The top ten trends in the development of self-media in 2017 show obvious polarization

1. Too much content

According to third-party data statistics, since 2016, the average reading rate of articles pushed by most public accounts has dropped from 12% to around 5% (reading rate = number of readers of a single article/number of users), and the number of followers has also grown slowly, or even shown negative growth.

As more and more content is produced, users' attention span is getting worse and worse. According to a survey conducted by Penguin Intelligence, 90% of readers follow less than 50 self-media outlets . However, 78.3% of readers have less than five self-media that they frequently follow or pin to the top of their pages. The probability of readers opening and reading articles pushed by accounts they already follow is getting smaller and smaller. The probability of readers clicking on pushed articles and reading them in full is gradually decreasing.

However, the number of readers of many top public accounts is still steadily increasing. For accounts with precise vertical content, personalization, and good interactivity, the number of readers of pushed articles is still very high. This is actually the manifestation of the Matthew effect , where the strong become stronger and the weak become weaker. In 2017, this polarization phenomenon will become more and more obvious. Top content will attract more users' attention and even occupy a larger market, while some less prominent public accounts will face a major crisis.

2. Increase user stickiness

After high-quality content is produced, in the battle for attention, interactivity will become the only way to increase user stickiness and activity. It turns out that the self-media dividend has led to a rapid growth in fans, and the requirements for fan maintenance are not that high. But nowadays, as the overall attention to articles decreases, we need to put more and more energy into cultivating user stickiness. Use a variety of marketing methods to establish strong connections with users.

If a company wants to promote and disseminate its products, it cannot just think about how to get fans to spread the word, but must first build itself into an IP, a fun and interesting product.

For example, Weilong spicy strips, by awakening users' "childhood memories" and then taking advantage of the Tmall "hacking" incident, teamed up with Baozou Comics to create a brand image that is both high-end and funny, attracting a lot of attention.

3. Enterprises focus on building self-media

Content is becoming more and more important, and there are more and more platforms for content entrepreneurship , such as: Toutiao , Baijiahao , NetEase, and even JD.com and Alipay . Many companies are also becoming more of content entities. Typical companies include Coca-Cola and Durex , which gradually rely on their products to continuously produce content to promote their products.

In order to promote the Oreo two-color cake, Oreo launched a self-made comedy "Da Xue Pei Pei Pei" on Youku and invited Xue Zhiqian and Da Zhangwei to support it. Leverage the entertainment of the two hosts to drive brand promotion. This includes Wanda’s establishment of a self-media alliance to continuously and independently output content. Moreover, with the development of the Internet of Things, everything will become a medium. Air purifiers, smart refrigerators, and rice cookers in homes are becoming more and more intelligent and can produce content independently.

4. Community Economy

The best way to enhance interactivity and cultivate user stickiness is to form a community. In 2017, the community economy became more prominent. It turns out that what we emphasized was the fan economy , and users had no sense of participation or control. The process of more one-way output of self-media will eventually present the content results directly to users. Nowadays, more emphasis is placed on community operation , which is also the process of community self-organization. The community environment is more equal and active. More users are involved in media decision-making and content production.

5. Content payment is the trend

In 2016, too many paid content platforms have been born, such as Weibo Toutiao articles, Duoduo App, Fenda , Zhihu Live, and Himalaya FM, all of which provide platforms for content, and the results are very good. This development will intensify in 2017, and all content platforms will add the function of paid reading . Many will even launch monthly or annual services, allowing users to become "members" of a certain self-media and participate in content creation. The subscription column that the GetApp is currently running is an example.

This kind of market is expected to have a bright future in the long term, and WeChat may also take actions in this regard in the future. WeChat official accounts have excellent resources and platforms, and after a new round of content selection and improvement of overall content quality, WeChat can realize paid reading.

6. More live streaming platforms emerge

Before 2015, the influence of both show and game live streaming was limited to niche areas. The real rise of live streaming began in 2015, especially in the second half of 2015, when mobile live streaming platforms represented by Inke emerged across the board, and the scope of live streaming was expanded to the general life field, and the concept of live streaming truly ushered in a period of explosive growth.

