How to operate a short video platform to create a "new fan economy"?

Make a video of dancing, make a video of teasing cats and dogs...the trend of "videoization" communication is taking shape. In this process, short video platforms such as Douyin and Kuaishou have risen rapidly, seizing the "ecological niche" of fragmented and social video dissemination.

In addition to business models such as influencers selling products and live broadcast rewards, short video platforms are making great strides in entertainment marketing and fan economy by creating hot search lists, launching celebrity love DOU lists, and reaching strategic cooperation with six film and television companies including Wanda Film and Television.

However, Weibo has already built a complete entertainment marketing and fan economy ecosystem, which is not feasible for short video platforms to replicate. So, what kind of new fan economy ecosystem should short video platforms build? How to innovate entertainment marketing ideas?

Short video platforms such as Tik Tok quickly seized the market

Video fragmentation and social communication "niche"

QuestMobile data shows that as of June 2019, the short video industry had nearly 100 million newly installed users and 821 million total monthly active users, a year-on-year growth rate of 32%, the fastest growth rate among typical pan-entertainment industries. In terms of average viewing time per person, the average monthly viewing time of short videos is more than 22 hours, surpassing online videos, mobile games, etc., ranking first among typical pan-entertainment industries.

Some analysts believe that short videos are to video communication what Weibo was to text information communication in its early days. When Weibo was first launched, its fragmented information dissemination model of 140 characters was once criticized. Ten years later, Weibo has become the country's leading social platform and has taken a leading position in the pan-entertainment field. Nowadays, under the trend of video communication, short video platforms are "entering" the fields of entertainment marketing and fan economy based on social relationships.

Relying on smart push algorithms and exciting content, short video platforms have attracted a large number of users to join, who enjoy other people's short video works while participating in short video creation, but the communication and interaction between users are not sufficient.

Only mature and stable social relationships can truly enable information to flow and connect faster. As mentioned in the article “Ten Years of Weibo: From Speed ​​and Breadth to Depth and Temperature”, “Fan economy, popular words, Internet celebrities… In recent years, social platforms represented by Weibo have become a gathering place for people, information, and resources, and have successfully ‘penetrated’ into every aspect of public life.”

So, what is the charm of Weibo’s entertainment marketing and fan economy ecosystem? Can short video platforms be copied?

Weibo has the most complete "fan economy ecosystem"

Other platforms may find it difficult to replicate

According to AiMan data, the cumulative number of fans of entertainment stars among Weibo users in 2018 has exceeded 16.7 billion, a year-on-year increase of 3.9 billion. On average, each user follows 37 entertainment stars, and the number of entertainment content readers also firmly occupies the top position in the entire field. In ten years, Weibo has built the most complete entertainment marketing and fan economy ecosystem.

1. Weibo has a perfect layout in the pan-entertainment field, with complete infrastructure, a complete upstream and downstream chain, and each link is linked to form an ecosystem.

Celebrity resources. Almost all popular stars, their studios, and their agents have opened accounts on Weibo. This account is not only an official channel for releasing information to the outside world, but also a key node for celebrities to connect with all parties and fans.

Fan group. Including: official fan club and various official functional fan organizations, such as: voting group, anti-black group, comment control group, etc. In addition, there is a complete fan community consisting of Mrs. Production, big fans, and loose fans.

Upstream and downstream parties. Including: brands endorsed by celebrities; fashion magazines appeared by celebrities; TV dramas and movies participated by celebrities, industry bigwigs, broadcasting platforms, etc.; and celebrity data monitoring parties, such as: Aiman’s active fan list, commercial value list, etc.

The above parties are interconnected to form a complete entertainment marketing and fan economy ecosystem. Taking celebrity endorsements as an example, the brand first releases the endorsement information, the celebrity confirms and releases the product sales link, and fans complete the purchase by forwarding, commenting, and liking the post.

Brands will also interact with fans many times, launch celebrity peripherals, and encourage fans to buy. Fans will also carry out a lot of spontaneous creation and dissemination based on the attributes of the products, such as: posting topics, showing orders, secondary creation, etc., to build momentum for brand promotion. Fans' attitudes and behaviors will have a reverse impact on brands and products.

2. Weibo has a relatively complete data system. Although there are certain controversies, this immediate result feedback mechanism is very necessary for the system.

Weibo's multiple native and composite data have become an important reference for entertainment marketing and fan economy. For celebrities, super topic rankings, celebrity power rankings, number of fans, number of active fans, and even the number of likes and comments on each Weibo post will become a reference for the popularity of the celebrity.

For film and television works, the number of times they appear on Weibo hot searches, the number of fans of the official Weibo account, the number of views of the promoted short videos, the number of reposts, comments and likes on the related Weibo posts, the amount of discussion about the plot and characters, etc. are all important reference data for the promotion of film and television works. This also makes Weibo the standard choice for the promotion of film and television works, and it is also an important reference for users to watch dramas and movies. For brands, promotional Weibo reading volume, purchase link conversion rate, etc. are very important.

