Welcome to the Jing Daily WeChat Edition

Dear WeChaters,
This week, we’ve introduced a new column, “Back to Basics,” provided by the good people at WeChat who wish to answer any WeChat-related questions you may have. (Please email wechat@jingdaily.com) Also, while we are seeing WeChat stepping into the medical industry with a new health Mini Program, the fashion and travel industries are buzzing too. See how Gentle Monster took store promotion to the next level using WeChat, and how China Southern Airlines achieves high retention rates with their Mini Program, and why sharing is caring — the latest update on WeChat ads. Enjoy.

—What's New—

The latest WeChat news gathered from top sources

Wechat DOC

The Mini Program, provided by Tencent’s Health platform, is reportedly adding a medical health module to its WeChat Wallet function, giving users quick access to online medical services, including online appointment scheduling, doctor consultations, and an online pharmacy. 
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M&A

Tencent Holdings Ltd. has become the second-largest shareholder of two WeChat marketers as part of its ongoing effort to target more corporate customers. The two companies, Youzan and Weimob, both deliver cloud-based marketing services to small and midsized companies, mostly via Tencent’s WeChat.
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easy refund

From this May, Chinese travelers will be able to receive their tax-free shopping refunds immediately into their Alipay or WeChat digital wallet at all Global Blue airport refund points. This new service saves time by speeding up the VAT refund process at the airport and gives the assurance of a successful refund, as travelers can see it arrive immediately into their Alipay or WeChat Pay account.
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collective effort

Social commerce is the new craze in China. As customer acquisition costs on traditional platforms, such as Alibaba and JD.com, have skyrocketed due to endless sellers bidding on ad costs. Pinduoduo’s group-buying promotions on its Mini Program have helped lower customer acquisition costs and have gone viral with some 300 million users, despite being a much smaller player. Given this, US retailers and brands should consider incorporating social commerce elements into their marketing strategies.
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—The Campaign—

Recent noteworthy WeChat campaigns & case studies

seeing is believing

Gentle Monster’s long-form multimedia tale shines an inviting light on their new Shanghai store
Facts: A disruptor in the retail space, the Korean sunglasses company Gentle Monster recently announced the opening of their new Shanghai store via WeChat last week. Often, Gentle Monster designs their stores to look like a museum exhibition, with their sunglasses displayed throughout the retail space almost as decorations. The WeChat post cleverly took the role of an exhibition curator, using multimedia to explain the inspiration behind every detail.
Features: The theme of the new Shanghai store is "The Mobitucture," the speculative space in which humans live during the 13th month. The idea of 13 months was created with French animator and artist Ugo Bienvenu – the concept explores human society at a post-apocalypse time, named 13 months. The post included a video, which made the retail exhibition seem like a scene out of "West World." Other details highlighted were the corners of the store, which were presented in a multi-photo format, showing how the plants were combined with the environment to produce fresh air, and how large-scale devices were used to search for the next habitable living space.
The Result: The post attracted 13,000 page views and 43 people recommended it.
Our Take: While most WeChat posts about new store openings are straightforward – without a fancy game or mini-program – Gentle Monster was more creative in presenting the store’s design highlights to lure foot traffic.
Rating: 4 out of 5
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fly high

How China Southern Airlines' Mini Program achieved a high retention rate
Facts: China Southern Airlines’ Mini Program is an example of a utility app that’s perceived as useful, but only to a certain extent. Users don’t have to use it if they are not taking a flight on China Southern. The question is: how to retain users and keep them coming back when they are not taking a flight?
Features: The Mini Program focuses on providing services that users, the majority of whom are men aged 30-39 years old, would use the most — mainly checking in and choosing a seat. Beyond that, the Mini Program incentivizes users by offering discount tickets, coupons, and by providing helpful functions like a mile exchange calculator, the lowest fare rate calendar, and even allowing real-time ticket searches based on a user's current location. All features are linked with notifications to guide the user through.
The Result: Accumulated more than 10 million WeChat users, with an average increase of 10,000 users per day. 70% of WeChat users are converted as registered members. The average next day retention rate is 11%.
Our Take: We liked the thoughtful way the Mini Program was designed to maximize the user experience. Here are some top tips that brands and retailers can take away when creating a Mini Program:

• Understand who your user base is and tailor-make services to fit their needs
• Link all activities to make your Mini Program a one-stop shop
• Notify your users often and customize their user journey as needed

Rating: 5 out of 5

—Back to Basics—

Q&A provided by WeChat

subscription vs. service account
What are the differences between the various Official Accounts?
By early 2013, WeChat had truly taken off, reaching 100 million users in just 433 days after launching. The focus shifted to the construction of a platform where third parties, and not just WeChat, would provide user services. The Official Accounts feature, which would become the cornerstone of the open platform, was released in August 2012. It was a "shop window" for a business or brand to present itself to the world, which users could then follow and receive content and services on. The Official Accounts were separated into two distinct categories: Subscription Accounts, which allowed content updates to followers but without advanced features like WeChat Pay capabilities, and Service Accounts, which were designed to provide more advanced features, such as allowing brands to create their own customized services using WeChat APIs.

*As of now, overseas entities can register to open a Service Account and a Mini Program, but not a Subscription Account.
Read More: Scan WeChat Open Class QR code below

—Deep Dive—

Must-read, in-depth guides, tutorials & reports

reader survey

WeChat readers’ habits vary greatly among demographics
What do brands need to understand when marketing experts say having a WeChat account is not enough in China? Due to the increasingly saturated WeChat media environment, simply having a WeChat account isn’t enough to generate interest, according to the latest report from Chinese big data service provider Quest Mobile, which mined data from hundreds of WeChat users’ accounts. The data shows that a nuanced strategy is necessary, particularly as habits vary significantly among the different user demographics (e.g., gender, age, and location).
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—System Update—

Stay on top of WeChat's evolution

sharing is caring

WeChat adds more social sharing capabilities to advertising
WeChat has now fully released a feature that was in beta since last year — the ability to tag friends on ads appearing in the WeChat Moments feed. After tagging a friend, they will receive a notification and will be able to interact with the ad by either liking it or leaving a comment. This feature adds more social sharing capabilities to WeChat advertisements, bringing more value not only to users, but also advertisers, who are now able to get more interaction and exposure, raising the effectiveness of their advertising efforts on WeChat.
Read More (in Chinese)