KAWO Blog

How to Reach the Untapped Market on WeChat and Channels

In recent years, the open rate for WeChat Official Accounts (“OA”) has been declining due to fierce competition for readers’ attention. However, this is not the case for accounts with mostly senior followers who tend to stay loyal and focused.

The perfect place to engage directly with seniors

Seniors (51 years and older) account for 23% of WeChat’s 1.31 billion monthly active users, [S]. WeChat’s extensive list of features designed for better communication, content sharing and entertainment makes it the most popular social media platform for seniors in China.

Wonderland for online community building
Screenshot of the WeChat official account of LORTUI (LOve ReTirement yoU & I )

“乐退族” LORTUI (LOve ReTirement yoU & I ) is a local company focusing on education, culture and domestic travel services for seniors.

Long-term senior followers of its WeChat OA have helped the brand maintain 30k+ average reads for each main article. In addition, articles continue to receive views long after publishing, signaling that followers continue to grow and that users continue to come back to this channel for news and info.

The Boom of WeChat Channels

Modeled after “Dou Kuai” and launched in 2020, Channels was not originally                        considered a serious competitor, yet just 2 years later, its video views have increased by 200%, and live-stream views increased by 300%. The number of Channels’ content creators with 10k+ followers also increased by 308% [S].

How to Reach the Untapped Market on Douyin and Kuaishou

In recent years, social media usage and purchasing power of seniors have increased exponentially, yet little effort has been put into studying their needs and behavior changes … This is a missed opportunity for brands across many industries. 

Short Video: Seniors’ Favorite

80% of netizens over age 60 spend on average 1.5 hours each day browsing short videos [S]. Many retired seniors report experiencing common issues such as loss of vision and hearing capabilities. Short video, offering graphic motion and clear sound, is more entertaining and effortless for seniors to enjoy and kill time compared to plain text and images.

Douyin and Kuaishou are China’s two major short video players. 49.3% of senior viewers choose Douyin as their go-to video platform, while Kuaishou comes in a close second at 33.3% [S]. With both focused on live-streaming and e-commerce, “Dou Kuai” (Short for “Douyin and Kuaishou”) continue to grow and increasingly encroach on each other’s territory vying for viewers.

In 2020, percentage of senior users over 50 on is 3% on Douyin, and 4% on Kuaishou; the numbers in 2022 changed into 19% on Douyin and 23% on Kuaishou

See Your Chinese Social Come to Life with☝️Content Publishing & Analytics Tool for WeChat, Weibo, Douyin, Kuaishou, and Bilibili

Preview your content before publishing

If you’re an international company based outside China, and uses Chinese social media such as WeChat, Weibo, and Douyin, you may face such challenges:

😫 Cannot see what the content actually looks like before they are out?

😫 Don’t know exactly what time, what content types and formats work best for your target audience?

😫 The language barrier and time difference even further complicate the process of approving, scheduling and publishing content?

We understand your struggles. In fact, more than 75% of KAWO’s clients face similar issues, which is why we have built a solution to address these challenges.

WeChat, Weibo, Douyin, Kuaishou, and Bilibili are fully integrated into KAWO, a bilingual (Chinese & English) platform that lets you write, edit, publish, and manage multi-accounts across social networks in one place from any time zones 🌍.

Let’s take a look at a few features that could make your life easier 👇

1. Post Editors

2. Smart Scheduling

3. Tag Insights

Why Should Brands Value
Seniors on China Social

The spending potential of China’s senior citizens is expected to contribute to a third of China’s GDP in the next 30 years, rising from RMB 5.9 trillion in 2021 to RMB 106 trillion by 2050. 

25.6% of senior citizens on the planet are Chinese.

In 2022, China’s population of 60+ year-olds reached 280 million, making up 19.8% of China’s total population. This is swiftly approaching that of the U.S.’s total population of 339 million.

The above number is increasing every year by 20 million to 25 million as the second wave of baby boomers, born between 1962 and 1978, retire — making China the fastest-aging country in the world.

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