Moving beyond social networking, WeChat has transformed itself into an enclosed, all-in-one platform with the new function ⁠— WeChat Mini Program. It takes pride in enhanced features ranging from e-commerce, games and news within the social networking app. In July 2019, we’ve expanded payment gateways for AJ Hackett, a bungee pioneer based in New Zealand with this build-in function.

Traditionally, WeChat official account is a business platform dedicated for content marketing only, while payment requests would be directed to external websites. With this mini-program embedded in our client’s account, users can now purchase admission tickets directly within the app while browsing creative content. In other words, we’ve achieved content marketing and e-commerce in one single platform. This equates to elevated customer experience and extra revenue to the business.

More about WeChat Mini Program

WeChat Mini Programs are considered to be “sub-applications” operating within WeChat, allowing access to web apps without the need to leave the main app.

The mini-programs can serve four main purposes, including e-commerce, utility, mini-games and news. More advanced features are available such as geolocation, task management, coupon redemption, etc.

The Main Benefits of Mini Programs for businesses

-Massive user base

As announced on 15 May 2019, WeChat Monthly Active Users in Q1 2019 has exceeded 1.1 billion

-Less expensive than traditional apps

Mini programs cost less to develop due to its reduced size and complexity. It also runs smoother and faster.

-Easy access to various functionalities

Users gain quick access via multiple entry points without prior installation, such as scanning QR code, direct message or searching nearby programs.

WeChat Mini Programs have almost limitless potential. Connect with us to find out more about how WeChat Mini Program can benefit your business today!

The overseas property market used to be dominant by parents who have sent or are planning to send their children to study abroad and those who plan to retire overseas. Not anymore.

Hong Kong property investors recognize the stable growth rate and rental value of properties in cities like Vancouver, Toronto and London. The higher profit margin attracts investors to switch their investment to overseas from the local market, where there are ever-increasing investment costs and a slower rate of return.

Let’s not forget the reverse migrants. For instance, there are an estimated 300,000 Canadian passports holders in Hong Kong. After their emigration to Canada in the 90s and return to Hong Kong, thousands are moving back to Canada with their children, Canadian census data shows.

Given the high demand for overseas properties, this is a great opportunity for overseas property investment businesses to build an online presence to capture business growth via effective digital marketing.

Seminars and trade shows are mainly where conversion occurs. And while many agencies still stick to promoting these offline events via traditional media platforms such as printing pamphlets and placing newspaper ads, potential buyers of the digital era are doing their research and obtaining information online. By appealing to your target audience with an engaging O2O campaign, forward-thinking agencies can be ahead of the game in no time.

NDN Group has been helping to build brand awareness for SQM Global Properties, a real estate agent focusing on overseas sales and marketing services in Hong Kong. Our campaign delivers curated content driven by comprehensive digital marketing strategies that encompass social media, media placement, search engine optimization, geo-targeting and data management.

We also utilize instant messaging applications such as Facebook Messenger and Whatsapp for Business. It gives SQM an enriched, more personal way of communicating with its customers — photos, videos, documents and more — all within the messaging App. All of these, in turn, help SQM raise the number of attendees in its seminars and trade shows with promising results.

Do not hesitate to get in touch with us if you are aspired to expand your overseas property investment business. We are more than happy to offer professional advice to help you achieve your goals. We look forward to working with you in this new digital era.

If you have been in the digital marketing space long enough, you will start to realize that many of your digital marketing strategies are not as effective as 5-6 years ago. Conversion rates have gone down, media spending went up, while customers are drifting further and further away from your business and brand.

One big thing that’s missing for most of the businesses that we see in the market is that many of them are focusing on sales funneling, building segmentations and building automation. It doesn’t mean that these marketing tactics don’t work, but if everyone is doing the same thing, how would your customer feel?

Ask yourself and your team two core questions:  “Do we really understand the pain and desire of our customers?” “How can we make our customers happy and successful?” Instead of thinking about building marketing automation and marketing funnels, it’s time for you to focus on building and owning the entire customer journey as well as capturing the entire relationship with your customers. Marketing shouldn’t stop when sales are made, and a business should continue to scale through understanding the whole journey.

NDN Academy has trained over 2,800 individuals and 50 corporations about understanding empathy towards customers, developing strong customer engagement and offering a strategy for businesses to drive business growth. If you are tired of hundreds of thousands of fast marketing tactics that are not driving results, maybe it’s time to stop and think why you are doing what you are doing.

We are thrilled to announce NDN Group’s latest partnership with GELOS to introduce Douyin (抖音) TikTok marketing to Hong Kong. It is a short video app that has 500 million monthly active users and 250 million daily active users. Brands big or small are scaling fast and producing fun engaging content on their platform.

You are probably wondering what is the difference between Douyin and TikTok? In 2017, the apps’ parent company ByteDance brought TikTok’s competitor Musical.ly, merged the two together and became the app we know today. TikTok is the overseas name Douyin uses. ByteDance also owns Jinri Toutiao (今日頭條).

With the sophistication of the Internet environment in Mainland China, where businesses are fully immersed into the online to offline model, it makes perfect sense that Douyin is more e-commerce-focused and brands use it as a sales funnel. On the contrary, TikTok is more entertainment-focused, at least for now. It has plans to be more.

This short video app is gaining momentum globally because it fulfills people’s need for instant gratification in today’s fast-paced world. KOL or influencers who became popular on their platform are producing captivating content and bringing high conversion rate to brands.

