Who Needs Facebook?
In China, 70% of social media users are under the age of 35, they spend an average of 90 minutes per day on social media and 38% of their consumers make purchases based on recommendations they have read about on social media. It is crucial to engage these users whenever and wherever possible.
Imagine, just for a minute that there is a platform that can do just about everything Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, and Ebay can do combined.
Do you find that hard to believe? Well, there is such an app.
Weixin, (pronounced way-shin) is the Chinese social networking app that offers just that. The app allows users to send messages, get news, share photos, and order a cab all from their mobile phone; and all on just one app!
But, why not just use Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and all of the other platforms that most of us use on a daily basis?
Because, since 2009 Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and most of the other social media sites are banned in China! In fact, the censorship is so bad it has been nicknamed “The Great Firewall of China!”
The government maintains control over what Internet content is available to the people and any content that is allowed is monitored. This in itself makes it difficult for Chinese social media platforms to expand beyond China (Davison, 2012.)
What is Weixin?
Weixin is an all-in-one social media platform that was first introduced in China in 2011. By 2014, Weixin had over 300 million users; and as of September of 2018 had over 1.08 billion users (Barboza, 2014). The Weixin (also referred to as “We Chat”) penetration rate is 85.5% and it boasts 619 million daily active users (China, 2019.) Weixin’s social media parent company, Ten Cent was worth over $100 billion in 2014.
Weixin is more than a messaging and social media app, it is a lifestyle for its’ users. Users can chat, make phone calls, play games and make mobile payments through Weixin payments. In fact, users can even book a taxi without ever leaving the app. Weixin aims to integrate itself into the daily lives of its’ users and make using it a habit.
How Does It Work?
China’s largest social media network is so successful because they identified their customer’s needs and offered a product that solved these problems.
- They targeted young, urban smartphone users
- They made the app easy to use and convenient for the users. In fact, it is so simple to use Weixin promotes that “if you have one minute,” you can open a store on Weixin.
- Weixen enhances the users’ self-efficacy
- Users rarely need to leave the app to open a mobile browser
- Tailored the campaign to its’ audiences needs and interests
“One big takeaway from the success of Weixin is that you should make your social media product a part of your audiences’ everyday routine and habit” – Mahoney, 2017
Social Media Success: What is the Key?
The key to success of any social media campaign is to know your audience!
In other words, your campaign needs to fit your audience’s needs and satisfy their wants. You need to:
- Gather basic demographics about your audience and choose the right platforms
- Conduct an in-depth analysis- give them what they are looking for
- Make the campaign easy to navigate and make it simple
- Use special occasions to develop your social media campaign- MAKE IT EXCITING!
Gift Giving…Done!
Weixin continues to add new functions to fit the needs of their audience. The “Red Envelope” campaign is one example of how to create excitement over a campaign. During the holidays, a part of Chinese culture includes giving a money gift to family and friends, known as Red Envelope. Weixin launched an app allowing users to link their bank account and send virtual “Red Envelopes” to their recipients. To add extra excitement, Weixin added an element that randomly assigns the amount in each envelope to each recipient. No more agonizing and prioritizing how to divvy up the cash during the holiday, Weixin does it for you! In 2014, almost 20 million red envelopes were sent!
Key Takeaways
The fact that our mobile devices are always with us, no matter where we are makes it easy for Weixin to integrate itself into peoples every day life. They have made it easy for users to get everything they want from one platform.
While the Chinese have embraced Weixin, the challenges of success in other countries, such as the United States would be an uphill climb.
By the time Weixin was launched internationally, we were already using established social media platforms and most of us weren’t willing to switch to a newcomer.
Here in the U.S. we like to have choices, and these choices include what platforms we want to use for our social media. I know I am not ready to change until something new comes along that absolutely blows me away.
How about you?
Jeff
References:
Barboza, D. (2014, January 20). A Popular Chinese Social Networking App Blazes Its Own Path. Retrieved July 1, 2019, from https://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/21/technology/a-chinese-social-network-blazes-its-own-path.html
China In An Hour. (n.d.). Retrieved July 7, 2019, from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140410141827-7112729-china-in-an-hour
Davison, N. (2012, December 07). WeChat: The Chinese social media app that has dissidents worried. Retrieved July 7, 2019, from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/dec/07/wechat-chinese-social-media-app
Kristina Zucchi, C. (2019, April 30). Why Facebook Is Banned in China & How to Access It. Retrieved July 4, 2019, from https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/042915/why-facebook-banned-china.asp
Mahoney, M.L., & Tang, T. (2017). Strategic Social Media: From Marketing to Social Change. West Sussex, UK: Wiley Blackwell
Ten Cent (n.d.) Retreived July 6, 2019 from http://www.tencent.com/en-us/ps/weixin.shtml
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