Event promotion: How to increase the opening rate of user push?

Activity push is an important way for products to connect with users. How to increase the user opening rate of push and make the push truly reach users? The author of this article summarizes some of his experiences.

Any operation on users is inseparable from the connection of reach channels. It can be said that the combination of channels you choose to reach your customers is directly linked to your final operating results. How to achieve accurate user reach, how to choose different reach channels, how to maximize the combined effect of multiple channels, and how to make the reach express attitudes and convey warmth to users.

Today, let’s talk about “reach”.

As a bridge connecting students and online school products, student operations require reaching students in every aspect such as event organization, learning reminders, and student services.

1. Reach Channels

Reach channels are divided into active reach channels and passive reach channels, namely push channels and promotion positions. We currently have many channels, the most commonly used of which are SMS, WeChat service account, APP push, QQ group and class bulletin board.

1. Inventory of commonly used channels

2. Comparative analysis of promotion effects of different channels

Judging from the highest click-through rate and average click-through rate of each channel, WeChat service account>SMS>iOS push>Android push; Among them, WeChat’s highest click-through rate is much higher than other channels, but the average click-through rate is not significantly different from that of SMS. This may be because the CET-4 and CET-6 students who have bound to the WeChat service account have been frequently reached during this period, resulting in a decrease in the click-through rate in the later period. But overall, WeChat is still the channel with the most valuable potential.

2. Refined Reach

More efficient and accurate reach can not only improve our user experience and reduce costs, but also reflect our operational capabilities. After more than four months of actual combat, we have gained some experience and thoughts on refined outreach. Next, we will discuss this from the dimensions of time, copywriting and crowd.

1. Better timing

When arranging the push, choose the best push time based on the user's actual scenario and the content being pushed. There are two aspects here:

(1) The best time to push content within a day

The best time to push messages within a day is related to the daily routine of the corresponding group of people. Judging from the work and rest schedule of general college students, 8 a.m. is the time for the first class in the morning, 12 noon is the lunch break, 16 p.m. is the time for classes to end, and after 19:30 p.m. is free time.

When sending SMS messages about admission notices, we tested the same message at different push times and found that there was a significant difference in the number of clicks. Among them, the click-through rates of text messages after 8:00, 12:00, 16:00 and 19:30 are relatively high in a day; judging from the background data, the time students spend studying courseware is mostly concentrated after 19:30, which further verifies our conclusion.

(2) Best time to push content during the week

The best time to judge should be based on the user's actual learning scenario, not the scenario we imagine. Initially, we thought that students should attend classes in school from Monday to Friday and would have no time to study on the APP. However, the weekends are relatively free and there is a large and complete period of time to study the courseware.

However, this is not the case. According to the learning data, the number of people studying the courseware starts to increase from Sunday, reaches the highest point on Tuesday/Wednesday, then starts to decline, reaching the lowest point on Saturday. Therefore, it is advisable to choose to push channels that are strongly related to learning behavior from Sunday to Wednesday, such as class bulletin boards, message centers, and APP targeted push. Similarly, content that promotes learning should not be pushed on Fridays and Saturdays.

2. More thoughtful copywriting

This is an age of information overload. Information is no longer valuable; what is valuable is attention.

Users receive many push messages from various channels every day, including text messages, WeChat, message centers... Can you read all the messages that come to your phone in a day? Obviously, no. In fact, people have become increasingly numb to information. Most of the information was simply ignored. For users, the first glance at information determines whether they will devote their already scarce attention to it. Therefore, high-quality copywriting skills are one of the indicators for evaluating every operator.

In the daily operation of the Wolf Warrior project, copywriting has always been an important topic of our research. We have made many attempts, constantly thinking and summarizing what kind of copy can capture the students' attention. Among them, there have been some highlights, but also many detours.

(1) Case 1: Pre-test copywriting to guide users to identify pain points

Since most of the students are not familiar with the Hujiang Uni Smart CET-4 and CET-6 courses, after the students start to enter the class, we will send a round of text messages to the students who entered the class the day before every day to guide the students to complete the pre-class test.

Our initial copy looked like this:

It has been almost two weeks since you started the class. Open the course to see what changes have taken place in your Level 6 Smart Class!

However, the actual effect is not very good, and the click-through rate of text messages is very low. We invested a lot of money but didn't achieve the results we expected. After analysis, we believe that the problem lies in the copywriting. The copywriting is very friendly, but too bland. Guiding pre-testing is an ongoing work. For this purpose, we have formed a copywriting team to promote pre-testing. We try different copywriting every day and compare the effects of push.

After two weeks of testing, the optimized copy looked like this:

You are already behind 92.3% of people. Hurry up and take the assessment to generate your own smart learning plan! Click "Lesson 1" to start the test

The optimized copy focuses on the students’ pain points – fear of falling behind, and its click-through rate is nearly three times that of the original copy.

(2) Case 2: Regular learning activity copywriting - creativity is the key

A total of four large-scale team-based courseware learning activities were organized for the Level 4 and Level 6 exams. Each class was divided into teams, and PK was carried out within and between teams. During each team recruitment period, each class will push personalized copy to guide students to join the team and participate in activities.

In fact, before the students competed in learning progress, the classes had already competed in a round of copywriting. Before each push, the Wolf Warriors class would brainstorm various creative copywriting, trying every possible way to grab the students' attention. Some of these creative ideas achieved very good results:

Your friend Damai invites you to join the room. Sorry, join the team. Join now and play with friends.

