By Bill Bernardoni

Brands can learn a lot from Weixin – better known to those of us in the United States as WeChat. Weixin started out simply as just a way to communicate. It has turned into so much more than that in the fourteen years since and is one of, if not, the most popular social media app on the planet. Just three years after they officially launched in 2011, they had over 300 million users in China. 11 years after that and they are one of the largest social media platforms on the planet with over 1.3 billion monthly users, according to data provided by Sinorbis.

In this piece, we will outline and break down exactly how Weixin’s success is because they understand their target audience better than anyone else and even more importantly, they solve real problems for them.

Know Your Audience Means Fixing Their Problems

Weixin understood exactly what they had to do to reach their target audience and who they were targeting. As Mahoney & Tang state in Strategic Social Media: From Marketing to Social Change:

“The platform targets on young, urban smartphone owners and aims to provide these audiences an “all-in-one-platform” app” (Mahoney & Tang, 2016, p. 92).

Weixin took the time to understand what their users wanted. They listened to them and added the features that they wanted. In one app, Weixin offers:

“A wide range of functions from sending a baby photo to friends, getting news, text messaging, to finding a cab on the street” (Mahoney & Tang, 2016, p. 92).

Simply put, what Weixin was able to do is address the needs of their users.

Simplicity & Functionality

Weixin designed their platform with users in mind. Anyone, even brand new users, are able to use the platform with little to no guidance and unlike a lot of other platforms where you have to go to a variety of different places to use the various features, with Weixin it is all within one simple to use platform. The thinking behind this was simple:

“If audiences can get all they want from one platform, why bother to find other options” (Mahoney & Tang, 2016, p. 92).

The simplicity of the Weixin platform is what makes it so brilliant. It is not overly flashy and complicated and that is exactly what makes it so effective.

Cultural Engagement

One of the things that Weixin did best, especially early on in their existence was what they called the Red Envelope campaign that they ran just before the Chinese New Year. This campaign is a part of Chinese culture and helped connect the target audience with the Weixin platform. This campaign was an enormous success. They had nearly 5 million people involved, and they sent out over 20 million virtual red envelopes filled with cash.

What Brands Can Learn

1. Simplicity Matters

Do not over think things. Simpler is always better. Make it easy for them.

2. Get Creative

Find ways to connect with your target audience and do so in creative ways, like Weixin did.

3. Connect Emotionally

Weixin used the Red Envelope campaign to be able to connect emotionally and culturally with their target audience. Doing so will help you grow and expand your brand and take it to the next level.

Conclusion

Weixin understood their audience and knew exactly what it was that they wanted and that is why they have had the success that they did.

So, ask yourself the following question:

What can you do to make your individual members of your target audience’s lives easier? That is the question that you need to always be asking.