Accepting mobile payments is a good first step, but connecting and building lasting relationships with customers, is what will help your business get ahead in the Chinese consumer market. Wondering how to make this happen? WeChat Official Accounts can help you achieve this goal.
WeChat is more than a digital wallet, it’s a global lifestyle super-app with an estimated 1 billion monthly active users. WeChat is the most popular app in China—and the country’s largest social media network—offering a ton of features that help businesses connect with their target market. WeChat Official Account is one of them.
What is it? WeChat Official Accounts—offered to businesses under the WeChat Official banner—are like a Facebook page feed. You can use an official account to gather followers, notify them about your brand or product, and redirect them to your website or e-commerce platform.
How does it work? WeChat Official Accounts are featured in the “Chat” section of WeChat and can be found in WeChat Moments, the app’s timeline. Users can also find official accounts by:
● Scanning QR codes offline in brick-and-mortar stores.
● Paying offline with WeChat Payment, and being invited by merchants to follow them online.
● Clicking on “follow buttons” in ads.
● Using the WeChat search engine.
What are the accounts and which one should I choose? There are three Official WeChat Accounts available to businesses:
Subscription Account: This can be found in a dedicated “Subscriptions” folder alongside the user’s Friends in the “Chat” section of the app. This type of account only lets you post, and is used to broadcast content to followers by sending one push message per day. A subscription account is ideal for small (one-person) businesses new to Chinese consumers, and that need to share a lot of content at first.
Service Account: This type of account appears as a “Friend” in the “Chat” section of the app. A Service account is a lot more visible than a Subscription Account, and lets you do more things than just post, like opening a WeChat Store or creating a WeChat Mini Program. It also gives you access to other sales and service-oriented features like WeChat Payment and geo-localization. However, a Service Account only offers four push messages per month, so you need to plan content strategically. This type of account is ideal for medium and large-scale businesses with an existing e-commerce infrastructure and which are already known to Chinese consumers.
Enterprise Account (WeChat Work): This is the third type of account offered to businesses. It’s intended for internal communications and office management, rather than for client relationships.
Why should I open a WeChat Official Account? Being where your customers are is a key element of any successful business strategy. This is especially true when marketing to Chinese customers who are part of an advanced digital ecosystem. Official WeChat Accounts are a sure way of reaching Chinese consumers in the online environment where they interact on a daily basis, and increasing your chances of creating a lasting presence for your business.
How do I open an account? Setting up a WeChat Official Account can be done online, but foreign companies will need support to make sure they abide by Chinese content regulations. As the authorized partner of WeChat Pay in Canada, OTT Pay knows the Chinese consumer market inside and out, and has already helped hundreds of Canadian merchants accept Chinese mobile payments and connect with Chinese customers. With Chinese tourists spending $2.4B annually in Canada, and the numbers of Chinese students and new immigrants—who pay for almost everything using mobile wallets—growing, you’ll want to make sure your business takes advantage of everything mobile payment solutions have to offer.
Ready to get started? Give us a call at (+1) 800-688-9838 or email us at info@ottpay.com.