Product Operation: How to build a membership points system?

The membership system product is a system that integrates products, operations, and growth. In this system, the product plays a role in exploring deep needs, finding the deep needs of users and maintaining them, so that users have stronger stickiness to the product and even spend more time using product services.

The operation mainly revolves around conducting in-depth user operations to retain users and tapping into stratified users for different treatments. The growth team builds a pyramid structure and uses any means in product and operation to trial, error and verify. In this process, after new users join, they can feel the value of the membership system, and they will be willing to join and enjoy the services brought by your products.

Therefore, from a purely product perspective, the product’s demand needs must be in line with the target group, and product and operational growth points must be found in the process to bring about growth in user data, thereby maximizing monetization.

So the first question to be addressed next is what is the core essence of the membership system?

Simply put, users can obtain more benefits through membership. To put it more complicatedly, the users here are the 20% core users in the 28 principles. Maintaining these core users is the users who will bring you communication benefits. In the membership system, the most important strategy adopted is the points growth and redemption strategy. The benefit is to make users feel that this thing is valuable, and this value is based on the service system of the product itself.

So what are points first?

Points are a means of growth. By accumulating points, users can deeply feel that their value is increasing. Just like levels in a game. Whether in service products, e-commerce products, or tool products, in the membership system, the vast majority of them must rely on points growth.

The integral is divided into two parts:

Part of the value is growth. Growth is about letting users perceive and making them feel that they are valued. This emphasis is particularly important. If users do not feel the enhanced attention paid to product services in the membership system, it is impossible to effectively maintain these core users. For example, free delivery of certain products and tasting activities of certain products are all centered around these users.

Another value for users is the exchange of rights and interests. The rights and interests exchange here can be your own products and services, some physical rewards related to life, or your own functional-level rights and interests. Among these three, if the functional-level benefits can be done well, this membership system will be successful. Because this is the most important thing.

So what can points bring to users?

In addition to giving users a sense of growth, points can also be used to encourage users to stay. Various operational-level functions are needed here to maintain points. If we look at it from the perspective of user operations, points are the bottom layer of the entire product. In this bottom layer, various functions are built around this bottom layer. For example: our common novice tasks, daily tasks, sign-ins, etc. These are all to create point value. Let users have a deep understanding of these points. Through perception, you will know the value of membership.

In determining this system, our product needs to set KPIs and use KPIs as a guide to carry out user growth operations. Because this system not only maintains core users, but also spreads the value of core users and expands channels to build word-of-mouth and publicity channels. This way we can reach more users. The fission indicator will be generated here, which is the guarantee of the growth rate premise. After establishing it, you need to confirm the cycle your product is in.

Membership strategy during the product cycle

The product life cycle is divided into 4 stages, and the membership product strategies are different in the 4 stages:

1. During the product investment period, the membership strategy is simpler and mainly relies on active trial and error. Find out the product and service needs of core users, and use them as an extension to create points rules. In the points rules, fully explore the core appeal points for products and services, and continue to explore deeper demand points based on these appeal points so that core users can fully understand the value. Find the connection point between users and products.

2. During the product growth stage, membership strategy tends to be promotion-oriented. At this time, some user operation-level product functions are needed to assist, such as the currently popular mini-program group buying and mini-program sharing of coupons. These functions are further amplified through the user's psychological appeal points, allowing the product to produce a fission effect. Then amplify and accelerate product growth. Keep finding sustainable growth rates.

3. Product saturation stage. During this stage, there is a core growth rate. We need to maintain this growth rate. Therefore, products are needed to carry out rhythmic user operation activities. For example, the mini program coupon activity mentioned earlier is a rhythmic user operation method. Moreover, this function can enhance users' understanding of members. For example, food delivery apps create the value of membership through more favorable discount coupons.

4. During the product decline period, the membership system is more about tapping into the surplus value of users, and it is also necessary to transfer users to products with greater product and service value. Or expand its own product line to achieve the goal of diverting users.

Key point: The product should establish a rhythmic operation mechanism

In product operation, retention requires long-term retention points. Member points are the foundation, and appropriate operational activities are the core operating mechanism for sustainable development. The following five functions are more common methods.

