If you’re exploring WeChat as a marketing channel but aren’t sure where to start, WeChat articles are an excellent entry point. But as with any new channel, the difference between mediocre and great is often in the details. In this article, we'll cover what exactly a WeChat article is and why it is important for marketing.
These multimedia-rich posts allow organisations to share valuable content directly with their followers and engage audiences across WeChat. Whether you’re new to WeChat content creation or looking to enhance your strategy, WeChat articles offer a powerful way to connect with your audience.
What are WeChat articles?
WeChat articles are versatile, long-form pieces of content similar to blogs. These multimedia-rich posts combine headings, text, images, videos, and links, and are published directly through your WeChat Official Account.
WeChat article design and guidelines
- Cover image: Choose high-quality images with an aspect ratio of 2.35:1 (recommended size is 900 x 383 pixels) to serve as eye-catching thumbnails.
- Title: Craft compelling titles that hook readers within the first 31 characters to avoid truncation, the maximum character limit is 120.
- Article summary: Use a concise description that highlights the article’s value to encourage clicks, the maximum character limit is 120.
- Main body: Comprised of text, images, and videos. For example WeChat Channels or Tencent videos can be embedded in your article or QR codes can be included to embed more links into your article.
- Read more links: Hyperlink that can be included at the end of the article that can redirect readers to external sites such as your Chinese website.
- Formatting: Break up text with headings, bullet points, and visuals for better readability.
- Visual Elements: Integrate images, GIFs, and videos to enrich the content and maintain reader interest.
Why are WeChat articles useful for marketing?
WeChat articles are more than just posts; they’re a strategic tool for reaching and engaging your target audience in China.
- Ease of localisation: WeChat articles are easy to adapt, making it simple to repurpose existing and relevant western content like blogs and newsletters for Chinese audiences, ensuring cultural and linguistic resonance without significant effort.
- High engagement potential: By incorporating rich media, WeChat articles capture attention and encourage interactions, creating a dynamic, engaging experience for users.
- Organic reach: Articles shared in Moments or directly with contacts can increase visibility and awareness, allowing your content to organically expand its reach within user networks. By incorporating call-to-actions, such as adding your WeChat QR code at the bottom of the article, you can effectively capture new followers and encourage further engagement.
- Broadcasting: Organisations can send articles directly to followers, providing an effective way to keep them updated. This works similarly to an email campaign, nurturing audiences and driving continued engagement.
- SEO benefits: All WeChat articles are indexed on WeChat Search, meaning any user can search for your article on the platform, increasing your reach to a wider audience as there are 800 million monthly active users on WeChat Search. This is a powerful feature of WeChat as Search can contribute to 27% of Official Account follower growth. Moreover, WeChat articles can also be indexed on Sogou, a popular Chinese search engine, further increasing your WeChat article’s visibility.
Using the WeChat article editor
The WeChat article editor allows users to create, format, and publish articles directly within the WeChat admin interface. While the native editor is functional, it may not be the most intuitive for Western users. Here’s how Sinorbis’ WeChat content management system (CMS) allows you to publish articles with ease:
- Customisable templates: Select from designs tailored to Chinese audiences or create branded templates to save time—perfect for getting started quickly.
- Drag-and-drop editor: Effortlessly arrange content elements with an intuitive interface, no advanced technical skills required.
- Pre-designed components: Add professionally crafted sections to your articles, making it easy to elevate your templates while maintaining brand consistency.
- WeChat to web: Automatically cross-post your WeChat articles to your website to expand your reach on other popular Chinese search engines.
These features make Sinorbis’ WeChat article editor accessible and efficient, helping organisations streamline their content creation process. Interested in taking your WeChat articles to the next level? Request a demo of the Sinorbis platform to see how our tools can enhance your content creation process!
Understanding WeChat article analytics
Tracking the performance of your WeChat articles is key to refining your strategy. Important metrics include:
- Readers and views: Measure how many people engage with your content.
- Shares and forwards: Assess how often your article is shared to Moments or with contacts.
Monitoring these key metrics is crucial to creating high-quality content that drives strong engagement from your audience. Consistently engaging your audience helps nurture relationships, ultimately improving conversion rates. For universities, for instance, research has shown a positive correlation between a university’s Chinese student enrolment and the readership of its WeChat account. Simply put, for every 100 article reads on WeChat, a university gained five additional Chinese students.
Ready to create your first WeChat article?
WeChat articles are a powerful way to localise content, engage audiences, and establish your brand in the Chinese digital landscape. With Sinorbis’ CMS, creating and optimising articles has never been easier. Request a demo today and take the first step toward mastering WeChat marketing!
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