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

In the context of the Internet, content consumers, or users, are one of the most important factors in content production and operations. For content practitioners with Internet thinking, the essence of the content industry is user thinking, and content that users like is good content. So, as an operator in the short video industry, how do you do a good job in user operations? This article will explain in detail the three stages of content development.

Key points:

1. The core objectives of short video user operations mainly include attracting new users, retaining users, promoting activation, and converting users;

2. The operation focuses are different in the budding stage, growth stage and mature stage;

3. Only by adjusting the operation strategy according to the actual situation can you go further in the short video elimination competition.

PART 01. What is user operation?

In a broad sense, any manual intervention around users can be called user operation. The core goals of user operations mainly include attracting new users, retaining users, promoting activation, and converting users. All means and methods of user operations revolve around these four core goals.

Attract new users: that is, attract new users and expand the user base. Attracting new users is the foundation of user operations and an eternal topic in operations work. Users’ mindsets are changing, and content needs to be updated and iterated to stay vibrant. Only by constantly attracting new users and injecting new blood can we generate endless power and form a virtuous ecological cycle system.

Retention: prevent user loss and improve retention rate. Retention is the focus of work after attracting new users. After new users come in through various channels, if they do not find content of interest, or if the subsequently launched content does not meet the interests and preferences of these users, it will result in user loss.

Promote activation: that is, promote user activity and improve user activity. After the retention rate stabilizes, the focus will be on promoting user activation and improving user stickiness and interaction.

Conversion: converting users into final consumers. Whether it is advertising monetization, content payment, or profit through e-commerce, the ultimate goal is to convert traffic into revenue.

In the short video industry, user operations for almost all content products can be divided into these four core goals. User scale is the basis of commercialization. Attracting new users and retaining existing users are to maximize the user scale. Activation is to increase user activity, enhance user stickiness and loyalty. The trust relationship between users and creators is the key driving force for the final conversion.

PART 02. Different stages have different operational focuses

The core purpose of user operation is very clear: attract new users, retain users, promote activation, and convert users. However, with the continuous development and evolution of content products, the focus of user operations varies at different stages. For example, in the 0-1 stage, attracting new users is the top priority, but when the number of users reaches a certain scale, activation and conversion issues need to be considered. The life cycle of a content product determines the focus of operations. We can divide user operation work into the following three stages:

1. Bud stage

In the embryonic stage of content products, the primary goal of operations is to attract new users and cultivate the first batch of core users. As for user operation, it can be divided into three parts: finding potential target users, screening and filtering target users, and cultivating user loyalty. There are several specific ways to attract new customers:

(1) Bringing new users to old accounts: Bringing new users to old accounts is one of the most effective ways to attract new users in the embryonic stage of a content product. That is, by using existing big accounts to assist in promotion, fans can be directed to new accounts, which is conducive to the accumulation of the first batch of seed users.

(2) Riding on hot topics: Riding on hot topics can not only effectively save operating costs, but also greatly increase the chances of content becoming a hit. In particular, the hot topics officially launched by the platform have greatly increased the exposure rate of the content in its embryonic stage. Coupled with the support of the algorithm recommendation mechanism of some short video platforms, it is not difficult to complete the original accumulation of traffic as long as you seize the opportunity to catch the hot topic. The popular videos, Douyin topics and other functions of the Kas Business Edition can help creators grasp the platform's hot spots in a timely manner and effectively save operating costs.

Image source: Kas Business Edition-Popular Video Function

(3) Cooperative promotion: If funds permit, seek cooperative promotion with large accounts, or use personal connections to drive the growth of new accounts. This is also a common method of attracting new users in the early stages of content development.

After the first batch of users come in, some users will definitely be lost. This is the process of user screening and filtering. Not all target users will be interested in the content at this stage, and those who remain are those who match the account content. So how should we match user needs and content? The most practical and effective method is to use data tools to study the user portraits of this group of users. When the user portrait results are consistent with expectations, it means that the content and user needs are highly matched and the general direction of the content does not need to be adjusted. If the user portrait is significantly different from what you expected, you should further consider whether you need to adjust the general direction of the content, or conduct a new round of attracting new users and then test the results. After filtering and matching is completed, the next step is to highlight one’s own differentiated advantages, gradually build word-of-mouth, and thus cultivate user loyalty.

Image source: Kas Data - User Portrait

2. Growth stage

During the growth stage of content products, the main purpose of operations is to solve the problems of growth model and user activity. Corresponding to user operations, it can be divided into three parts: broadening user growth channels, strengthening content quality control, and improving activity.

There are two main ways to broaden user growth channels. One is to increase content distribution channels to cover more potential users and enhance influence. The other is to create a content matrix, give play to the radiation effect between various accounts, and establish a scientific user growth mechanism.

Secondly, for content products in the growth stage, improving content quality is the fundamental means to improve retention rate. Only by strengthening control over content quality, paying attention to data feedback, and optimizing content in a targeted manner based on data feedback can we produce good content continuously.

In addition, content products in the growth stage should focus on improving user activity. Users with high activity and strong stickiness are more likely to be converted into final consumers. The specific methods are mainly the following:

(1) Set discussion topics in the content

Adding interactive elements to the content and strengthening the sense of communication between the content and users can deepen the user's impression of the content, and the topic interaction itself also constitutes a part of the content.

(2) Regularly plan operational activities

Festivals and anniversaries are important operational activity nodes, and promoting activities through events is also a method that most creators will adopt. Good operational interaction can not only increase user activity, but also form secondary dissemination and achieve a new round of new user acquisition goals.

(3) Community promotion

Investing users on social platforms and promoting their activities through social groups is also an effective way to increase their activity levels. In addition, the community also provides an effective way for fans to collect opinions and provide feedback.

Content products in the growth stage face the most opportunities and the greatest challenges. The influence at this stage basically determines whether the content can stand out in the market.

3. Maturity

Commercial monetization usually takes place during the maturity stage of content products. Of course, some content products that profit from e-commerce will also begin the commercialization process during the growth stage. There are many different ways to commercialize content, and there are four mainstream ways: one is the commercialization of the content itself, that is, paying for content; the second is advertising placement; the third is monetization through e-commerce; and the fourth is the development of IP derivatives. Typically, most creators use a combination of these four commercialization methods.

In the mature stage, the focus of user operations is to convert users into consumers and collect user responses to commercial behaviors in a timely manner. Without gaining the trust of users, frequent commercial activities or boring hard advertisements will make users feel strongly repelled, and the trust that has just been established between users and content will be destroyed. So how should we collect user feedback on commercialization activities? Taking advertising placement as an example, when advertisements are embedded in the content, operators can judge the user's acceptance of commercial behavior through analysis of comments and barrage content. As shown in the figure below, this celebrity has embedded advertisements in his content. According to the public opinion analysis of Kas Data, his fans have a very high acceptance of the advertisements, which shows that the trust relationship between this celebrity and his fans is very strong.

Image source: Kas Data - Public Opinion Analysis

Industry competition is becoming increasingly fierce, and user attention is becoming increasingly scarce. In such an industry environment, most of the "good" content that lacks user thinking is just the creator's self-satisfaction and can easily be eliminated in the market competition. Only by constantly adjusting the operational focus according to actual conditions at different development stages of content products can we go further in this elimination competition.