Sunday, July 15, 2018
Alipay Vs Wechat Pay: an Unbiased Comparison
Both Wechat pay and Alipay have their pros and cons and it can be seen that the gap between the two in terms of market share in fast shrinking
How Does Wechat Pay Differs From Its Competitors?
Wechat pay is a unique online payment platform and contains features which makes it highly important for chinese users
Saturday, July 14, 2018
People Are Making Millions From Tencent's Wechat: How Can You Find Your Place?
WeChat Pay Review: Customer Reach and Usage
Apple and Wechat Agreeing to Restore ‘tipping’ Feature
Thursday, July 12, 2018
The Basics of a WeChat Official Account: What Users Need to Know
An official Wechat account can be created following simple guidelines and it can come handy for those who want to market their products online.
What Are the New Models of E-commerce Introduced in Wechat Through Wechat Mini Programs?
The increasing potential of Ecommerce in Wechat ecosystem has given rise to various models and techniques for brands to sell their products and generate awareness. The social Ecommerce has taken over the commerce paradigms today with more and more brands using the models of social Ecommerce to grow their business and sale.
How Do Wechat Mini-programs Boast KOL Sales Campaigns?
Wechat offers wechat mini-programs in its exosystem which can help the users in generating more sales for their businesses. Wechat mini-programs can help in setting up a Wechat store or a Wechat shop. Through the use of Wechat mini-programs, KOLs can help improve the sales by promoting it on their platform.
Wednesday, July 11, 2018
Tuesday, July 10, 2018
Is There a New Player Challenging Wechat’s Mini Programs?
FastApps venture is looking to challenge the status of wechat mini programs in future
The Impact of WeChat Mini Program in Social Ecommerce
Wechat mini-programs are the future of social e-commerce with their gradually increasing popularity and functionality. More and more brands are now creating wechat mini-programs, in order to tape into the Chinese market to grow their sales and revenue.
How Does Wechat Marketing Work?
Wechat marketing is becoming increasingly necessary in china and wechat marketing through wechat website and content creation is highly useful.
Friday, July 6, 2018
How to Rank Your Mini Program Higher on Wechat Search?
Ranking of wechat mini programs is of utmost importance and there are different ways of achieving it
Thursday, July 5, 2018
WeChat Mini-Programs: A Comprehensive Introduction
In a very short span of time, Wechat mini-programs have taken the world by storm due to the ease of various services provided by them. Coupled with their advantages, there are proving to be a great challenge for other tech gaints of today
Wednesday, July 4, 2018
WeChat Mini Program - Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
Wechat mini programs have evolved over the course of time as everyone gave a shot at them but with Wechat, they have matured
Monday, July 2, 2018
VIDEO BACKGROUND ON WEBSITE – WHO SHOULD CONSIDER AND WHAT CAN BE ADDED?
When you come across a video background on a website for the first time it pops-up a good number of questions in mind. Those beautiful 15-30 seconds videos are good enough to entice you to the website and there is no secret that you may want the same for your website as well. The first question that comes across while watching these websites with video background is that if you should consider it or not and if you should consider that what all can you add? Let’s discuss the objectives and possibilities one by one.
Image by Pixabay
WHO SHOULD CONSIDER?
Frankly speaking, any company or individual who has a product or a service to showcase to the client can use video backgrounds on the website. You can be a photographer, videographer, dress designer, Makeup artist, jeweler, baker, handmade gift seller or anyone from any other field. The basic idea behind using a video in the background especially on the homepage is to give a clearer idea about the products and the services to the visitors.
HOW CAN IT BE USED?
There are two ways by which you can create a video background. The first way is by using smaller clips to clear a video montage of your work which can include products, services, behind the scene videos etc. The second way is by using the still images to create a video slideshow which can showcase the products of the services.
DIFFERENT OPTIONS FOR DIFFERENT NICHE
The niche of every website owner is different. Thus it is very important to understand what can be shown in the background video. We have compiled a few examples below which will give you a better idea of what you can include in such videos.
Image by Free Range
- For photographers: Whether you are a product, fashion, wedding or contemporary photographer, the work is entirely different from the other photographers. In case of weddings and fashion photography, you can showcase your best work in the form of slideshows, or you can also add behind the scene videos where you can show what all goes in the process of creating those photographs. In case of product photography, you can show how you illuminated the product to look better in the photographs and so on.
- For videographers: It is much easier for the videographers to have video backgrounds on their website as they already have a lot of content related to the final product as well as behind the scene videos. You can use a blend of both which will give an idea to the visitor how much work it takes to create those magical videos. Alternatively, you can concentrate only on a montage of final edited video clips.
