WeChat: How a Small Solution to Internet Censorship Has Become the World's "Everything-App"

Remember that one time when China decided to ban almost all of the major apps that Americans use on a daily basis?

Well, it’s safe to say that the solution has been found.

In 2010, WeChat was a mobile messaging service offered by now-10th biggest company, Tencent. The platform was widely used, but wanted to make an even bigger splash in the Chinese mobile market. A decision to implement the ability to make direct payments from bank accounts to other users and businesses alike and a successful Lunar New Year of over 46 billion “Red Packages” sent later, and WeChat became the top downloaded app within months. Thus, the shift from a mobile messaging app to a dating-payment-posting-buying-selling-searching-everything app began.

Essentially, WeChat combines all of the things you could do on the social media sites that were banned in China into one platform, with a major focus on the ability to pay for almost anything that scans WeChat QR codes, which users can get once they’ve created an account.

This feature of focus is called the “WeChat Wallet”. A user enters his or her banking information into WeChat, linking the app to their bank account (yes, really). Currently, as China is the country of origin for the app and has almost ____ WeChat users country-wide, almost every Chinese business—big or small—displays their WeChat QR code at the register, making a WeChat payment a smooth and seamless process. WeChat users simply scan the QR code of the business, enter in the amount owed, and hit “Pay”. Voila! It’s that easy. Here’s a glimpse of what the WeChat Wallet looks like:

Some other basics you should know about this app are:

               The ‘walkie-talkie’ function. While Americans aren’t obsessed with the idea of sending voice chats as the main mode of communication, WeChat users are quite the opposite. One of the most used features on the app is its voice messaging system, where users can hold down a record button and send a short snippet of whatever they please to the person they’re chatting with (in addition to typed messages as well). The idea is that these voice messages are instant and give people a better idea of the way someone means something because you can actually hear their voice, but don’t have to start an entire call—similar to a ‘walkie-talkie’ system.

               ‘Moments’ are every social feed wrapped into one. Instead of a timeline or feed, users have their own “Moments” feed where friends of that user can look for updates posted by that person. Each post can be filtered and dated, and you can like and comment on others’ posts as well. On the right is a screenshot of my “Moments” feed on my WeChat app.

               The “Look around” feature. This feature allows users to temporarily allow their location, instantly showing other users that they are near, and vise versa. The goal of this is to help meet people who are also interested in connecting with others within the immediate vicinity. There is even a “Shake” function, where users can literally shake their device and it will connect them with those also shaking their device near them. Similar to Tinder and other dating apps, the goal here is to help connect people with other users nearby that might be interested in meeting up, whatever the reason. You can even select what gender you are looking for and what type of greeting you want to send them, so as to clarify if you want to actually “meet” someone, or maybe just start a new friendship.

               QR codes for literally everything. The QR feature allows users to get their own personal QR code, making adding friends as well as sending and receiving payments to and from other WeChat users plain and simple. One little feature I found while poking around was that you can actually change the style of your QR code, so instead of it just being some boring square, it can be some other sort of shape made out of those tiny little pixels that make up your QR code!

               Stickers and GIFS. Sending emojis has been a really popular way of communicating within the US and other similar countries within the past couple of years. WeChat allows users to continue doing this by incorporating stickers into their emojis options within chats. To do this, users must go to the Sticker Gallery and download stickers of their choice. Once they’ve done this, it is automatically added to their emoji gallery. You can even create your own stickers from photos/GIFs downloaded into your phone’s photo library…pretty neat! Here’s an example of my donwloaded stickers—as well as some provided emojis—that I sent to my brother:

Other features, such as group chats, transferring photos and videos, and video calls. The options are endless with WeChat!

So now that we’ve been introduced to the whole idea of WeChat in general, it’s time we take a look at how WeChat can be a valuable tool to us Digital Marketers.

The first thing marketers should keep in mind is that WeChat is a fast-growing platform that is already making its way out of China and into other countries very quickly. I noticed that there are already a lot of WeChat tutorial videos on YouTube that come from India (makes sense that it wouldn’t be from China, due to the fact that YouTube is banned there). If a business has an Official Account on WeChat, their account is reaching more than just the users within the same country as them—they are instantly putting their content out there for the whole world to see!

Here’s a couple really important points to keep in mind when deciding to create a WeChat in order to globalize your marketing efforts:

·        First things first—create that Official Account! Having an official account is like having the blue check mark next to your username on your Twitter or Instagram—it shows the user that you are the official business you claim to be. This is where you can start posting relevant content to gain subscribers and eventually start engaging with them.

·        Link your “Landing Pages” to your WeChat account correctly. WeChat allows for users to look at Official Accounts and even make the jump from the app to your website in order to help them complete the purchase. The catch is that they can pay with their WeChat, saving them from spending extra time entering billing information and still incorporating the app within the conversion process (though in the end this counts as a conversion for you—wohoo!). Make sure that whatever landing page you decide to link to your WeChat makes it easy for users to continue down that funnel, ultimately becoming a customer with the guidance of WeChat’s platform and the seamless journey you created for them.

·        Make sure you have a QR code. This will help customers with the conversion process, as well as help them find and add/subscribe to you on the app. Not having a QR code makes everything that much more difficult (and almost pointless) when using WeChat to increase conversion rates.

·        Don’t neglect your WeChat once you’ve created it. After spending a decent amount of time researching some businesses that have already done a great job marketing via WeChat, I’ve found that the biggest mistake businesses make is not doing anything on your WeChat Official Account once you’ve created it. This could easily lead to an enormous loss of potential customers reached for your business. WeChat has already proven itself in countries that are largely involved in ecommerce and mobile marketing, so to think that it doesn’t matter here in the US quite yet and therefore needs no attention is a mistake. Even smaller businesses like language teachers can use WeChat to post interesting content, such as how to order a drink from Starbucks in another Chinese, so be sure to do the same, no matter how big or small your business is!

These are just a few main actions I’ve come up with that I believe are absolutely necessary for digital marketers interested in WeChat marketing to take.

But what about all the other social media apps, you ask?

Many have been wondering the same thing.

Apparently, Mark Zuckerberg recently announced his future plans/visions for Facebook Messenger, and they seemed to sound very similar to what WeChat has already offered its users (specifically, the Group Payments feature is very similar to the WeChat Pay function within WeChat Wallet). The main question being asked right now is this: Should Facebook be worried about WeChat potentially taking over?

According to this Bloomberg article, Tencent has already surpassed Facebook in terms of market value.

Personally, I am not convinced that WeChat will take over all that is Facebook here in the United States. It’s important to keep in mind that WeChat was created as an alternate option for those who didn’t have access to major social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. In the US, we still have incredibly easy access to all of these sites and more. We have also already seen the major social media apps attempting to recreate the most popular features of those of its competitors, and even if they were somewhat successful, a majority of people still use their Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram app on a daily basis.

Our current population has already accepted the fact that Facebook is going to be in their lives for a long time, and have taken the steps necessary to adapt to that. Nowadays, it’s a surprise hear someone say “Oh, I’m not on Facebook”, and almost every holiday party, music event, birthday party and charitable event has had a Facebook Event created for it in order to update participants and have an efficient, digital RSVP system available virtually anywhere.

I believe people tend to be stuck in their ways, so unless WeChat comes out with a few new niche features that completely blow what many users already get from their other various social media accounts, dedicated Facebook fans aren’t going anywhere.

Beg to differ? Have some interesting insight that I may have missed during my research? As always, feel free to let me know, and thanks for reading this far!

Cheers,

Aubrey McNeil