1. Mission Center, a mechanism to bring in active members

Although this function is very inhumane and somewhat inconsistent with human psychology. However, this task center does have one advantage, which is to lead core users to understand new features. If the new feature is great, it can bring in more new users.

2. Double Eleven event, Taobao has established Double Eleven for eleven years. This is a festival that operates in a rhythmic manner

This festival is just like Black Friday in foreign countries, it is a festival for shopping. I've forgotten that this is a singles' holiday. Such rhythmic operation brings about user inertia, making users habitually believe that there are discounts on that day and make purchases accordingly.

3. Use psychological coupon/group buying strategies, through membership or sharing after purchasing services, especially for e-commerce products, coupon sharing is more extreme

First there were Meituan, Ele.me, and Didi, then there were shared bikes, and now Luckin Coffee, the new darling of the growth industry this year, has joined the fray. This mini program coupon fully exploits people’s psychology and promotes sharing and dissemination. Pinduoduo, the leader in group buying, has also taken group buying and sharing marketing operations to the extreme. Students who are interested can read my previous article "Why did Pinduoduo and Luckin Coffee grow rapidly during the Internet downturn? 》

4. If the product is not an e-commerce or local service product, you can build active users through content operations

The content itself has strong dissemination properties. Whether it is an article or a video. These contents are used to create the value of the product itself, thereby bringing value to the product itself that is worth paying for. For example, Tik Tok shares videos, and the videos show the host’s hard work in live streaming. Behind the live broadcast is a complete system of sending rockets, sending, sending, sending. This system is where the core value system of members lies. This is the core point of product service. Products that already have paid content can further expand the value of their paid content by sharing free content. The sharing channels come from people who recognize the contents. It is the core user communication value. During the communication process, users need to be made aware of this, and there needs to be point value to maintain these users.

5. In addition, you can learn from QQ and create virtual honors to make QQ membership valuable.

The value of this membership is all virtual display level stuff. But these seemingly simple displays just satisfy the users' vanity and my desire to be different. The growth system among members is what attracts everyone. As mentioned in the previous article, these growth values ​​are needed to allow users to have a greater sense of their presence in this product.

Therefore, product growth needs to be operated by utilizing the core points of the product. In product design, it is necessary to sort out the relationships between each growth. After sorting, first build the basic points foundation, and then add various growth functions on top. In order to achieve rapid trial and error iteration, the functional level should be smaller and faster. However, the growth points cannot be too vague and inconsistent with the needs of the product itself. For example, if I am a tool product and it is free, it would not be appropriate to use a coupon strategy. It might be more appropriate to allow core users to use more valuable rights and interests functions, but there is a condition for use, which is that they need to help forward. By forwarding, you can enhance your core user value. In such a process, why wouldn’t users enjoy it?

We need to learn to operate by focusing on the core demand points of the product, with member points as the foundation. Various functions and strategies serve as means to ultimately create an atmosphere of value for members. In this value atmosphere, we differentiate users by functions, and of course the source is still the data. The users reflected in the functions also make them feel more at home. The purpose of this sense of belonging is to deeply build the value of the product and create the value of membership for users.

When designing membership products, we must maintain a growth mindset to design this product. Because the membership system itself has great potential for future expansion, especially after the underlying points system is well established, all operational methods will become the neutral pillars of this system. Finally, users complete the construction of the house using these pillars. All successful products are inseparable from user promotion. The user membership system is the best product embodiment of the recognition of these core users and also the embodiment of the core growth point.

Conclusion: No matter what kind of product it is, it ultimately depends on operations. Operations cannot escape the problem of growth.

Even from the operational and growth perspectives, there cannot be one-sidedness in membership products. This is a product that combines the trinity of operations, products, and growth. The product manager of the membership system is responsible for operations and growth. The operation of the membership system is responsible for user operation and product operation. The growth personnel of the membership system are responsible for the core growth point of data. So no one can live without each other.

Author: Xiaoyi

Source: Shanghainese in Beijing