The document outlines the differences between digital user behavior in China and the West, emphasizing that Chinese websites cater to a vast range of users, often employing design characteristics like visual stimulation and multiple tabs due to slower internet speeds. It highlights the dominance of mobile usage and the integral role of WeChat as a super-app encompassing various functionalities from messaging to e-commerce, along with the importance of search engine optimization for visibility. Key takeaways stress the need for a mobile-first marketing strategy and leveraging social media for effective brand consumer interaction.

1. Digital User Behaviour
- China vs The West

2. General Design Characteristics
of Chinese Websites

3. News Portal

4. E-Commerce Platform

5. Built for the Masses
• 772 million internet users
(grown more than 50% in
last 5 years)
• 44% not online yet!
• Different levels of internet
experience and
sophistication, devices,
access speed
• Chinese websites have to
dumb-down their designs
to cater to a wider range
of users
210,000
298,000
384,000
457,300
513,100
564,000
617,580
648,750
688,260
731,250
771,980
16.0%
22.6%
28.9%
34.3%
38.3%
42.1%
45.8%
47.9%
50.3%
53.2%
55.8%
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Internet users (,000) Penetration rate

6. More is More
• Chinese believe that the more activity
and visual stimulants a website has,
the more it validates the website's
value.
• This is especially the case for e-
Commerce platforms which try to
replicate the feeling of a real, physical
market shopping experience.
• Liberal use of red (which is good luck
in Chinese culture) will have an
opposite impression with Westerners,
where red is a sign of danger. As an
example, a red stock ticker means
increase in stock price in China.

7. Tabs, Tabs and more Tabs
• Chinese Internet speeds are still comparatively slow as compared to the West
• This is why Chinese websites, especially news portals or other content rich
platforms, are text and link heavy.
• When users click on links, they will automatically spawn a new tab. This way, users
can easily scan through content and click on multiple links at a time. While the
pages are loading, they can read each tab progressively. When done, they just
close the tab and the previous page is still in the last tab
• It’s a practical means to a functional problem.

8. Chinese Characters are Complex
• English consists of a 26 letter
alphabet which are combined to
create words
• Chinese is composed of over
50,000 characters, each one of
them conveying a succinct and
deep meaning.
• Moreover, there are no upper /
lower casing and spacing.
• Hence, content may look
overwhelming and messy on a
website if the user is unable to
read Chinese.

9. Limited Font Choices
• Since English consists of only 26 letters, a font
designer would only have to create 26 unique
designs to complete a font set.
• A standard Chinese character set consists of
about 10,000 unique characters, with about
3,000 of those characters common in daily use.
• Because of the huge set of characters, Chinese
font sizes normally range from 5 to 10 MB per
file. As such, it is not feasible to use CSS font
embedding.
• Hence, we resort to using only “web safe”
Chinese fonts

10. Side by Side Comparison

11. Search – Gateway to Internet

12. Gateway to Internet
• >80%* of Chinese internet population use search engines as an entry
point to websites
• Chinese internet users do not remember domain names and the use of
search engines is a necessity.
• This behaviour is unlikely to change:
• Domain names are in English. As English is a foreign language to
Chinese users, it is difficult for them to remember domain names.
• Many Chinese companies use domain names which are unrelated to their
company names (including the use of numbers). Such practice makes it
more difficult for users to remember the domain name.
• For daily searches, most users do not differentiate between paid search
results and organic search results
Source: CNNIC Internet report, 2017

13. Different Search Ecosystem
Source: StatCounter, June 2017
• In China, Baidu is the
most popular search
engine.
• Google is blocked in
China and has less than
2% share.

