Review: Key points for operating short video content on Douyin with tens of millions of followers!

Mengpo Nineteen is a nineteen-year-old intern. She gathered the tears of all mortals and boiled them into soup. After drinking the Meng Po soup, one could forget the past of the human world. She breaks through the traditional image of Meng Po in people's minds. She is cute, beautiful and lively, and has her own personality and attitude.

Yue Lao Xuan Qi is Meng Po Nineteen's "heavenly CP". He travels around the world, connects infatuated men and resentful women, and helps Nineteen deal with difficult problems that she can't solve. He is a warm-hearted man with high emotional intelligence. As the plot develops, the relationship between Xuan Qi and Nineteen becomes clearer and they show each other sweetness constantly. Sometimes Xuan Qi even takes action himself and together with Nineteen demonstrates to those who come for help how to coax a girlfriend, how to pursue outstanding girls and other practical issues.

This wonderful couple has gained more than 14 million fans on Douyin and more than 7 million fans on Kuaishou.

On Douyin, Mengpo Shijiu only posted 62 pieces of content, 29 of which had over a million likes, and one of which had nearly three million likes.

Yue Lao Xuan Qi has released a total of 67 videos, with an average number of likes of nearly one million.

When searching for the names of two people on Douyin, more than five entries will be automatically associated with each other. The fact that they have become the perfect couple in the eyes of the audience is closely related to the studio team behind the scenes.

This team spent more than five months creating several big Douyin accounts including Mengpo Nineteen, Yue Lao Xuanqi, and The Arrival of the Gods, forming a magical universe of gods.

In May of this year, I had close contact with this team, participated in meetings to discuss and polish the script, experienced the filming process, and witnessed the birth of several popular videos with millions of likes.

Team members will polish the script over and over again, each expressing opinions from different angles and modifying the script. Before shooting, they will perform role-playing and read aloud to get a feel for it. It is worth spending time and effort to find suitable actors and suitable venues and props. During shooting, the director will carefully move the props and guide the actors' emotions, eyes, and tone to achieve the best presentation effect in the shot.

According to the user conversion logic of Internet companies, scripts, actors, performances, costumes, scenes, shooting, editing, operations... If any link is not done well, the user churn rate will be 10%, and the numbers multiplied will be scary. A good result must exceed the average level in every link and achieve excellence in some links.

In this team, the main creator is both the screenwriter and the producer, the operator is also the screenwriter, the director is the cameraman and post-production editor... Everyone has multiple roles, but the division of labor is in order.

As the content on the Douyin platform is constantly updated and iterated, the vertical content field has also entered the 2.0 era, with more diversified forms. Against this background, the team's experience in continuously creating hit plots is worth learning from.

Regarding how to build a team, establish a character, how to evaluate a good script... After many communications with the studio manager Xiaoyi, the main creator Cathy, and the director TK, we reviewed and summarized some views and experiences using Mengpo Nineteen Douyin as an example.

01 People are the purpose, content is the tool

People are the purpose and content is the tool. This statement is true everywhere.

Xiaoyi believes that their ultimate goal is to create a sufficiently recognizable person, because people cannot remember the content. No matter how much stuff there is or how good the story is, it will be forgotten one day, but the impression of a "person" is the most profound. It is human nature that we cannot remember lines, copywriting, advertisements, or content. Even for top IPs like Papi Jiang and Drama Queen Mudan, the first thing the audience thinks of is definitely not what they did or what famous quotes they said in which episode, but rather the people themselves.

When setting up Meng Po Nineteen, the team initially wanted to create a mature image. After much deliberation, Xiaoyi believed that users would not be very interested in this kind of "image of an elder who educates others with earnest words", so they changed it to the current nineteen-year-old intern Meng Po.

Nineteen would lose his temper and criticize a scumbag who has no ambition to make progress, "Why did she quarrel with you? She should have slapped you twice... Such a good girl, you don't deserve her!" Punish a man who cut in line and was impolite to be reborn as a tortoise in the next life.

