WeChat Marketing Guide 2025 With Examples (Written by a Human)
With more than 1.3 billion monthly active users, WeChat is synonymous with living in China. The app is used for socializing, shopping, events, payment, and much more. This makes WeChat marketing indispensable for brands looking to enter or expand in the Chinese market.
In this WeChat marketing guide, our China experts with 15 years of on-the-ground marketing experience in the Far East cover everything you need to know.
Our colleague Ivy will share real-life insight into marketing on WeChat and unique examples that have never been published before. Her key area of expertise is social media marketing and content creation (with a focus on WeChat). Ivy has been working with Nanjing Marketing Group, the operator of WeChat Advertising, for more than four years.
Let’s begin.
Relevance of WeChat for Marketing in China
Launched in 2011 by Tencent, WeChat has since become a super-app in China, integrating several aspects into one seamless experience. This allows users to message, shop, play, pay, and more – all within one app.
There is no one Western equivalent. Instead, WeChat can be described as a combination of Instagram, Facebook, Email newsletter, WhatsApp, PayPal, and Instagram Reels.
Therefore, WeChat is ideal to reach Chinese consumers (and business partners!). It’s where they spend most of their online time – 79 minutes per day on average. The app’s many features allow brands to engage with their customers and target audiences in a highly personalized way.
Companies can choose from a wide range of marketing and advertising opportunities to drive brand awareness, sales, and customer loyalty. Using WeChat, small, medium, and large businesses can establish a solid and thriving foundation for growth in the Chinese market.
Our Take on WeChat’s Role
Let’s hear Nanjing Marketing Group founder Tait Lawton’s take on how WeChat fits into an overall marketing strategy in China:
Within the vast social media landscape in China (detailed overview here), WeChat is by far the largest and most extensive app on the market.
Other key players like Weibo, Douyin, Little Red Book (Xiaohongshu), and so on have their specific audiences and benefits, but WeChat is basically a must for brands entering or expanding in the Chinese market. That’s because WeChat is, hands down, THE BEST place to build a following, and can also be used to provide customer support, more information, and many other services.
Which Problems Does WeChat Marketing Solve?
Imagine a global B2B or B2C company offering products or services that don’t have a market presence in China yet. They are looking for Chinese contacts – partners and customers, but cannot find them on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and other Western platforms. This is where WeChat comes in.
WeChat Ecosystem
Check out this 20-minute WeChat video tour by Tait Lawton, founder of Nanjing Marketing Group and China marketing expert with more than 25 years of experience in this field.
| Example | About | |
| Messaging/Chat |  | – Core functionality – Individuals, Groups, Companies, Subscriptions – Companies use WeChat per default to communicate (vs. email or phone) |
| Group Chat |  | – Business meetings are often held by creating a WeChat group – Up to 500 members – Up to 1,000 members (verified accounts) |
| Official Accounts |  | – Service, Subscription, and Enterprise Accounts – Logo, name, description, content – First step for brands when entering the Chinese market – Starting point and equivalent to a website in the Western world |
| Moments (Friends Feed) |  | – One or multiple images (maximum 9 images), video, and/or text – Friends can react and comment |
| QR Codes |  | – Most ads outside will have a QR code on it – Almost always these QR codes leads to WeChat (Official Account or other touchpoint within WeChat) – Scan friend’s QR code to connect |
| WeChat Pay |  | – Used even by small street vendor – WeChat Pay is THE digital payment service in China besides Alipay |
| Mini Programs |  | – Mini apps within WeChat without extra download – For example, ride hailing, restaurants (loyalty programs) – All kinds of different designs |
| Channels & Live-Streaming |  | – Like TikTok and Instagram reels – Must have educational or entertainment value to get people engaged |
| Search |  | – Encyclopedia, articles, short videos, and other content within the WeChat ecosystem – Search is important (!) – People nearby and shake function (to meet new people) – Content on WeChat might or might appear on Baidu (China’s Google) |
Now that we have the basics of WeChat down, let’s find out how to utilize this platform for brands to connect with a Chinese audience, and ultimately drive sales.
WeChat Advertising vs. Wechat Marketing
While both methods are used to promote brands, WeChat advertising and WeChat marketing differ in strategy and execution.
- WeChat Advertising: paid ads => to increase brand visibility, clicks, and sales (direct and transactional)
- WeChat Marketing: both organic and paid strategies => to create long-term relationships with customers
While WeChat advertising requires a significant budget, organic Wechat marketing can be started with an overall lower investment by creating organic content.
WeChat Advertising Overview
In short, there are five main ways to advertise on WeChat.
