618 e-commerce advertising insight report!

This year, Double 11 enters its 11th year and 618 enters its 10th year. Both have evolved from simple festivals to symbols of consumption and have become major promotional events on e-commerce platforms. Unlike the "cats and dogs war" of previous e-commerce promotions, the rapid rise of Pinduoduo changed the situation and further evolved it into a cats and dogs war.

This year, major e-commerce platforms have come up with various unique strategies to try to awaken consumers' desire to buy, and their sales performance has achieved breakthroughs.

The success of marketing is inseparable from strong publicity and promotion in the early stages. So when it comes to mobile advertising, what are the strategies of various e-commerce giants? Based on the mobile advertising intelligence tracked from May 1 to June 24, 2019, App Growing analyzed the changes in e-commerce promotion data before and after the 618 marketing war and the respective promotion highlights, and released the "2019 618 E-commerce Advertising Insights" as follows.

Note: ① For the convenience of analysis, the platform e-commerce mentioned in this report refers to well-known e-commerce platforms such as JD.com, Tmall, Pinduoduo, etc., which sell goods through their own e-commerce platforms or e-commerce apps, which is different from the direct e-commerce sales model of product single page + cash on delivery.

② This report uses the advertising data of various e-commerce platforms from June 1 to June 18 as the advertising insights for the 618 period, hereinafter referred to as the 618 period.

③ This report uses the number of advertisements placed by each e-commerce platform that we tracked as the basis for analyzing the intensity of their advertising during the 618 period. It is for reference only and is not completely equivalent to their actual advertising amount.

Overview of overall advertising during 618

1) The advertising efforts of e-commerce platforms increased significantly during the 618 period

Since June 1, the intensity of advertising investment in the platform e-commerce industry has increased significantly, reaching a peak on June 18, and dropped significantly on June 19, gradually returning to normal advertising intensity. It can be seen that during the 618 e-commerce promotion, each advertising platform has a more obvious traffic inclination towards e-commerce giants.

During the 618 period, optimizers in our relevant optimizer community often reported that ads had low exposure and were difficult to increase sales. In order to temporarily avoid the limelight, some advertisers have chosen to reduce their advertising efforts and only maintain their previous better advertising plans.

We counted the e-commerce platforms that had the most advertising during the 618 period, and further analyzed the increase in the number of advertisements on the corresponding e-commerce platforms during the 618 period as follows.

During the 618 period, App Growing tracked that Pinduoduo placed nearly 10,000 advertisements, but the growth rate of advertisements was not obvious compared with the same period in May. The number of advertisements on JD.com, Vipshop, Xiaohongshu and Xiaomi Youpin platforms increased by more than 50% during the 618 shopping festival.

During the 618 period, the proportion of advertisements pushed by JD.com through the Jingzhuntong advertising platform increased from 63% in the same period of May to 79%. Compared with the same period of May, the number of advertisements increased by more than 2 times, which is the reason for the significant increase in its overall advertising number. Compared with the same period in May, the number of advertisements pushed by Tmall Mall on Taobao tanx has increased several times.

JD.com and Tmall attach great importance to redirection to promote user purchases during big sales, and the personalized intelligent technology guarantee for thousands of people is also an important reason for the rapid growth in their advertising numbers. Among the vast army of e-commerce companies, JD.com (Jingzhuntong) and Tmall (Taobaotanx) have an important advantage in their aggressive promotions because of their huge traffic pool resources. The growth rate of additional externally purchased traffic during the promotion period is also relatively controllable.

Inventory of 618 advertising strategies of various e-commerce platforms

In general, "discounts", "coupons", "discounts for purchases over a certain amount" and "direct price cuts" are common promotional tactics, but the main products promoted by different e-commerce platforms are very different.

1.1 Analysis of JD.com’s Mobile Advertising

1) JD.com invested in Phoenix Feather, and 3C digital products are its main categories

During the 618 period, JD.com mainly invested in the Phoenix Fengyu advertising platform, with the number of advertisements accounting for 40.25%, and 3C digital products were its main promoted category.

