{"id":8025,"date":"2023-04-20T17:04:35","date_gmt":"2023-04-20T11:34:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.impact.science\/blog\/?p=8025"},"modified":"2025-09-05T10:27:13","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T10:27:13","slug":"creating-and-promoting-relevant-and-powerful-content-on-wechat-a-comprehensive-guide-for-research-publishers-and-societies-trying-to-build-a-presence-in-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cactusglobal.com\/media-center\/creating-and-promoting-relevant-and-powerful-content-on-wechat-a-comprehensive-guide-for-research-publishers-and-societies-trying-to-build-a-presence-in-china\/","title":{"rendered":"Creating and Promoting Relevant and Powerful Content on WeChat: A Comprehensive Guide for Research Publishers and Societies Trying to Build a Presence in China"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

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As Western research publishers focus on building a presence in China, they are increasingly paying attention to Chinese social media platforms, especially WeChat. WeChat plays a critical role in the daily life of over 1.2 billion active users, including Chinese academics.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Researchers in China rely heavily on WeChat for two reasons. First, in the past 12 years, Chinese people (including academics) have gradually become habituated to using WeChat for instant communication, information acquisition and routine services, such as ordering food, taxis, and movie tickets. Chinese researchers might visit the website of a journal they are interested in occasionally, but they check WeChat almost every waking hour.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Second, WeChat articles are easy to share and view on mobile phones, for example, on a bus or subway during one\u2019s daily commute or in the middle of a long and tedious meeting. Most Chinese academics subscribe to official WeChat accounts that share high-quality academic news and research information. In this way, they can automatically receive the latest articles and stay updated with their fields anywhere.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

This article provides an overview of how to create a WeChat article, how to make it engaging, and how to attract readers to your articles and ultimately to your account.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

See also: <\/em>WeChat for Academia: 5 Western Publishers Who Have Created an Online Presence in China<\/em><\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Steps to create a WeChat article<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Creating a basic WeChat article is straightforward. This section will introduce the basic steps of creating a WeChat article.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

1. Log in to the WeChat official account<\/a> platform, by scanning a QR code or by entering your password.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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2. On the homepage of the official account platform, go to the \u201cnew creation\u201d section in the middle of the web page. Select your content type, for example, \u201cArticle\u201d as in the below screenshot. You can see more options on the right-hand side by clicking the “More” menu. Although most of the menu has been translated into English in the English version, some of the menus are still in Chinese.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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3. On the content creation page, you can find the text edit toolbar on the top, similar to a Microsoft Word document. The system provides a default template that shows where to position the title, author, and main content. At the bottom of the page, you can choose to save your article as a draft or preview or distribute it to users by clicking the broadcast menu. The article setting menu is in the lower right corner (the red box in the below screenshot).<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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4. On the article setting page, you can set up a cover image and also create a short summary. You will need to confirm that the content is original (as highlighted in the screenshot), add source links (if any), enable users to send private messages to the official account, and indicate whether the article belongs to any collection.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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5. Once you click on the statement of originality, you will get a pop-up window to review and confirm the statements. After ticking the check box and clicking “Next”, the system will show more settings (as the second screenshot shows). For example, you can enable the reward function to receive donations from readers. You can set the article type so that your target audience can quickly find your articles according to their interests. The last option allows you to add a whitelist for other official WeChat accounts that can republish your article.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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6. Once all settings are chosen, you can publish your article. The publish button is hidden in the broadcast menu. You will need to click on the arrow beside \u201cbroadcast,\u201d and the “publish” link will appear on top. Before publishing, you will get a confirmation page. The system will not automatically send the article to subscribers. Instead, you need to copy the URL of the published article and add it to related functions for sharing, such as the customized menu, autoreply, collection and webpage content.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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7. After publishing the article, you can click on “broadcast”, and the system provides two options: timed broadcast and grouped broadcast. There are two types of official accounts: subscription and service. A subscription account can only broadcast one message every day. A service account can broadcast four messages a day.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

See also: <\/em>WeChat for Academia: Understanding Subscription and Service Accounts<\/em><\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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8. If the creator of the article does not have admin permission, the system requires verification from the official account administrator. The account admin needs to scan a QR code and use their WeChat for verification. The second screenshot shows the admin view while confirming an article broadcast.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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9. After the broadcast verification, the system automatically sends the article to the subscribers’ message channel.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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See also: WeChat for Academia: Mini-Programs and How to Use Them<\/em><\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Crafting an Effective WeChat Article<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Let\u2019s take a look at what makes a WeChat article attractive and engaging for users, especially researchers.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n