Wechat is the most used app in China. Around 1.2 Billion users used it every day. 70 messages are sent per person and per day and more than 100 minutes of the call. Wechat is a part of Chinese lives. Because the app succeeded to adapt all its functions to its consumers it is becoming a must-have in China.
Wechat for Fashion Brands
Chinese users watch videos, follow the news, pictures, brands, people, play games, use delivery food service…and many more. Wechat in China is the key to becoming known by your target. But, when you are a foreign company, it can be hard and ask a lot of time to use all the capacities of the app. That’s why we are here! To help you with this guide to create your Wechat Official Account. It’s the key that will allow you to develop your activity and touch your target in China.
Read as well: The Ultimate Guide to Wechat Marketing
THE DIFFERENT ACCOUNTS YOU CAN CREATE ON WECHAT
First, I think it’s important for you to know all the different Official Accounts existing on Wechat.
- Subscription account : the subscription account allows you to release contents to your followers. It’s really convinient for media organizations or bloggers. You can easily interact and to communicate with your followers.
- Service account : if you are a firm, it’s the best account to sell and promote your goods or services.
Subscription accounts and service accounts are mostly used by firms to communicate and create a relationship with users. Communication is the key to attracting your consumers in China. It brings you visibility and a trustful image.
You have to select which kind of account is the most appropriate for your business. But, If I can give you advice, choose a Verified Chinese Service Account, it’s the most appropriate choice for any kind of company you have.
I will explain more about these two different accounts in a few minutes.
LOCAL ACCOUNT OR FOREIGN ACCOUNT?
Before all, the first question you need to ask you if do you want to create a Chinese account or a foreign account?
You need to know that Chinese accounts are more visible by Chinese users. Because of the control of government, foreign accounts are mostly rejected by the system of censorship. Chinese people can only see Chinese accounts. If you only create a foreign account, all the contents will be in english, but only foreigners will be able to see you, not Chinese users.
Other important criteria, all the functions of Wechat are reserved for the Chinese official accounts. If you have a foreign account you can’t use all the functions, your functions will be limited.
If your goal is to develop your business in China and to attract chinese consumers, the only solution is the local account. The content will be in mandarin, so more accessible to Chinese people.
But, for legal reasons, it’s impossible for foreign companies to create a Chinese official account if you don’t have a Chinese legal entity. You also need a Chinese Residence ID and a Chinese phone number.
The only solution is to form a partnership with a Chinese partner or a WFOE (Wholly Foreign-Own Enterprise) for example.
So, you know what you have to do?
THE WECHAT SUBSCRIPTION ACCOUNT
As I explained to you before, the subscription account (订阅号 or ding yuè háo) allows you to publish a lot of content to your followers.
BUT, your account will be put in a subscription account subfolder. If you publish new content, your followers will not receive a notification. They need to go to the subscription account subfolder to see your news.
THE WECHAT SERVICE ACCOUNT
The service account (服务号 or fú wù háo ) is better if you want to sell products or services.
In addition, a lot of functions are only available for service accounts. It’s the case of CRM, customizable pages, mini-sites…
Each time you will publish new content, your followers will receive a notification. Your service account will be rank very well and better than the subscription accounts.
Only problem, the service account only allows you to publish 4 posts each month. You will need to define a very good communication strategy and choose your posts.
For both accounts, it’s better if your account is verified. It gives you legitimacy nearby your consumers. Be careful, only the Chinese Official Accounts can have the verified stamp given by Wechat.
Chinese consumers only follow verified accounts because Wechat engages himself to control all the accounts and only gives the verified stamp to the real company. It shows that you are not an impostor. In China, people need to be reassured because of all the scandals and the huge industry of fake. With the verified stamp, consumers know that they can trust you.
In addition, if your account is verified, you can access more services :
- Users management
- Custom menus
- Messaging
- Users location
- WeChat payments
- Etc…
WECHAT FEATURES FOR OFFICIAL ACCOUNTS
As I said before, all features are not available for everybody. This pictures summarize all the features you can used regarding to your account.
- Chinese business license or foreign business license
- Chinese bank account of the company (to pay the verification fee and receive the verification code)
- Chinese ID of a chinese citizen (Chinese account operator) associated with a WeChat Payment account linked to his/her bank account.
- Display name
- Name of the WeChat ID
- Email address for the registration
- Address of your account type: Subscription or Service
- Your business’s short introduction
- Profile picture
- Chinese landline phone number of your company (for verification call from TenCent)
The process may seem long and demanding but it allows you to have a verified account.
We are a specialist digital marketing agency based in Shanghai. We understand the fashion market and the real methods for success in this lucrative market.
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1 comment
Reginald Hook
This article is very detailed, I opened a Wechat account for my brand and would like to have such a detailed guide at this time… was complicated