She would be soft-hearted and impulsive and send a driver who had been sleeping for nine years back to the human world. She was punished by the Heavenly Court and her probation period was extended by a hundred years. She said stubbornly and capriciously, "I am happy with it."

She would also break down and cry to Yue Lao Xuan Qi, saying that she had seen too much suffering in the world but she could not do anything about it, and she did not want to cook Meng Po soup anymore. Under Xuan Qi's guidance, she wiped away her tears and decided to go on.

She is just like every ordinary girl, with her own joys and sorrows, and is constantly growing. Even if she does something that violates the rules, she will be punished.

02 Create valuable and meaningful content to enhance team cohesion

The inspiration for Meng Po Nineteen came from Xiaoyi’s grandfather who passed away two years ago. At the funeral, Xiaoyi was very sad. She felt that her grandfather had just gone to another world, but she believed that the people in that world would always be connected to us. "I just want to create an account to make people no longer afraid of death and to comfort those whose loved ones are no longer around."

Many people gradually regard this account as a tree hole. Someone said that she encountered school violence and could not bear it any longer and wanted to cut her wrists, but after watching the video, she left a message saying that she hoped you could help more people get out of it.

Someone watched one of their videos. In the video, a father was driving and talking on the phone when he got into a car accident. He left a message saying, "I was driving a truck and was planning to go 100 kilometers. I was just having a midnight snack and thought of my daughter and son. After watching your video, I decided to stop and go tomorrow."

These made Xiaoyi feel that "we are doing something great and useful. The team also feels that what we are doing is very meaningful, so the cohesion is very high."

03 Rich and full details can add a lot of points, and even small flaws left intentionally can trigger discussions

Mengpo Shijiu, who now has nearly 10 million fans, initially invested only an abandoned office and some cheap props from Taobao, spending less than 2,000 yuan in total.

Although there are few props, the details are very complicated. The important prop "Meng Po Soup" will change colors according to different characters and plots. The soup for old people is white fish soup, the soup for people in love is pink sweet soup, and the soup for heroes is also different colors.

In order to ensure the authenticity of the details, the animated photos in "Heavenly Palace Daily" will be designed by special people, and the fonts will all be in seal script.

Meng Po wears different clothes in almost every episode, and the team has gradually gained experience in renting clothes: the color cannot be too plain, and the same color cannot be worn continuously; it is best to have a relatively low neckline, as cheongsam will make the face shape not so good-looking.

04 In terms of subject matter, it is necessary to cover more ordinary people’s emotions and impress as many people as possible, rather than focusing on a very small number of points.

Although she is a fictional character, you can see many familiar people and life scenes in Mengpo 19, including mother-in-law and daughter-in-law who have conflicts over parenting concepts, new mothers with postpartum depression, middle-aged people who failed in entrepreneurship, Internet celebrity singers who encountered cyberbullying, rebellious daughters who have just entered puberty, nagging mothers, colleagues who trip up people at work, and overly frugal old fathers...

For example, one of the issues about postpartum depression said, "One in five new mothers in China suffers from postpartum depression. Mothers are not superhuman. Please be more patient and caring towards them and don't leave them alone."

For example, "Don't drink and drive, and don't drive after drinking. A drop of alcohol from the driver will bring tears to your family. Family members are our weak points and also our support."

Each video has such a point that can touch universal emotions. It is simple, straightforward, and full of strong appeal. It allows every viewer to perceive the emotional value behind it, thereby resonating with the creator and arousing the desire to like and forward it.

05 The plot should have strong emotional points and conflict points

In a video titled "Life is so difficult, but fortunately there is always someone waiting for you to go home", intern Meng Po saved a taxi driver who had been sleeping for nine years due to a car accident, helped him recall the past, and woke up the taxi driver. Because of interfering in the cause and effect of the human world, Nineteen was punished to extend his internship period by a hundred years.

This video contains elements of horror, heartwarming and touching at the same time, with multiple twists and turns in less than a minute. The audience's emotions were greatly aroused and it received nearly 3 million likes.

