Understanding How The Chinese Use WeChat
"I want to drive them to our landing page so they can register for our project updates."
This is one of the most common marketing objectives we have to clients achieve, and on the WeChat platform, the ecosystem is built differently, and how users use the platform doesn't necessarily align with the goals we are familiar with in western online and social media marketing.
IN-APP EXPERIENCES
WeChat users like to stay in the app, and the stats show it. Of the over 1.6 billion registered accounts for WeChat, 902 are daily active users, 34.6% of users spend a whopping 4+ hours on the app every day! This has increased significantly from the previous year's 17.2% of people spending 4+ hours on the app, meaning WeChat has built a successful ecosystem where the user is reliant on it for news, online messaging, and even daily errands such as banking and movie tickets purchases.
HOW CAN YOU TRACK CONVERSIONS ON WECHAT?
The good news is YES you can track conversions from WeChat by inserting URL links using QR codes so users can scan to visit your website, You can also insert a url address into the WeChat article's "read more" link to take them to your landing page or website.
The bad news is NO, most of the readers are highly unlikely to leave the WeChat app. Phones make it easy enough for them to tap on the last app they used on the top left to take them back to the app while your page is loading. It is also unlikely for them to fill in a registration form if they do end up loading your website. The reason is because most of the communications for the Chinese take place of WeChat or other messenger apps like QQ - rarely do they use email as a form of communication.
SO HOW DOES IT ACTUALLY WORK?
The process we have seen for WeChat users is that they will read your article, and if they find it interesting they will share the article on their personal newsfeed, much like how Facebook users share on their newsfeed, or they will send it to specific friends in their contact list via a private chat. If you get lucky, they may share it in a private chat group, which can sometimes house up to 300+ members.
For the over 50 real estate presale projects we have marketed on WeChat, the user will read the article on WeChat, and if they want more information, they will send a message to their realtor, asking them to provide information. Most Chinese investors, if they are active in the market, will have a representing realtor, collecting information on the latest presale projects on their behalf. The exchange of information, from floor plans, to starting prices and photos of the brochure the realtor picks up from your sales centre, will be sent through WeChat, where the investor evaluates their interest.
The key learning and takeaway is that WeChat users operate differently from users on western social media, who are used to clicking "Learn More" on an ad and being taken to a registration page where they enter in their email and receive more information via that channel.
A more tailored information distribution process is needed for WeChat, and our team has the answers. As your cultural advisor, let us help you navigate the WeChat platform to bring success to your new product, service or brand.