Whether Volkswagen, Deutsche Bank, or BMW: It is no longer just large companies that use WeChat to make their brand better known among Chinese internet users or to sell certain products directly.

B2B companies have also now realized that a presence on WeChat is crucial for making customers aware of their services. This makes it all the more important to know which account is suitable for which company.

Companies have the following options when setting up an official WeChat account: international or Chinese, subscription or service, verified or not verified. Anyone registering via the business portal should be aware of these differences.

International or Chinese?

The international version differs significantly from the Chinese version of a business account: Anyone who registers with a non-Chinese cell phone number should be assigned an international account with an English-language user interface. A Chinese account, on the other hand, only has a Chinese-language user interface. Chinese users do not have access to international accounts. Users outside of China, on the other hand, can access both Chinese and international accounts. Non-Chinese WeChat users have been complaining for some time about technical problems that occur when registering accounts via the English-language service site. To ensure that your WeChat account is always visible to Chinese consumers, we recommend registering via the Chinese-language site.

Subscription account or service account?

Anyone who wants to open a business account on WeChat has to decide: a subscription account or a service account. The subscription account is the simpler version of the two account types. It offers owners the following features:
– Distribution of regular content via WeChat (max. one message per day, followers see the message in the subscription column of their WeChat account)
– Few options for individual design: no payment options or insertion of special content via APIs
– No push notifications: The content you post ends up in a separate folder for your subscribers.

A service account gives companies a range of options for customization. However, the setup is correspondingly time-consuming:

– Possibility of integrating APIs, e.g. eCommerce or special information and services tailored to users
– Distribution of regular content is difficult: instead of a maximum of one message per day, only one message per week
– Push notifications: Followers see the messages in the same tab in which they are informed about messages from their friends (not in a separate folder, as with subscription accounts).

Companies that want to offer a large number of services and bill them via WeChat should opt for a service account: These include bus companies, airlines, or hotels, for example. Companies that are primarily interested in establishing themselves as a brand in the Chinese market are advised to use a subscription account.

Verified or unverified?

Companies registered in China can apply for a verified account by sending the operating company Tencent a document proving their status as a company registered in China. Verification is free of charge. From my own experience, I can say that verification may be time-consuming and involve some administrative difficulties, but it is worth it for a company that cares about quality.

Conclusion: If you want to be active in China as a company, you can hardly do without a business account. However, you should think carefully about which account is best suited to your own company. Specialist seminars, such as my online marketing workshop on February 3, 2016, in Munich, can give companies planning their market entry in China valuable tips and support and help them communicate more effectively with Chinese customers. Together with Chinese and German social media experts, I also actively support German customers in establishing a presence in networks such as WeChat and Sina Weibo