WeChat Official Accounts A Guide to the Different Types and How They Differ

How many types of WeChat Official Accounts are there and how are they different?

WeChat Official Account is a crucial service in the realm of digital marketing and popular social media, widely used in China. It is an essential service offered by Tencent Company, now available for use in many countries across the globe, including Thailand.

As an entrepreneur, you may have heard of the term WeChat Official Account. While some may think it's similar to LINE Official Account, which is used for official communication, WeChat Official Accounts are categorized in a more detailed way. In this regard, let's take a closer look at the different types of WeChat Official Accounts and how each type differs from the others.

What are WeChat Official Accounts?

WeChat Official Account is an effective online marketing communication tool for businesses looking to expand their market and grow in China. It enables Chinese people to easily discover brands and receive updates about brand promotions through WeChat Official Account. By connecting businesses with their target audience, WeChat Official Account helps brands to increase their reach and establish a strong presence in China.

WeChat has over 963 million users worldwide, with many Chinese individuals already using it as their primary communication tool. By creating a WeChat Official Account (WeChat OA), businesses can effectively reach out to Chinese customers and take advantage of this opportunity.

WeChat Official Accounts are similar to Facebook pages and can be used to promote products or services. Customers can follow news about brand promotions by scanning a QR Code. As a result, many famous brands have created their own WeChat Official Account to make it easier for customers to see new products when they are posted. It can be considered an important platform for penetrating the market of Chinese tourists coming to Thailand.

Which brands can use to:

• Create a follower base

• Update news information various promotions directly, able to notify customers about new promotions

• Can do Re-E-Commerce to happen, such as a link to a website

Most official WeChat accounts appear in the “Chat” section of WeChat, similar to WhatsApp / Messenger.

How to find official WeChat accounts?

• Find from WeChat timeline or called WeChat Moments.

Moments can be posted in WeChat to promote products or services, similar to a Facebook Page's Timeline, where users can access your account page. By clicking on your account name.

• Scan QA code

  WeChat users can scan QR codes included on web pages or articles within WeChat or scan them offline using the QR code scanner.

• Search (Search)

WeChat has a search engine for official accounts. You can write in the search box and write the correct account name. For example, someone who knows your brand name can type it in WeChat.

• Share business cards.

You can share the business card of your WeChat official account for your friends to follow. Business cards can be shared directly with specific friends or groups only.

• Offline payments.

After users pay with WeChat Payment offline, you can invite them to follow your official WeChat account.

• advert

WeChat advertising has a feature that makes it possible to have a “One click follow” button, or in other words, customers can just press it once and they can follow the various promotions of the brand. Make it easier for customers to follow the brand's WeChat Official Account.

What are the four types of WeChat official accounts and how do they differ from each other?

1. WeChat Subscription accounts

WeChat Subscription accounts must be registered only in China to open an account. This is for people to follow and post 1 article per day, and 1 post can be posted from 1-6 content, which can be pictures, videos or articles, and used to reply to customer chats. However, using a Subscription Account also has its disadvantages. Because followers will not receive notifications when you post content.

• A maximum of 1 message can be sent per day.

• Business license in China. (Company registration form in China)

• Must have a Chinese ID card.

• No chat notifications.

• Must respond to chat within 48 hours.

• Restricted access to WeChat API (no API connection, such as connecting payment channels within WeChat)

2. WeChat Service accounts

Business owners who want to sell products or get closer to their customers. This account is different from the Subscription account in that it is an account that does not have a company in China. and want to open a WeChat Official Account

Users can post content only once a week. You can post 6-7 content at a time, including photos, videos, or articles. The advantages of this type of account are: Whenever a subscriber updates content The applicant's followers will receive instant notifications. In addition, it is also possible to create a Mini Application on the user's account using the API to connect to WeChat Pay, making it convenient for both parties to use the payment channel.

We have summarized the information into bullet points. To gain a better understanding, please refer to the points listed below.

• Can send 4 messages per month.

• Company registration certificate

• There is a chat notification.

• Must respond to chat within 48 hours.

• There is a coordination department when the system has problems.

• Can connect to API in WeChat, such as connecting payment channels within WeChat.

3. Enterprise accounts or “WeChat Work”

It is intended for internal management of the company only. They need both accounts and followers to approve of each other. Their content cannot be shared with unauthorized users. Suitable only for companies that want to disseminate information within their organization.

• Notifications sent to users as normal conversations.

• No limit on the number of article presses.

• In addition to the APIs provided to service accounts, there is also access to APIs related to office automation.

• It has been updated to a separate application called WeChat Work (but allows connecting to Wechat).

4.WeChat Mini Program

WeChat Mini Program is an application similar to the App Store, but with the advantage of being able to open the app immediately within the WeChat app. Chinese users can easily access the program by scanning a QR code or searching for pages on the Mini-program page without having to exit the app. This means that there is no need to download a new app, which saves memory on your mobile phone. The developers of WeChat Mini Program understood the difficulty of getting people to download a new app, so they created this innovation to break that rule. 

WeChat Mini Program is like an e-commerce platform, similar to Lazada and Shopee in our country, and functions as a sales channel within the WeChat app. Users can buy products and pay directly through WeChat Pay. The program was launched in January 2017 by Tencent.

Contact us at sale@psdigital.media to open official accounts on WeChat, Weibo, and The Little Red Book.