![]() In January, Zhang announced that there were currently 580,000 published mini programs with 170 million users, by now we can only assume this number has increased significantly with the rush to develop mini programs and the increase in popularity. Of those 8 announcements, Zhang announced that mini programs will be a focus of the of the WeChat team this year, along with improving the search function of WeChat (more on why this matters later). The release of mini games, combined with a new app update which moved mini programs to a bar above users’ personal messages made the feature much more visible and much more enticing to brands.Īt the beginning of 2018 in January at the WeChat Annual Conference in Guangzhou, Allen Zhang, the creator of WeChat made 8 major announcements. With over 517 million gamers, gamification is a popular tactic used by brands to swiftly raise brand awareness, engage and convert fans. Tapping into China’s love for gamification was a smart move by WeChat. In December of 2017 WeChat released mini games, and one of the most popular games, 跳一跳 or literally translated as ‘jump jump’ went viral in a matter of days, gaining 400 million users within the first 3 days. It was not until the end of 2017 that mini programs essentially went viral and began to gain traction. When mini programs were first launched in January of 2017, it was unclear how this was going to change the WeChat ecosystem, and the hype that surrounded the much-anticipated launch quickly died down. Thomas Graziani, co-founder of a WeChat marketing agency start-up called WalktheChat, says “ Mini programs will not replace the mobile app as you know it, but they are very effective in helping apps like games to acquire new users.” ![]() Now if you’re thinking that in 5 years people in China will only be accessing apps through WeChat mini apps – this most likely will not happen. They are fast, and can usually be developed quickly at a lower cost. This, coupled with a bit of a power struggle between Tencent and the Apple Store, makes it appropriate for Tencent to invest in developing its own app ecosystem within its golden egg – WeChat.Ī mini program runs within WeChat, and is smaller than a typical app, taking up less than 10 megabytes. If you look at the general trend of smartphone users, the majority aren’t downloading apps as much as they did 5 years ago. Up until now, brands have only been able to create an Official Account to interact and engage with fans, but in the beginning of 2017 WeChat announced the release of mini programs. If you haven’t yet familiarized yourself with WeChat and how it can be used by brands to connect with Chinese consumers, read our ‘ WeChat Marketing Guide‘. China’s most popular app, WeChat, with over 1 billion users, has international brands scrambling to optimize the way in which they reach and engage with their audience through this all-encompassing platform.
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