14. Sponsored
links
(SEM / paid
search)
Organic
search results
(SEO)
• Sponsored links are
not so obvious as
compared to
Google.
• Baidu websites
(wiki, answers, etc.)
will be at the top of
the organic
searches
• Most Chinese users
do not differentiate
between sponsored
links and organic
search results

15. Content is still King
Learnings:
Focus on customer pain points and how the product
solves the problems, not on how great the product is.
Be mindful of gap in Chinese customers' knowledge
(versus those in Western countries)
Ensure that the website is search engine
optimised with high organic search ranking
for important keywords, complemented by
paid search
Search Engine
Visibility is Key

16. Mobile Domination

17. Mobile is the Device of Choice
97.5%
53.0%
35.8%
27.1% 28.2%
95.1%
60.1%
36.8%
31.5%
25.0%
90.1%
67.6%
38.7%
31.5%
17.9%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
120%
Mobile Desktop Laptop Tablet TV
Devices Used to Access the Internet in China
(% of Internet Population)
2017 2016 2015
Source: CNNIC Internet report, 2017

18. Top 10 Mobile Internet Usage
49.2%
54.1%
54.7%
61.8%
67.2%
68.0%
70.0%
72.9%
82.3%
82.9%
92.2%
Banking
Games
Live streaming
Map, navigation
eCommerce
Music
Payment
Video
News
Search
Instant Messaging
Mobile Internet Usage
Source: CNNIC Internet report, 2017

19. Mobile First
For marketers, the question is not whether they
should engage in mobile marketing, but how to
make mobile marketing more effective.
A mobile specific strategy will be required.

20. A Social Way of Life

21. Unique Social Ecosystem

22. Unique Social Ecosystem

24. So What is WeChat?
“Isn’t WeChat just a carbon
copy of WhatsApp in China?”
“Messaging Apps all do the same
thing, what’s the difference?”
“WeChat is only popular in
China. Why do I need it?”
Common Misconceptions

25. So What is WeChat?
“Isn’t WeChat just a carbon
copy of WhatsApp in China?”
“Messaging Apps all do the same
thing, what’s the difference?”
“WeChat is only popular in
China. Why do I need it?”
Common Misconceptions
WeChat is NOT just a
Messaging APP…

26. WeChat is a Super-App
WeChat is a holistic
social media platform
that includes
everything from
messaging to
gambling to
e-commerce!
But most importantly:
utility that can help
brands connect with
the huge active user
base
Uber
Deliveroo
Snapchat

27. Social Features

28. Mobile E-Wallet
The linkage of bank accounts to WeChat
payment enabled a host of transactional
possibilities, including some very commonly
used scenarios like:
• Pay to other WeChat users
• Credit card payment
• Mobile phone top-up
• Payment for utilities / public services
• Taxi fare payment
• Investment
It also prompted many companies, especially
banks to start setting up brand accounts to
take advantage of this behavior

29. How Does WeChat Look Like?
Personal Chat Interface
Discover
Moments, QR code, Shake,
People nearby, Drift bottle,
Games
Chat
• Text/Voice
• One to one/Many
Sharing
• Pictures/Videos
• Locations
• Web pages
• Name cards
• 3rd party plug-ins
Voice or
Video Calls

30. WeChat Official Account
Menu bar links to WeChat pages
or external webpages
WeChat article post

32. In China, WeChat has achieved >95% penetration rate of
total mobile Internet users
1 Billion
Monthly Active Users
(Worldwide)
WeChat at a Glance
50 Million
Monthly Active Users
(55 – 70 years old)
38 Billion
Daily Chat Messages
3.5 Million
Monthly Active
Official Accounts
797 Million
Monthly Active Official
Account Followers
800 Million
Cash red envelopes sent
during Spring Festival
2018
Source: WeChat 2018 Report

33. Typical User Journey Map

34. WeChat Key Statistics
Source: WeChat 2016 Report

35. WeChat Key Statistics
Source: WeChat 2016 Report

36. Mini Programs
What?
Embedded apps which require no download or
installation. Can be removed without the need to
uninstall.
When?
Launched in January 2017.
How?
Discovered through search, friends or in the real
world by scanning QR codes. There is no official app
store for mini programs.
Why?
Evolution of its brand accounts, which allow for
seamless UX: online shopping and a wide range of
interactive services.
WeChat wants to be the only app a user will ever
need!

