increases app usage. Latest version of WeChat even allows managing and storing loyalty cards and coupons in one place, much like AppleWallet does.

Targeting

One of the most powerful features of WeChat that is used for marketing is ability to target specific groups of followers with messages tailored just for them. Unfortunately, basic WeChat backend targeting function is quite limited and only allows to sort followers by their gender, and declared location which is also often different from the actual one. However, there are number of companies who offer a more customized approach that is based on behavioral patterns of followers. This way, followers can be grouped in new categories and targeted with specific marketing messages that they are more likely to respond to.

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For the second part of our list of 30 Ways of How To Get WeChat Followers go to Part II and here is the Part I.

30 ways of how to get WeChat followers – part 3:

#21: Displays at trade shows

Trade shows provide ample opportunities to place QR codes on any flat surface such as walls, stands, reception counters etc.. And by any surface we mean “any surface”:

#22: Video

If you use a promotional video for your products, consider placing QR code in a still frame at the end while giving enough time for a viewer to scan it. Alternatively, QR code could also remain visible during video playback if placed in the frame corner but it should be large enough and in high resolution to be scannable.

#23: Company cars

If your company owns cars, vans or buses, consider placing QR code along with your branding such as company name or telephone number.

#24: Website

Last but certainly not least, QR code should be displayed on your website. Most commonly it goes in the footer along with other social media and contact info, however, some sites choose to move it up top to a more prominent position.

#25: Trade shows campaigns

Another method that works well at trade shows is distributing giveaways to those visitors who scan your QR. Since you give away hundreds of pens and other useless souvenirs anyway, why not to at least get WeChat followers out of it?

#26: Email marketing

Run email marketing campaigns targeting specific audiences and centered on WeChat account. For any other email marketing such as periodic newsletters, make sure to include WeChat QR code as well.

#27: Targeted WeChat posts

One way to increase chances that a WeChat post will be shared is to make it as relevant as possible to a specific audience. WeChat allows some limited message targeting by recipients’ gender and location which can be further enhanced by manual grouping of the followers. By targeting specific group with such customized posts, it is more likely to be shared among people with similar interests.

#28: Creative QR codes

Traditional black and white QR codes have just one drawback – they look ugly. Luckily, now they don’t have to be! There are ways to design perfectly scannable QR codes that blend with the brand design and look much more visually appealing than just a bunch of black and white pixels.

Another example is the one of an Israeli company Visualead that has developed unique technology that overlays graphics with QR codes. Those can be scanned just as reliably as the traditional type.

#29: Interactive account

Adding interactivity to WeChat accounts makes them more functional as well as visually appealing. Such accounts are more likely to be shared and recommended by existing followers to their friends.

Instead of settling for standard menu type account, consider developing so called mini-site that can be customized to better reflect your brand image.

#30: Posting in Weibo groups

We talked about using social media such as Weibo to promote WeChat account. Posting in Weibo groups which are dedicated to specific and relevant interests is another way to get WeChat followers. Keep in mind however, that Weibo doesn’t allow posting QR codes directly – doing that can get you banned from that group.

For the previous part of our list of 30 Ways of How To Get WeChat Followers go to Part II and Part I.

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For the first part of our list of 30 Ways of Getting WeChat Subscribers go to Part I.

30 ways of getting WeChat subscribers – part 2:

#11: PPC campaigns focused on WeChat account

Just like Weibo, major Chinese search engines like Baidu view WeChat as a completion. This means that you can’t directly advertise WeChat account using Chinese search engines. However, it is still possible to run search or display ads which would direct visitors to a dedicated landing page featuring WeChat account details and QR code.

#12: WeChat advertising

WeChat offers its own in-platform advertising in both user Moments as a sponsored content as well as ads in participating accounts. Unfortunately, at least for the now, WeChat own ads are very expensive. The high price and the lack of accurate targeting makes WeChat advertising notoriously ineffective. Presently, only big brands looking for blanket advertising are the main users of WeChat ads.

The good news is that the prices are slowly getting lower and some new changes to WeChat advertising are rumored to be introduced this year.

#13: Offering free Wi-Fi

This method of getting WeChat subscribers works well for restaurants, coffee shops and other businesses with physical location where patrons tend to spend their time at. If setup correctly with WeChat, free Wi-Fi option would appear at the top of the chat session. Selecting free WeChat would require a user to follow the account first, making him/her a subscriber.

