As Baidu still dominates search engine market share in China, booming social media giants like WeChat and Weibo have been leveraging significant traffic to empower their built-in search function on their platforms and contend for a slice of the action, taking from the traditional players.
In the wake of the WeChat Index, which was unveiled in March 2017, WeChat officially launched its search function and the new “search application department” team.
WeChat Search now allows users to look up the following through search queries:
- WeChat official accounts
- Items (supported by JD.com)
- Moments Posts
- Articles
- Mini Program
- Encyclopedia (supported by Sougou Encyclopedia)
- Novels (Wechat Books)
- Music, Stickers
- Q&A (supported by Zhihu.com)
- Video
This July, WeChat launched another important brand search function which allows users to find brands directly and access a brand’s services more conveniently. Any brand that applies this function can enjoy the “Brand Official Zone” and “Brand Mini Page” features.
Brand Official Zone
Brand Official Zones appear at the top of the search results page when users search for brand names. It contains the brand’s official WeChat account with a certification label on the right-hand side, a brief brand introduction, and entry points to online stores or account pages. Brand Official Zones can be an effective showcase for brands to use to build up their brand awareness and credibility. As more and more Chinese social media users are starting to search for information on WeChat, it is a new traffic source that should not be missed.
Brand Mini Page
When users click on a Brand Official Zone, they will be directed to the relevant Brand Mini Page; a standard mini program provided by WeChat that displays detailed brand stories, product information, service times, offline store search and contact information.
How to activate this function
In order to apply this new function on the WeChat platform, some conditions need to be met:
- The brand must have at least one verified WeChat subscription or service official account
- The brand’s official account must have a trademark verification and protection
- The brand must not be in the finance, medical or healthcare industry
As long as those requirements are met, you can easily apply this new function and edit your own Brand Official Zone and Brand Mini Page on the WeChat platform.
If you have trouble in registering or verifying your own WeChat official account, or if you need assistance in activating the new search function, contact Croud’s dedicated China team.