- Dress designers: The dress designers can showcase the latest products in the form of a ramp show, a fashion show or can produce a video showcasing the work that goes behind creating a piece of elegant dress. You can also make a stop motion animation of the process to make it even more interesting.
- Makeup artists: Makeup artists can showcase before and after images, behind the scenes, and a slideshow of final results.
- Jewelers: Just like the dress designers, the jewelers can either showcase a new range of products or showcase the work that goes behind make different pieces of jewelry.
- Bakers: Bakers have a lot of fascinating products and the process of making these products like biscuits, cakes etc. is also very interesting to watch. You can create a small video which runs through the process of cake making or can simply showcase a slideshow of the products you provide.
THE MINOR GLITCH
There is only one problem with the video background on a website, and that is the loading time. If the video size is big, then it will take some time to buffer which can increase the exit rate on your page. To avoid such situation, you should keep the length of the video between 15 to 30 seconds which is more than enough to give the glimpse of your work to the visitor. You can also keep a smaller video in a loop which will substantially reduce the loading time.
CONCLUSION
In short, any business can come up with an idea of a video background for the services or the products. The only thing you need to keep in mind is that you have to keep the size of the video short so that the loading time of the page with video background can be controlled.
WHY CAN’T FASHION RETAILERS AFFORD TO IGNORE MOBILE?
Today, almost everyone is using a smartphone, probably it is not considered as desire or leisure item anymore but rather as a necessity. The extraordinary boom in the usage of smartphones by people of all age groups and especially young individuals have seized the attention of garments and fashion industry. The major brands have all shifted their focus to getting a share of the ever-increasing e-commerce and m-commerce market. The major benefit of focusing on mobile based marketing strategy is that you can reach a huge number of users.
BENEFITS OF M-COMMERCE
It will be easier for the companies to market their products. More and more opportunities for earning will be opened to a seller in the mobile app. The mobile apps make the experience of purchasing the commodities and fashion items where easy and convenient as anything from garments to fashion items are one click away. In this generation and fast-paced world, people would rather choose to click and buy than go to malls and search for the clothes that they want, as it involves spending of precious time.
FASHION INDUSTRY IS GROWING FASTEST IN M-COMMERCE SCENARIO
For the last 12 months in the year 2017 survey (source from Refinery29), still, one of the most purchased items using the mobile app is all about fashion.70% of the survey’s respondents had bought clothing, shoes, or accessories by means of their phones.
In today’s competition, primarily about business, it is important to be innovative and knows how to integrate planning. The success of the business on mobile app depends on how those plans will be executed. Something must be unique but user-friendly, should be aware of where to improve and what to retain. Lastly, the app must be accessible to all users.
Mobile apps have changed the way how an individual would purchase an item. It gives the consumers a great chance to save more time, instead of visiting malls, with just a click from their smartphones items or products can be purchased and just wait for its arrival through fast delivery services provided these days. This surely gives the users who have not much time in purchasing the items that they desire and at the same time get along with their life.
Mobile Shopping – Not Just a Trend
Survey about the people who prefer buying online using mobile app versus in-store
Smartphones have proved to be an integral part of people’s daily lives and it is no brainer to assume that they will keep their stature for a long time to come. These mobile apps are able to interact with individuals of all ages, meaning, it doesn’t matter what is your age, there will always be a suitable app for you that surely will be patronized. This extraordinary ability of mobile apps shifted the momentum of the fashion industry towards them.
Shopping here and there, Shopping everywhere-anytime of the day
Shopping is made easy for us by technology. It is true that women enjoy going to malls for window shopping, checking of prices about the latest and the hottest trend in terms of fashion, try to put it on check whether it fits them or not. But in time this concept might eventually perish. Fashion apps in all smartphones are very powerful. They contain a lot of features that would encourage and convince each buyer to just browse, click, order, checkout and pay. Buying stuff in the fashion apps allows its buyers to make hassle-free purchasing.
DESIGN MATTERS FOR FASHION APPS
Nowadays, most of the well-known brands cater their products through fashion apps powered by smartphones. In this way, they can market their products faster. It might be also a risk and it takes a lot of effort to make a good fashion app. The app shall not be plain and simple, since it is a fashion app there must be something stunning for the viewers’ eyes. It must be able to please the consumers.
