In China, health and beauty products such as cosmetics, perfumes, fashion accessories and vitamin supplements are proving to be particularly popular with consumers – especially with the rise of disposable incomes in urban regions.

Many vendors in the beauty industry are using the WeChat app to directly engage with customers and to interact on a personal basis. According to Premium Beauty News, WeChat has become a key e-commerce and communication platform for those in the industry, especially as beauty brands find that they achieve much better engagement rates through WeChat marketing than other methods.

How beauty brands use WeChat

Brands are using the WeChat app to go beyond generic marketing, and towards a more personal level of connection, interaction and targeting. Many are finding that taking a customer-centred approach through WeChat yields better results than the ‘one-sidedness’ of simply posting and sharing blogs and other content.

Examples of connecting through WeChat include offering special deals and exclusive content for subscribers, samples for testing, live event invites, games and competitions with prizes, and loyalty programs. For instance, well-known brand Chanel has developed mini-sites to offer make-up tips and fashion tests, the Zara brand targets customers according to location, and watchmaker Tag Heuer has been providing interactive experiences using QR codes and special ‘keys’ for participants.

Why use WeChat for digital marketing in China?

• It’s an all-in-one app, with a huge range of potential functions, including e-commerce.
• It has the ability to reach customers at different parts of the buying cycle and to engage with them on a personal level.
• Suitable for not only the big brands to use, but also for micro-businesses for marketing and selling through the app’s Moments
• Can be used to capture and target fans according to location – making it useful for geo-targeting and O2O (online-to-offline) marketing.
• It has a massive user base – 889 million monthly active users in the fourth quarter of 2016, according to Statista.

How to use WeChat for a better connection

Beauty product and service businesses can use WeChat to:

• Offer discounts, prizes, games, entertainment, interactive experiences and other benefits to subscribers.
• Divide audience into categories to hone and improve targeting according to interest.
• Geo-target customers and provide them with information of up-and-coming in-store offers and specials.
• Provide tailored beauty solutions for individual customers.
• Interact and communicate one-on-one rather than generically.
• Offer a personal-response service to questions and queries (as opposed to automated).
• Promote and offer special unique gifts during festivals that involve gift-giving (such as Chinese New Year).

Need some assistance?

While WeChat has great potential for beauty brands, it can be hard to know where to start. If you would like some help with this, get in contact with our bilingual China marketing team. We use our knowledge and expertise to guide clients in developing a digital marketing strategy to better target and communicate with consumers in China.