If you open mobile Taobao and search “Starbucks”, you may see a new page completely different from before. In the past, when users search an established brand, the corresponding result would be the flagship store. The link to the flagship store will be displayed on the top of the page, with other various relevant goods […]
Wechat (Weixin) User Statistics, Trends, and Insights
WeChat, known as Weixin of its Chinese app name and owned by Tencent, is the top mobile app by total MAUs and engagement in China, with 1.15 billion monthly active users in Q3 2019. Check out CIW Dossier for detailed WeChat statistics.
It's China's super app covering instant messaging, social networking (in WeChat Moments), e-commerce, mobile payment (WeChat Pay), content network (Official Accounts), gaming, digital banking, etc.
- Marketing and advertising opportunities on WeChat Moments
- Insights on WeChat Official Accounts
- Case Studies on WeChat Marketing
- China social media users compared: Weibo vs WeChat vs Momo
WeChat interface features a prominent section "Top Stories", where users can access trending articles and videos from Tencent content network.
WeChat History
Tencent launched WeChat in January 2011 as a free instant messaging mobile app, led and developed by Zhang Xiaolong in Guangzhou. It also has a web version.
WeChat Supported OS: iOS (iPhone/iPad), Android, Windows Phone, Nokia S40 Symbian, BlackBerry OS 5.0, BlackBerry OS 6.0 and above, Blackberry 10, Windows, MacOS, Web Browsers
WeChat app now offers users mobile contacts, free video and voice calls, games, stickers and text messages, group chats, social networking (under WeChat Moments), and mobile payment (WeChat Pay).
Users could also discover new friends through location-based services (LBS) or WeChat Shake (discontinued in 2019).
WeChat also has a VoIP feature called WeChat Out to help users call mobiles and landlines around the globe at low rates. It is only available for users outside Mainland China.
Read the full WeChat story here, told by its founder Zhang Xiaolong.
How to Set Up and Register WeChat
WeChat can be downloaded free here. After downloading and installing WeChat, open the app and select "Sign Up", enter your mobile number as instructed. 4. An SMS verification code will be sent to your phone (for free!); enter the code into WeChat to verify your mobile number to register successfully.
Creating a WeChat account requires a mobile phone number. WeChat no longer accepts registration via email address, QQ number, or Facebook account.
An SMS verification code will be sent to your phone; enter the code into WeChat to verify your mobile number to register successfully. Registering a WeChat account requires a mobile phone number.
After registration, you can set a WeChat ID as your unique identifier, bind an email address to WeChat for your account security, and set a password to avoid logging in via SMS verification every time.
You can then add friends from your phone's address book, manually entering phone numbers or WeChat IDs, searching for people nearby and Message in a Bottle, or use Friend Radar.
WeChat Ecosystem Essentials: Official Accounts, WeChat Pay, Mini Programs
WeChat Official Accounts
Companies can use WeChat Official Accounts to attract followers on WeChat and reach target audiences.
WeChat Official Account refers to both Subscription Account, Service Account or any other accounts that WeChat offer under the WeChat Official Account Admin Platform Service. This Service is a cooperative promotion business for individual or enterprise users launched by WeChat.
The User, after registering for a WeChat account, may conduct brand promotion activities through the WeChat Official Account Admin Platform. A WeChat user shall, after subscribing to a WeChat Official Account, become a subscriber of that WeChat Official Account.
The WeChat Official Account may release information to and interact with its subscribers through the WeChat Official Account Admin Platform.
WeChat Pay
One of the top two payment apps in China, in addition to Alibaba's affiliated Alipay, provides instant payment solutions in China.
Bank cards from mainland China can be linked to WeChat Pay by verifying the registered mobile number. Only credit cards may be linked to users outside mainland China.
WeChat Mini-Program
WeChat Mini-Program are light programs that do not require download or installation; users can access the apps anytime and anywhere. Users can scan a QR code to launch and use the application although search capability is added but limited. Users can simply leave the application after use without the need to uninstall. More here →
Marketing on WeChat
Content marketing is quite common with targeted quality articles distributed on WeChat utilizing both owned and third-party (advertorial) WeChat Official Accounts. Companies also develop HTML5 based landing pages for certain campaigns to drive up the engagement.
Advertising opportunities include display ads on WeChat Official Accounts and WeChat Moments. Companies can also utilize "WeChat Index" to monitor the brand trends on WeChat.