Amazon, a fast-growing app also offers a lot of items, it has been patronized by a lot of consumers. The mobile apps have changed the way how a person can purchase an item. In this generation nothing’s impossible, a buyer will just browse, pick, lock item, put it into a virtual cart, finalize the order then, that’s it! An item can be purchased following few basic steps.
Fashion apps are also now able to give a lot of choices to its consumers on how to conveniently make payments for the orders they place or the goods they purchase. Credit cards, cash on delivery, remittances are just some of the methods of making easy payments. The great thing about mobile purchasing is that when a client is able to love your product these people will patronize buying your products even more.
Clothing/Accessories and Mobile Go Hand in Hand
A survey in the U.S shows that people spend 59% of their online shopping time on their mobile devices (versus on desktop computers), yet mobile shopping only accounts for 15% of sales, with 85% of sales taking place on desktop computers. In 2020, mobile shopping is predicted to account for 45% of all sales made beyond physical stores. It is quite alarming for the physical stores that this scenario might happen. The physical stores must do something about this.
-Alexandra Ilyashov
-Alexandra Ilyashov
If you’re still somewhat shy of getting along with the trend, you can certainly consider and try using limited features to initially stimulate the craving of your customers; it doesn’t need to have full-fledged capabilities as you may find in some other apps.
Apps for Entertainment = Apps for Shopping
The simple truth: a way to your customer’s heart is through “What do they desire for?”. A fashion app must be able to entertain and must encourage the customers to admire the product. The user experience of the fashion app should be such that the customers just want to browse all the time which will, in turn, convert them into buying customers as well. There must be a great strategy for a fashion app on how they can hook their clients and make them loyal to your fashion app. Let your customers feel that they can’t help but to check your items, add-on wish list, buy and buy, until it becomes a routine.
Smartphones will continue to replace the traditional phones and the new opportunities will continue to present themselves. What you need to do is make the best use of them.
WHY DO YOU NEED TO GO WITH WORDPRESS OVER SITE BUILDER FOR YOUR WEDDING WEBSITE?
Choosing a website platform is one of the most difficult things especially when you are serious about website making, and you haven’t enough time to check all the platform. Now if you are from wedding industry then people like you asked which platform they should need to choose? Whenever this question is raised two options come to mind first is WordPress and second in site builder. But in both of them which one to choose this is a big question.
Before telling you the best let us make you clear that WordPress is a CMS which stands for Content Management Systems. It is one of the most used CMS in the world. More than 80% websites were made in WordPress.
Now coming to site builders then these are new generation website builders which allow the user to change site design to content everything live. Some of the famous site builders are WIX, Squarespace, Weebly, etc.
Both platforms have their pros and cons, but if you want to make a professional website, then there are tons of things which make you believe why WordPress is better than any site builder. Here we made some comparison which helps you to choose the best.
CUSTOM DOMAIN
Custom domain is one of the biggest sign of professionalism. Ask yourself how would you like to see your domain name. xyz.com or xyz.weebly.com. Obviously, anyone would like to go with xyz.com because it is more professional.
When you go with any site builder, they will give you preferred subdomain. No doubt you can change your subdomain with the customized one but the main problem with such option is you will not get the desired custom name especially if you want to switch after some months as the domain you want is already registered.
In WordPress, you need to have a custom domain at the very early stage. You don’t have to compromise until and unless you want to switch extension (i.e. .com, .online, .wedding, .net, etc.) which is not recommended.
FREEDOM
To run your WordPress site, you need to host your site on any of hosting provider like Bluehost, GoDaddy, Hostgator, etc. If you are not happy with particular hosting service, you can switch to another anytime without any restriction.
If you use site builder, then you will not get such freedom, i.e. if you made your site in Weebly and after some time, you realize that WIX is far much better than in this scenario you can’t switch the site builder. You need to create your website totally from scratch.
CUSTOMIZATION
If you look from above, then you found out that site builders are more customizable and easy, but the real truth is opposite of it. However, WordPress seems bit complicated, but in few days you can master it. WordPress comes with lots of themes and plugins which helps you to make any website then no matter it is a professional wedding site or a full fledged e-commerce site like Amazon.
With site builders, you can create any site too but all come with limitations, and it’s guaranteed. You can’t much expand it. Site builders only allow to play with things which are already given, and on the other hand with WordPress, you can make your dream website quickly with the help of plugin and theme.
SPEED
Making a website is not enough there is something called page load speed which helps to boost your page ranking. You can’t sit down once your site is made. You need to make your site SEO friendly so that it will get highlighted in search engine result.
