Today we are going to talk about one topic that many Marketer in Luxury brands ask
- Should I get a WeChat CRM ? WeChat Mini program?
- Should I keep it (if I have one) ?
- What actions should I do to enrich my database on WeChat CRM
The Chinese Market Fashion & Luxury Brands
If you work for a fashion or luxury brand, you might wonder if enhancing your efforts in China can positively impact your sales figures. Let’s delve deeper into this market’s spending habits.
Many factors influence consumer spending, from purchasing power to culture to personal preferences. However, the Chinese are known for being luxurious people.
China is one of the top luxury goods consumers in the world.
The luxury fashion industry may have originated in France after Charles Frederick invented haute couture, but the industry grew into a global sensation. Today, China is one of the top luxury goods consumers in the world.
Before COVID-19 sent the world into indefinite lockdowns, Chinese tourists accounted for 17 to 20 percent of luxury sales worldwide. Since health protocols restricted access to popular shopping destinations throughout the globe, this market started purchasing luxury items locally.
Recent global luxury goods spending statistics reveal that the Chinese spent a whopping $73.6 million on luxury goods in 2021, reflecting a 36% growth from the previous year. Louis Vuitton, Gucci, and Bvlgari are some of the top luxury brands in China.
China’s economic growth through the years moved hundreds of millions of its constituents out of poverty and into a high-end lifestyle. The Chinese middle-class population has grown from 3% in 2000 to over half the populace at 707 million people.
This group perceives luxury brands as valuable possessions that meet societal expectations. If you’re not making moves to penetrate this market yet, we suggest you do. With the ideal techniques, you can grow your business exponentially.
One of the most prominent platforms you can use to reach your goals is WeChat.
What Is WeChat?
Launched in 2011, WeChat is now China’s most popular social media, messaging, and mobile payment app. In fact, WeChat’s active monthly user base has grown from 2.8 million in 2011 to 1.2 billion today.
Some of the top business apps worldwide like Facebook, Google, and Zoom are banned in China, making WeChat the standard solution for business communications.
If you want to grow your fashion and luxury brand in China, we recommend using WeChat. After all, your leads will communicate with you via this software. Unlike global companies and consumers, they will not use emails because they don’t like waiting for replies.
In the past, sales and marketing teams in China used a web of contacts to build more professional relationships. While this system proved challenging, its global counterpart — customer relationship management (CRM) — is still a new concept in China. Applying CRM strategies in this market might not be a welcome sight for some prospects.
However, as consumer demands shift, WeChat developed ways to connect CRMs with its services to make the best of both worlds.
What Is WeChat Social CRM?
Creators developed the old WeChat version with scalable brand awareness in mind. However, the app has since evolved to welcome consumer-centric marketing strategies to address the needs of its followers.
WeChat’s social CRM platform is now an ideal one-on-one service page for global fashion and luxury brands. The key to success lies in understanding how to use the software to your advantage.
Like global social media brands, WeChat encourages organizations to activate their social CRM tools to enhance customer relationships. Now that SMS is no longer an effective solution in the Chinese market — and email never was — more and more international companies are turning to social CRM to elevate consumer experiences.
Today, brands like Cartier, Bulgari, and Louis Vuitton connect with millions of Chinese fans through WeChat. YSL Beauty and Dior have taken their efforts a step further by offering mini-programs and gift cards, respectively.
What Are WeChat Integration Tools?
Now that you understand the power of WeChat in the Chinese market, it’s time to identify the ideal CRM solutions for you. The good news is that there are available systems you can use to communicate with your potential customers.
Below are some of the top tools in the market today.
JING
JING offers digital marketing automation solutions to help boost acquisition, nurturing, and conversion rates. JING Digital uses API connections in this software to let brands measure engagements and contact detail metrics.
WeChat still observes many restrictions on contact information, but JING enables users to engage with leads and get more contact information, including phones and emails. You can later pass these details to a CRM. We recommend this software for bigger businesses looking for advanced features.
With JING on your side, you can integrate Salesforce with WeChat, track offline to online (O2O) key performance indicators (KPIs), and use a next-level chatbot to enhance your efforts.
Drip
We recommend Drip for brands that need help managing WeChat backend functions. The interface is aesthetically pleasing and easy to navigate, so integrating your WeChat account should be a cinch.
