The Revolution of H5 Pages in China

H5 pages are all the rage in China but they may sound foreign to the Western world. However, WeChat H5 pages have become a critically valuable asset for successful advertising campaigns, and digital marketers in China understand all too well the power of these H5 pages. If you are planning a new marketing campaign in China, or you want to engage even more of your customers there, then it is a good idea to become familiar with H5 pages and what they can do for your business.

What is an H5 page? What do the Chinese mean by “H5”?

Let’s start from the beginning to understand how you can implement this powerful tool in your WeChat account and optimize your marketing strategy.

The Origin of H5 Pages

The term H5 is somewhat related to HTML5. In fact, H5 pages became popular when the new language HTML5 was released and programmers started using it to create marketing and event mobile web pages. When they presented these pages to their clients, which were designed with the new programming language, they started to refer to them as H5 pages.

It is not clear if that was a misspelling or an intentional abbreviation. In either case, since then the name “H5 pages” has become standard in the industry.

The term H5 pages in China refers to a mobile website that can be seamlessly integrated into the WeChat profile to create interactive marketing campaigns. As web pages, WeChat H5 pages and HTML5 have similar characteristics. However, H5 pages are a lighter version of a traditional desktop website and support functionalities that cannot be embedded on a traditional web page.

You can think of H5 pages like a mix between a web page and an application that incorporates features from both.

H5 pages are mainly used for promotions or events. Once the page has been created, it can be shared on WeChat Moments or WeChat Official Accounts and people can use the in-app browser to browse it.

Why H5 Pages are so popular in China

Since their inception, H5 pages have continued to gain popularity in China and it is not difficult to understand why.

• H5 pages are highly interactive when creating an amazing and customized user experience. Rich animations like sequential animations, animations groups, animation paths, and time setup allow you to create and play with countless styles.
• WeChat H5 pages support shake functions and “turn sideways to watch” features that are highly entertaining and can easily engage the user.
• Moreover, H5 pages support social media integration well and encourage user-generated content that will empower more of your marketing campaigns.
• All in all, H5 pages have all the things that audiences love. They offer a highly engaging experience that catches the user’s attention and can easily generate new leads and sales. No wonder that in such a short period of time, WeChat H5 pages have become so popular in China.

How to leverage H5 Pages for your Marketing Campaign

H5 pages pose almost no limit to your creativity and this must be taken advantage of. According to previous research with these pages, the more creative the page is, the better it will work. Creativity is what users expect from H5 pages, therefore, do not bore your audience with a dull page. Study your audience and make sure you personalize the H5 page message for them. Create an unforgettable user experience.

If you need some inspiration, here are some campaigns with H5 pages that have proved highly successful:

Examples of H5 Marketing Campaigns

Durex

The campaign envisioned by Durex is a perfect showcase of what you can do with an H5 page. Thanks to the embedding of a private ChatBot, they encouraged the audience to talk freely about a taboo topic in China like safe sex. They included a private chat where users could talk privately with relationship experts.

This amazing interaction was critical to promoting its products discreetly and allowed the collection of precious data about consumers.

Olay

Olay is a mammoth health and beauty corporation, and they increased their exposure significantly thanks to a super-creative campaign.

The H5 page they created featured the picture of the famous actor Li Dongxue, which was by itself a great choice. However, if the users got cheek to cheek with the picture, the page provided them with a personal cuteness score. Most users were, of course, curious to test their score and then share it with friends which, in turn, gave them a chance to win red envelopes. Due to this personal touch, the campaign was a total success.

WeChat Pay

When the new WeChat Pay service was launched, their main competitor was the giant Alipay. To introduce and encourage the audience to use their new online payment system, WeChat used different approaches.

They made the interaction personal by keeping track of food bought through WeChat Pay and giving the user some information about their life based on this information. Additionally, the campaign created images of the restaurant they had visited and the food they had bought.

To encourage continuous usage, they included a voucher and a reward system which became the major attraction to their users. Further, customers were notified of how much they saved using WeChat Pay, creating a kind of psychological dependence on the system.

Advantages of H5 Pages

WeChat H5 pages come with many benefits for any marketer. Besides their unique characteristics to generate engaging content, there are a few technical things that make this tool especially valuable.

First of all, H5 pages allow you to collect data about your users and how they interacted with your marketing campaign. You can easily connect WeChat CMS or other external analysis software which will keep track of your user’s behavior.

As you know all too well, this kind of data is one of the most valuable assets in the hands of an online marketer. It will help you to identify your users, their needs, what they like and what they want. You can anticipate their moves and make your marketing campaigns exactly what they want.

Secondly, H5 pages are faster and less expensive to develop compared to WeChat Mini Programs. Therefore, if time and budgeting is a critical issue for you, H5 pages will allow you to start your campaign or launch your product in a relatively short timeframe, or at least considerably shorter than if you had to develop a WeChat Mini Program.

However, it would be incorrect to think that H5 pages can substitute WeChat Mini Programs altogether. WeChat H5 pages are a good idea in several scenarios, but they still miss some important features like, for instance, one-stop purchase capabilities that come with WeChat Mini Programs.

Another good use of H5 pages is in connection with the launching of new products. Since these pages are highly interactive and can be integrated with motion graphics, they allow the user to interact online with the new product even before they reach the shelf. This being a great way to promote a new product.

H5 Landing Page Creators

The WeChat H5 pages have gained such popularity that there are now several H5 template websites to create customized landing pages on your own. Even though this is a great option for many users, it must be noted that all the software available is in the Chinese language. This is enough of a good reason for many to abandon the idea of a DIY approach. Also this page builders are limited to a number of options and features, if you need to create a personal and unique experience we recommend you to contact and agency.

However, if you want to give it a try and if the language barrier is not a problem for you, among the most popular H5 template websites you may find are MAKA, renrenxiou, and yixiouwang.

Conclusion

To enter the Chinese market today, H5 pages cannot be overlooked. They can give you the advantage over your competition that you are looking for.

Would you like to explore even more about how to create an effective H5 page? Do you need some hints on what works locally and how to engage a Chinese audience? QPSoftware can help you with your H5 campaigns and give you the insight you need.