WeChat provides opportunities for B2B marketing in China. There are various account types like service accounts best for lead generation. Content is key to establishing your brand and expertise. You should provide industry insights, show your human side, and engage departments to maintain your account. Cross-promote your channels and seed content to drive traffic. Engage audiences by interacting and creating relatable content. While digital transformation opens opportunities, B2B marketing on WeChat faces challenges like long sales cycles and multiple decision makers.

1. |
China: Opportunities in
B2B on WeChat
Anna Milburn // Webcertain Group
SLIDESHARE.NET/ANNAMILBURN

2. |
Contents
WeChat history & overview
WeChat account types
Before you open WeChat official
account
• Creating WeChat opportunities
After you open WeChat official account
• Seizing WeChat opportunities
2

3. WeChat history & overview

4. WeChat before

5. |
WeChat before
5
History
Historically, Weixin was created as
another western platform alternative
for Mainland China in 2011.
Once it gained 100 millions users, the
app was made available globally and
was renamed “WeChat” for a better
international launch.
Because of the constant evolution of
needs coming from natural usage and
the international launch, WeChat has
changed quite a lot in the past few
years.

6. |
WeChat before
Concerns
As per usual, the main concern comes
from the Chinese government over
Social Media platforms: checking and
controlling the content and ideas
Chinese users can have access to.
This is why most of the westerner
online platforms are not allowed in
Mainland China and also why it is so
complicated to open an official account
for a foreign entity….
But it is possible as long as you are not
scared of administrative steps and you
are loaded with patience!!
6

7. WeChat now

8. |
WeChat now
8
2018 was synonym of
opportunity
Back in 2017, WeChat announced that
foreign entities, which were not allowed
to promote their services or products
through a WeChat official account to
Mainland China, will now be able to do
so.

9. WeChat account types

10. |
WeChat account types
10
Service account
Provides the facility to offer a wide
range of services through WeChat to
online Chinese users with enhanced user
management capability.
This type of account is commonly used
by oversea businesses from various
verticals for lead generation purposes.

11. |
WeChat account types
11
Service account
Provides the facility to offer a wide
range of services through WeChat to
online Chinese users with enhanced user
management capability.
This type of account is commonly used
by oversea businesses from various
verticals for lead generation purposes.
Best for: ecommerce, social selling and
service promotion
Main possible steps: brand awareness,
customer acquisition, conversion and
retention.

12. |
WeChat account types
Subscription account
Provides the facility to push content through
WeChat – it allows a strong communication
and management system with the Chinese
readers.
Because this is a solely content based
account, only Chinese legal entities can
apply for it…
Best for: any content marketing campaign
Main possible steps: brand awareness,
information sharing
12

13. |
WeChat account types
13
Enterprise account
This is an account type which is a kind of
cross breed between Webex, Facebook
Workplace and Google Hangout…
It has mainly been designed for companies
who would like to communicate with their
staff using one app only, WeChat.

14. |
WeChat account types
14
Enterprise account
This is an account type which is a kind of
cross breed between Webex, Facebook
Workplace and Google Hangout…
It has mainly been designed for companies
who would like to communicate with their
staff using one app only, WeChat.
This type of account is not relevant to any
marketing activities.

15. |
WeChat account types
Mini program
This is the creation of a sub application
within WeChat for companies who would
like to use WeChat not only for educational
campaigns or promotion of services but
mainly as a platform of interaction where
online coupons could be redeemed, where
monetary transactions can take place…
…basically the missing link between online
and physical store.
15

16. |
WeChat account types
Mini program
This is the creation of a sub application
within WeChat for companies who would
like to use WeChat not only for educational
campaigns or promotion of services but
mainly as a platform of interaction where
online coupons could be redeemed, where
monetary transactions can take place…
…basically the missing link between online
and physical store.
Best for: big brands who would like to
attract customers into their stores, and
make WeChat the easiest way to share, pay,
request stock updates, chat with a customer
rep, etc. 16

17. | 17
WeChat account types
Available features
Service
account
Subscription
account
Messages directed to users
4 per month 1 per day
Push notifications ✅ ❌
WeChat page interface
customization
✅ ✅
API Menu ✅ ❌
E-commerce + WeChat
Pay
✅ ❌
Geo-localization ✅ ❌
Voice recognition ✅ ❌
Service account vs subscription account
Available
features
Service
account
Subscription account
QR code
generation
✅ ❌
Follower data
segmentation
✅ ❌
Coupons ✅ ❌
Advertisement ✅ ✅
Sogou ❌ ✅
Chat bot ✅ ✅
WeChat Store ✅ ❌

