What kind of value does WeChat’s heavy focus on search bring to brands?

In the development of the Internet, "search" occupies a very important position, and WeChat's "Search" has grown from a small tool for finding public accounts to a super product with more than 800 million monthly active users and is still growing rapidly. Its product form and usage scenarios are different from the search engine we understand. This article will talk about the value behind the search behavior and what it can bring to the brand.

In the development of the Internet, the meaning of "search" has been changing. In the PC Internet era, search engines were the absolute entrance to the Internet. Information and traffic were all gathered in a small search box, and "whoever wins the search wins the world" became the marketing principle of many brands.

However, with the mobility of the Internet, more and more search behaviors have been scattered in different corners, searching for articles on WeChat public accounts, watching movies on Douban, looking for questions and answers on Zhihu, listening to gossip on Weibo... More and more netizens have begun to choose vertical, social, video and other websites to search. The frequency of public searches is getting higher and higher, and there are higher requirements for search results.

In this round of search behavior migration, WeChat, which focuses on search, is a platform worthy of attention. In just a few years, WeChat's "Search" has grown from a small tool for finding public accounts to a super product with more than 800 million monthly active users and is still growing rapidly. Its product form and usage scenarios are different from the search engines we understand, but it is precisely these differences that allow us to see the trend of the next stop of "search". Let's talk about it in detail today.

1. Search is an important entry point for user decision-making and has higher value active traffic

Although many platforms can meet the shopping needs of "what you see is what you get", "search" is still an indispensable link before most decisions. Users will use search to understand the brand history, endorsements from big Vs, and real reviews from others. Each search result may become an important basis for purchasing decisions.

In my opinion, there are two main reasons why search has become the core hub in the shelf scene where people look for goods:

On the one hand, content popularity has become more equal. If you look closely, you will find that it is difficult to see the shadow of traditional marketing in the growth path of new consumer brands that have emerged in recent years, and behind this is the change in people's trust logic and popular discourse. In the previous media environment, we were more inclined to high-profile, top-down communication; but now, everyone can get those from consumers and social influencers to share, popular discourse has changed, and everyone has begun to get used to catching up and creating new trends in the process of searching, discussing and sharing. In other words, those contents that can settle on the Internet and can be searched also provide sufficient power for brand growth and explosion.

On the other hand, search results are more diversified. Through active search, users can see product content that is more vivid than product parameters. For example, if you search for "face cream" in WeChat search, not only will further related options such as men's, samples, sets, recommendations, etc. appear, but also video account reviews, public account graphic inventories, and official WeChat accounts or mini programs of related brands. Moreover, these active traffic centered on consumer demands often has higher value than passive traffic fed by algorithms. Instead of simply sorting the information, it presents a more three-dimensional result that can better help consumers make decisions.

2. Present more comprehensive and three-dimensional brand information to create a seamless consumer experience across the board

The migration of search behavior is also affecting the brand's marketing layout and position establishment. In the era of mobile Internet, brand positioning, products, slogans and other content are no longer sufficient to interpret the brand. The brand that everyone knows is often the superposition of all the content that can be searched when searching for the brand. Those good and bad reviews, ordinary user experience and professional product reviews are all that make up the brand value. It is based on this trend of change that WeChat search has also become an important carrier for brand layout search advertising. Let's briefly sort it out.

First, it can efficiently connect the public and private domains. WeChat occupies most of the online life scenes of users. It has established a strong content ecosystem based on official accounts and video accounts, and has established a complete service ecosystem and a gradually improving brand business ecosystem based on mini programs. As the first hub in the WeChat ecosystem, "Search" has an endless supply of public domain traffic on one side and rich private domain infrastructure on the other. This innate advantage can not only efficiently connect the public and private domains, but also help brands build a closed loop of full-domain operations within the ecosystem.

Secondly, it can have a long-term impact on high-potential users. As the consumption path of "search-decision-making" matures, more and more users are starting to actively look for brand content and services through WeChat search. In this process, brands can not only gain more valuable active traffic, but also efficiently accept accurate users brought by "search" by occupying a long-term position on the search results page and establishing a brand position, so as to meet the needs of users at any time. Moreover, compared with those mature platforms with "class solidification", the business ecosystem based on Souyisou is still evolving, which is also a great opportunity for brands to seize the ecological niche.

Third, it can fully cover different scenarios. If the search box on the WeChat homepage can immediately respond to most users’ active demands, then the search scenarios expanded by combining users’ catalyst habits can be a supplement that can bring new growth points to the brand. In other words, behind WeChat search is not a window for brands to present information, but a position that can help users fully understand the brand, a position that can efficiently receive attention and needs, and communicate with users.

3. Adapting to diversified scenarios to unleash the connectivity capabilities of core hubs

In fact, Tencent has positioned WeChat search ads as the "first stop for global operations", and more and more brands have been making great strides in the WeChat ecosystem. WeChat Search is more than just a search box built into the app. We can also get a glimpse of the future direction of mobile search from its product form.

First of all, it is the value of being a central hub. WeChat Search not only has a huge traffic entrance, but can also connect to large amounts of content such as public accounts, video accounts, and live broadcasts within the WeChat ecosystem. It can also directly provide services and transactions to users through mini-programs, simplifying user behavior while further consolidating user stickiness.

Secondly, there are advancements in functions and usage. WeChat Search represents the direction of the next generation of search engines. It is centered on "people's needs" and fully embedded in the lives of the public. For example, in the friend chat page, public account article page, Moments and other scenarios, users can directly start "Search" by circling text, so that they can search while chatting or watching. There are many real details that are changing the user's search experience.

Finally, it is about exploring the commercial value. As early as last year, WeChat search ads launched the "Super Brand Zone" and "Search Results Ads" one after another. For example, Sephora, a beauty brand that entered WeChat search ads earlier, has gained sufficient growth momentum through the successful operation of the Super Brand Zone. After all, the Super Brand Zone not only has the inherent advantages of official endorsement and visual exclusivity, but also changes the display content in real time based on the data of the hot-selling items in the mini program and the latest activities, which can achieve better reach and conversion, and gather more active attention.

Compared with super product ads, search result ads can cover more business needs and search scenarios. It supports six major promotion goals such as product promotion and public account promotion, as well as three types of landing pages such as native promotion pages, WeChat applets, and custom links. In the shelf scenario where people are looking for goods, investment in commercialization is also a win-win positive cycle for brands, users, and platforms. The more brands that join WeChat search ads, the more users will have a better search experience, thereby attracting more brands to build an ecosystem together.

4. Final Thoughts

Behind the migration of search behavior, there are actually changes in multiple dimensions such as user needs, consumption paths, and content popularity logic. Therefore, before deploying search ads, we might as well rethink what the value of search is to the public and brands. After sorting out these issues, we can not only understand the underlying logic of WeChat's heavy focus on search, but also perceive the ambition behind the positioning of "the first stop for global operations."

WeChat's understanding of search is no longer limited to "search", and its understanding of search advertising is not limited to "search advertising" itself. They hope to use this huge ecosystem that can connect the public and private domains to provide users with a one-stop search experience centered on their own needs, and help brands build and accumulate user assets that can be converted in real time and reused in the long term. Judging from the current practical results, this idea is also moving in a good direction.

Author: Mr. Bingfa

Source: WeChat public account "Marketing Art of War (ID: lanhaiyingxiao)"