Wechat is the most used communication and social media app in China. It is like, if someone has a smartphone in China, then he has a Wechat account. Wechat allows users to do almost everything: to share daily life, to follow information and trends, to pay a bill, to buy a train ticket, to order for a taxi … It improves its functions everyday and becomes a must-have for users. The app may become the first and the only one application for digital marketing and communication in China. See our WeChat services.

Choose the right type of WeChat account

WeChat Official Accounts allow famous people, media, governments and enterprises to keep in touch with their audience. As the audience is different, in order to target the right one, WeChat official account is divided into 3 kinds of accounts :

Service Account

Service accounts are designed to provide services to users.

1. It is only possible to send 4 group messages per month, including 1 to 6 articles each time.
2. The message to subscribers or fans will be displayed in their chat list, corresponding to Wechat’s home page, which alerts user instantly.
3. Service accounts can apply for a custom menu.

Be careful ! The newly registered WeChat Official Account has to select the subscribe account or service account. Once the choice is selected, it is not possible to change it. For business push messages, it is recommended to take the service account to profit from advanced interfaces later. Enterprises can use the public platform to serve customers. The verified service accounts can register for WeChat Pay and set up WeChat Store.

Subscription account

Subscription accounts aim to provide information to users.

1. It is possibly to send 1 group messages per day (24 hours). A group of messages can include until 6 articles each time
2. The message to subscribers will be displayed in the “subscription account” folder on Wechat’s home page.

While enterprise can choose between different account, a personal application can only apply for a subscription account. Bloggers and celebrities for example can use it for individual banding or to share information-oriented content. The posting frequency is higher for subscription account than service account.

Enterprise account

This type of account is primary for internal communication. It aims to help enterprises, government agencies, schools, hospitals and other institutions to establish connections with employees and other partners. It allows to simplify the management process and to improve communication. Enterprise accounts are not available to the public nor marketers. They have high security system because of multiple internal management functions such as resource sharing, or internal chat room. Users have to be added manually by the account owner, with their name, phone number and WeChat ID. For corporate and organizations, the limit of official accounts number is today reduced to 5 (comparing to 50 in the past). For subscription account, it is now 2 instead of 5 before. As Wechat is constantly evolving, it is important to stay up to date in order to have the better use of it.

How to create your WeChat official account ?

Chinese people are always connected (we can clearly feel this phenomenon in the subway). They spend an average of 3 hours surfing on social media apps everyday. To have a WeChat account can definitely help your visibility and promotion.

What you should know

It exists China WeChat official account and Overseas WeChat overseas account. An oversea WeChat account is registered outside of mainland China. The difference between these two is very important for marketing orientation. Chinese users won’t have access to overseas accounts while oversea users can have access to both China and overseas official account. If you expected to target Chinese audience, an overseas account won’t be sufficient as the account won’t be seen inside China.

What you need to set up a Wechat official account

You need a Chinese legal entity like Chinese national ID and an available Chinese phone number (+86) to create a China official account.

• For Foreign company you could use the business license from another Chinese legal entity. As each company can register up to 5 WeChat accounts, they can apply for a Wechat China official account for your business using their rights. Although the account will be linked to the third-party company.
• Foreign company could also use an overseas license, by creating a WFOE (Wholly Foreign-Own Enterprise) which gives investors the legal rights to do business in China. Otherwise you can choose to form a joint venture with a Chinese partner or companies that are part of a Chinese-global conglomerate. But it can be expensive and requires significant time and investment.

If your company is from the following countries or regions: Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, RussiaTaiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Thailand, Australia, United-States, New Zealand, Germany, France, England and Italy, it is now possible to register on your own and then get the business license. These countries only can post content visible to Chinese mainland residents having an overseas license. By the way the process is long, normally 2 to 3 months. Using a third-party Chinese license is a much faster, about 7 days. Amongst the inconvenient and advantages, choose the right way for your business in China. Do not hesitate to contact us for more details. China is a promising and huge market with its own culture and way to function. Chinese people are the more connected people in the world. A presence online and on Wechat is nowadays almost a must-have. Ready to start a business in China? Gentlemen Marketing Agency is specialized in the digital marketing in the Chinese market. We provide e-commerce solutions, promotion and advertising, Wechat strategies, and all marketing agencies worthy of the name should be able to do. Let your project come true ! Read also :

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