Once you complete the WeChat CRM integration, you can start managing messages, article postings, and other marketing tasks. You can also enable advanced features such as overseeing QR codes or running lottery games.
What we like best about this software is that it doesn’t just focus on CRM but on other inbound strategies as well.
Parllay
If you prefer software with an intuitive interface, we recommend Parllay. It lets users import customer information into HubSpot. This feature allows brands to unify their CRM solutions in one management system.
With Parllay, you can implement digital marketing strategies on WeChat and generate quality reports afterward. What we love most about Parllay is that it lets you create personalized responses — an element WeChat lacks. Parllay is ideal for you if you’re looking for basic CRM components and don’t have much need for advanced capabilities.
Knight
Knight is an award-winning software, bagging the Best Retail Industry Award by Salesforce.
As you can tell by the Mandarin website, Knight is a China-focused CRM solution that you can use with Salesforce. You can also use it with HubSpot, but since it’s not a HubSpot partner, you may experience challenges connecting some functions.
Apart from marketing capabilities, you can also use it for WeChat e-commerce and physical store functions. If you need to enhance your e-commerce services, we recommend using Knight for interactive communications, automation, and coupon marketing.
Youzan
Youzan offers a vast collection of shop templates. However, many brands aren’t aware that it also offers CRM integration services. With Youzan, you can establish distinct buyer personas segmented by location, age, gender, purchase amount, or purchase behavior. Afterward, you can create personalized messages for different parts of the buyer’s journey.
Additionally, the software offers standout data analytics features that help users make informed choices about their campaigns.
How Do You Integrate a CRM Into Your WeChat Account?
Different software brands have varying integration requirements. The most crucial part of your success is to choose the best one that addresses your distinct needs as an organization. However, below are some of the best practices you can observe to ensure a seamless onboarding process.
- Know your audience. The first step in any marketing effort is to understand your target’s needs and wants — in this case, the Chinese market. Once you know when to interact with them, you can develop personalized content for different buyer personas.
- Develop a CRM strategy. Remember to create distinct techniques for your WeChat social CRM because it doesn’t work the same way as your international CRM.
- Set KPIs. Make sure your KPIs are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely. This step is essential in measuring your success and return on investment (ROI).
- Work with experienced professionals. It’s not enough to work with any specialist with CRM experience. Instead, it’s best to find an agency with expertise in the Chinese market.
- Keep testing. Once you implement your marketing campaigns for your fashion or luxury brand, it’s essential to test them. No matter what strategy you use, you can always step back and improve your processes if they’re not working out.
What Are the Advantages of WeChat CRM?
So, what are the advantages of WeChat CRM? Let’s look at some of the most notable ones below.
Strengthen Customer Relationships
WeChat CRM offers many functions, but any solution has one core function: to improve customer relationships. When you choose software, think of what your potential clients need instead of what will make your marketing tasks more convenient.
With CRM, you can manage your contacts, gather valuable information, and develop conversion plans accordingly. This feature ensures that they have all the data they need to perform their tasks as best they can.
Grow Your Clientele
As mentioned earlier, WeChat has a massive 1.2 billion active monthly user base. This figure represents over 15% of the global population! If you want to penetrate the Chinese market, WeChat CRM will provide you with a cost-effective solution to reach your growth goals.
Also, with WeChat’s hyper-targeting capabilities, you can develop techniques to appeal to quality leads. Doing so will guarantee impressive ROI results.
Boost Sales
One of the best advantages of having a CRM tool is that you can speed up the buying process. According to the Marketing Rule of 7, it takes seven brand interactions before a client purchases from a company. Without a strategy, this process could take weeks, months, or even years. However, with WeChat CRM, you can streamline your efforts.
Simplify Processes
With WeChat CRM, you won’t have to go through various sites to find valuable data. Instead, you can centralize information from different platforms in one convenient location. Whether you need e-commerce or video hosting capabilities, WeChat CRM can make it happen.
Gain Valuable Insight
In life and marketing, knowledge is power. When you have the data to back up your theories, you can start creating strategies that work. Whatever your goal is, WeChat CRM helps you gain a better insight into your spending and returns.