Marketing your products on WeChat is easy!
Here are 10 tips to help you achieve a successful marketing campaign.
Why WeChat?
First thing to know about WeChat: The Most Popular Social Networking App in China.
Pie chart ©2016.6 iReaearch Inc.
The pie chart illustrates WeChat takes up 88.85% of active users per month in China in August, following by QQ (72.75%).
Such a strong user base suggests WeChat is a very good platform for product promotion.
Organize Your Subscription Account
Subscription accounts are a direct and quick way to reach your customers. Building a subscription account is easy, but the most important thing is to update it frequently. A well-maintained and a well-informed subscription account can not only retain your customers, but also attracts them to buy your latest product.
1.Use it as a promotion tool
Every customer wants to know what’s new about the product, especially the latest discounts. Once you send out discounts, followers can receive the message immediately. It is cheaper and more effective than any other forms of advertising because customers only follow your subscription account out of interest.
2.Make sure your Headline is well-organized
Headlines of articles on subscription accounts should be informative as well as appealing. The number of word count should be within 13 characters, otherwise customers can’t see the whole headline of your articles. You can also use some symbols, such as [], | and ❤, etc to attract customers attention at the first sight. Moreover, customers usually read article on phones so you should organize your content to improve the user experience on a small screen.
3.Attach high-resolution pictures related to your article
Pictures can not only help customers know more about what you are writing about, but also help customers remember your products if the pictures are impressive.
Image ©Haoyan He
The image of Sony China shows a good example of product promotion through a subscription account on WeChat. The advertising of the latest camera is put at the top of the article list, drawing people’s attention with a picture and an attractive headline.
Use the Social Network
WeChat is a very influential social network. You should take the advantage of the number of users as well as the passion of sharing on WeChat moment and then turn it into your own use.
4.Use the social network
The social network embedded in WeChat makes it easier for advertising. For example, you can encourage customers to post their reviews of products in their Moment, which is very similar to Facebook page so that everyone they connect to can see this post. This way of advertising makes advertising much easier, because a customer may be persuaded in buying a product after someone he trusts has bought it. Word-of-mouth marketing not only helps to get a product promoted, it also helps to generate brand loyalty and familiarity.
5.Involve your customers
You can involve customers in the advertising progress too. You can also either send around coupons and discounts directly to customers or encourage customers to share and collect ‘Likes’ to get a big reward. It is more cost-effective and efficient to advertise your products by involving customers and it will enhance brand image in your customers’ mind.
Images ©Haoyan He
Both images are good examples of how companies can use WeChat to advertise a product. The image on the left is a Like collection promotion, where user can post it in his Moment and ask for Likes from friends. The image on the right is WeChat users can send discounts directly to their friends. Both forms of promotion can advertise a product effectively.
Use Online Marketing Strategies
There are lots of useful strategies of online promotion that can help your products get promoted.
6.Advertise through other subscription accounts
You can advertise your products under articles of other famous subscription accounts and put a link to your own subscription account. Besides, as there more and more online celebrities, you can also sponsor the celebrities with your products. Their reviews of your products are more trustworthy than simply advertising of your products from their fans’ perspective. It is an effective way to lure potential customers to your subscription account and then increase the chance of attracting them to buy your products.
7.Collaborate with other subscription accounts in related industry
Unlike big businesses, small businesses may find it difficult to promote their products due to lack of resources. But if you connect your subscription accounts with others in the related field, it is easier for customers and even other related businesses in the production chain to find you.
8.Collaborate with websites
You can put the QR of your subscription account on big and well-known websites which can then direct traffic to your subscription account. In this way, you can get a large amount of online exposure and attract users who are mainly browse web pages.
Images ©Haoyan He
The image shows a company can attach its advertising under the article of another subscription account so that potential customers are easily attracted to the product and also may be lured to scan the QR for further information.
Combination with offline promotion
9.Do an offline promotion
Using WeChat to advertise your products is good. But it is even better if you do an offline promotion at the same time. Offline promotion can maximize the effect of a promotion once and direct people to follow your subscription account for further information.
10.Connect to offline shops or stores
You can print your QR scan on a receipt from supermarkets or from a restaurant. It is a very effective way to promote your products as many customers prefer printing receipt.
Images ©Hong Yi Chuan Bo
The image shows the combination of offline and online promotion. The women in the picture hold the QR of the company and the posters are discounts for attracting people to come and scan the QR.
There are a lot more you should know about WeChat, such as the browsing behaviours of mobile phone users and preference of reading habits on WeChat. But these tips are very essential to those who want to achieve a successful promotion on wechat, especially for foreign companies to enter China’s market.
Alright, good luck with your promotion!
Head Image ©Haoyan He
The Magic of Social Network 