How should short video advertisements such as Douyin and Kuaishou be placed?

1. Take a holistic view and use data to understand the development trend of the short video industry

Today’s short videos are no longer as “calm” as they were in the early days. Major giants are “rushing in” and trying to occupy a “place” in the short video territory. The battle for traffic has already begun, and the development trend of the short video industry in the first half of 2018 is enough to illustrate it all.

1. Short videos dominate traffic and become the new leader in digital marketing

Short videos have always been called a "time-killing tool", and this is indeed true. Covering 410 million independent users, with an average daily usage time of 87 minutes and an average daily usage frequency of up to 20 times, these data values ​​show that users' attention has shifted to short videos.

At the same time, Douyin's global monthly active users exceeded 500 million, and Kuaishou was far ahead with 700 million global monthly active users, making them the leaders in short video platforms.

Data shows that 88% of Internet users use short videos for social networking, 79% of Internet users obtain news and information through short videos, and 41% of Internet users watch short video presentations when shopping online. Short videos have become a basic social element.

By comparing the brand marketing trends in 2017 and 2018, we found that there were increases and decreases to varying degrees. Among them, the increase in short videos/live broadcasts was as high as 2.8 times, which was quite eye-catching and became the marketing type with the strongest investment growth in 2018.

2. Short video user portrait: Who is active on the short video platform?

The data on short videos in all aspects are so "astonishing". Which groups of people are crazy about short videos? What are the characteristics of these users?

2. Who will win the top 10 short video platforms? Three aspects of analysis to see their overall performance

Short videos have emerged as a new force and have captured most of the users' time. In the first half of 2018, when major giants were competing fiercely, which short video platforms "stood out" and successfully squeezed into the TOP10?

1. Two major echelons, the top 10 short video application platforms are all listed at a glance

As can be seen from the table, Kuaishou and Douyin are the two major platforms leading the Chinese short video industry. In the first echelon of short videos, Kuaishou ranks first, Toutiao occupies three seats, and Douyin leads the growth.

2. Data segmentation to understand the performance patterns of the short video market in seconds

(1) Short video transaction volume continues to rise, and the annual release trend is consistent with the trend of social consumption nodes. The annual peak occurs in November-December and June.

(2) Advertisers from all industries have entered the era of short video marketing. The beauty and daily chemicals and 3C digital industries have contributed 68% of the short video advertising market share.

(3) Tik Tok, Xiaohongshu, Meipai, and Bilibili have become popular platforms that brands are vying for. Tik Tok leads the short video trading market, while Xiaohongshu and Meipai have made strong breakthroughs into the top three with the help of the “She Economy”

(4) Short videos are widely used in various marketing scenarios. Product/brand placement and brand interaction activities are high-frequency scenarios for short video applications.

Product/brand placement is the process of implanting a brand/product through original entertaining content, which has the advantages of both advertising and content. Common forms of product placement include micro-movies, jokes, skits, finger dance, dance, music, etc.

Brand interactive activities, with behavioral imitation and topic participation as the main forms of expression, can actively mobilize users' interests and have strong fission properties. Common forms of expression include jokes, skits, finger dance, dance, music, etc.

Product/brand promotion can be easily promoted to users through recommendations and sharing by short video influencers. Such a marketing scenario is close to the user's perspective and enhances trust. Experts usually promote products through list recommendations, reviews, and experiences.

Online event communication is usually seen in promotional discounts and other activities, which can achieve large-scale exposure in a short period of time and can be spread through short dramas, prize giving, music and other forms.

Brand stories, through the voice and communication of brand stories, have a high profile and influence the minds of users.

Offline clip editing, follow-up shooting of offline activities such as corporate press conferences, etc., showing highlights from a certain perspective, fully integrates offline resources and achieves efficient communication. It mainly includes two forms: ghost animals and editing.

Product display, product video and three-dimensional display are mostly used in e-commerce platforms, with real people and products appearing on screen, achieving more realistic marketing effects.

(5) Beauty and makeup, good looks, and funny jokes are the preferred accounts for brand owners to publish short videos

3. What are the characteristics of the eight major short video platforms and how is their competitiveness?

If brands want to be good at short video marketing, they need to have a clear understanding of the unique characteristics of each short video platform and know which channels and platforms to use to target users, so as to cater to their preferences and place targeted advertisements.

1. The content tonality, characteristics, target audiences and operation modes of major short video platforms are different, and they are suitable for various marketing scenarios.

After analysis, the editor came up with the following rules:

From the perspective of attributes: Huoshan, Meipai, and Kuaishou are all P+U platforms, and the degree of self-media cooperation is relatively controllable; Douyin and Xiaohongshu are U platforms, which are more likely to drive exposure and achieve word-of-mouth.

From the perspective of product positioning: Kuaishou and Douyin focus on recording life at all times, Xiaohongshu tends to be a user sharing community, Bilibili is more like a two-dimensional cultural communication platform, and Miaopai is positioned as a content carrier tool for Sina Weibo.

From the content point of view: Kuaishou takes the route of curiosity, Toutiao prefers popular, cute, and two-dimensional, Meipai focuses on exploring mainstream consumer industry content such as cute pets and outfits, and Xiaohongshu has opened up a vertical platform for sharing women's good things.

From the perspective of audience: Kuaishou, Douyin, Volcano and other platforms are more popular and have a wide coverage, Xiaohongshu and Meipai tend to target female groups, and Bilibili pays more attention to penetrating the audience of two-dimensional animation and games.

3. How should brands use short videos? Four major marketing advantages of short videos

We have seen that giants such as Tencent, Alibaba, Baidu, and start-ups have entered the short video market, creating an extraordinary level of excitement. At the same time, users' attention has shifted to the short video field, which has attracted many brand owners to shift their focus to short videos.

However, in actual marketing, brand owners encounter a series of marketing confusions such as "I don't know how to choose a self-media account", "I don't know which platform to launch", "How to create short video content", and "How to quickly reach target users". To this end, the editor has launched marketing methods including short video originality, short video distribution, short video implantation/championship, e-commerce live streaming, etc. after analysis and summary to help brand owners achieve marketing goals such as "exposure, word of mouth, conversion, and traffic diversion".

Original short video: Based on the specific marketing needs of the brand owner and the original tone of the influencer, targeted video content and script creation are carried out, and the video is released after completion.

Short video distribution: Based on the brand or product tone, we provide advertisers with short video dissemination strategies for their existing TVCs, combine the best resources, and recommend dissemination platforms and nodes, so that the TVCs can become famous overnight on the short video platforms and become a hit.

Short video placement: In social media video content, products or brands are naturally displayed through demonstration, oral broadcast, etc.

Short video naming: Name an existing column after a brand name to achieve product exposure.

E-commerce live streaming: Help brand e-commerce companies to guide purchases, convey brand selling points, and ultimately achieve conversions through live streaming or short videos on e-commerce platforms or other video platforms.

As a new information carrier and marketing channel, short videos will have greater room for explosion in the future, and an increasingly complete short video marketing ecosystem is taking shape.

Related reading:

1. The most comprehensive strategy for short video distribution on TikTok, Kuaishou, etc.!