COUNT yourself social media savvy? Think you know it all about the latest apps? Chances are there are 600 million smartphone-wielding hipsters who are way ahead of you.
The most powerful social media app in the world is one most Australians have never even heard of.
It’s called WeChat. It’s huge in China, and if you’re into digital marketing or just one-upping your friends when it comes to online knowledge, it’s something you should definitely get your head around.
With more than 600 million unique users recorded in August, the Chinese social media giant created in 2011 is the most popular social media channel of the most populated country.
A late entrant on the social media scene, what started as a cheap alternative to text messaging let the Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApps of the world do the heavy lifting, then snuck up and rolled all their functions into one.
It’s also added functions that allow users to book taxis, doctors appointments, pay bills, get directions, order food, read articles and basically never have to switch between apps again.
What the app’s parent company Tencent did that the others didn’t think of was incorporate e-commerce.
It’s this aspect, which allows businesses to directly market and sell to a highly engaged audience, which Australian businesses are finally starting to cotton on to and making a killing while they’re at it.
Benjamin Sun is the managing director of Sydney based consulting company ThinkChina, which advises Australian businesses dealing with Chinese markets in China, Australia, and internationally.
“WeChat is slightly different to other social media channels because it’s more private, you have to know someone’s number to chat with them, so for a marketer like us it’s powerful when people are sharing on WeChat because it’s the quality of the influence that you have,” he told news.com.au
“There are lots of businesses that are already using it in Australia and using the official page function to publish news and blogs.”
WeChat already has 1.5 million users in Australia, and Mr Sun said he anticipated seeing that number grow a lot more in the next few years.
“You will see more and more Australians that are interested in marketing to China and market to the Chinese community start to use that app. They realise it’s such a powerful social network,” he said.
“China’s community can only grow bigger because of business and investment, but also you can see Chinese migrants to Australia and mainstream Australia starting to use the app too. It’s also because they are big spenders as well. We think it’s a huge opportunity that finally we have a channel that we can reach these people through.
“China’s community can only grow bigger because of business and investment, but also you can see Chinese migrants to Australia and mainstream Australia starting to use the app too. It’s also because they are big spenders as well. We think it’s a huge opportunity that finally we have a channel that we can reach these people through.”
Brisbane real estate agent Huan Luo sells off the plan apartments and house and land packages in South East Queensland.
She used to use her WeChat profile for personal use — “like a diary book” — but has since created an official page after hearing of the success of other overseas real estate agents in selling to Chinese buyers.
“I put my property information on WeChat and I do get some people’s interest, mainly inquirers from overseas in mainland China,” she said.
“I use the function to send the price and details to the potential buyer in China. For selling property in Australia, that’s a big market there and it’s the best way to contact them.”
Along with property marketers, opportunistic Aussies like former prime minister Kevin Rudd’s daughter Jessica Rudd have found e-commerce success launching online stores through the channel.
Since moving back to Brisbane from Beijing, Ms Rudd has launched an online store selling Australian mum and baby products to WeChat users. In an interview with theFinancial Review she said she did all her business on the online platform and predicted “it will take over”.
With WeChat boasting the functions of eBay, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and Whatsapp rolled into one and charting up an estimated value of around $130 billion, it’s probably an accurate prediction.
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