#14: On the spot discount or a freebie for following WeChat account

Another trick that is often used by restaurants and coffee shops is asking customers to follow their WeChat account to get X percent discount off the bill or a free item such as a drink or desert. This one should be used carefully to prevent abuse.

#15: WeChat based menu and food ordering system

In one of our earlier posts we covered the new WeChat-only coffee shops in China that have moved menus along with the entire food ordering system online. Using such system would give another incentive for patrons to follow the account.

Posting QR wherever possible is another effective way of getting WeChat subscribers. Here are some ideas on where QRs could be displayed:

#16: Email signatures

This simply means including QR code along with a signature at the bottom of every email that goes out to clients.

#17: Invoices and receipts

Printing QR code on invoices and receipts that customers keep gives them another chance to scan it.

#18: Product packaging

Include QR code on product packaging. It works even better for products that require after sale service which can be delivered via WeChat too (see item #7).

#19: Business cards

Make sure that every employee’s name card has your WeChat account QR code printed on it as prominently as possible (some companies dedicate the entire flip side to it).

#20: Every other printed material

Consider placing QR codes on company prospectus, brochures, datasheets etc. Every QR code placement is another opportunity for someone to scan it giving you another way of getting WeChat subscribers.

Here is the Part III of the list.

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Since WeChat, unlike most other social media platforms, is not a discovery network, getting WeChat followers doesn’t work in the same way either. On the other hand, what really matters is not the quantity but the quality of followers which is the main strength of WeChat as a marketing tool.

In general, WeChat followers tend to be more interested in actually following the updates, consuming posted content and using account’s other features. In other words, the higher engagement level with the followers is what makes WeChat marketing so effective.

Currently, there are only 3 primary ways to subscribe (follow) a WeChat account:

1. Follow the account from the link when it is shared by WeChat friends;
2. Scan its QR with a smartphone;
3. Search for the exact WeChat account name from within the app;

The 3rd method of following the account is not something that is often used as it is somewhat cumbersome to users. Although it is always a good idea to pick a memorable account name, it is unlikely to be contributing to getting WeChat followers.

Essentially, acquiring WeChat followers comes down to the first two methods.

30 ways of getting WeChat followers – part 1:

#1: Creating shareable content

Easier said than done, sharing content is what can potentially get you the most followers. Writing volumes of standard content that doesn’t get shared isn’t worth much. However, just one post that goes viral has the potential of bringing hundreds of followers virtually within hours.

The best approach is to invest in a research and learning about people in the niche that you are targeting. Once you can figure out what they really care about – stay focus just on that.

#2: Getting KOLs (key opinion leaders) to share your content

There are thousands of KOLs on WeChat that would distribute your content (for a fee) to their followers which often reach tens of hundreds of thousands. More followers they have – higher price they charge: top KOLs with millions of followers can be very expensive to engage.

KOLs promotions are mostly effective in fashion, cosmetics, entertainment and similar areas. This is why this channels is not suitable for everyone.

#3: Integrating with WeChat Pay

WeChat Pay is quickly becoming one of the primary payment methods in China, both online and offline. Integrating WeChat Pay with WeChat account not only enables receiving payments but also automatically connects every paying customer to your WeChat account unless they specifically choose to unsubscribe.

#4: Promoting via other WeChat accounts

If your business owns multiple WeChat accounts, you can use them to promote a new one. This way you can get some of the existing followers to subscribe to a new WeChat channel, especially if it offers related but different content.

The same way can be used to cross-promote WeChat accounts through accounts of your partners – they post links to your content and you reciprocate.

#5: Leveraging employees networks

One of the simplest ways to get followers quickly is to encourage your Chinese employees to follow the account and periodically share the content with their friends. This method, at least at the beginning, can get your account a quick boost in the number of followers, some of whom may one day contribute to getting your message to a wider audience.

#6: Develop loyalty program

Loyalty programs are increasingly getting incorporated into WeChat accounts. They often come complete with points accumulation system and a virtual membership card. Running such function with WeChat will help attract new followers as well as retain the existing ones.

#7: Offer customer service on WeChat

If you sell a product or service that requires customer service, why not to use WeChat as one of such channels? Some of the responses to standard inquiries can even be pre-programmed into the system while other may require an actual human interaction.

