The underlying logic of Pinduoduo’s marketing planning!

This article will focus on the "universal formula for marketing planning (applicable to activities, programs, products, etc.) = tapping into user needs (internal and external motivations) + leveraging advanced gameplay (creativity + form + technology + channel + throughout motivation) + reducing user costs" to provide a detailed explanation to help everyone learn the underlying logic of marketing planning.

I just moved and need to buy a batch of household items that I can’t name. I couldn't think of everything at once and I was lazy, so I didn't go to the supermarket. Taobao has restrictions on free shipping for such cheap items. I thought, let’s try Pinduoduo.

It’s awesome, shipping is free even for 1 dollar, it gives me a huge sense of financial freedom, it’s so cool.

I had heard that Pinduoduo’s product quality was impressive, so I opened the package with trepidation, but it turned out to be really not that bad.

From then on, as long as the items are not personal and do not require a brand, I buy them on Pinduoduo. To be honest, I used to think that using Pinduoduo was too low-end, but after using it, I found that Pinduoduo’s purchase process design and user demand insights are really awesome.

Li Jiaoshou said that the essence of excellent marketing is to better understand how to identify and meet user needs , and Pinduoduo has mastered this.

The concept and essence of marketing

Let’s review the concept of marketing: Marketing is the process of satisfying user needs in a profitable way . We can identify two processes:

1. The user end is the process where needs are met;
2. The marketing end is the process of satisfying user needs;

• User side (the process of satisfying needs) : generating motivation - finding the target - judging the cost - participating and purchasing
• Marketing (the process of satisfying user needs) : attracting the attention of the target audience, stimulating demand (giving trigger points) - giving clear targets - empowering users - triggering user participation & purchasing behavior

Whether it's writing copy, selling goods, or organizing activities, to put it bluntly, it requires users to take action, read your copy, forward your articles, participate in your activities, share your content, and buy your products.

In general, it is a process of satisfying user needs through marketing, satisfying user needs, and thus motivating users to take action.

Summarize:

What marketing needs to do is: grasp the user's motivation, package it with creativity and technology, find ways to reduce the user's cost, and get the user to take action.

Therefore, I summarize the universal formula of marketing planning as follows:

The universal formula for marketing planning (applicable to activities, plans, products, etc.) = tapping into user needs (internal and external motivations) + making use of advanced gameplay (creativity + form + technology + channel + motivation) + reducing user costs

Before using formulas to interpret Pinduoduo, let me ask you a question: what do you think is the biggest difference between it and other e-commerce platforms?

The biggest difference of Pinduoduo

What popped into my mind was: the price is as low as 1 yuan with free shipping, group buying is popular everywhere, and there are many games to play .

Why is it designed like this?

It depends on the mainstream user group that Pinduoduo targets. Who are they? What are the characteristics?

The target users are women in the sinking market such as third- and fourth-tier cities, housewives aged 25 to 35, who have little money but have free time and are sensitive to prices.

The characteristics of the people in the third- and fourth-tier sinking markets are: an acquaintance-based society, price sensitivity, and leisure and entertainment attributes (reference: "Restoring a Real Sinking Market", 36Kr).

(1) Acquaintance society: If you go around a city, you will be able to establish a relationship with most people, either friends of classmates or friends of relatives and friends. Neighbors, relatives, friends, and acquaintances all want to help each other. This is the premise for Pinduoduo to achieve viral social fission transmission.

(2) Price-sensitive attribute: They don’t earn much, so they can spend relatively little and are very sensitive to price changes. A price increase or decrease of a few cents may change consumer decisions. This is the main reason why Pinduoduo adopts low-price incentives.

(3) Leisure and entertainment attributes: After work, there is plenty of time to relax, so people are willing to play games to kill time. In an atmosphere where everyone helps each other, using relationships with friends and family to save a few dollars is not considered a waste of time or face, but rather a means of social communication: "I think this is something good and cheap, and I want to share it with you."

In summary, Pinduoduo's design revolves around the three key marketing dimensions of "low-price stimulation, social fission, and gamification design." Starting from the user demand level, the three are integrated with each other to jointly launch a combination of exposure, new customer acquisition and retention.

How to design the platform's marketing based on these dimensions? Why is Pinduoduo designed like this?

