WeChat Official Account,
Mini-program,
H5 page, or
App.
goal of moment ads
Below is an example of a Moments ad.
an example of a Moments ad for MeiTuan
When the user clicks the red “Follow to get a coupon,” a button oman number for whatsapp will appear on the WeChat Official Account, which allows the user to follow the account.
an example of how to get followers with Moments ads
The Bidding Model
You have two options: Cost per thousand impressions (CPM) or optimized cost per thousand impressions (OCPM).
CPM is a common way to measure/charge for advertising, and we usually use this model because it gives us more control.
With OCPM, you can set up your target cost per click (CPL), and the system will adjust the bid for you, but sometimes the cost is higher. The price of CPM/OCPM varies according to different industries, target groups, and launch conditions.
If you set your targeting too precisely, your bid will be very high, especially if you are doing B2B marketing and your goal is to collect users’ information via forms. In this case, the CPM could be 30 RMB or more.
Target Groups
In addition to setting the active period (when the ads will run), they can also be filtered according to the user’s
location (province, city, district and even specific location),
geo-targeting of moment ads
age,
gender,
educational background,
interest/behavior, and
marital and childcare status.
We can also filter the users depending on their mobile phone’s
operating system,
brand,
price,
operator/provider, and
networking mode (Wi-Fi, 5G, 4G).
You can even “re-target” the users who used to be interested in your ads but didn’t follow your WeChat Official Account.
On top of this, you may use the “exclude marketing” function, which stops you from wasting money on showing advertisements to users who already follow your account.
re-targeting and exclusion targeting of moment ads
User interests and behaviors are also worth discussing, which usually comes from the “big data” often mentioned in marketing. This means the advertising platform will analyze and judge the user’s behavior, and label them accordingly.
When targeting specific types of users, it is only necessary to filter them according to these labels.
To give you an example: Suppose I need advertising to promote an American university. My target group could be 14–30-year-olds interested in studying abroad, or those who have browsed accounts related to the subject.
target specific types of users with Moments ads
I may have gathered some data (through Google Ad results and student enrollments) and found that many potential users come from first-tier Chinese cities. Based on these findings, I would set the locations to Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou.
To let advertisers get closer to the users exploring higher education and international study options, I can set the target type to educational background: high school, undergraduate degree, and master’s degree.
After this setting, we can see the
general user “population,”
CPM recommended by the system , and
population expected to be exposed to the ads in a single day.
If these people meet my expectations, the next step is submitting creative ad copy.
estimate data based on the target settings
adviced cpm based on the target settings
However, it is important to remember that big data is sometimes inaccurate. Suppose a user frequently browses the information about studying abroad because they’re interested in working in that industry. They fit the profile of our target user; however, they are not our intended audience because they don’t want to actually study abroad.
In this situation, they may directly close or choose “not interested” after seeing our advertisement.
Should I try Moments Ads?
Advantages
The user base of WeChat is huge.
Useful targeting options.
The ad copy shares a similar format to the users’ own posts. If your ad copy is creative, it will cause users to forward (share them) and comment under the ads.
Charge based on CPM.
Disadvantages
The competition is fierce. Remember: Many advertisers are competing with you for traffic.
Strict qualification and creativity approval.
Compared with Baidu ads, the CPL may be more expensive than you think (and it will take longer to convert).
Might be affected by what’s happening globally (e.g., COVID-19) or locally (e.g., shopping festivals). During a shopping festival promotion, eCommerce advertisers may steal some of your user traffic.
If the filters are too detailed, it is more difficult for the ad to reach your target audience.
If you are unfazed by any of the potential disadvantages that may come with WeChat Moments ads, then I really recommend you try them (especially if your industry is education).
If you work for an international university or a school, you can use ads to collect information about potential students or attract followers to your WeChat Official Account to expand the school’s influence.
In a B2B industry, you can use ads to collect customer information and promote special events.
Case study
Education – Budapest Metropolitan University
Budapest Metropolitan University is a new private university established as a merger of smaller universities and colleges around 10 years ago.
We used Moments ads to expand brand awareness and gain more followers before promoting the school and its programs to potential students. What we did:
Created multiple creatives for a young target audience.