3. The node effect of hot topics on Weibo and the instant detonating effect based on social relationship chains are still irreplaceable.

On Weibo, influential events can always be spread at the fastest speed, creating a sensational effect and involving a large number of "melon-eating crowds". Even whether Weibo is down has become a criterion for measuring the influence of an entertainment event. In addition, Weibo's hot search ecosystem is very mature and can bring huge traffic to all parties involved in the hot search. Being on the trending search list has become a necessary way for film, television and celebrity publicity and promotion.

4. Weibo provides fans with a large number of "toys" to ensure high fan stickiness to the platform.

In addition to getting updates about celebrities, fans can stay on Weibo for a long time because there are many fun "toys". For example: signing in to the super topic to get points and ensure celebrity ranking; checking out the new works of "Mrs. Producing Food"; connecting with friends in the fan group; controlling comments and fighting against black fans in one go; even two fan circles "going to war" collectively and slaughtering each other in the search square. Fans gained a sense of collective belonging and the joy of victory. In addition, Weibo has rich formats, including text, pictures, and videos, and fans can also create their own funny memes. For example: the Su Daqiang cartoon in “All Is Well”.

From the above, it can be seen that Weibo already has a unique way of existence in the fields of entertainment marketing and fan economy, and it is not feasible for short video platforms to rely on overall relocation and replication. It is also necessary to create a new type of entertainment marketing and fan economy ecology based on the characteristics of short video platforms and the pain points of Weibo entertainment marketing, such as: high dependence on fan activity; the circle-based gameplay of some entertainment marketing methods, etc.

Short video platforms need to build a new fan economy ecosystem

Innovative entertainment marketing ideas

Short video platforms have large traffic, new gameplay, and high user participation enthusiasm. Based on this, more gameplay suitable for short videos in the pan-entertainment field can be developed.

1. Short video platforms are emerging, with large traffic and algorithm support, and can become a powerful tool for "breaking the circle" promotion and marketing.

Taking Tik Tok as an example, it has more than 320 million daily active users, coupled with algorithm push, which can effectively expand the attention and achieve a "breaking the circle" promotion effect. Li Xian, the leading actor of "Dear, Loved", quickly gained great attention as soon as he landed on Douyin. For celebrities or brands, Douyin's ability to break the circle can effectively leverage potential user resources and expand the user market. Therefore, the main advantage of the short video platform's entertainment marketing and fan economy system can be positioned as "breaking the circle" promotion.

2. Short video platforms can build non-traditional star-fan relationships and a new fan economic ecosystem based on this.

Nowadays, some bad habits in fan circles have begun to cause social backlash, and short video platforms are expected to build a new type of star-fan relationship. The concept of "celebrity" is broader and also includes internet celebrities, because the essence of the "internet celebrity economy" is also the fan economy. The relationship between stars and their fans is a more lightweight connection. Stars are no longer high and mighty. They use videos to share good things and fun events in life with their fans.

At present, the top stars on the Celebrity Love DOU list are Luo Zhixiang, Chen He, Yuan Shanshan and other stars who often share their interesting lives, which are completely different from the traditional traffic stars. Here, the connotation and extension of the fan economy will be expanded and extended, and product marketing in the field of life consumption will benefit.

3. Short video platforms have more creative ways of playing, and entertainment marketing is more vivid and interesting, easy to spread and easy to accept.

Short video platforms have given entertainment marketing more creative ways to play, greatly improving the fun, interactivity, and sense of participation. The same stickers from the movie "Nezha: The Devil Child Comes into the World" have inspired countless celebrities to perform on Douyin. Li Xian also chose Nezha stickers as his first short video on Douyin. In terms of product marketing, Pulse cooperated with Guan Xiaotong to deliver Pulse energy to fans with a song to cheer for the college entrance examination. The total number of video views increased by 16 million, and the total number of interactions exceeded 1.5 million.

Users of short video platforms are very willing to try these interesting ways of playing, and their enthusiasm for participation is very high. They have produced a large amount of UGC content to help promote and disseminate it. A large number of users have filmed the same videos of Alita's makeup in the movie "Alita: Battle Angel". The number of users who created videos using the classic line from the movie "Big Shot" "Mr. Zhao will pay for all the meals tonight" has reached 162,000.

Conclusion:

The rapid rise of short video platforms will inevitably bring great impact and subversion to the fields of entertainment marketing and fan economy. Entertainment marketing methods and processes, the connotation and extension of fan economy, etc. will all be innovated and expanded.

In the new ecology, entertainment marketing methods may be more creative and interesting, and star-fan relationships may be more equal and harmonious. These trends are more in line with the mentality needs of young users. The future is here, and all parties involved must be prepared for change.

Related reading:

1. 8 tips for creating a popular account through short video operation!

2. How to attract new users and retain customers through short video operations?

Author: meng

Source: meng