On 11 January, WeChat advertising kicked off a new function in support of both Mini Program developers and merchants, to better monetise online content as well as share business revenue, thus creating a healthier ecosystem.
WeChat advertising is a program which enables companies to display promotional messages on user’s timelines while they check their moments on the platform which has a whopping 1.3 billion monthly active users, to leverage Chinese consumers’ awareness of brands and be further visible to a wider audience.
As per WeChat, program developers can get access to the newly introduced mechanism by filling in their business information and finance background on the platform. The main aim of the feature is to create an environment where developers and publishers can have more direct conversations, lessening the involvement of WeChat and as such help users achieve their business objectives more efficiently.
The latest function is about revenue split between publishers and developers, which allows the distribution proportion of converted online content to be jointly divided by both sides. Before the update was announced, income division was set up by WeChat, with converted revenue shared equally if the figure amounts to 1 million RMB ($147,586), otherwise the turnover will be divided using a 3:7 ratio with developers earning more.
Once the income division is confirmed and approved by WeChat advertising, earned revenue will be converted and transferred accordingly every two weeks which is automatically conducted by the program.
It’s worth noting that since 2018, WeChat allows Mini Program developers to publish advertisements on their own applications and receive earning revenue on a monthly basis. As long as the figure of the program’s unique visitors hits 1,000 benchmarks without any prior breaches of user policy, the application is qualified to set up the feature.
Furthermore, multiple paid media ads can be advertised on one Mini Program with the function also open to foreign, overseas companies. Meanwhile, developers and publishers can monitor the overall paid-media viewings and income distributions on their own WeChat backstage management system.
The number of Mini Program developers on WeChat grew 30% year-on-year during the last 6 months of 2021, indicating that WeChat advertising remains an optimistic prospect and holds lucrative potential.
WeChat’s new monetisation scheme builds a more transparent and flexible environment for publishers and developers regarding revenue division. To some extent, the function offers content creators a more beneficial digital landscape to figure out a distribution ratio which stands to make greater profit. With joint support from both sides, WeChat can expect to gain more online traffic as well as popularity among users.