Analysis of Pinduoduo’s Marketing Planning

Let's look at the formula:

Marketing planning/design formula (Pinduoduo platform marketing design) = tapping into user needs (internal and external motivations) + making use of advanced gameplay (creativity + form + technology + channel + motivation) + reducing user costs

Mining user needs (internal and external motivations): "low price stimulation, social fission, and gamification design". From these three dimensions, we can infer that the internal needs of users mined by Pinduoduo are:

Intrinsic needs 1: timely possession + exclusivity, taking advantage, and aversion to loss;

Intrinsic need 2: social connection-reciprocity psychology + seeking help, sense of achievement, laziness; goal approach psychology, unknown and curiosity;

Intrinsic needs three: Addictive psychology, variable rewards, preferences (principle of pain, like fun).

How to make use of advanced gameplay and reduce user costs?

Intrinsic need 1: timely possession + sense of exclusivity, taking advantage, and aversion to loss

What kind of activity will be used to show it? How to reduce user costs? (Analyzed from the dimensions of creativity, form, technology, motivation, and reducing user costs)

Utilize advanced gameplay 1: Creativity: Personalized "product recommendations" and "discount information" are created specifically for you, allowing you to feel the exclusivity of the platform without being disturbed by unnecessary product information, helping users make quick decisions and improve product conversion rates;

form:

Home page: Product recommendations, which are all products you might want to buy;

(Because all I bought were household goods, the homepage only recommended items of the same category)

Recommended: Based on previous group purchases and searches, recommended related products are not disturbed by other categories of products;

Chat: only publish discount information and push notifications about products that users care about;

(Very considerate promotional notification for individuals)

Continue to run through the design of motivation: timely possession, I want it now, and I don’t want to delay gratification; the recommended products are what individuals want, forming a sense of exclusivity.

Technology: As the Toutiao of the e-commerce industry. Pinduoduo uses "distributed AI" technology to study users' possible consumption needs and realize "goods finding people". This is the basis for achieving all the above innovations.

Reduce user costs:

Reduced decision-making/trust costs: Instead of giving too many interference items, products in the same category are recommended. The fewer choices you give, the easier it is for users to make decisions quickly.

For example, if other categories such as shower gel, soap, and paper towels appear on the recommendation page, I may forget the product I originally wanted to buy, and then I will browse around and feel a headache and not want to buy anything. The emergence of these products is actually not conducive to "I making quick decisions."

Monetary cost: On the chat page, if you already want to buy a product, you will be given a coupon with no threshold, a coupon of 2 yuan for a product worth 5.5 yuan, and free shipping. This is really a critical hit. How can you not buy it when it is so cheap?

Thinking cost: On the Pinduoduo platform, you basically won’t have the thought of “What should I buy?” Instead, the company has already thought of the needs you haven’t thought of yet and recommended them to you directly. All you have to do is “buy, buy, buy”.

Time cost: saves users’ thinking time.

Make use of advanced gameplay 2: Creativity: E-commerce platform without "shopping cart".

Format: There is no shopping cart in the menu bar, but a buy-one-at-a-glance approach is used to guide users to make quick decisions and purchase immediately, thus increasing product conversion rates.

(Unlike any e-commerce platform, there is no "shopping cart" tab at the top)

Reduce user costs:

Reduced decision-making/trust costs: low prices stimulate, and you spend less money so you are not so worried about the purchase results. You don’t need to compare prices from different stores, but want to “get a bargain” right away and own it right away.

Time cost, thinking cost:

• No need to spend time thinking about what I need to buy, the pages are all things I might want to buy.
• No need to go to a store and rack your brains to think about what else I should buy in order to get free shipping for purchases over 20 yuan. Instead, if you want to buy a product, you buy it right away.

technology:

Low-price strategy + precise "AI distribution technology" still means goods find people.

Continue to run through the design of the motivation:

Own it in time, don’t hesitate if you like it, place an order immediately; the mentality is to get a bargain, it’s already very cheap, you can’t wait any longer.

Use advanced gameplay three:

Creativity: Idiot decision design of the group buying page.

Format: "Buy individually" or "Initiate a group purchase" on each product page, allowing users to make choices.

(299 yuan and 18.5 yuan, what's the point of such an idiotic choice?)

Running motivation: loss aversion. Normal people would choose to initiate a group purchase, or directly “go to group purchase”, with both buttons released, giving people the feeling that “they have made a profit”. Compared to low prices, users prefer to "get a bargain" through their own efforts. So this multiple-choice question gives users this feeling.

Technology: Design with two purchase options.

Reduce user costs:

Monetary cost: The subtext of this design is to help users save money.

Learning (understanding + thinking) cost: It is clear at a glance, with two options to choose from, the numbers are clear, and the operation is also clear. You can either "buy alone" or buy with friends and "initiate a group order" by yourself. If you find it troublesome, the alternative is also thought of for you, and you can "group order" with strangers.

Decision-making and action cost: Choose one of the two. Choosing one button saves a lot of money compared to the other.

