WeChat Marketing Trends 2022 You Should Know

WeChat is a powerful messaging and marketing tool growing in popularity among businesses in China. It has become a popular way to reach out to Chinese consumers in recent years. The app provides businesses with a massive potential audience with over a billion users. As we enter another year, there are some updates that you should know that can impact your business for good.

This article will outline WeChat marketing trends 2022 and the reasons why WeChat should be a crucial part of your business’ marketing strategy. Smart entrepreneurs and business people in China are already taking advantage of WeChat’s unique features to build brand awareness and engage with customers, so let’s get started.

#1 WeChat Invests in Channels for Livestreaming and Short Videos

Many internet users in China watch short videos that are suggested by algorithms. This has led to increased investment in space by almost every big Chinese tech firm. WeChat is one of them as it invests in Channels.

Channels are an essential part of WeChat’s future, and businesses can use them to attract new users and keep them engaged. However, WeChat will need to compete against rivals like Douyin and Kuaishou to remain successful. Channels offer unique opportunities for Tencent, as the platform can tap into more advertising and live-streaming e-commerce revenue streams.

WeChat’s Channels function, previously limited to text-and-voice interactions, has been expanded to enable video content. WeChat now offers the same continuous brief video streams to users as Douyin and Kuaishou do with Channels.

Action Plan for You: Find ways to take advantage of short video content for promoting your products and services. Short videos will shape the way you communicate and engage with your followers. Consult with the LIMPID team for the best strategy according to your industry’s needs. 

#2 Millenials and Gen Z are Drivers of Growth in the Luxury Industry

In a highly polarized luxury market where high-end brands are thriving while more affordable segments face stagnating sales, the power of young consumers in China to drive growth is becoming critical. The younger generations will be responsible for 50 percent of luxury purchases in China by 2021.

Eleven percent of millennial and Gen Z consumers in China spend more than RMB 300,000 ($46,830) per year on luxury. Forty-three percent of those surveyed say they have purchased a mid-to-high-luxury brand for their first luxury purchase.

These younger consumers stand out in other ways as well. For example, they are more likely to buy products within categories such as jewelry and eyewear if prices are broken down into smaller payments. They like brands with a strong focus on social responsibility.

Reinforcing these conclusions, 53 percent of millennials, Gen Z, and “big spender” luxury consumers in China shape their purchase decisions. These findings are consistent with studies by BCG that also found millennials to be more brand-adverse than older generations of Chinese consumers. However, half of these younger luxury consumers said they would switch brands for a better overall user experience.

Action Plan for You: If you’re in the luxury sector, find the tools and platforms widely used by your target audience, the young consumers. WeChat, Douyin, and Kuishou – are some popular social media apps and short videos apps in China. Team up with the LIMPID team and create a social media strategy that matches your budget, goals, and concepts. 

#3 Word of Mouth Marketing is Crucial for Product Recommendations

On WeChat, the number one way to get product recommendations from friends is through word-of-mouth marketing. In general, when people recommend products to you, they have usually already bought the product and gained a positive experience in using it. They are sharing this information with you because they believe that a similar result can happen if you get the same product.

Word of mouth marketing is a highly effective form of marketing because a recommendation from a friend has more credibility than an ad written by a professional writer. We place greater faith in the information supplied by individuals we know and like rather than businesses focused on profits. Furthermore, consumers read subjective, personal comments about items they purchase rather than objective summed reviews.

Four types of WeChat users can act as influencers for products themselves: Group Members, Trendsetters, Opinion-Leaders, and Product Connoisseurs.

• Group Members usually make up the majority of WeChat users, and they use the app to chat with their contacts but not much more. Their comments on products are typically centered around functionality, whether functional or not for other WeChat users. For example, users share daily necessities like toothpaste or toilet paper or promote offline shops to their friends.
• Trendsetters make up a small fraction of WeChat users. They are active participants in group chats, and their comments on products range from subjective to objective – they have bought the product themselves and read other people’s reviews online.
• Opinion-Leaders are similar to Trendsetters, except that they tend to have more influence over other users. They are the most active commenters and usually post about daily necessities or trending products online.
• Product Connoisseurs usually have a large following on WeChat, and they provide in-depth product reviews through sharing photos, videos, and even short articles.

Action Plan for You: Nothing beats the recommendations of customers who love your product or services. And the best place where they share the experience is on WeChat. How can you build relationships with influencers so that they can help you on WOM? You can strategize with LIMPID team on how you can grow your followers organically through customer reviews and product recommendations.