Getting customers to communicate with you via WeChat offers another opportunity to engage with them and even capture their exact location to gain better insight. Several 3rd party platforms offer powerful platform extensions that enhance its functionality as a customer service channel.

#8: Leveraging other social media platforms

Other social media platforms can also go a long way in getting WeChat followers. While straight up publishing WeChat QR code on Weibo is not allowed (they are competitors), you still can post WeChat account name, so visitors can search for it.

Also, sometimes you can even get away with incorporating WeChat QR code into graphic background design.

Keep in mind however that simply duplicating the content between the platforms wouldn’t give enough incentives to your Weibo followers to go to another network. Therefore you should consider offering something different on both channels.

#9: Offering practical value in terms of discounts and coupons

This is another way to make WeChat content more relevant, practical and shareable. Coupons and discounts could be time limited to create a sense of urgency – an effective marketing trick. They can also be designed to be used online or within the same WeChat account as a part of O2O campaign.

#10: Lucky draws and quizzes

People love winning prizes which makes lucky draws and quizzes an effective strategy of getting WeChat followers. WeChat account’s basic functionality can be enhanced with 3rd party extensions that are designed to handle such promotional campaigns.

Stay tuned for our second part of the list coming next week.

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One of the most critical components for a successful conversion of online consumers is being able to communicate with them in real, or almost real time. In this post we are going to look at how to incorporate and use live support for Chinese website.

Chinese online consumers have already been spoiled by near instant customer support on major ecommerce sites. For example, large percentage of shoppers on Taobao would often initiate online chat session with a seller before taking a decision to make a purchase.

Regardless of whether it is a product sold from a website or an online service, Chinese visitors would expect to be able to ask questions and get answers within minutes.

Luckily, this can be accomplished in several ways and we are going to look at each of them next.

Live support for Chinese website with QQ

QQ messenger is still the most popular chat program in China. Practically every Chinese is familiar with QQ from the early days of the internet. Incorporating QQ into a website is also quite easy – all it takes is pasting a piece of code to your website to display a functional QQ icon.

By clicking a QQ icon, a visitor can start chatting immediately as long as the program is installed on their computer or a mobile device. Fortunately, this is the case for the vast majority of Chinese anyway.

Phone based support with Chinese toll free number

The good old toll free phone number is the traditional way get customers to call you directly and it would probably work well if you target somewhat less tech savvy visitors. Toll free numbers in China start with 400 and can be applied for with China’s telephone service providers. Typically, they offer several different packages and are fairly inexpensive.

Telephone companies are constantly adding more new features to those numbers such as autoresponders, forward services, voice mails, various types of notifications etc. They also allow to choose a number from an available pool, although the good numbers go quickly. While picking a 400 number it is best to avoid the “unlucky” digits such as “four”. “Eights” and “nines” are the best, so are the repetitive numbers such as 55, 66 etc.

How does live support with WeChat work

There are many good reasons to include WeChat contact on the webpage and having live support for Chinese website is just one of them. Once a visitor to a website starts following your company WeChat account, there are many ways to keep them engaged which is a whole separate topic.

Nowadays, increasing number of companies in China choose to provide customer service exclusively through WeChat because it offers much more than just a live chat. For example, WeChat can send pre-programmed answers in response to a specific inquiry with predefined keywords. It can also grab an information about users such as their present location and tailor the answer based on that criteria. More advanced companies can even integrate WeChat customer service into a sophisticated system that incorporates various types marketing automation.

One drawback of using WeChat as a live support channel is the fact it takes manual scanning of a QR code by a visitor with their cellphone. While this may be convenient for someone visiting from a desktop, browsing site on the mobile device makes that scanning impossible. The workaround is to save the QR code as a picture in the photos and then import it to WeChat. Unfortunately, this is not a straight forward process and many people are simply unaware of how to do that.

Incorporating Live Chat for Chinese Website

Live chat app is, perhaps, the most natural way to offer live support for Chinese website. Live chat can be integrated with practically any website in a form or a 3rd party plugin. There are many services that offer this type of functionality and they mainly differ in features and price plans. Basic features usually include support for mobile apps, automated responses, alerts and escalation scenarios, various levels of security, ability to share files, routing options etc.