Look at popular beauty KOL Austin Li (李佳琦). He is known for his record of selling out thousands of lipsticks in an instance his personal best was 14,000 pieces in a minute. The novel idea of a man reviewing lipstick color live and his comedic ways of reviewing products is why fans love him and why mega beauty brands like Chanel, MAC, Shiseido and Tom Ford love to work with him. When Li says “Oh my god, buy it!” that particular color will sell out.

Well-known hot pot chain Haidilao was able to increase 1,000% ordering on a single dish because they created a live stream video on how to cook that specific meat for hot pot.

Austin Li and Haidilao are selling two very different category of products, yet they both enjoy a high conversion rate because of a strategic usage of Douyin TikTok. There are many more showcases where brands achieved exponential growth within a short period of time regardless of their product. The market is so optimistic, they believe that any product will perform well on the platform.

With ByteDance behind Douyin TikTok using powerful algorithms with machine learning, to aggregate and distribute content, your brand message will be optimized with precise targeting. So rest assured your marketing budget won’t go to waste.

Are you a local brand in Hong Kong with no payment gateway or setup in Mainland China, but keen to enter the market? We can assist and offer advice. Get in touch with us to discover more and learn about our trial package.

This year’s Earth Hour, where individuals and companies are encouraged to switch off lights for one hour, fell on 30 March 2019. While Earth Hour is a worldwide conservation event launched by WWF to raise awareness of climate change, it has become a marketing opportunity in recent years. Among the companies that took advantage of this thoughtful event this year was Gallo Family Vineyards.

Award-winning Gallo Family Vineyards is one of the ranges offered by the family-owned Gallo brand and is one of the top 10 best-selling wine brands in the USA.

To celebrate and in a show of support for Earth Hour 2019, Gallo Family Vineyards, in partnership with NDN Group, launched a campaign themed around “Happy Together.”

The objectives were to attract more WeChat followers, maintain fans’ loyalty and highlight Gallo’s core value – having good times with families.

A video was made for the campaign. It begins with a zooming-in on the planet Earth — from outer space down to one particular household where two friends are spending time together. Gallo Family Vineyards wines can be seen on the table and also in photos on the wall. The left bottom corner shows a clock, emphasizing the passing of time.  As the time rolls over from 08:29 to 08:30, which is when Earth Hour begins, candles are lit as the two friends clink glasses and continue having a good time, and lights in the city begin to go off. The clip ends with the company logo and the slogan “Happy Together on Earth. Connect to Earth,” echoing with the theme of Earth Hour this year and Gallo’s core value.

The campaign was a success, with the video garnering 3,000 views since its launch on WeChat and numerous positive comments.

Since 2017, NDN Group has been managing the WeChat accounts of Gallo Family Vineyards and Carlo Rossi for Gallo, and has boosted their number of followers by 8 and 17 times respectively.

Looking for creative ideas on your next campaign? Drop us a line and we’d be in touch soon.

WhatsApp for Business API is now available in Hong Kong. If you are wondering why should you use it? The answer is simple. Many of your customers are probably already using it. Just look at your family group chats on Whatsapp. Your younger cousins, siblings, parents, older aunts and uncles are all there sharing interesting news or arranging the next family gathering on it.

Messaging apps like WhatsApp have incredible engagement rates: 98 percent of mobile messages are opened and read, with 90 percent of them getting opened within three seconds of being received. Furthermore, people prefer to share news on private channels such as email or chat apps like WhatsApp, as opposite to more public networks like Facebook. Just look at your family group chats, there are always incoming texts.

More than 60 billion messages are sent worldwide through WhatsApp every single day. WhatsApp users and similar services are willing to engage with business. According to

Nielsen’s Facebook Messaging Survey, 67 percent of mobile messaging app users said they expect to use chat more for communicating with businesses over the next two years. What’s more, 53 percent of respondents say they’re more likely to shop with a business they can message directly.

What is the difference between WhatsApp for Business and WhatsApp for Business API?  WhatsApp for Business is only for small businesses, whereas WhatsApp for Business API is an enterprises solution for medium-sized and large companies. That being said, the service does not allow marketing promotions, and users need to opt-in. Brands will need to use pre-approved message templates for outbound notifications. Content can contain a maximum of 4,096 characters, much longer than SMS. Rich Text, images, documents, audio and videos are supported. It is a good way to provide fast and personal customer experience. Furthermore, if users change their sim card, they can still use the app.

Five Creative Ways To Use WhatsApp For Business API

1. Orders & Order Confirmation

2. Automatic Appointment Reminders

3. Alerts & Notifications

4. Surveys

5. Staff Communication

Which brand has deployed this service? KLM Royal Dutch Airline is the first airline to test this function and roll it out globally, offering customers around the world booking confirmation, check-in notification, boarding pass, flight status updates and asking questions in 10 different languages on WhatsApp via the official WhatsApp Business application.

Contact us at info@ndn.com.hk to learn more and how we can tailor to your needs.

It is estimated that up to 40% of global luxury sales are made by the Chinese, and 90% of those transactions are made overseas. Just last year, the Chinese tourist spending reached 229 billion, and it is expected to reach 500 billion by 2020.

China’s fast-growing outbound travelers market represents an exciting opportunity for international brands. With smartphones being their number one travel accessory, WeChat has been quick to develop location-based solutions from its ad ecosystem that help connect brands with target audiences.

Anticipating WeChat as a powerful tool for clients to reach out to the millions of mainlanders visiting Hong Kong each year, NDN Group devised a promotional campaign this Labor Day for Vacheron Constantin. Thanks to Real-time IP targeting, ads from the Swiss watchmaker appear correspondingly on the platform upon the intended audience’s arrival in Hong Kong. The campaign was a success, instantly raising brand awareness and ultimately driving more visits to the brand’s offline store.