Internal Need 2: Social connection-reciprocity psychology + seeking help, laziness, sense of achievement, and taking advantage of others

In order to meet the above intrinsic needs of users, what kind of marketing strategy has Pinduoduo designed?

Use advanced gameplay 1:

Creativity: Take the initiative to initiate or participate in a group purchase.

Form: Fission. The “Start a group purchase” and “Go to group purchase” buttons on each product page guide users to have a “cheaper shortcut” to obtain products, and improve product exposure and conversion rate through social fission of products.

Motivation throughout:

Reciprocity and taking advantage: If I think something is cheap and good, I want to share it with people around me who need it and buy it together;

Seeking help: Someone has already initiated a group order, so I can just participate and buy. I don’t need to “initiate a group order” again and I get help. My laziness is satisfied.

Sense of accomplishment: The successful group buying page will display a "success message" and use dynamic effects to give people a sense of accomplishment.

Technology: Design of group buying process.

Reduce user costs:

Monetary cost: I saved money on my own purchases by group buying, asking for help or helping others.

Learning (understanding + thinking) cost: "Initiate a group order" and "Go to group order". The two operation methods are very clear and do not require too much understanding and thinking.

Use advanced gameplay 2:

Creativity: Game fission by seeking help from friends, taking "opening red envelopes every day" as an example (bargaining also has a similar fission logic).

form:

Open red envelopes every day and (the more friends you help open the red envelopes, the more rewards you get) stimulate you to share. Through fission, more people around you can see Pinduoduo, which increases product exposure and activity. At the same time, the no-threshold coupons you receive further increase the user's purchase conversion rate (cheaper).

Friends who help can also receive a random amount of reward, which is conducive to the registration of new users.

Motivation throughout:

Take advantage and get cash discounts by clicking;

Social reciprocity psychology, share with others, "friends get" cash because of you, the sharer will not hate this (of course, the amount of cash is also important)

Technology: Design of the red envelope opening process.

1. The platform gives you a red envelope. After you receive it, you will be prompted to invite friends to open it. The total amount of the red envelope is not yet online. The more friends you invite, the more money you will get;

2. The amount obtained is valid for 7 days and will be invalid after the expiration date;

3. When the corresponding number of people is met, there will be additional rewards;

4. Each person has 3 opportunities to help open a card every day, and can help the same person once a day;

5. The rewards you receive can be exchanged for cash coupons (exclusive for mini programs, no threshold) - the exchange levels are 1, 3, and 5. The levels that have been exchanged cannot be exchanged again;

6. Below the event page, the products are displayed to remind users that they have a chance to win a red envelope by browsing the products.

Reduce user costs:

Monetary cost: Helping users make money, why not?

Learning (understanding + thinking) cost: How to open a red envelope, WeChat red envelopes have become a teacher

Decision-making and action costs: The path is short and the operation is simple

Intrinsic needs 3: Addiction, variable rewards, preferences (principle of pain, like fun)

Creativity:

Sell ​​and play at the same time. No other shopping platform would embed gamification so blatantly and place it on such a prominent page. The entire shopping platform is more like a game app, which is completely different from the previous search-based and shopping-centric approaches of Tmall, JD.com, etc.

E-commerce platforms such as Tmall and JD.com are like traditional supermarkets, with boring and traditional shelf display methods; Pinduoduo is probably like a shop in an amusement park, where you can play here and buy there, which is more enjoyable.

Why do this? There is a perfect answer in "Why Customers Buy": users are more likely to buy when they are addicted to the game.

Gamification design, entertainment + shopping, the game's most eye-catching "Personal Center", has also developed modules such as daily cash, 1 point lottery, bargaining for free, and Duoduo Orchard. In addition to the fission function, it also has a design that makes users addicted.

form:

In the personal center, the most eye-catching thing is not the shopping-related buttons, but the games.

technology:

A variety of game combinations, addictive.

Random games (people get addicted to variable rewards): Lottery: one-cent lottery;

Cultivation games: Duoduo Orchard, triggering stickiness;

Stress relief games: Love elimination;

Benefit games (simple and crude): receive cash every day;

Take the cultivation type Duoduo Orchard as an example to disassemble:

Continue to run through the design of the motivation:

Cultivation games make more use of goal approach, goal obstacle, sense of mission and accomplishment, possession, unknown and curiosity. Physical rewards are also present throughout, triggering the user's mentality of taking advantage.

Game format:

Water the fruit trees a certain number of times - the fruit trees will bloom - obtain fertilizers through tasks - (fruits will grow after watering 60 times) and you can get real fruits.