18. Local vs oversea account

19. | 19
WeChat account types
Available features Local account Oversea account
Usual account finalization time A few weeks Around 3 months
WeChat advertising ✅ ✅
WeChat pay ✅ ❌
Coupons ✅ ❌
Wi-Fi ✅ ❌
WeChat store ✅ ❌
Instant store ✅ ✅
Customer service ✅ ✅
Page template ✅ ❌
Protection ✅ ❌
Service account vs subscription account
Available features Local account Oversea account
Voting management ✅ ✅
Comments ❌ ✅
Device connection ✅ ❌
Menu customization ✅ ❌
Menu management ✅ ❌
Template message for chat
bot
✅ ✅
Segmented postings ✅ ❌
E-invoices ✅ ✅

20. Before you open your WeChat official
account

21. Create WeChat Opportunities

22. |
Establish your brand
Provide rich industry & product insights
Show your human side
Garner support from different departments
22

23. |
Establish your brand
23
Company values
First, you must determine your company
values.
• What do you strive for?
• What is important to you?
• What were your founding intentions and
goals?
Make sure that you understand your
company values so that you can
communicate them as underlying themes
for your content and in your brand
positioning.

24. |
Establish your brand
24
Ways to communicate your
brand on WeChat
When you know your brand, you can
position and communicate your value
across the market and to your customers.
• Company history
• Stories
• Founder’s interview

25. | 25
Establish your brand
Provide rich industry & product insights
Show your human side
Garner support from different departments

26. |
Provide rich industry &
product insights
Emphasize your brand authority by sharing
your knowledge through industry and
product insights. The more professional and
helpful your content, the more people will
follow you.
Provide timely insights on relevant topics
that add value to your audience. Help
people learn about your industry by writing
content on your website that answers the
questions they have about the solutions you
offer. That way, you have content to share
on WeChat once you open your account.
26

27. |
Provide rich industry &
product insights
Ideas for content to share on WeChat:
• Case studies
• Reports
• Whitepapers
• Hot topics
• News
• Company social events
27

28. | 28
Establish your brand
Provide rich industry & product insights
Show your human side
Garner support from different departments

29. |
Show your human side
Your social media audience is made up of
people who are genuinely interested in
not just staying topical and
knowledgeable but also learning more
about who your company is.
Therefore, the content you release on
WeChat should not be just company news.
It must also have educational and social
features, such as topical content, staff
pictures, human language, etc.
In fact, there is an 80/20 golden rule:
80% of your WeChat posts should
inform, educate, and entertain your
audience, while only 20% should directly
promote your business.
29

30. |
Show your human side
We are all human, and we want to
engage. Because more and more people
are engaging online, this is where you
need to show the human side of your
business. This type of marketing is called
H2H: human-to-human.
You can balance your H2H and B2B
marketing on WeChat:
• Write your profile as B2B-oriented—so
professional and corporate
• Write your content and campaigns as
B2C-oriented—so warm and human
30

31. | 31
Establish your brand
Provide rich industry & product insights
Show your human side
Garner support from different departments

32. |
Garner support from
different departments
32
Maintaining your WeChat official
account is not a 1-person job.
Especially for a B2B company, you’ll
get the best results and the most
leads if you bring in your various
teams to support as needed.

33. |
Garner support from
different departments
33
• Account design
• Sales
• Pre-sale
• After-sale
• Technology
• Customer service
Bringing in the experts from your various
teams will provide your followers with
the best experience of your company’s
products and services.

34. | 34
Establish your brand
Provide rich industry & product insights
Show your human side
Garner support from different departments

35. After you open your WeChat official
account

36. Seize WeChat Opportunities

37. |
Cross-promote your
social media channels
Social media channels do not operate in
silos. You should cross-promote your
various social media accounts across your
various social media accounts.
Now that you’ve opened your WeChat
account, make sure to create your
company’s WeChat official account QR
code, and share it across your various
social media channels.
Don’t forget to share links to your various
social media channels on WeChat as well!
37

38. |
Content is King
38
B2B’s most powerful weapon is content
marketing. Providing useful content of-
value to your audience will build your
follower base.
Your WeChat promotes your content.
Your website houses it. The goal is to
drive traffic from WeChat to your
website to convert your followers into
customers. You do that by writing and
sharing compelling content.