2) JD.com’s 618-related advertising copy accounted for more than 15%, with “reduction” and “value” being the key words in the advertising copy

Emphasizing promotions was the focus of JD.com’s advertising in June. More than 15% of the advertising copy contained the keyword “618”. The main discounts promoted in the related advertisements are as follows:

• *Get discounts* when you spend more than the specified amount (JD Supermarket’s promotion mainly uses discounts when you spend more than the specified amount as a gimmick)

• Get Jingdong coupons (618 yuan coupons, 50% off coupons, full* discount coupons)

• Super Brand Day (special promotion for big brands, focusing on a specific well-known brand/or 3C digital products, home appliances and other key categories), usually combined with "full discount" and "50% off" activities for promotion

• JD.com Flash Sale Day

3) Inventory of JD.com’s 618 series of materials: the logo of “JD.com 618 16th Anniversary Celebration” is relatively uniform

① Advertisements for specific brands or products: The material is usually structured in a left-right format, with product displays on the left side of the screen and specific discounts on the right side. The upper left corner of the overall screen is JD.com’s 618/16th anniversary celebration. It is worth mentioning that JD’s flash sales of well-known brands are also a highlight of the promotion.

② 618 brand event promotional picture: it weakens the specific category and brand information, and emphasizes discounts and offers. The upper right corner also has JD.com’s 618 promotional slogan “JD.com 618, 16th Anniversary Celebration”.

2.2 Inventory of Vipshop’s advertising during the 618 shopping event

1) Vipshop mainly invests in the Massive Engine platform, with skin care and cosmetics as its main categories

During the 618 period, Vipshop mainly placed ads on the Bytedance advertising platform, with the number of ads accounting for more than 90%, and skin care and cosmetics were its main categories.

2) 616 promotion, emphasizing "discounts", "price cuts/low prices", and "special sales/special offers"

Unlike other e-commerce platforms, Vipshop’s mid-year promotion is held on June 16. Therefore, in its advertising in June, it rarely mentions “618” and focuses on promoting its “616 mid-year promotion”, guiding users to “buy in advance”, etc. The promotion directly emphasizes “discounts”, “price reduction/low prices”, and “special sales/special offers”. The relevant copy is as follows:

① Brand activities:

-VIPshop’s mid-year sale – summer hot-selling items, up to 30% off!

- Vipshop brand special sale, up to 30% off every day

② Product promotion:

-VIPSHOP latex pillows are on sale for a limited time, with a prepaid deposit worth 7 times the value!

-Vipshop four-piece set only 65! I won't allow you to buy more expensive

③ Brands directly guide sales: (key promotion direction)

- Vipshop grabs 2 bottles of Blue Moon laundry detergent for only 29 yuan, free shipping

-Oh My God! Huajicui Moisturizing Skincare Gift Box as low as 63 yuan! If you miss it, it will return to the original price of 584!

3) Inventory of materials used by Vipshop during the 618 event, with the “616 Mid-Year Sale” being the main selling point of the event

① In the promotional materials for the 616 brand event, in addition to the "616 Vipshop Mid-Year Sale" logo, the corresponding high discounts were also emphasized, such as a 30% discount on the bottom cover.

② Advertisements for specific brands or products

• 616 series brand advertisements: Similar to JD.com, the material design is usually a left-right structure, with product display pictures on the left and specific discounts on the right, and an explanation of the products of the "616 Vipshop" year-end special sale. Compared with JD.com’s obvious white text on a red background event logo in the upper right corner, its event logos are less unified.

• “Promote brand sales”: Overall, Vipshop’s promotional materials for well-known brands place more emphasis on the “brand sales” rather than the “616 year-end sale” event.

2.3 Inventory of Pinduoduo’s advertising during the 618 shopping event

1) Pinduoduo’s delivery platforms are relatively more dispersed

Compared with JD.com and Vipshop, Pinduoduo’s advertising platforms are more scattered and it does not focus on specific platforms. Instead, game skins and fruits are its main categories.

2) The ultra-low price of 9.9 yuan is a common promotion point for Pinduoduo

Among the advertisements released by Pinduoduo during the 618 period, 9.9 yuan was the most common meme, and 13.5% of the advertisements contained the popular words "9.9" or "9.9" to reflect the low prices of Pinduoduo's products. Statements such as 1 yuan, more than ten yuan (such as 13.8 yuan, etc.), and less than 10 yuan (6.6, 8.9 yuan, etc.) are also common. While reflecting the low price, they are combined with publicity such as "limited time", "grab", "discount", "limited quantity", and "limited region" to reflect that the opportunity is rare.