- Moments
- Official Account/Banner
- Video
- Mini Program
- Search
This is what WeChat advertising looks like in real life.
| WeChat Advertising | Example | USP |
| Moment Ads |  WeChat Moments Ads: Dior (fashion) & Taobao (e-commerce) | Most popular |
| Official Account/Banner Ads |  WeChat Official Account Ad: CAMEL (sports) | Most effective |
| Video Account Ads |  WeChat Video Account Ads: Ningbo Bank & 金典 (milk brand) | Potential to go viral |
| Mini Program Ads |  WeChat examples | High user engagement |
| Search Ads |  WeChat Search Ads: searching for jobs & language learning institute | Primary driver of organic traffic for most brands |
Read up on how to get started with WeChat advertising in this detailed article.
WeChat Marketing Overview
Overall, WeChat marketing is a broader strategy that typically includes content creation, engagement, and community-building.
WeChat marketing goals include
- Creating a long-term relationship with clients
- Driving brand loyalty
- Increasing engagement (versus immediate conversion)
- Driving leads
- Attracting new followers
- Aiding customer support (both customers and customer support staff can use the content published or linked to from your WeChat account)
- Boosting customer retention
- Helping to convert more leads (for long sales processes, people who also repeatedly view your WeChat content are more likely to convert)
The key features include
- Organic content
- Community building / WeChat groups
- Customer relationship management
- Influencer collaborations
- Mini programs
- QR codes
Let’s find out what these features look like in practice.
| WeChat Marketing | Example | About |
| Organic Content |  Article about the game Black Myth | – Create engaging content (entertaining and/or educational!) – Share it through WeChat Official Accounts (articles, videos, promotions, updates, etc.) |
| Community Building / WeChat Groups |  Example: Nike | – Engage customers in group chats to share product news, promotions, etc. – Drive customer engagement with interactive content |
| CRM |  Example: Saint Mary’s High School | Provide customer support, loyalty programs, and individual interactions through a WeChat Official Account |
| KOL Collaborations |  Example: Video from popular Chinese influencer, Austin | Collaborate with influencers to promote a brand to their followers |
| Mini Programs |  Example: Nike | Develop mini programs for e-commerce, and user engagement |
| QR Codes |  Example: Hisense (electronics) | Use QR codes to drive traffic to a WeChat Official Account or mini program, or designated landing page |
To sum it up, WeChat Advertising is a direct and transactional approach (cost-per-click perfectly expresses this model), generating short-term results.
On the other hand, WeChat Marketing is a broader strategy that combines organic and paid tactics to foster long-term relationships and benefits more cost-effectively. Both approaches can be used together as an integrated WeChat strategy.
WeChat Marketing: Step-by-Step Strategy
To stay ahead of your competition with WeChat marketing, our experts have put together these nine strategies.
1. Set Up a WeChat Official Account
First things first, an Official Account (OA) is recommended to create a credible brand image on WeChat.
Most brands opt for a Service Account (versus Subscription Account) as it generally has higher open rates and more features.
2. Understand Your Audience
Knowing who you want to reach, determines your content and functionalities you can offer. WeChat’s broad user demographic ranges from young to old, urban to rural, and so on.
The WeChat analytics tools (more on that later on) allows you to gain insights into your followers, content performance, and user behavior.
3. Create High-Quality Content
Consistently useful and interesting videos, images, articles, and more are key to keeping your audience engaged. WeChat favors rich, long-form content that provides VALUE to the consumer. This differs from other platforms like Douyin, where short, viral content performs better.
Try these content types to interact with your audience.
- WeChat articles: Typically long-form blog posts, news updates, or thought pieces with high value to your audience.
- Interactive content: This can be interactive polls or surveys to engage users and gather feedback.
- USG: Encourage your audience to share reviews, photos, and more of your products and services (user-generated content).
- WeChat Moments: Ideal to share organic, “behind-the-scenes” content with your followers
Graphics with appealing/disruptive visuals and only little text are ideal for capturing the attention of Chinese users who are overwhelmed with digital information on a daily basis.
This is 90% of work in WeChat marketing, and we have many blog posts about it.
4. Set up a WeChat Store or Mini Program
There are basically two ways to set up an e-commerce store on WeChat:
- Create your own WeChat website: optimize your website for WeChat or integrate the WeChat API into your website for specific functions.
- Use a WeChat shop platform: Service providers like Youzan or Weidian allow you to create a WeChat shop quickly and affordably.
Similarly, mini programs are lightweight apps within WeChat that offer additional functionalities without downloading a separate app. With their ease of use, they are rapidly gaining popularity.
WeChat mini programs can be used for e-commerce, loyalty programs, and a tailored brand experience. They are real conversion boosters as they keep your audience within the WeChat ecosystem during their customer journey.
5. Offer loyalty programs, promotions, and vouchers
Loyalty programs, digital promotions, and vouchers are powerful tools to engage and retain customers on WeChat.