39. |
Traditional Product Marketing
• One-dimensional
• Broadcast
• One-to-many
• Content
• Long and Paragraph
• Manual (data collection)
39
Content is King
Marketing
and Sales
Engage and
Influence
Hypergrowth Product Marketing
• Multiple-dimensional
• Networked / Interactive
• Many-to-many
• Context
• Short and Visual
• Automated (data collection)

40. |
Content is King
88% of B2B companies conduct content
marketing, which saves 62% of the cost
compared to traditional marketing and
brings over 3x the leads.
55% of B2B companies plan to increase
their budget for content marketing this
year.
(Source: US Content Marketing Institute
& Hiten Shah & Econsultancy report.)
40

41. |
Content is King
However, while more than 50% of
companies conduct content marketing,
most do not have a clear direction.
70% of marketers simply do not know
what a sustainable or integrated
content marketing strategy is.
41

42. |
Strongly position your
brand to promote your
products
The purpose of content marketing is to
educate your audience while promoting
your brand and products.
Customers make purchasing decisions
based on more than just price.
Sometimes, they consider the spirit of the
brand, a sense of intimacy with the brand,
the feeling of safety and satisfaction that
comes from purchasing a recognized
brand product, the experience of growing
with a brand, etc.
42

43. |
By providing effective content with strong
branding helps your audience understand
your products/services and the unique value
that you bring.
B2B companies must position a strong brand
and reputation. Otherwise, in the
increasingly homogenized market, B2B
companies may lose their competitive edge.
Focus more on top of funnel, such as branding,
leads, and awareness.
43
Strongly position your brand
to promote your products Generate awareness
Generate demand
Foster
consideration
Drive
purchase

44. |
To transform what we do, we first must
transform what we think.
Product marketing plays an important role.
Focus more on strategy, content, competitive
insights, customer benefits/values, and
positioning.
44
Strongly position your brand
to promote your products
Product
SalesMarket

45. |
Seed your content
45
Content seeding is a strategic approach
to scatter content across the internet.
Content creators spread content to
various outlets where that content will be
read, noticed, and spread. This marketing
approach increases brand awareness by
pushing content across the web to
relevant target groups.
The B2B social media marketing cycle is
not like B2C. B2C may quickly profit on a
social media platform just by the nature
of what they sell, while B2B involves a
complicated purchase behaviour map.

46. |
Seed your content
46
Customers may read your articles on your
WeChat, then check more details on the
web to know about your brand
reputation, service, customer feedback,
etc. For example, for some IT companies,
customers can’t directly download
software from WeChat, so they must go
to the website.
So it’s important to share your content on
WeChat and beyond for the best results
and the most leads.

47. |
Engage with your
audience
It’s important to not just post on WeChat,
but also interact with your customers on
the platform.
You can gain valuable insights about your
audience through WeChat, including their
interests, activities, lifestyles, and much
more. This information will allow you to
better target your customers’ interests
and emotions. To reinforce this
connection, make sure to create stories
and content that relates to these interests
and emotions, and then engage with your
audience on WeChat.
47

48. |
Engage with your
audience
Engagement opportunities on WeChat:
• Instant messaging
• Follower community pages
• Group chat
• Online products book
48

49. Opportunities & challenges for B2B
Marketers on WeChat

50. | 50
Opportunities + Challenges for B2B Marketers on WeChat
Marketing Prospects B2B B2C
Purchase motivation
Objective
reasoning
Subjective
reasoning
Decision period Longer Shorter
Interactive channel Multi-channel Social
Marketing environment
Online and
offline
Retail and
e-commerce
Experience Custom Custom

51. B2B marketers face unique opportunities and
challenges

52. | 52
Hyper-growth opportunities and challenges for B2B products
Digital transformation opens the door
Execs believe digital will disrupt
business
Execs believe improving customers’
experience is a top priority
Digital Disruption – 89% Digital Experience – 72%

53. | 53
Hyper-growth opportunities and challenges for B2B products
Challenges
More expensive
Multiple people/teams involved
Different background and use preference
Longer and more comprehensive buying
decision process
Higher QoS requirement

54. Digital marketing is an important sales lead source for
B2B companies—with WeChat as one of the main
channels in China.

55. | 55
Marketing tactics
86%
73%
64%
50% 48% 48%
36%
34% 34%
27% 27% 23% 23%
16% 16%
14%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%

56. | 56
Top Sales Lead Sources
Source: Sagefrog B2B Marketing Mix 2017 Report
Referrals
Email Marketing
Tradeshow Events
SEO
Social Media Marketing
Traditional Advertising
PPC
Public Relations
Programmatic
Telemarketing
Direct Mail

57. Thank you
anna.milburn@webcertain.com
www.webcertain.com
in/webcertain.com
@WebCertain