One game can simultaneously increase the app opening rate + improve user stickiness + increase shopping conversion rate + attract new users and promote activation. How does it do it?

Let’s review the Duoduo Orchard game:

Game elements:

Points: Calculated based on the number of grams of water droplets.

Mission: In order for fruit trees to grow quickly, bloom and bear fruit, they need to constantly receive water drops.

Through three ways of earning points: games, traffic generation, and shopping, we have achieved the goals of promoting activation, attracting new customers, and increasing product conversion rates.

Earn points through games: Complete game tasks and get drops - increase APP opening rate and user stickiness.

1. Continuous login and sign-in, timed entry page;
2. The game also includes simple stand-alone games, lottery games, and divination games.

Earn points by attracting traffic: invite friends, interact with them, and get drops of water - user stickiness and new user acquisition to promote activation.

1. Add Pinduoduo friends
2. Invite friends to play Duoduo Orchard
3. Invite friends to download the APP
4. Invite friends to plant trees together and remind them to water them
5. Invite lost friends to return

Earn points for shopping: Increase shopping conversion rate.

1. Browse products for 1 minute

2. Purchase products or group orders successfully on the specified page

3. Group purchase of agricultural products (philanthropy inspires a sense of mission)

Reward mechanism:

Short-term feedback: goal achievement, sense of accomplishment, and variable rewards

1. Through each action (the game design here guides user retention, attracts new users, improves shopping conversion rate, etc.), you can get different water drop grams (that is, the points mechanism)
2. Each watering consumes 10g of water droplets, and you will be given different surprise gifts (such as extra water droplets, limited-time free coupons for the orchard), and a reminder "Water the orange tree X more times and it will bloom!"
3. The shopping products guided by each task are all products that users have browsed before and have the motivation to buy (increasing the shopping conversion rate)
4. Added feedback, click the kettle to shorten the watering interval (feedback is very important)

Long-term feedback: obtaining physical fruits, rewards, and a sense of accomplishment in achieving goals.

Summarize

Reviewing and disassembling are for better application.

Let’s go back to the underlying formula of marketing planning we summarized:

The universal formula for marketing planning (applicable to activities, plans, products, etc.) = tapping into user needs (internal and external motivations) + making use of advanced gameplay (creativity + form + technology + channel + motivation) + reducing user costs

First, clarify the needs

When planning a marketing campaign, a fission campaign, or a product, APP, or mini program, first consider who you are targeting and what needs you are meeting?

External demands are relatively clear-cut physical rewards, cash red envelopes, etc. How to tap into users’ internal needs? There are two ways.

(1) Analytical method

1. Surface consumption behavior
2. The motivation behind the behavior (extrinsic motivation)
3. The reasons behind motivation (intrinsic motivation)
4. Layers of actions around causes

for example:

Behavior: Go home and give gifts to elders

External motivation: solving life problems, giving gifts and improving health

Intrinsic motivation: to make the elderly happy (to give them the capital to show off and socialize)

(2) Li Jiaoshou’s Demand Triangle: Finding users’ intrinsic needs from different perspectives

Then make use of advanced gameplay (creativity + form + technology + channel + throughout motivation).

Creativity:

After determining user needs, we will come up with creative ideas to find a more interesting and exciting way to make users see me while still meeting their needs.

Just like a person’s appearance, only if it stands out can it be noticed at first glance.

Form & Technology:

The presentation forms and implementation technologies of activities and processes are constantly improving with the fission from pictures and texts to H5, short videos, games, posters, etc.

In addition to the ability to run the process, what is more important is the user experience in the process .

Is there timely feedback? Is the user path clear? Does it conform to user operating habits? What kind of reward mechanism and sharing mechanism are used? You can refer to the gamification design method here.

channel:

To sum up, the publicity channels basically consist of two steps. To flatten a piece of land, first find the awesome explosives, then position them properly, and finally detonate them intensively.

The first step is to find the cold start group and reach them accurately. Seize super nodes, key figures, seed users, etc., and find the explosives to detonate;

The second step is to control the rhythm of dissemination and detonate intensively.

Try to release at a concentrated time to ensure the "density of communication" and control the rhythm of communication.

Think about how to reduce user costs:

It is necessary to empower users and reduce their costs, which include monetary costs, learning (understanding + thinking) costs, time costs, decision-making/trust costs, action costs, social costs + image costs, health costs, etc.

Make it clear whether each of your steps increases the cost for users? Can it be avoided or even reduced?

Note that there is one key point that runs through it all, which is the use of user motivations, from beginning to end. Looking at it this way, Pinduoduo has given me a lot to think about.

Author: Wang Mumu

Source: Mumu News