Acquire, convert, and retain customers through WeChat Ads + WeChat Work
WeChat Advertising provides advertisers with a customer acquisition solution integrating WeChat Advertising with WeChat Work.
Top 10 WeChat Moments ads in 2019, voted by 1+ million users
Tencent conducted a poll for the favorite advertisements on WeChat Moments, involving over one million WeChat users; the top 10 ads received more than 2.218 million votes. You can review these engaging Moment ads from Mercedes Benz, VanCleef & Arpels, Estee Lauder, Shuijingfang, Yili, Buick, Dyson, McDonald’s, Coca Cola, L’Oréal. 1. Mercedes Benz 4-seat Sports […]
WeChat testing paywall on official accounts
WeChat is testing a paywall feature for Official Account. Qualified WeChat subscription official accounts can activate this feature and hide the full or partial content.
WeChat statistical highlights 2020; mini program DAU >300m
WeChat monthly active users exceeded 1.15 billion in 2019, an increase of 6% YoY. The peak engagements are right before lunch and after work.
How is WeChat Work 3.0 valuable to businesses
Tencent launched a critical update to WeChat Work (version 3.0), an enterprise version of WeChat. The updated WeChat Work helps businesses connect deeply with consumers and retain customer resources. New features include productivity tools and WeChat Moments integration. WeChat Work 1.0 only supported simple functions including Business Contacts, paid phone calls, attendance, announcement, etc while […]
Tencent Live adds Product Window to WeChat live broadcasting
Tencent Live launched a new feature Product Window that merchants can use to display added products to the live broadcasting sessions. Merchants can also associate live broadcasting with products from Weidian or JD.
Mobile shopping users and top e-commerce apps in China in Q3 2019
China’s online shopping users reached 370 million on desktop and over 1 billion unique mobile devices in September 2019. They use an average of 2.22 mobile apps and 6.3 hours on shopping. Missfresh beats Alibaba’s HemaFresh by total users in tier-1 cities. Also, check out the top mobile shopping apps by growth and total MAU. […]
Top mobile apps in China in Q3 2019, led by WeChat, Alipay, QQ, Taobao, iQiyi.
The top mobile apps in China by total MAUs are led by WeChat, Alipay, QQ, Taobao, iQiyi, Tencent Video, and TikTok. Check out the top 30 by MAU and leading apps in news, travel, video, social media, and WeChat Mini Programs. On average, each mobile users in China use 18 categories of mobile apps in […]
How Chinese companies utilize private traffic for customer acquisition and retention
Private traffic is a trending term among Chinese marketers in recent years. It refers to users that can be reached freely and communicated with repeatedly. They are “repeat customers.” As businesses expect, building one’s own pond and catching the fish would be lower in cost and easier, as compared with paid channels. A beautiful girl […]
Tencent launched Nearby Ads for SME retailers on WeChat Moments
WeChat recently launched the “Nearby Ads” marketing solution to solve marketing problems of small and medium-sized merchants. Nearby Ads can accurately display the advertisements in WeChat Moments to reach customers within the 3km distance.
Tencent highlights in Q3 2019; WeChat MAU grew to 1.15 billion
Tencent’s social media platform WeChat MAU grew to 1.15 billion and QQ mobile MAU 653.4 million in Q3 2019. WeChat Mini Programs DAU exceeded 300 million. Tencent revenues increased by 21% year-on-year, primarily driven by commercial payment services and other FinTech services, smart phone games, as well as social advertising.
Audi used competitor Infiniti’s creative in a video ad on WeChat Moments
Audi launched its video ad campaign on WeChat Moments earlier today. What’s interesting is that the video played is an Infiniti ad.
Business essentials for WeChat in Oct 2019
WeChat banned external links. Mini-programs in the travel and entertainment categories enjoyed high popularity. Tencent Cloud empowers WeChat mini programs. Increasingly refined WeChat Mini Program operation and service systems help mini-app operators improve their operational management. Mini-program operators now can check and learn many important and useful information like operation status evaluation, KPI dashboard, operation […]
Social e-commerce in China has much higher conversion rates than traditional ones
Traditional e-commerce builds platform awareness through brands’ own traffic, committing huge advertisements and infrastructure construction, ultimately establishing user trust. Social e-commerce providers recharge their trust through social currency, which means that product recommendations from WeChat friends naturally have a social trust foundation.