Aussie businesses switch on to WeChat to tap Chinese market

SYDNEY - Aussie businesses are learning how to use WeChat thanks to two seminars which took place in the South Australian (SA) city of Adelaide during the week.

The seminars aimed at how to unlock the vast potential of social media marketing to Chinese audiences.

Key speaker Jo Ruo from a Chinese social media agency, United Media Solutions, told Xinhua on Friday that most Australians have little experience with WeChat but are ready to learn.

With the area around Adelaide famous for its vineyards, wine companies constituted the bulk of attendance, as well as councils, agriculture and film companies, and a mix of small businesses.

"They wanted to know a bit more about the WeChat app itself first because a lot of them have the app, but they didn't know how to use it," Ruo said.

A number of the wine companies attended the recent China International Import Expo in Shanghai, walking away with phones full of contacts but not much idea of what to do with them.

"They wanted to reconnect but they didn't know how to use the app," Ruo said, adding "so the workshop was mainly just to get them up and running with WeChat, it's functions, how they use it properly for business and also for personal use."

With about 900 million monthly active users, WeChat presents a vital access point for businesses which are looking to expand.

"It was great because companies really need to know more about Chinese consumers," Ruo said.

"I've already received some invitations asking me if I'm available to go back and do more deep dives into the app next year."