Live streaming by internet celebrities will accelerate the reshuffle. In the future, if there is no large source of traffic or large financial support, many platforms will collapse. The ones that remain will often be those with BAT backgrounds or those that already have strong traffic and monetization capabilities, such as Yingke, Yizhibo, Huajiao, YY, Momo, etc. In addition, there will also be many niche vertical live broadcasts.

Not only internet celebrities , but also live broadcasts of self-media have achieved monetization. There are live streaming platforms such as Zhihu Live, Yingke, Yizhibo, Douyu , Qianliao, etc. Perhaps WeChat will also develop a live streaming platform in the future.

Unlike live broadcasts by internet celebrities, live broadcasts of knowledge, skills and education will also continue to develop. Currently known platforms include Qianliao, Chaoxi Calendar, Lizhi Micro Class , Zhihu Live, Xiaoetong and Hongdou Live, and there will be more in the future. It is not ruled out that WeChat will also develop a live broadcast function based on WeChat groups that can include pictures, text and voice. After a period of pullback, mobile live streaming products in China will become more diversified and platform-based, not just limited to pan-entertainment and show live streaming.

7. Audio Content

In terms of content presentation, there will be more and more audio content. Previously, apps like Himalaya and Duoduo were producing audio content. From the user's perspective, it saves users more time, frees their hands, and contextualizes the content. Nowadays, more articles on public accounts come with audio, making it convenient for readers to listen to the content anytime and anywhere. Afterwards, many video courses will gradually be converted into audio to reduce the volume and make production operations simpler.

8. Short videos are mainly self-made dramas and IP-based

In 2016, long videos were launched on WeChat Moments . Live streaming and short videos are inextricably linked. In 2017, WeChat Moments will accelerate the development of the short video industry, as well as investment in short videos. At the same time, major video platforms will also increase their investment in short videos and self-produced dramas. At the same time, WeChat, Weibo, and various video platforms will also be required to have audio-visual licenses. This includes the recent suspension and rectification of Pear Video due to the lack of relevant qualifications. A very important front for corporate promotion in the future will be to increase investment in short videos on WeChat Moments, because they will be more intuitive. It will also drive the development of the film and television industry, video special effects, and social media communications.

9. Advertising polarization

While producing content, advertisements for some products will also show a polarized trend. Hard ads will become harder and soft ads will become softer, and native advertising will have great development. In the future, more advertisements will adopt large-scale planning methods and link with multiple platforms. Capital investment will also increase, and some small-budget advertisements will have less and less market in the future. In the future, including the production of H5, it will become the world of big brands and big productions. Small productions and small promotions will have almost no chance of becoming popular. All companies will increase their investment in this area. Only large companies with large-scale promotions can achieve better results. Advertisements made by ordinary companies are difficult to spread and the user experience will not be very good.

Just like before, the event between Xue Zhiqian, Da Zhangwei and Oreo cost about several million, but eventually received more than 60 million views, and the live broadcast of the event was watched by 26 million people, which ultimately led to a 6-fold increase in sales and can also achieve long-term fermentation. Increased by 6 times.

10. Capitalization of We-media

Since 2016, content entrepreneurship has been widely recognized and has strong monetization capabilities. In the future, more capital will flow in, and of course new platforms will be expanded, not limited to WeChat. In particular, self-media with video as the orientation is more popular. There will be more and more IPOs of self-media such as Wemedia and Shidian Reading, and the capital market will intervene more. On the one hand, self-media must be enterprise-oriented, and enterprises must also be self-media-oriented. On the other hand, stronger monetization capabilities and complete data will make it easier to generate long-term returns. At the same time, the scenes are more precise and the conversion is more direct.

With stronger payment capabilities, the content produced by creators can also be more diversified, personalized, and media-rich, just like the Ten O'clock Radio and video courses that Ten O'clock Reading has tried.

To sum up, 2017 will be a more severe test for content entrepreneurs . In an environment where the Matthew effect emerges, the requirements for content quality will become increasingly higher. Through interaction with users, community economy will increasingly affect the overall effect. We must grasp the dynamics of the environment, identify our own positioning and advantages, produce higher-quality content, and ultimately achieve more content monetization.

Mobile application product promotion service: APP promotion service Qinggua Media advertising

The author of this article is @点资讯 and it is compiled and published by (Qinggua Media). Please indicate the author information and source when reprinting! Site Map