Some of the most popular services that offer Chinese support are Zopim, LiveChat, Zoho Sales IQ as well as many others. Some of them, like Zopim, even offer free plans with limited features set and the prices for paid plans are also fairly affordable in the range of $15-30 per month – well worth the investment.

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If your company has a WeChat account, you should go through our checklist to make sure that you have all the bases covered.

WeChat marketing checklist: Best places to display your WeChat QR code

Website

Perhaps, most importantly, QR code should be displayed on your website. Typically, it goes in the footer along with other social media and contact info, however, some sites choose to move it up top to a more prominent position. If you are really serious to promote your WeChat QR code on your website and not worried to risk annoying your visitors, place it in a pop up.

Email signatures

This simply means including QR code along with a signature at the bottom of every email that goes out to clients.

Product packaging

Include QR code on product packaging. It works even better for products that require after sale service which can be delivered via WeChat too.

Invoices and receipts

Printing QR code on invoices and receipts that customers keep gives them another chance to scan it.

Displays at trade shows

Trade shows provide ample opportunities to place WeChat QR code on any flat surface such as walls, stands, reception counters etc.

Email marketing newsletters

Run email marketing campaigns targeting specific audiences and centered on WeChat account. For any other email marketing such as periodic newsletters, make sure to include WeChat QR code as well.

Printed materials: brochures, datasheets

Consider placing QR codes on company prospectus, brochures, datasheets etc. Every QR code placement is another opportunity for someone to scan it giving you another way of getting WeChat subscribers.

Posters and billboards

A simple roll up posters with an offer and a large QR code is the simplest and cost effective way to promote your WeChat official account to large crowds. Every type of poster should display your WeChat QR code.

Business cards

Make sure that every employee’s name card has your WeChat account QR code printed on it as prominently as possible (some companies dedicate the entire flip side to it).

Other social media channels

Although some rival social media networks have rules against posting WeChat accounts QR codes, others are not as strict. Users often place their WeChat QR code in the background to make it visible to visitors while not necessarily breaking posting rules.

Company cars

If your company owns cars, vans or buses, consider placing QR code along with your branding such as company name or telephone number.

Video

If you use a promotional video for your products, consider placing QR code in a still frame at the end while giving enough time for a viewer to scan it. Alternatively, QR code could also remain visible during video playback if placed in the frame corner but it should be large enough and in high resolution to be scannable.

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Momo (陌陌)

Momo is, by far, the most popular Chinese dating app and by the number of users this mobile app is only second to WeChat. In the last couple of years Momo has been trying hard to improve its past seedy reputation re-positioning itself more of an interest based social app rather than purely a hook up service. It has added some shopping elements, games, groups etc. Those changes also made it harder to navigate – it is sort of all over the place nowadays. Nevertheless, when it comes to Chinese dating apps, Momo is the first one that comes to mind of most singles in China. Unfortunately, it is only available in Chinese – the English version was discontinued 3 years ago, although the company promises to launch an international version in the future.

Tantan (探探)

After Momo, Tantan is the second most popular Chinese dating app. It doesn’t have a great deal of features focusing on just one mission – being a purely a location based hook up app. In terms of design, Tantan is a shameless Tinder rip-off taking advantage of its famous trademark feature – left or right swipe. Two users that “liked” each other can start a chat and there is a daily limit on how many profiles can be viewed. Similar to Tinder, more features can be unlocked with premium membership which is how the app makes money. Although Tantan is almost exact copy of Tinder (it also can be used in English), the western original has only itself to blame for not making it in China. By linking itself to Facebook as the only way to create an account, it has locked itself out of Chinese market from the start.

Baihe (百合)

Baihe takes looking for a date onto a whole new level. It targets people who are serious about finding the right match and are not there just looking for a booty call. In fact, users’ info in Baihe look more like job resumes rather than typical dating profiles. All users must use real names and have to pass verification to ensure there are no fakes. They are also encouraged to list assets like housing and cars with the proof that they really own them. Educational credentials such as diplomas and certificates as well as credit score are also common profile features. Dating is a serious business on Baihe and this attitude is what sets it apart from other Chinese dating apps.