WordPress comes with a various hosting plan which is responsible for making your site slow and fast. In short, it’s all over you. Now coming to site builders, they seem easy to use, but behind the scenes they are coded complicatedly which make them very heavy. Such site builders are also less SEO friendly. So you need to rely only on promotions.
CONCLUSION
Hope these points help you to decide which is best. If you are still sure not about your site, then we recommend you to go with any site builder as they are free and give you a glimpse how sites work. Now if you are serious about your site then make sure go with WordPress only, don’t worry you will not regret later it’s our promise.
IS YOUR WEBSITE LOADING SLOWLY IN CHINA? – READ TO KNOW THE REASONS
In today’s time, a website is one of the most important aspects of any business. It doesn’t matter if your work, job or business is related to IT industry or not. A website will serve you in one or another way. One of the major issues which website owners face is the slow website loading. In China, it is a very crucial issue. The trillion dollar market in China is ruthless and rejects anything that does not have good face value. A slower site in China can destroy your business in no time.
There are many reasons which may cause the delay in loading time for the websites in China. In this article, we will discuss some of the major issues which you can resolve the loading time of your website.
THE POORLY CODED WEBSITE
The website development industry is fluid and every year the technology used in the creation of the websites is getting more advanced. It is very important for the developer to use a code which complies with the latest norms of the designing as well as the coding. If the website is poorly coded, it may cause a delay in the loading time.
Using a well managed Content Management System (CMS) is one of the best and most popular ways to maintain a website. A CMS is basically a backend admin panel that allows you make changes in the website like adding or removing content with ease. Most of the CMS that are available in the market are highly user-friendly and mostly does not need any knowledge of the coding language.
In the last few years, WordPress has become one of the most popular CMS and proved itself much more than just blogging software. However, most of the users fail to understand the fact that not all themes are made for customization and in order to ensure that the website design suits the requirement, they may need a custom theme.
QUALITY AND LOCATION OF THE HOSTING COMPANY
The second most important aspect of the website is the location of the server and the quality of the service provider. You may have a very good design, best-coded backend and still have a slow loading website. The reason behind this delayed loading time can be the location of the server as well as the quality of the machine on which your website is hosted.
First of all, let’s talk about the location of the server. If your clients are mainly from mainland China, you should try to host your website as close to China as possible. Hosting a website in China can be a hectic task as you have to go through a lot of paperwork. Your business should be a registered entity in China along with many other requirements. Thus, you can choose to host the website in Hong Kong China, Singapore, Korea or Japan as per your choice.
Secondly, the quality of the server machine also matters a lot. You should choose a web server which has comparatively less number of websites hosted on a single machine or should choose a good cloud-based server. If you are expecting higher amount of traffic on your website, prefer to go for a VPN (virtual private network) or a fully managed server.
Image by Artmonkey / Freepik
NON-OPTIMIZED CONTENT MAJORLY PHOTOS AND VIDEOS
There are a lot of websites which do not bother to optimize the photos and videos on their pages. You have to remember that a 500 KB to 5 MB photo will always take more time to load in comparison to a photograph at 50-100 KB that too optimized for the web. There is an option in photoshop known as “Save for web” which you should use to ensure it is optimized properly. Same goes for the video. If you are using a video background or have uploaded a video on your own server, make sure it is optimized for faster loading.
USAGE OF SERVICES BLOCKED IN CHINA
The Great Chinese Firewall is one of the main reasons behind slower or non-responding websites. There are a lot of services which are blocked in China like Google, Facebook, Instagram and many others. If you are using any code or API from these websites or even using Google Fonts on your website, the firewall will not allow it to load. WordPress based website developers have to disable Google Fonts from the admin panel to ensure that only the locally available fonts are used by the websites.
Also, DNS or Domain Name Servers play a major role in this situation. The DNS acts as a bridge between your domain name and the hosted content over the server by using an IP. If you have bought the domain from a service provider outside China, there is a chance that it may reduce the speed of the website as every time a request has been made for your website from China, the DNS will be called from an outside source which has to go through a series of firewalls.
CONCLUSION
There are a number of factors that work in to speed up or slow down the website. You need to keep every single aspect of your website in mind to ensure that the website loads quickly while remaining attractive to the user.
HOW DO WECHAT MINI-PROGRAMS BOAST KOL SALES CAMPAIGNS?