Personalize these promotions to foster repeat purchases and brand loyalty.
6. Optimize for keywords (relevant for WeChat internal search)
Include relevant keywords and hashtags in your WeChat articles, moments, and other content.
This ensures that your information can be found via WeChat search (and on Baidu, although the algorithm is inconsistent) and is displayed more frequently to your target audience.
7. Integrate WeChat Pay
Improve your customer experience and drive conversions by adding WeChat Pay for in-app purchases.
- Add WeChat Pay to your WeChat shop and or mini program
- Encourage users to share product links and promotions through their Moments
- Offer coupons that can be redeemed via WeChat Pay
Next, let’s examine WeChat analytics in more detail.
8. Share Your QR Code to Attract More Followers
To build a following on WeChat, you can invite users to scan your QR code from other places online and offline, such as outdoor ads, events, your website, receipts and product packaging.
9. Use WeChat Advertising
Specifically target and reach your audience with a variety of paid advertising formats, including Moments ads, Official Account/banner ads, video ads, mini program ads, and search ads.
WeChat advertising helps brands to achieve their marketing goals, from brand awareness to direct sales and customer engagement. The WeChat ecosystem is vast, which makes it stand out and valuable in the Chinese market to connect with audiences.
Likewise, this allows marketers to create highly personalized and interactive campaigns. The targeting options include user demographics, behaviors, location, and more.
10. Use WeChat Analytics
Use WeChat’s analytics or third-party platforms to identify which content your audience favors and adapt your WeChat marketing strategy accordingly.
Monitor key metrics like
- Reach (what drives follower growth?)
- Engagement rate (shares, comments, etc.)
- Click-through-rate
- Conversion rate (purchase, download, etc.)
- WeChat Pay transactions (volume and value)
Knowing the levers of impact allows you to optimize your WeChat strategy.
11. Bonus Tips
Wait, that’s not all. Our experts have four more tips for you to leverage the potential of WeChat for international brands.
- Localize your content and campaigns to Chinese culture and consumer behavior
- Be responsive to customer requests and provide support in real-time to increase trust and loyalty
- Partner with local businesses to expand your reach
- Get help from China marketing experts
Now, let’s take a look at what this looks like in practice.
Case Study: Lizenzero
Interzero Recycling Alliance is the official organization in Germany that is responsible for packaging authorization licensing in the country.
Its online platform Lizenzero provides packaging authorization licensing to global users, helping them fulfill their obligations under German packaging law. This means: If you are a manufacturer or retailer from China (or any other country) selling products to end consumers in Germany, you must comply with the provisions of the German Packaging Act and fulfill the registration obligations.
Problem description
German packaging law became mandatory in Germany in January 2019. This directly affects sellers of goods to and in the German market.
However, at that time, cross-border sellers in China knew little about this law. They were unfamiliar with the process and stakeholders to obtain packaging authorization licenses. Against this background, Lizenzero wanted to enter the Chinese market.
Goals
Lizenzero only had a website in German and English language, tailored to the European market. The goals were to
- Expand its visibility through Chinese social media platforms like WeChat
- Gain more declaration orders
- Ensure compliance with German law
Therefore, they approached us to realize this vision.
Strategies
For Lizenzero, we
- Set up a brand new WeChat Official Account (Service Account)
- Published WeChat articles twice a month
- Introduce German packaging law knowledge, latest policy news, platform declaration processes, and practical information for cross-border e-commerce to target users
- Provided Chinese companies with very detailed, comprehensive, and easy-to-understand information
- Integration of Zendesk
- Setup of Lizenzero’s customer service tool in the back-end of the WeChat Official Account
- Enabling customer service representatives to directly receive and respond to messages sent by WeChat users
This strategy ran for one year.
Results
After one year,
- The number of licenses requested grew significantly
- With our help, Lizenzero became the first packaging authorization licensing service agency to offer Chinese customer service, for free!
Although Lizenzero’s prices may not be the lowest in the market, through attentive and free Chinese customer service, they have captured the hearts of many cross-border sellers and established a brand image and good reputation in the industry.
This brings us to the end of this extensive article on WeChat marketing and your go-to guide for future-proof China expansion.
The Takeaway – WeChat Marketing
To sum it up, with more than 1.3 billion users, WeChat offers unparalleled avenues for marketing in China. This comprehensive guide reveals insights into
- WeChat Advertising (paid, targeted): Moments, Official Account/Banner, Video, Mini Program, Search
- WeChat Marketing (organic, paid): Organic Content, Community Building / WeChat Groups, Customer Relationship Management, Influencer Collaborations, Mini Programs, QR Codes
THE key factor for successful marketing in China through WeChat is premium content that is useful, localized, and easy/fun to read and interact with. Are you ready to get started?
