Western companies such as Facebook, Twitter and SnapChat have recently been striving to find new ways to monetize their user base. With nearly 13 billions in revenues, 90% of which come from “value added services”, Tencent is a great role-model for these Western tech giants. So what can be learned from WeChat?
1) How are American messaging apps walking in the path of WeChat ?
Facebook released “Facebook Messenger for business” & audio messages
Inspired by the way WeChat went beyond texting, Facebook quietly updated its iOS and Android apps to let users send audio messages, and added some new features such as emoticons (you will find the same “rabbit” emoticons which were initially present on WeChat), photo-sharing and free video calls that are remarkably similar to what WeChat offers. Facebook has also opened messenger to developers to build companion apps for creating and discovering content. The announcement of Facebook Messenger Business will also enable users to shop directly within the Messenger app, using the platform as a live support to chat with businesses and even make purchases. Companies could then use this feature to provide customers purchase information such as receipt and shipment trackers.
Facebook also announced previously a banking feature in which users will be able to send each other money, and leaves open the potential to develop its commerce and mobile gaming side.
WhatsApp in-app calls
Similarly to Facebook Messenger, Whatsapp has lately released a major update to its app including voice calling feature. The Facebook-owned popular mobile messaging service refuses all form of advertising so far, though Facebook plans to monetize the platform with ads or mobile payments to create business opportunities for advertisers and developers through this platform.
SnapChat released social publishing, payments and ads
Snapchat does show signs of going the WeChat route. Originally a video messaging application, it evolved into a multi-function plateform with features including social publishing (My Story), sponsored advertising, and peer-to-peer payment (Snapcash).
Similarly to WeChat, Snapchat still kept messaging at the center of its service.
Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel openly said he highly admires the route WeChat has taken to monetization, and would likely offer similar value-added services at some point.
Twitter integrated e-commerce
Twitter announced a deeper push into commerce with product and place pages, as well as groups of pages in « Collections » to create a more immersive experience for online shoppers. This is a very strategic push to help position Twitter as a product-centric shopping destination with a prettier interface, like Pinterest.
Pinterest: buy what you pinned
Similarly to Twitter, Pinterest users will soon be able to buy products from inside of pinned items. This new feature, named “buyable pins”, allows sellers to place a “Buy it” button on items that they post in an effort to make shopping for items on mobile devices much easier.
2) What can Western marketers learn from WeChat ?
Trick 1: blend social medias and services
As consumers are showing strong interest in Mobile App’s multifunctional potential, they become more than just tools to receive information from a brand, they become service tools. From customer service to order tracking, businesses will be expected to do more with these platforms than simply pushing their latest product information.
WeChat is trying to create an app where people could do almost anything they usually do online like chatting, shopping, gaming and even banking, without leaving the app.
An example of such application is delivery company Shunfeng (顺丰) which enables users to track their orders directly within WeChat. Wouldn’t it be convenient to track your DHL shipment without having to leave Facebook or Whatsapp?
Trick 2: create APP’s within the APP
As App’s become more complex and feature-rich, they become true ecosystems. WeChat released its own open API to allow third-party developers to tap into its network and develop all type of WeChat micro-apps, games or other HTML5 WeChat applications. Companies can turn their account into real “Apps within the app” in order to provide better services to their users.
The gaming company Pengpeng created HTML5 versions of some of their games and used them to convert users to their native APP. With hundred of millions of hits, the strategy has proved to be a major growth driver for Pengpeng.
Trick 3: advertise in a different way
Just like WeChat, platforms like WhatsApp and Snapchat are trying hard to generate revenue without placing ads.
Given the amount of time spent on these platforms (Chinese users spend more than 40 minutes per day on WeChat and open it more than 10 times per day on average), companies had to find other ways to reach users. The main one: Key Opinion Leaders and native advertising.
Chinese consumers relies a lot on Key Opinions Leaders (KOLs) when it comes to useful insights on a certain topic. KOLs are trusted and have an authoritative voice with large exposure, which can help businesses gain access to their fan base and promote their message. The right combination of prizes, personal recommendation from the KOL and incentive to join the company’s account and interact with it can be a magic formula to create engaged and qualified followers (and sales) with controlled investment.
Wrap up
WeChat is slowly turning itself to a service app that has found creative new money making solutions. In app-development and new ways to advertise such as KOLs and viral campaigns are more and more used by businesses in China to promote their brand without being too obtrusive. The successful formula of WeChat has inspired its American competitors that are starting to take the same route. Now Western marketers can benefit from the experience of WeChat pioneers.