Social media is an integral part of our lives, enabling us to connect with friends, share information, and express thoughts and ideas. However, the use of social media is regulated in some countries, and marketing to citizens of these countries can be difficult. For instance, the Chinese government has a strict set of guidelines for what social media platforms are allowed in the country, and how they can be used. This being the case, let’s look at the most popular social media platform being used in China today, WeChat, and how this can be utilised to target the Chinese population.

WeChat is a messaging app that’s similar to WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger, however it’s much more than that. WeChat has 1.26 billion monthly active users (Techjury, n.d.), and it’s used for everything from chatting with friends to making payments and booking taxis.  As far as usage purpose, Techjury also stated  “74.2% of WeChat Official Account users use it to get news and promote their business. Entrepreneurs and businesses use WeChat to earn money, and the Official Accounts are a great way to do it.”

Founder of PDCA social, Neal Shaffer stated “Not only mini-programs and in-app purchases can be useful. WeChat allows companies and celebrities to create official accounts to generate content for promotional purposes. Businesses can even implement CRM (Customer Relationship Management) functionality to their WeChat official accounts and proceed one-to-one personalized interaction between brands and users. These all will take your customers closer to you (Brizzo, 2019).”

Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube have been banned in China since 2009, which means that businesses with a reliance on these platforms need to find alternatives to tap into Chinese markets. WeChat offers one of the best solutions here, however what does this mean for instance for an Australian company that wants to utilise the platform for marketing?

In a 2021 article, Hootsuite stated ” Businesses can market on WeChat either by requesting an Official Account or partnering with third parties. If you have an Official Account, you can create content on WeChat and directly interact with and sell to your followers and customers. Over 100 countries (including Canada) can now apply for an Official Account, even if they don’t hold a Chinese Business License. So it is worth trying your hand at WeChat marketing  (Manners, 2021).”

In conclusion, WeChat is a powerful tool, and western countries can access this platform to promote goods and service into China. For more information on how WeChat can be leveraged to grow your business, visit https://tbs.edu.au/10904nat-diploma-of-social-media-marketing/

References

Techjury. (n.d.). 21+ Exciting WeChat Statistics [2023 Edition]. [online] Available at: https://techjury.net/blog/wechat-statistics/#gref.