37. Here to Stay?
Soft-Sell vs.
Hard-sell
WeChat
Succeeded
where
Facebook and
Google failed
Official
Accounts
Less likely to
be a FAD
Seamless
Mobile
E-Wallet
Mini
Programs

38. How Can WeChat
Help Businesses?

39. 01
BRAND ACCOUNT
Similar to other social media (Facebook, Weibo
etc), most efforts by brands have gone into
creating branded spaces to share content and
provide information.
Brands distribute stories, means, infographics and
audio, or does Q&A with celebrities.

40. Brand Official Accounts
Menu bar links to auto-reply messages,
WeChat pages or external webpages
WeChat article post
Link to WeChat article, external
webpages

41. 02
MICRO-CONTENTS
Success with branded accounts rests heavily on
creating original content on a regular basis – short
stories, videos, infographics and pictures.
The environment (UI) inside of WeChat brands is
really clean and simple. As a result, successful
content receives attention from audience.

42. WeChat Articles

43. 03
CUSTOMER SERVICE
After content, the second most applied strategy on
WeChat is in providing customer service and support.
At the moment, most of this service/support is
automated (providing balances, bookings) but there
clearly is an opportunity for brands to distinguish
themselves with more hands-on, customised support,
AI chatbot, etc.

44. Tesla Customer Service Account

45. 04
O2O2O
As a mobile, social network, WeChat enables strong
connections between offline-to-online (and vice versa)
at scale.
Location Based Services (LBS) in WeChat offers the
potential to: 1) Drive and track retail footfall, 2)
Encourage attendance at events/locations, 3) Collect
offline audience info online (for CRM).

46. Background:
• Chow Sang Sang, a major jewellery chain in
Hong Kong, wished to drive traffic from online
to new stores.
Campaign mechanics:
• Splash implemented a WeChat campaign to
enable customers to “check-in” at different
stores in order to enjoy different promotions
and discounts.
• By leveraging the native GPS function on
mobile phones, we were able to verify if
customers were at the stores and to push
store-specific promotions and discounts.
Chow Sang Sang O2O Campaign

47. Chow Sang Sang O2O Campaign
After following Chow Sang
Sang WeChat account,
menu will auto pop up
Enter “a” will receive
below promotion message
Promotion landing page
Check-in contest details
page

48. Chow Sang Sang O2O Campaign
After sharing the store location, user
will receive a gift message
When user accumulates 2 gifts of the
same colour, they will win a prize
Upon clicking on details, a $500 E-
COUPON is presented

49. 05
PAYMENTS
WeChat has embedded a robust payments function
into its platform, allowing brands to drive ecommerce
from ‘official accounts’, allowing consumers to pay for
a multitude of products and services.

50. 06
‘PUSH’ ADVERTISING
WeChat launched ‘push’ advertising in 2015, offering
brands with a selected few high-profile companies
including BMW, Coca Cola etc.
The ads were sent to targeted audience segments
through its ‘moments’ function or footer ad, directly
into audiences social stream.

51. Case Study – User Moments Post

52. Case Study – Moments Ad
• Made to look like a normal moments post, seamless and non-disruptive

53. Social media is no longer a communication
tool but has become a main channel to get
information. Brands should leverage social
media to interact with consumers.
Real Media

54. Key Takeaways
• Web Design - It’s not that Western or Chinese web design is better or
worse, it’s the fact that they are different and it works best for their
respective audience.
• Search Engine Visibility - Ensure that the website is search engine
optimised with high organic search ranking for important keywords,
complemented by paid search.
• Mobile First Approach - A mobile specific marketing strategy will be
required.
• Social media is no longer a communication tool but has become a main
channel to get information. Brands should leverage social media to
interact with consumers.

55. Tan Kay Kin
CEO Greater China
E: kktan@splashinteractive.com.cn
T: (86) 21 6218 7776
www.splashinteractive.com.cn