Top 5 WeChat Official accounts features
If you’re a business, chances are, you have a Facebook page. However, if you’re a business that wants to grow your presence in China, you don’t stand a chance unless you have a WeChat Official Account. Here are the Top 5 WeChat Official Account features you need to know about!
What are WeChat Official accounts?
WeChat Official accounts work like Facebook pages in the sense that they allow businesses and brands to gather followers, disperse information and redirect them to a website.
There are three official account types on WeChat: Subscription, Service and WeChat Work. We dive into the differences between each account type and walk you through the setup in this guide.
That being said, the difference between a WeChat Official Account and a Facebook is that WeChat Service Accounts appear in the “Chat Log” section of WeChat. Allowing brands that own these accounts to shoot up to the top of the chat log when a notification is sent.
Users can then tap on the conversation that opens up to a chat interface with menu tabs at the bottom. The tabs can be customised by the brands and lead to their shop, blog or even a WeChat Mini Programme.
Features of WeChat Work or WeChat for Business
Forwarding chat history and articles
Chat import and management for team collaboration
Multiple, simultaneous calls
Business inbox
Clock-in system
Daily, weekly, or monthly report to track progress
Video call and screen sharing for up to 9 users
WeChat Pay for business
Easy management and control for group chats with up to 2000 members
Customized settings for employee details, access control, and brand logos
Customized approval template for applications
Secured and safe system with ISO
WeChat Official account features
If you haven’t already heard, WeChat is a “Superapp”. A single WeChat app houses many different features that could have been standalone apps. Think about Facebook, WhatsApp and even PayPal all in one app! Sounds exciting? We’ll highlight some key features in this post.
1. Welcome messages
When a user follows an official account, a customised welcome message can be automatically sent out. That’s not it, the welcome message can also include things like a Mini Program, Online Shop and WeChat articles amongst others.
2. Live broadcasts
Live broadcasts have been rising in popularity around the world with platforms like Facebook and Instagram also including live broadcast features. Businesses can send out a live streaming invitation a few hours prior to the start of the stream.
Users can then sign up for the stream by:
Clicking on a Mini Program link within a WeChat article
Scanning a Mini Program QR code on a poster
Users who have signed up can then receive notifications about the live-streaming campaign.
3. WeChat Pay
As the name suggests, WeChat Pay is a payment solution within the WeChat App. Users simply have to connect their bank accounts to WeChat Pay to start transacting on the WeChat Payment network.
Unlike Visa, MasterCard and other payment solutions, WeChat Pay works on the basis of QR codes. Thus, businesses do not need to buy or rent expensive terminals to conduct transactions. As such, even low volume businesses can embrace the new digital revolution and go completely cashless.
Just how prevalent is WeChat pay? Here are some examples of what users can do with WeChat Pay:
Transfer money to friends
Give digital red packets
Call and pay for taxis
Pay for utilities such as electricity and phone bills
Online shopping
Booking hotels or movie tickets
Investing in wealth funds
And many more!
4. WeChat moments
WeChat Moments function like a Facebook Wall. Users can share posts, post photos, and comment on articles. More than 70% of users check their WeChat Moments every time they open their WeChat app.
Thus, it is important that businesses continually post articles to reach out to potential customers. This way, users can access your account page by clicking the name of your account at the top of the article. As such, many businesses tend to engage influencers or key opinion leaders with a wide reach to share articles on their WeChat moments to better engage customers.
Another way to reach out to a wider audience is through WeChat ads. WeChat ads can be placed in WeChat moments for a native user experience. In addition, WeChat ads allow users to follow a WeChat Official Account through the “One-click follow” feature.
5. QR codes
As you might have noticed, QR codes play a very huge role in the WeChat ecosystem. As such, businesses can diversify the way they acquire customers through both online and offline channels.
To acquire users online, users can scan the QR code on web pages or through articles within WeChat. You can also acquire users offline by adding QR codes to products, placing them in your store or printing them out for your events.
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