- WeChat marketing!
What is WeChat marketing, how does it work,
and why do we need to use it?
Now today we are going to talk
about WeChat marketing, and it's not just an app.
It's not just a communication tool.
It's a very powerful, powerful business tool.
So Victoria, share with us, why do we need WeChat marketing?
And sometimes we talk to other people
and why we need WeChat marketing,
and they don't understand what it is.
They've never heard of it.
- Well essentially, when people think of marketing,
they want to go to a platform
where there are a lot of users in general.
Obviously, right?
Because you want a lot of eyeballs
on whatever you're pushing out.
So with WeChat marketing, there are just a little bit
under 900 million users in China right now,
and that's a huge number.
And very few people know that actually
they fall in number three.
They're just behind WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger.
So in terms of a user base, it's huge right now worldwide.
Now the interesting thing about WeChat is
if you think of the apps we have now,
for example, Facebook, Instagram, and
- WeChat, WhatsApp.
- Apple Pay.
So those apps, when we look at them,
they're individual apps with individual functions.
Now the good thing about WeChat is their intention is
to keep users on their platform as long as possible.
So what they've done is they've amalgamated
all the different functions from all the other apps
that are available right now and pretty much
rolled it into one single app.
And therefore, most users in China.
They're on WeChat pretty much all day long.
Especially since they have integrated
payment processing as well.
So when people go to China,
they don't even bring their wallets.
They bring their phone.
They can use it like a social media platform.
They can call their friends, obviously.
Text their friends.
But at the same time, they can use it
to pay for a variety of things in China.
- So they use a payment processing almost like a E-wallet.
They can dig and shop right from the app.
They could chat with their friends,
and when I go to China, a lot of my friends use the app
but they use it way more than calling someone else.
They can record a short message and say hey, you know?
I'm here in audio message or quick text.
You can share photos.
It's almost like an Instagram with WhatsApp
with payment processing built in, kind of Apple Pay,
with almost like a mini shop as well.
So very, very powerful.
- I think one thing like all WeChat really boomed
in my memory was during the Chinese New Year.
People started sharing Red Packets.
- Red Packet.
- People, my friend, we did a group.
And they just dropped some random money.
You don't know how much.
It's like a lucky draw, so you just try
to squeeze money out of it.
Some people get like $5.
- Maybe walk us through.
How does that work?
So Red Packet, how do we give money?
How does that work?
- 'Cause when I started using WeChat,
it was already in Canada,
so I don't know how it got started.
But first I think you have to link to your bank account.
Which is give your bank numbers,
and then all the information,
and you can pull money through WeChat
and you just gave Red Pockets.
- Now in Chinese New Year, in Chinese culture,
we would give to friends who are married.
- Actually in China, we don't gave friends Red Packet money.
Only the senior would give to the juniors.
- But in the app.
- Yeah, somehow in the app WeChat,
friend start to giving Red Pocket money to friends.
And people start to lucky draw.
- In Chinese culture, it's symbolized good luck.
- Yes.
- Good fortune and prosperity.
So now how does that work?
People send each other money
in Chinese New Year, and then what?
- And they can include a short message.
And then you can just open the Red Pocket
and the money just pop out.
- And you can give them, I don't know, $10, $20?
- Yeah, any amount.
- What about companies?
A lot of companies want special promotions
during that time as well.
So they would do some kind of a draw,
and they would give away a lot of money.
Some of these big corporations, right?
Why are they doing that?
- I think simply because lot of people are using it.
Create a buzz.
Like the community, group of friends.
This thing is fun.
- And when they share, do they get to add to their list?
- When they share, they have the ability to follow.
Of course, when they put up on their moments,
then all their friends and family
will get to see it as well.
- Maybe walk us through what a moment.
What does that mean?
- So the moments feed.
Most popular parallel would be the
Facebook live feed which gets updated constantly.
So you can hit refresh on your browser
or your phone as many times as you want,
and new content will keep popping up.
So essentially, WeChat's version of the same thing,
they call it moments.
Special moments in your day, special moments in life.
- Kind of like almost a mini blog of sorts.
And then I can choose to share with anyone
who I'm connected with like kind of the public,
or I can just choose to share with people
who I want a private thing, right?
- Yes.
- Interesting.
- And maybe with just a group of friends.
Let's say you have group of families,
you just want to share this with families,
or just college friends.
- And other function that I use quite often
is we can set up these small groups.
So let's say this group of friends,
we're going onto this trip.
I can just add them kind of like
almost a mini group within Facebook chat.
And then only those people would get checked
back and forth, back and forth, what's happening.
I also notice a lot of people, kind of like Facebook,
they share their life, they share what's going on.
Kind of like bragging, I go do this, I go do that.
It's for Chinese 'cause for Chinese,
status is very important.
So people do a lot of things to post different photos.
To demonstrate higher status.
New vacation, new car, new whatever, right?
It has that Instagram feel to it, right?
What do you think?
- It's actually very funny 'cause you know my dad always
on WeChat all the time,
and then just updating, refreshing the moments.
Before, my dad never used Facebook,
never really used internet a lot.
But somehow, WeChat is really addicting
to the age group of my mom and my dad.
- So not just for young people.
- Yeah, no, not at all.
And they're the one actually most exciting
when they get the Red Pocket money.
(laughing)
- Yes, like a little bit money, yes.
And then they share and even there's
a science to writing these posts.
'Cause it's a little bit different.
In Instagram, you're like a post this picture.
Look how cool I am.
But Chinese, they're a little bit more subtle.
They might post a freakin' photo,
and then they write a poem below it.
I'm seeing this, and I'm looking at that,
and here's how I'm feeling.
It's quite interesting like the way they post it.
What about for businesses?
What would be a good way, let's say North America.
Not necessarily they're selling China.
That's great for communication with Chinese clients.
That's necessary, mandatory.
But what about just marketing in general in North America?
20% of the users I said, are in North America.
Outside of China.
What's your take on that?
- Business in general want to get
into the Chinese market for obvious reasons.
They have a lot of new wealth.
- Just a little bit of money.
- A lot of new wealth that has really
come from the past five to 10 years.
And also the interesting thing is
the age range is not what people might expect.
So the typical age range where people think
are the wealthy sector are generally a little bit older.
Maybe 45 to 55 and up.
Now with the Chinese, their new wealth
is actually a lot younger.
You're looking at age mid 20s to mid 30s.
So if you look at the Vancouver market specifically,
let's say in real estate, a lot of new buyers,
young couples, they're actually quite young.
And that had surprised a lot of developers especially.
- Real estate developers.
So the interesting thing is now they have
to really adjust and really target that younger demographic.
And to understand why they pick one
building developer over another.
And how their needs are different
from the other types of affluent citizens
around the world compared to the affluent Chinese market.
- So that's WeChat marketing.
If you have any questions, comment below.
Also subscribe to our channel.
This is actually our very first episode of Decoding China.
So we gonna share with you, kind of behind the scenes.
How does China think?
And when you watch the news, what does that mean?
But I also want to make sure
we answer your questions as well.
Maybe you're thinking of selling and marketing
to the Chinese community, maybe not.
But I think you'll get interesting insight
that will help you in some way
in your life or in your career.
Doesn't matter regardless if you're selling to them or not.
So make sure you comment and leave a question.
We'll take those question and make future episode.
Stay tuned.