Have you wonder why your official WeChat account is not drawing audience? You are not alone. Is it not running well or there were elements you could have missed out.
To address our concerns, let us start from the source, WeChat – the most popular social media platform in China with 800 Mil active users monthly (Source: Tencent 2016 2nd quarter report).
The popularity of WeChat lies on its private interface, which means users will not be bombarded by unwelcome content like advertising (at least not now) and sites they follow kept neatly under official accounts and they could visit by choice. There are a lot of more details, but I guess as a user, I would assume you know how it works.
Base on general observation, most Chinese WeChat users daily flow starts from checking incoming messages, follow-by reading through ‘Moments’ and leaving other content last. This shows that content under ‘official’ platform does not get its immediate attention and might be skipped. Content shared in Moments are well received and score high in readers rate.
Understand how users move on WeChat, indicates that it is insufficient to depend on one channel alone to broadcast our content, unless you have already a huge number of diehard followers like H&M, bloggers or journal/magazines.
Here is a chart (extracted from one of our Live cases) showing readers source. Besides Moments, 50% comes through ‘friends’, ‘conversation’ and ‘others’. What is more important, this account has just 700 fans. Not a lot, but its content generated 35 times readers rate within the month and 1.5 conversion rate daily.
What to do with your existing WeChat when it is going no where in getting followers nor readers? Let us access the situation with some fundamental questions:
- What are the objectives of having a WeChat or any social media account? Think beyond corporate image and consider the possible benefits.
- Who are the target audience? What drives them? If you are considering it outside of China, be aware of culture and users background. eg. Malaysia WeChat users tend to be more matured 40s and above; China prime users fall between 24 – 35.
- What are the social media goals? Are they realistic and achievable? What kind of support is required? Be specific on your goals. Do not use social media content as a DIRECT selling tool, e-Commerce can still have quality sharing. Content can help you to drive traffic and eventually lead to transactions. But it should not be a piece of ‘hard sell’ material.
- The MOST important question we need to ask is, ‘How can the brand differentiate itself from competitors? In this congested market, you need to identify your niche. Consider using a service provider to help you get this part right. It is probably the most important part of your marketing strategy and investment well spent.
Whether you are providing a service or selling a product, think of what interest your clients. If your WeChat is going no where, take a look at these accounts, perhaps they might inspire you (scan barcode). Even if you do not read Chinese, take a look at the content layout.
Did you notice the similarity? Rich WeChat content. These accounts are targeting a very broad market and have average 20’000 readers rate per article.
The figures demonstrated here should not serve as your indicator unless you are running the same kind of business.
Obviously B2B traffic is lower than B2C. WeChat or any social media, the more followers might not indicate success, however, it does help (if they are alive).
What next if your WeChat is not reach out? Perhaps it is time to get back to the drawing board once more.
Share with us your experience, we love to hear from you.
Contributed by Sarah MM Chiang, sarahmm@redlineasia.com, Director of Red Line, Hong Kong | China, a Social Media Agency that delivers with excellence (a-redline.com)
