Launched during the pandemic, “Wechat video channels” or “Wechat channels” is a new feature focused on short videos.

Launched during the pandemic, Wechat video channels or Wechat channels is a new feature offered by Wechat where brands, businesses, and individual content creators have a dedicated area resembling a video feed that can be used to reach a (new) audience outside their circle of WeChat friends/followers.

How does WeChat Video Channels work?

Compared to reading text and viewing images, people tend to watch videos these days rather than reading text. The importance of video content as part of marketing strategies has grown and will continue to grow as the demand for short-form video grows.

WeChat launched WeChat Video Channel in 2020, a feature allowing people to share short videos. In short, this is a platform where anyone can create and post short video content to share the content with others. It is the first video channel available to all WeChat users, which is integrated into the entire WeChat ecosystem, with the capability to connect people, content, and businesses. The benefit of this is that videos and graphics on WeChat Video Channel are not only available to social friends or followers of the official account, but they can reach 1.2 billion WeChat users as well.

Why does WeChat Video Channels is so important in China?

1. Short videos are the key to digital marketing in China

In the last five years, short video content has become the latest trend in China and has developed quickly. Without a doubt, short-form video is taking up the most significant part of the video market and is being viewed by most users.

“2020 China Online Audio & Visual Development Research Report” shows that, as of the beginning of this year, short videos had surpassed instant messaging in daily usage time, achieving 110 minutes. The research also indicates that users increasingly spend more time socializing on services such as TikTok and Kuaishou, which provide short videos and live broadcasts. Similarly, Toutiao’s market share grew to 15.4% in March from 12.0% in September, and Kuaishou’s market share jumped from 4.4% to 7.2%. As a result, Chinese consumers are more accustomed to short and easy-to-load videos because they load in a short amount of time, and they are easier to get than long-form videos.

2. Wechat video Channels is a new viral Social Platform

The WeChat platform is a closed platform, such that accounts holder can only see content posted by their friends, so brands can directly interact with subscribers on a personalized level, however, the WeChat Video Channel has three primary feeds: Followed accounts, Content liked by friends, Trending content as well as regional content.

Which are the main contents recommended in Wechat?

According to a recent study focusing on the algorithm for WeChat Video Channels, “social recommendations” account for about 55% of the total, and “hot recommendations” of high-quality content combine for just 15%. As shown in the chart above, the recommendation distribution of the WeChat Video Channel is based on social relationships derived from Moments; likes, shares, and group chats are still the priority distribution channels of the app.

It is essential to mention that WeChat Video Channel is only part of the WeChat ecosystem, unlike TikTok and Kuaishou. Video has much potential for growth because there are still many opportunities in the future for this technology. The information in this article is so that video marketers and content creators can succeed in the video industry. They should be aware of the tips and tricks of the industry and the future trends so that they can always keep up with the latest trends.