In the time we live in, it is very important for the brands to promote their products and services not only via mainstream advertising but also via social media personalities who have a large number of following. Such influential accounts are called Key Opinion Leaders or KOLs. These are powerful influencers who use their voice to promote products and services across social media platforms like WeChat. While Weibo only allows 140 characters to be posted in one post, WeChat allows these KOLs to post fully fledged posts with all the required details about the products or the services making it a comprehensive post. WeChat KOL is indeed a good choice for the companies and brands to promote their products and services.
How do they fare on WeChat?
You might be wondering about WeChat KOL marketing cost. Well, the system by which KOLs are paid is pretty tricky over the WeChat. Unlike other social media platforms which are available across the world, WeChat provides a comprehensive advertisement system for the companies to use. Generally, any company that has the base in China can spend ¥50,000 RMB in WeChat advertising while the companies with a base in abroad are allowed to spend ¥10,000 RMB. The cost of the advertising entirely depends on the location on which the companies want their ads to publish and that can vary from ¥50 RMB to ¥180 RMB. By taking other options in an account like demographics etc, the cost can vary dramatically.
Type of WeChat accounts
When we talk about KOLs, we also need to understand the importance of the type of accounts these influencers are holding. There are mainly two types of accounts that WeChat is offering right now. These type of accounts are Subscription and Service accounts. If you are looking to advertise on WeChat via KOLs, you should know the difference. First of all, subscription accounts have less visibility but they can do one post a day. On the other hand, the service accounts have high visibility but they can only do four posts in a month.
Secondly, when we talk about subscription accounts, though they have lesser visibility, the reach is much higher as they are constantly interacting with the followers with new posts which is not possible with a service account. Service accounts are best fitted for the companies and brands and not for the general public or KOLs.
Different type of campaigns done by KOLs
There are four major types of campaigns done by KOLs on WeChat. The companies choose the type of campaigns according to their requirements and budget.
Advertorials and product placements: This is the most common type of campaign run by the KOLs over WeChat. The KOLs write the post or the article in their usual way while emphasizing on the product or the service in the post. Say, if they post about “Top 5 phones for 2018” they will write a general article while praising the particular model of the phone more to make sure it steals the limelight in the article.
Product Reviews: This is the easiest way to promote any product for the company. The companies choose specific KOLs to review their products and post an article or a video about it. These product reviews are used by all type of companies like electronics, makeup, healthcare and many others.
Interactive campaigns by KOLs: In such campaigns, the KOLs post an article or a post to engage with the followers and ask them to post photos or videos in the replies. In the majority of the cases, the randomly chosen user(s) from the replies get rewards as well to make sure there is a maximum interaction between the KOL and the followers.
Sponsored Articles: In such campaigns, the KOLs provide a direct sale link for the followers from where they can buy the product or the services after only a few clicks. Such campaigns are more direct and make it easier for the followers as well to understand that it is a paid post.
Direct Sales Generation from WeChat Mini Programs
While KOLs are making it easier for the companies to promote their services and products over WeChat, the platform has also made it easier for the companies to interact directly with the customers. The WeChat mini-programs are apps which can be run within WeChat without any need for additional installation. These apps or mini-programs are revolutionizing the market in China as it provides easier ways for the customers to buy products and services.
All major Chinese, as well as international brands that are active in China, have these programs so that customers do not have to shift to another app to buy the products or services. For example, the KFC mini program allows you to buy food within WeChat and you do not need to install the basic app for the company to do so. The programs work perfectly as e-commerce stores and also provide QR codes to complete the purchase.
Minting the benefits of the mini-programs, many KOLs have launched their own mini-programs to increase direct sales. Such mini-programs provide information about a variety of products to the followers and let them make a purchase from within the app.
Examples of WeChat mini program KOL driven high sales
Though it seems unrealistic to a few, launching own mini program has made it much easier and beneficiary for the KOLs to generate sales. Some of the most famous KOLs with mini-programs are:
Shiliu Po: One of the most famous fashions KOL in WeChat, Shiliu Po had recently launched a mini program. Within the first hour, the mini-program got over 100,000 page views.
YuXiaoGe: Yet another famous KOL who launched a mini-program but here the concept was different. Instead of launching only one program, the KOL emphasized on multiple KOL for different purposes and it made it much easier for the KOL to not only provide specific information and sale links to the followers but also to track the sales.
Conclusion
When you are trying to establish your base in China or want to promote the already established business in China over the internet, there is no better way to do it other than WeChat KOL promotions. The penetration that WeChat can provide to your brand is unmatchable via any other platform. KOLs make it much easier for the brands to reach out millions of people at a very affordable price and that too only in a few clicks.
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