QingChiFan (请吃饭)

QingChiFan literally means “invitation to a meal” which is already self-explanatory name for this Chinese dating app. The idea is that getting to know each other over a meal is the most natural form of dating. Typically, guys would be the ones offering dinner invitations and it is up to a girl to accept it. Of course, the opposite is also possible although much less common. User can also choose to extend invitation to a group as well as set the time frame within which the offer is valid: only for today, tomorrow or within a week. The “inviter” can narrow down the criteria for invitees based on age, profession and even zodiac sign. QingChiFan seems to be a great concept with a lot of potential and, for a change, without a direct equivalent in the West as far as we know.

Maohu

Most recently, Tencent has launched Maohu, a new video-centered dating app.

Users are matched based on gender (only heterosexual matching is allowed), location, interests and dating preferences. Once matched, users can only communicate via video in 5 minutes “dating sessions” while wearing a “mask”. Mask is removed for male users after 5 minutes while females can wear it indefinetly. Once the mask is removed, the beauty filters are applied automatically.

The app can be considered using a “slow dating” approach – only 3 conversations per day are allowed. “Only video” dating app is a fresh idea in the market but with the popularity of live streaming, it seems to be catching on.

Qingliao

Tencent is determined to establish itself as the top player in mobile dating market with another app called Qingliao that is being marketed as “high quality socializing”.

In essence, this is another Tinder clone – users are matched if they like each other, the only difference is that instead of left or right swipes users tap a “heart” or a “cross”. Tencent puts an emphasis on verifying members which can be done by linking to user’s verified WeChat account or sumitting photo ID.

Qingliao also limits the total number of profiles users can view within 18 hours period: 15 profiles for men and 22 for women. Most likely, paid members will be able to increase that limit but this option was not yet available when we reviewed it.

Blued

No list of Chinese dating apps would be complete without mentioning Blued, the most popular service for gay community. It is also available in English. Upon registration, users are required to upload a short video of themselves which will be manually matched with uploaded photos by Blued team. This way, the app attempts to make sure that only real people are allowed to use it but without having them to use real identities – a valid concern for many gays living in a fairly conservative Chinese society. Although it is still the most popular Chinese dating app for gays, Blued may soon find itself fighting a strong competitor – the majority stake of Grindr, the most popular Western equivalent, has recently been acquired by a Chinese billionaire.

WeChat

WeChat isn’t typically considered a dating app, although it is often used as one. The popular “Search nearby” feature allows looking for profiles within a short distance filtered out by gender preference. Users have to enable the feature first before they can be found, which means that everyone who shows up in search results is making him or her visible on purpose. Moreover, no matter what dating app one uses, once the match is found, sooner or later, they would move to WeChat anyway – it’s just easier and everyone has it anyway. So, although WeChat isn’t a dating app, it can rightly be considered to be a part of the overall dating ecosystem in China.

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On the other hand, many foreign brands, who want to jump in on WeChat, don’t realize that the platform comes with the number of limitations. While in some cases and if done right, WeChat marketing can be incredibly effective, in other cases the results can be quite disappointing.

5 Common Misconceptions about WeChat Marketing

#1 Followers will find you

Unlike other popular social networks, WeChat’s private nature makes discovery quite difficult. WeChat’s own search function only allows looking for an account containing the exact match to a specific word. Even with that, the search results are often inaccurate. There are only a few ways you can acquire a follower:

• Have them scan your QR code placed on other media (website, banner ad, print, billboard etc.);
• Have someone forward a link to your account on WeChat to their friends (essentially word of mouth);
• Having someone to post a nice comment about you in their feed (moments) with the link to your account (KOL);
• In-app advertising – more about it below;

Here is more about getting WeChat followers organically.

#2 No one else can use my brand

Many popular brands who are just getting around starting their WeChat marketing campaigns in China often find out that someone else is already using their brand name and logo. Once an account has been created by someone it can be quite hard to have WeChat remove it. However, ignoring the problem is not a good idea either.

If, following the complaint, the owner of “squatter” account is refusing to comply by changing their WeChat account’s name and logo, it is possible to file a complaint to Tencent by filing proper paperwork. To be successful, the legitimate brand owner has to prove their ownership of the trademark in China which is the whole new topic. More on registering trademarks in China can be found in one of my favorite resources online at China Law Blog.

#3 In-app mobile advertising within WeChat is effective

In fact, advertising within WeChat is notoriously ineffective while also extremely expensive. Click through rate (CTR) of such ads is usually quite low for a number of reasons. The main problem is that once clicked, the user than will be taken out of the app elsewhere, usually to a built-in WeChat browser. Since most people don’t casually browse WeChat but have some purpose while using it, they wouldn’t typically abandon their activity in the middle to be redirected elsewhere.

