How important is WeChat to find Chinese buyers?

2018-07-20
China

Chinese buyers of US real estateShort answer: Extremely important. WeChat has more than 900 million daily users, and there are approximately 38 billion messages being sent on the WeChat platform every day.

Background on WeChat

WeChat is basically a (free) app that you can download on your mobile phone and it integrates functionalities such as Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp and much more all into one app.  WeChat is the most important app in China.  Most people in China use WeChat to not only check ‘Moment’ (such as Facebook postings), send messages (such as Whatsapp) but also to make payments in grocery stores, shop online, play games and buy movie tickets. It is literally all in the same app. And now, the Chinese government is even considering using WeChat for virtual ID. So no need anymore for hard copy IDs but a WeChat ID on your phone will be sufficient!

WeChat’s dominance is aided by the government, which has censored Facebook Messenger since 2009, blocked the South Korean-owned Line app in 2015, and banned WhatsApp last year.

It may be difficult for people outside of China to understand just how influential WeChat has become there. WeChat means everything to a Chinese citizen.  Even overseas Chinese or anyone with family or relationships in China will download the app in order to stay in contact since American apps are banned in China.

How can US real estate agents use Wechat to find buyers?

There are 3 important steps

1. Download the app!

In case it is not clear from the above facts, you simply have to start with downloading the WeChat app immediately! It is free!

2. Start posting articles on your account

Of course, you need to start using it to get benefits of it. Start posting some articles about your city or neighbourhood. But yes, it should be in Chinese language (we can help with the translation – just contact us!)

3. Mention your WeChat account name on your business cards and all your social media

Just like anything else, people need to know that you exist so put out your Wechat account name on all your marketing material. It shows that you are an Agent on top of the game, especially on top of the Chinese game!

Follow the steps above and you will see that you will get closer to finding and closing deals with Chinese real estate buyers!

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