Cathy, the team's creator, said that when the account is first established, the team will start working on the characters from the script. The gods are not just bystanders who stand high above and overlook the joys and sorrows of the world. They are also the driving force of every story and have their own emotions and loves and hates. In order to create a three-dimensional character, we must start from the script, use various methods to highlight his kindness and beauty, and leave him with the shining points that can highlight the character's aura. "Emotional gods are more humane and easier to empathize with."

06 There are also skills to riding on hot spots. Prepare for regular hot spots early and follow up on sudden hot spots in time.

Mengpo Nineteen has produced relevant videos on hot topics such as Mother's Day, college entrance examination, and cyber violence.

For example, in response to the hotly debated topic of 996 some time ago, in one video, Mengpo Nineteen angrily denounced the unscrupulous bosses who exploited their employees: "Only talking about struggle, not talking about rewards, this is exploitative speech", "According to what you said, the donkey pulling the mill is the most blessed. I think you will be a donkey in your next life." The camera turned, and the unscrupulous boss really turned into a donkey. This video was very effective in relieving stress. Even a comment saying "the content makes me extremely comfortable" received 13,000 likes. The entire video received 1.577 million likes and 40,000 reposts, which resonated greatly among working people.

07 Pay attention to interaction in operation

Interaction is more important than investing in Douyin+. The interaction here is not just comments, but also guidance in the video and published copy. In addition to interacting with their own fans, other related accounts can also interact.

Fans love to see Mengpo Nineteen and Yue Lao Xuan Qi appearing in the same frame and interacting with each other in comments.

08 Important links in the workflow: Use scripts to coordinate and unify ideas

In the content of Meng Po Nineteen, there are extras appearing in almost every episode, and the roles of extras are relatively important.

Some netizens commented and lamented how everyone was so good at acting. It is precisely because the actors performed with true emotions that netizens were able to immerse themselves in the drama in a short period of time. In fact, these actors are not all professional actors. Some are colleagues making guest appearances and some are invited extras.

TK is the director and post-production director of the Mengpo 19 IP. He set a high threshold when selecting actors in the early stages and had very detailed requirements. The audition video could not have beauty makeup, and plot tests would also be conducted. If an actor on the scene encounters a problem and cannot perform well, he will use other means to make up for his acting skills.

TK said that in the entire content production of the Fairy Matrix, there is an important link called the "script coordination meeting". The "Script Coordination Meeting" will involve all screenwriters, cameramen, producers, and post-production staff to unify the plot and the emotions it expresses. The director also confirmed the shooting props requirements, shooting cycle, production release time, and some shot adjustment details at this meeting.

09 Maintain the purity of the team. Winning battles is the best way to build a team.

When we first formed the team, there were only four people: operations, production, photography and post-production, and Xiaoyi. Now it has grown to fourteen people, with three IPs launched and two more about to be launched.

Xiaoyi said that we need to find people who truly agree with this matter to ensure the purity of the team. Find the space and direction for growth, and provide corresponding opportunities and guidance. Different people have different methods. For example, give introverts more opportunities, responsibilities, and attention, listen to their opinions, solve problems together, encourage everyone to express their problems more, and talk about things openly.

Winning battles is the best way to build a team.

The methodology of the Mengpo 19 team is also applicable to the vertical content field.

Looking back at the dark horse IPs in the short video vertical content field, there is no shortage of plot elements.

Taking beauty as an example, the bankrupt siblings, Mr. Ye, and CiCi all used the plot to reflect the protagonist’s distinctive personality and values, which aroused resonance and quickly attracted fans.

The silly-style Hao Fan and Luo Gu Po combined the advertisement with the plot perfectly, shooting the advertisement as a story and cleverly inserting the advertising items into the dramatic conflicts. It attracts attention with its plot, and is just as good at monetizing its products.

Xiaoyi, the studio owner, once posted a message in WeChat Moments: "Every little bit counts. Keep doing valuable things."

The several methodologies summarized by this team are not just methods; they reflect the content people’s awe for content.

Author: Gu Gu Jin Jin Jin

Source: GuGuJinJinJin