I don't want you to spend money on me, I just want you to spend some time with me... Come back and study together, Dalinbanban is waiting for you

(3) Case 3: Pre-exam related push copy - warm operation

As the exam approaches, students are generally nervous and anxious. At this time, the copy we push mainly takes a warm approach to relieve students' nervousness and let them feel the warmth of operations.

Knowledge, notes, friendships, memories, fill your bag with these; every bit of them is worth remembering. And please take this scholarship with you. It is Banban’s final gift to you.

The test will be held tomorrow, and the teacher reminds us to remember the following: don’t forget your admission ticket and ID card, and don’t forget your eraser and pencil. Check the weather conditions at the examination venue in advance and adjust the headphone equipment. Where to find post-exam analysis, and see the online school for full score reviews.

Use words like thank you, company, and reminder to narrow the distance between you and the students. At the same time, use erasers, pencils, headphones, etc. to make the copy more visual and warmer. The warm reminders before the exam are as if the teacher is right next to you, reminding you what to prepare for the exam. Have you ever thought of your nagging parents for a moment?

(4) Comparative test of long and short copy

The word count of our text messages is generally controlled within 58 characters, including links. A short link takes up 20 characters. That is to say, we only have 38 characters to convey the information we want to express. This often makes us feel distressed and unable to display our talents when designing copy. If this limitation is broken, will the copywriting be more effective? With this question in mind, we conducted four sets of comparative tests on long and short copywriting. We randomly grouped people with the same attributes on the same topic, pushed long and short copywriting separately, and compared the reach effects.

The following are the specific copy of two of the test sets:

Test 1: The last team activity promotion before the exam

Long copy: Stop~ Count on your fingers, there is only one month left in 2017, and only two weeks left for the CET-4 exam~ In 2017 we have only this one small goal: to pass the CET-4. Can it be done? If you are already in your third or fourth year of college, then Banban will sternly tell you that your college life is almost over. Wake up! At the end of your exam preparation, Banban will give you a hand.

Short copy: This may be the last time I ask you to join the team, please click here if you are willing

Test 2: After the test, guide students to fill in the subsequent study wishes

Long copy: After finishing the CET-4 or CET-6, no matter how you performed, there is always a next step to take. Taking CET-4 and CET-6 again? Continue to improve your English skills? Preparing to study abroad? Preparing for the workplace? Or learn a new language? Come and tell the online school! There is also a chance to receive exclusive scholarship funds!

Short copy: After finishing the CET-4 and CET-6 exams, will you continue studying?

The results show that there is no obvious correlation between the length of the copy and the click-through rate, and it mainly depends on the content of the copy itself. Short copy can be simple and straightforward, yet deeply rooted in people's hearts; long copy can provide a wider creative space, giving the copy itself more powerful and richer energy, but it requires users to pay more attention. Of course, in order to save costs, it is better to use short copy as much as possible.

(5) Is copywriting just for a higher click-through rate?

It should be pointed out that we later discovered that although copywriting can increase the click-through rate of reach channels such as SMS and WeChat, it cannot bring about substantial changes in the completion rate and renewal rate.

Despite this, we believe that good copywriting is still very necessary, as it builds an effective communication bridge between us and our students. An interesting and thoughtful copy can quickly capture the user's current attention and enhance user stickiness. In addition, good copywriting can influence users' perception of corporate culture and play a very positive role in building brand image and enhancing brand communication. These effects may not bring obvious value at the moment, but in the long run, they are immeasurable wealth for the company.

For example, when people hear the word "亲", the first thing that comes to mind is Taobao. This is the magical power of copywriting in creating cognition. Let users think of our brand first when they have learning needs. This is the great value of copywriting design.

3. More precise population

From a cost perspective, all pushes have a cost:

(1) Explicit costs

Cost of operating personnel;

The cost of channels, such as SMS.

(2) Hidden costs (other channels besides SMS appear to be free, but they actually have costs):

Channel resources are scarce, and scarcity means cost, so we need to put more valuable content.

Users' attention is scarce, and users' patience is scarce. If I have already joined a team and I still receive repeated notifications about team activities, I will just feel harassed. Over time, maybe I will put this APP in the dark room - turn off notifications.

Therefore, refined operations inevitably require that the objects of push must be more precise, striving to ensure that all bullets hit the target.

During the operation process, we usually divide the population based on the completion rate and the number of days the APP is active. However, it is found that people with high completion rates and high activity levels are highly overlapping; students with high completion rates and high activity levels are usually easy to reach through various channels; while most low-frequency active/learning users can only be reached through high-cost methods such as text messages.

The direct result of this is that from the perspective of the channel:

If only the participation in a certain activity is considered, the operation staff will naturally prefer the former when pushing the activity; however, from a global perspective, the actual value generated by such activities to promote activity/learning will be greatly reduced. Whether the purpose is to promote activity or to promote learning, they will still come if you don’t reach them. This seems to be the dilemma of precision operations.

Perhaps, when designing activities, we should consider the characteristics of low-frequency learners/active users, or use lighter and more interesting content operations to attract these users. Let those who don’t like studying appreciate the charm of learning. This is the true value of education.

Source: Hujiang Operation Club (hjomclub)