Community marketing case: How to operate WeChat community well?

I believe many people still remember the battle among thousands of groups during the heyday of “group buying”. The group buying websites that were popular at that time have now become a luxury that only giants can operate; and today, a few years later, group selling has once again entered the public eye - social media marketing.

Sun Yat-sen once said:

The affairs of the world are vast and powerful. Those who follow them will prosper, and those who go against them will perish.

Although the reality is not so exaggerated, following the path of social marketing in e-commerce is the right time driven by the general trend. By chance, I had the opportunity to manage the online operations of a traditional old brand, Tongfusheng Old Beijing Braised Pork.

1. Operational ideas

The four stages of operation: from acquisition, to activation, retention, and finally to channel expansion through replication model. When merchants have never conducted online marketing, it is difficult for them to develop effective operational strategies. Therefore, we should start with simply forming a community, acquiring original users and retaining members; then we can activate and retain members and cultivate awareness through activities within the community. After establishing a complete closed loop from acquisition to retention, we will enter the food delivery and e-commerce platforms to expand channels and divert members.

2. WeChat community, accumulate members

The natural carrier is WeChat, which has three major characteristics: high penetration: there are 1 billion WeChat users; low cost: low advertising cost; high retention: high stickiness and frequent appearance; Which is the best: personal account, WeChat group or public account?

There are many ways to accumulate members through WeChat, including adding friends through personal accounts, joining WeChat groups, and following public accounts. What is the difference between these three? Which one is most effective for a business that is just starting out?

We need to be clear about one thing: the future is an era of managing user assets, where people are unique, not products. So what we want is to accumulate members and do a better job of managing and reaching them. This can be understood through a table:

Based on the above analysis and the influence and goals of the current store, I finally chose my personal account + WeChat group as the carrier, and placed orders through mini-programs or H5 pages. In essence, community marketing has formed a new e-commerce channel.

3. Operation Mode

Take advantage of offline physical store resources and transform them into online business advantages;

• Divert offline traffic to online: post posters in stores, print QR codes for group entry, conduct employee training, and divert all customers who come to the store to the shopkeeper’s WeChat account or WeChat welfare group to the greatest extent possible.
• Online traffic diversion into groups: design the content of Moments, let relatives and friends forward Moments, invite friends to join the group, and have friends refer others, etc.

Even if customers do not make any purchases now, they are potential customers after joining the member welfare group. They can be reached at any time through member-exclusive activities in the WeChat group in the future to stimulate their shopping potential.

The benefits of becoming a WeChat e-member are as follows:

1. No more waiting : Physical stores have natural customer flow, are close to consumers, and can meet user needs in the shortest possible time; however, offline physical stores are used to waiting for customers to come, passively relying on natural customer flow. If a similar store opens nearby, the natural customer flow will also be divided. Converting the current natural customer flow into a natural customer base is an important step;
2. Virtual business scope : With a real shopping environment, offline physical stores have provided consumers with a good experience. While recognizing the deliciousness, it is necessary to provide consumers with a variety of purchasing channels. Instead of relying on location, word of mouth, and activities, it is better to rely on the member WeChat group as a carrier to enable consumers to bring dining spots to every place on their own;
3. Stores opened nearby : Wherever users’ attention is, there are opportunities. Consumers spend an average of three hours a day on WeChat groups, Moments, Douyin, official accounts, and mini-programs. Member welfare groups can reach consumers at all times and anywhere, opening a store close to them.

4. In the early stage of social marketing, promote single products

In the early stage of social marketing, it is necessary to rely on the popularity of single products to build consumers' awareness and attraction to WeChat groups. The following criteria can be used as a reference for the selection of single products:

1. The products you choose must be high-frequency hot-selling products. They cannot be low-frequency or have a narrow audience. Otherwise, the hit rate will be too low to have a concentrated explosion.
2. It is easy to understand if the discount is large. If the discount is small, it can be explained based on the consumer psychology formula "product value + discount value > user usage cost". When the usage cost is too high, I will consider whether it is worth paying for this discount and why I should join the group.

In order to take the first step and attract the first member, we specially put the star food of "Tong Fu Sheng" on the "member benefits" shelf. The classic secret pig's trotter at 19.9 yuan/half is the most popular among customers in offline stores. Every time the hot big pig's trotter comes out of the pot, there is a long queue. It only costs 9.9 yuan to join the membership.

The selection of pig's trotters was also made after internal discussions. First, pig’s trotters can be eaten in many occasions, such as lunch, dinner, and snacks (for example, eating while watching TV series, browsing Taobao, or when tired from work). Second, find a reasonable psychological price point that can make customers feel that it is so suitable that they will lose out if they don’t buy it. Third, set a purchase threshold so that only members can purchase.

5. Marketing to promote activity and cultivate awareness

Treat all customers and potential customers as potential customers for our next batch of transactions and launch an activity every week. Every day, a dedicated person is responsible for notifying of promotional activities, broadcasting order reports, and distributing Easter eggs, so that members in the group can be first-hand aware of promotional information. They can also consult and place orders in the group at any time.

The focus of "community marketing + membership operation" is to have fixed benefits every week and dynamic benefits from time to time, to form a habit, and to log in to the store every week to learn about the activities of the week: the highlights of the activities need to take advantage of hot spots and festivals to promote them. Every time a hot spot appears, it is a hot spot for publicity, so as to attract or promote consumers to buy goods, which has certain benefits in increasing the number of customers, the average order value, and the repurchase rate.

Of course, quality is the key to generating word-of-mouth: any form of merchandise sales will have its quality tested in the after-sales phase. At this point, it is very simple from the user's perspective. If the things you buy are good, I may continue to buy them next time; if the things you buy are not good, I may not only return the purchase this time, but also not come back next time. Products are the foundation, and there is no shortcut in this regard. For "Tong Fu Sheng" to become a century-old brand, the old soup, old flavor, and old craftsmanship are necessary!

6. Create hunger marketing and lock in consumer groups in advance

Launching coupons is not just about attracting customers through low prices. If that were the case, why not just lower the prices and offer discounts?

Coupons seem to lower prices and allow users to get a bargain; for merchants, the purpose of introducing coupons is to maintain the price system.

Coupons can help you:

• Price determination: effectively make customers recognize the selling price and maximize profits;
• Advertising strategy: Coupons can achieve certain advertising benefits, such as advertising that a certain pig's trotter can only be used;
• Psychological motivation: People are more willing to take advantage of coupons if they have them, and it would be a waste if they don’t use them.

Through testimonials from customers, we conduct marketing with warmth and authenticity

Carrying out buyer show activities and collecting buyer shows can not only enrich the content of the product purchase page, allowing new customers to see food and reviews that are closer to the real thing, but also promote orders from hesitant members in the WeChat group.

Certain data shows that people like to find a home and common topics; people like to observe others to determine their own behavior, so strong buyer shows and comments are very helpful in improving conversion rates.

Buyer shows have the function of narration and storytelling, which can bring a sense of involvement to the observer. These characters and scenes, combined with the narrative stories, make buyer shows more capable of promoting sales.

7. Expand channels and attract members

Settle in major food delivery and e-commerce platforms to increase sales scenarios. Food delivery and e-commerce platforms have an exposure-added effect and can obtain a certain amount of brand traffic. With the rapid development of major food delivery platforms and e-commerce platforms, they can take advantage of the momentum to promote their own products and brands.

Since we are talking about attracting members, let's think about it in this direction. Everyone who orders takeout will leave contact information, and more preferential activities can be used to attract consumers to join the member welfare group.

Source: PM Ah Lei