Social listening is not new. By now, every enterprise level brand has implemented some sort of social listening strategy, and every marketer will tell you, the first step in creating an effective social media strategy is listening.

You might think of Facebook and Twitter as being the top social platforms worldwide, but actually the world’s largest online community lives on Chinese social media sites. China is one of the most restricted countries in the world in terms of internet, but these constraints have directly contributed to the staggering success of local Chinese social media sites. Without access to the majority of social media used elsewhere in the world, the Chinese have created their own networks, just like facebook, Youtube and foursquare – but with more users – which is why every global company needs to pay attention to these sites.

WeChat (or 微信 in Chinese, which translates to “micro message”) is a Chinese mobile text and voice message app service developed by Tencent in 2011, and it is one of the largest social networks in China.

Why your social listening strategy should include WeChat

  • 650 million active WeChat users

Boasting over 1 billion accounts and over 650 million active monthly users (including 100  million outside of China) the app is available on basically every type of phone and mobile device.  

  • China is a growth market

China is a growth market for brands, so it’s vital to understand what consumers there want. In other words, consumer demand is on a steeper upward curve in China than in western/other first-world economies, which means huge revenue opportunities for global brands.

  • More honest brand conversations

WeChat is also a messaging service, so users are more likely to speak honestly about products and brands. Listening to these conversations can give you an accurate picture of customer attitudes and purchase intentions.

  • 83% of WeChat users purchase products online

Chinese consumers are digitally savvy and switched on. They are online for most of the day, with the average WeChat user opening the app over 7 times a day, and 200 million WeChat users have credit cards attached to their accounts.

  • If you don’t listen to WeChat, you are not getting a full picture

If you don’t listen to WeChat, you are missing out on billions of conversations about your brand, products, service, industry and competitors.

For further reading on how different cultures communicate on social media, check out our ebook, Cultural Differences on Social Media.

Interested in learning more about how the best-in-class Social Intelligence platform can help your brand? Request a demo today.