WeChat for Business: 7 Essential Strategies for Foreign Companies

WeChat is a powerful tool for business. Chinese brands typically set up an Official WeChat Account before they create a website or any other publicly facing profile. This is because WeChat helps companies with marketing, sales, customer support, community management, and even accepting payments.

Therefore, using WeChat for Business is one of the most effective ways to connect with Chinese consumers. In fact, WeChat holds ample opportunities to lift the vast potential of China for B2B businesses, travel businesses and B2C brands alike.

In this article, the experts at WeChat Advertising share their firsthand experience of 13 years of China marketing. Our key insight: Every global business should have a WeChat business account and an official page. Why? Let us show you!

Let’s dive right in.

How WeChat for Business Can Help Your Brand

In this article, we will look beyond WeChat advertising and marketing. We will impactfully demonstrate the multiple ways WeChat can help your international business to thrive in the Chinese market.

1. keep in touch with business contacts on WeChat Moments (personal account)
2. engage with customers on WeChat Channels (business account)
3. handle customer support with WeChat or ZenDesk CRM (personal/business account)
4. post content via official accounts (personal/business account)
5. start a conversation, network, and provide customer support via Groups (personal/business account)
6. raise brand awareness and drive leads with Articles (business account)
7. advertise to get leads, followers, and/or exposure (business account)

Now, what does all of this mean in detail?

1. WeChat Moments (朋友圈)

Launched in 2012, WeChat Moments are similar to Facebook status updates, a social feed where users share updates (text, video, images, etc.) with family and friends. Keep in mind that Facebook is blocked in China.

While Moments can only be used with personal accounts, Moments ads require a business account.

This is an example of a red envelope for live streaming by Taobao, China’s number one online shopping platform and equivalent to Amazon, encouraging people to watch.

2. WeChat Channels (Video Account)

Released in 2020, WeChat Channels serve as a short video platform, similar to Douyin/TikTok, within the WeChat ecosystem. A business account is required to use WeChat channels and run ads.

Take a look at video channel of Nanjing Marketing Group’s Founder Tait Lawton:

3. Customer Support

Brands can provide customer support on WeChat by

• adding messaging features within WeChat Official Accounts or Service Accounts to respond to customer inquiries, address issues, and provide assistance (business account)
• creating WeChat groups specifically for customer support, where users can ask questions, report problems, and require assistance (personal/business account)
• integrating chatbots to WeChat Official Accounts to provide automated responses to frequently asked questions, and escalate more complex issues to human agents when needed (business account)
• developing WeChat Mini-Programs that contain support features like FAQs, live chat, ticketing, and more
• directly messaging with customers (personal/business account)

This is what the WeChat backend for communication and customer support looks like.

These tools allow you to improve customer satisfaction and brand loyalty as well as to create strong relationships with your customers. Besides, CRMs like ZenDesk can be integrated into Official WeChat Accounts to streamline customer support.

4. Post Content

You can share your content on 

• Moments (personal account)
• Official Accounts (business account)
• Groups (personal/business account)

This allows your brand to update your audience with useful information like product/service launches, company news, special promotions, tutorials, and much more. Get their feedback through comments and chats to address concerns and continuously improve your products and services.

You can post text, images, and (short) videos. Keep in mind that some formats have limitations in posting frequency and scope.

5. WeChat Groups (群聊)

As a business, being active WeChat groups can be useful to

• directly communicate with your audience to answer their questions and concerns, provide valuable information and more
• gain feedback and insights from them regarding their preferences, pain points, as well as suggestions for improvement
• share exclusive promotions to drive sales and increase reach
• connect groups with the same interests and networking with potential partners/collaborators
• provide customer support (see above)

Here is an example of a group for girls attending Grier boarding school, called “Grier School Official Group”. It has 27 members.

WeChat Groups can be used with both personal and business accounts.

6. WeChat Articles

Launched in 2012, WeChat articles are part of Official Accounts, and, therefore, require a business account. It allows brands to publish longer content and share it with their audience to establish thought leadership, and drive engagement with their target audience.

WeChat articles first show up in followers’ chat area, making them very easy to find.

WeChat Articles can be shared within WeChat Moments, groups, and other social media platforms. This allows businesses to reach a broader audience and attract potential customers.

Brands can benefit from WeChat Articles to

• establish themselves as industry leaders, educate their audience, and build credibility and trust
• increase brand awareness (content marketing)
• engage with their audience, fostering discussions and interactions around the brand
• improve visibility within the WeChat ecosystem and beyond as WeChat articles are indexed by search engines like Baidu, making them more discoverable for people searching for a specific topic (SEO benefits)
• drive leads and sales by adding specific CTAs, e.g. visit website, download app

This is a note about the summer holiday posted by Tim Horton’s, called 天好咖啡 in Chinese, a Canadian coffee chain.

Finally, let’s take a look at the advertising options on WeChat.

7. WeChat Advertising

Advertising on WeChat is a powerful and effective way to gain Chinese followers, drive sales, and raise your brand awareness. These are the five main WeChat ad types that all require a business account.

• WeChat Moment Ads
• WeChat Official Account Ads
• WeChat Video Account Ads
• WeChat Mini-Program Ads
• WeChat Search Ads

Learn how to set up WeChat ads in the back-office dashboard.

Why is all of this relevant to you?

WeChat for Business – Recap

Launched in 2011, WeChat has since become China’s super app for everything from messaging to shopping, entertainment, payment, and much much more. With more than 1.3 billion monthly active users (MAU), WeChat dominates daily life in China.

Types of WeChat Business Accounts

As you may know, clocks tick differently in China compared to the Western world. For example, it is basically mandatory for brands to have an official WeChat account (公众号), rather than a website (or in addition). It serves as an orientation point with all relevant information, communication spot, and community area (instead of email).

To run an official account on WeChat, brands need a WeChat business account. It allows companies to share content, send group messages, interact with clients and partners, improve their services, launch mini-programs, and run WeChat ads.

• WeChat Service Accounts (recommended for B2B)
• WeChat Subscription Accounts 

Read up on the pros and cons of these official WeChat account types and how to register them. While using a personal account on WeChat can potentially foster a stronger, and more authentic connection with the clients, a WeChat business account does convey a greater sense of professionalism.

This brings us to the end of this in-depth article on WeChat for business.

The Takeaway – WeChat for Business

Being present on WeChat is basically a must for any brand, as it allows interaction with customers, promotion, and advertising.

Personal WeChat accounts are a great way to get started in the Chinese market, for smaller and medium-size brands with a limited budget. You can consider opening an official WeChat account as you gain more experience in the “Middle Kingdom”.

Official WeChat accounts have a more professional appearance and have more options, for example, to run advertisements (Moment Ads, Official Account Ads, Video Account Ads, Mini-Program Ads, Search Ads)

Posting content on Moments, Official Accounts, and in Groups, helps your brand to share relevant information about your company, products, and so on, and receive feedback through comments and chats.

Contact our team of China and WeChat experts to get help with

• creating a personal WeChat account
• opening an official WeChat business account (service, subscription)
• running WeChat ads
• posting content on WeChat and engaging with your audience

We look forward to hearing about your project.