WeChat and Social Media in China with Connor of EB5Sir – Episode 20
What is WeChat and how does Social Media work in China?
Mona Shah and I are joined by Connor of EB5Sir and talk about how developers can reach the China market (including investors and banks) through effective use of WeChat.
WeChat is currently the most popular app in China. It is your Chinese Facebook and Twitter all rolled into one. It also gives you the ability to create a blog and have millions of followers. Connor started the first EB-5 blog called the EB5Sir, read by the entire Chinese community who is interested in immigration and in EB-5 – from investors to developers to people in congress – through the app. WeChat is so prevalent in China that people across all generations, from all walks of life are all connected to it. The country has the largest market of EB5 to date.
● Connor has about 35,000 followers interested in EB-5 and it is not easy to maintain his blog. He spends a lot of time meticulously pondering on the content of his blog, taking into account its quality, importance, relevance and authenticity. His blog becomes a reliable source among his followers, from getting updates on current events to knowing what the Senators are doing to what conferences are going on. He chooses his articles carefully, ensuring that his followers are able to read quality material they can find useful.
● Today, if developers want to reach the Chinese market, it is wise to connect through Connor’s EB-5Sir.
“WeChat, as opposed to print media, is a more updated, quick and easy way to reach your target market.”
The audience base is bigger and almost everyone in China is connected. If the developer wants to know which conference to join, it would be best to know which has the most number of agents.
● Connor thinks that despite the retrogression issue, the interest to move to the US is steadily becoming stronger. China has a large base and more and more people want to migrate to the US where they can find a decent job, provide a good education and have a better future for their children.
● A lot of other companies based outside China that have their own blogs publish their articles in famous WeChat accounts like that of Connor’s. Mona Shah shares that this is more practical since maintaining your own WeChat or Weibo account requires that you have to be active every day, something that could be quite taxing for an overseas company to do, having to translate articles in Chinese and proofreading them prior to publication. Likewise, having a good number of followers can also be quite challenging so it is best to piggyback on famous accounts instead.
● Connor’s blog is ideal since he posts neutral, high-quality articles. This makes him very credible among his followers. His reputation is highly regarded and he wants to maintain it that way. He writes in-depth articles on EB5Sir, uses WeChat to promote them and seeks engagement with his followers. He stresses the importance of a well-thought article that his followers can find really useful.
● When you want to reach the Chinese market, WeChat is a good medium since many people across all generations are registered to this very useful app. It does not just serve a social purpose but gives them the conveniences no other social media can offer so far. WeChat allows them to do a daily tasks such as sending money, something other similar forms of social media are not capable of doing.
It is a fact that if you want to get to the Chinese market at all, you have to be connected to WeChat. Connor reveals that among his many followers are investors and agents but interestingly there is an increase in the number of financial institutions and banks that have started to follow him. He also discloses that in the past, migration agents are the main source of clients for EB5 projects. Recently however, even financial institutions become the entities who refer clients to EB5 projects. It makes sense for the banks to set up their own migration agencies since they have full access to their client’s financial status and can qualify clients easily. They used to refer their clients to agents who in turn bring them to EB5 projects. However, because of EB5 becoming more popular and the opportunity to earn more from commissions, the financial institutions can now bring in and handle their own EB5 clients. This can also be observed from the increasing number of seminars being held by banks such as Citibank and Bank of China, not by a migration agency. This scenario is a big shift from how it was in 2010 when people would just refer clients to EB5 and perhaps agree on splitting the commission.
For any new developer who wants to penetrate the Chinese market, it is best to be aware of the medium preferred by the target audience. Getting acquainted with the media would be the best move. The utilization of the right medium can translate to a successful venture for the more astute businesses. Learning from the experience of others, engaging in WeChat where majority of your target market is connected, is the most sure-fire way to go.