3) “10 billion subsidies” is Pinduoduo’s main promotion activity during 618

The number of 618 series advertisements launched by Pinduoduo accounted for a relatively low proportion, mainly promoting the "10 billion subsidies" and focusing on promoting the mobile phone category, especially the Apple mobile phone. However, its 618 event series material design lacks a unified event logo.

2.4 Inventory of Suning.com’s advertising during the 618 shopping event

1) Suning.com mainly promotes home appliances

Suning.com's advertisements during the 618 period mainly promoted home appliances, emphasizing "cheap", "discount", "price reduction", "value for money" and "discount". With time limits and flash sales, it guided users to "buy quickly". The advertisement copy is listed below:

-If you don’t buy an air conditioner, summer will be over! During the 618 Carnival, Gree is offering exciting price cuts, buy now!

-The most beautiful thing is the fireworks of the world. Suning kitchen and bathroom appliances up to 50% off!

-Don't miss this event on Sunday at 22:00! You can buy a projector for 8.8 yuan

2) “Mid-year promotion” is an important activity logo in Suning.com’s 618 event advertising materials

In the advertising materials of the 618 event series launched by Suning.com, the "Mid-Year Sale" event logo is also relatively unified.

2.5 Tmall 618 advertising materials, shopping allowances as its main promotion point

In Tmall's "618" series of advertising materials, the event title is "Tmall 6.1 Carnival", and the main promotional points are "100 million red envelopes", "shopping allowances", "ideal life carnival season" and "magic coupons". The discount of 30 yuan off for purchases over 300 yuan is relatively common in its advertising materials.

2.6 Xiaomi Youpin invested in Dongqiudi platform information flow chart

In Xiaomi Youpin's "618" series of advertising materials, the event title is "Youpin 618", and a large number of 618 brand event advertisements were placed on the Dongqiudi platform as follows, promoting direct reduction and discount activities in TV and audio-visual venues, mainly in the form of large information flow advertisements, and smart fingerprint locks are its main category.

Fancy e-commerce marketing

Douyin's 618 series of activities triggered shopping cart marketing

It is worth mentioning that this year's 618 is not only a grand event for traditional e-commerce, but topic marketing on short video social platforms represented by Douyin has become a newly emerging marketing force.

From June 1st to June 18th, Douyin officially launched the annual "Douyin 6.18 Everything Carnival" theme event for users who have activated the shopping cart function. With the main topic #抖音618年好品大赏and sub-category topic challenges, live video and the main venue as the basic carrier forms, "抖音6.18" leveraged the site's search easter eggs, grass-planting pages, banner positions and other heavy and scarce resources to create a high-exposure good product sharing event. Among them, the total number of views of related special challenges has exceeded 12 billion times. During the event, Douyin’s shopping cart product sharing function supports adding and sharing products from JD.com, NetEase Kaola and Taobao.

With the support of massive resources, Douyin's powerful ability to sell goods has been further unleashed. During the event, highly active users of the shopping cart accounted for 68%, and the top 30 influencers in terms of sales ability facilitated product sharing transactions exceeding 400 million yuan; in the live broadcasts of the event, the number of product displays exceeded 500 million, with the highest sales volume of a single influencer exceeding 10 million.

Compared with the 618 advertisements launched by other advertising platforms, the short video advertisements in the #抖音618年好品大赏 series are more content-rich and interesting, more native, and have better communication effects.

In order to promote the 618 event, Douyin also launched its 618 1 yuan purchase event on Toutiao’s advertising media Toutiao, Xigua Video, and Huoshan Video to attract users’ attention.

As a mainstream social advertising media, Douyin is not limited to simple advertising delivery. Instead, it leverages its own traffic advantages to further connect with mainstream e-commerce platforms, encourage users to participate in UGC topic marketing, and "bring goods" in a more innovative way.

Related reading:

1. JD Finance 618 operation and promotion strategy!

2. Review the promotion and operation methods of the 618 event!

3.618 group buying venue event promotion methods and review!

4. Vipshop’s 618 marketing promotion skills, get new marketing ideas!

5. Analysis of JD.com’s 618 event promotion and operation methods!

Detailed explanation of the 6.618 activity plan, it will be too late if you don’t read it now!

Author: AGNIki

Source: App Growing