The ads within user’s Moments (WeChat’s version of feed), are also rarely relevant and are not displayed consistently. Here is my other post about the issues with WeChat advertising.

#4 Recycling of posts from my other social media channels will do just fine on WeChat

Although, it could be an effective strategy to reuse content from other social media channels or blogs for WeChat, the posts are often not optimized for this platform. For example, articles that are too long or those relying too much on the graphics may not render well on WeChat’s smartphone screen.

One of the keys for WeChat marketing is figuring out the posts format that is just right in both size and layout. The graphics should be clear enough while displayed as a thumbnail in multiple picture posts while not looking pixelized when extended to the full screen. That would require some tweaking and testing to get everything right.

Also, if there are external links, they should lead to properly responsive pages that are optimized for mobile.

#5 WeChat marketing allows accurate targeting

We wish that one was true. Unfortunately, it is quite difficult to segment WeChat marketing messages, which is also true for its advertising. On the most basic level, the followers can be segmented only by their location and gender. Even the location is based on whatever WeChat subscriber has set and not on the actual geolocation. Whenever a more granular approach is needed,  each individual follower can be tagged and grouped. This would allow sending more targeted messages to a specific audience.

Such segmentation can be either manual – often an extremely time and labor consuming effort, or automated with some 3rd party backend platform customization. The biggest disadvantage of the platform, as compared to other popular social media channels, is its lack of tools to target followers based on their behavior, a crucial component in many effective digital marketing strategies.

In conclusion, while WeChat can be a powerful marketing tool in China, it’s important to realize what it can and cannot do. The best use of WeChat would be to deploy it as a one of the marketing elements, closely integrated with other channels, not in isolation.

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In an earlier post on WeChat marketing we’ve discussed limitations of WeChat based advertising and its low ROI. Therefore, acquiring subscribers organically remains a much more cost effective way to grow your brand following.

WeChat marketing can be tricky but there are some ways to make it work. In addition to the list from the last week, here are five more tips:

Share content for free gift

An example of effective WeChat marketing is encouraging customers to share a piece of content from your account in their WeChat moment. For example, a restaurant could offer its patrons a free desert or a discount off the bill if they present proof of sharing a photo of a restaurant or a meal with their friends.

WeChat marketing with virtual loyalty card

Offering a virtual loyalty card in WeChat is another way to get more followers and can also become an effective WeChat marketing strategy. Owners of such loyalty cards can have their QR code scanned at the location for discounts or points collection. Here is an example of such virtual card used by Wagas, a popular western restaurant in China:

Free wifi to WeChat followers

WeChat official accounts now have a feature that allows displaying the closest Wi-Fi network directly in users contacts. This feature works great with businesses that have a physical location, such as stores and restaurants. Prompting users to connect to a free Wi-Fi in exchange for a basic info or signing up as a follower is another opportunity for effective WeChat marketing.

Get creative with QR codes

QR codes have just one drawback – they are ugly! Having a tiny logo in the center still doesn’t doesn’t improve their visual appeal. Fortunately, thanks to the new technology developed by Israeli company Visualead, it doesn’t have to be that way anymore.

Visualead provides online QR generator to combine a QR code with any imagery, such as a logo or a picture. Here is an example of such QR which is perfectly scannable, just like its boring black and white equivalent:

Don’t delay communicating with followers

There is a feature of WeChat official accounts that is known as “48 hours rule”. It means that you only have 48 hours to engage with a follower directly after he/she subscribed to your channel or communicated to it via sending a message. It’s important not to miss the opportunity to connect with a new follower within that time frame. Offering a targeted content such as a coupon or a personalized invitation to an event would keep new followers engaged and minimize chances of losing them.

Every new follower is a potential sales lead and it is in your interest to keep that lead hot. After all, unsubscribing from a WeChat channel is always just “a swipe” away.

Stay tuned for our upcoming posts on how to use KOLs to grow your WeChat followers base.

The post WeChat Marketing Part II: Getting Followers Organically first appeared on Sampi.co.

The post WeChat Marketing Part II: Getting Followers Organically appeared first on Sampi.co.