Please check out the 2019 New Media Operation Guide!

The future is full of uncertainties. What challenges will the new media industry face in 2019?

Looking back at 2018, the new media industry experienced its “darkest moment”. P2P keeps crashing, unmanned shelves are closing down, Mobike is sold to Meituan, Lagou revealed layoffs, WeChat banned accounts in large numbers until the current version 7.0, the sharing economy is so fierce that ofo is refunding deposits...

The industry is filled with anxiety, and many people are asking:

“Will new media be good in 2019?” “In 2019, should I use TikTok or WeChat official accounts?” Will the arrival of the 5G era cause graphic and text information to depreciate rapidly? Will video information become the next trend? "Can I still play fission? Will it be banned?"...

As Luo Zhenyu said: " Change is life itself", the future is full of variables. In 2019, new media will face another dilemma in the new year. In which direction will the wind of new media blow? How can new media professionals survive in the new round of crisis?

So, today we will talk about the new media trend judgment and response strategies in 2019:

1. Trends in new media in 2019

1. Short video battle

Looking back at 2018, TikTok has been on a tear, with its monthly active users reportedly reaching 500 million in December, and it has long dominated the download rankings in the U.S. app market. Kuaishou's traffic has been relatively stable, its monetization capabilities are also strong, and it has been actively expanding overseas. Recently, following Meipai and Miaopai, WeChat 7.0 has also launched Moment Video.

The advent of the 5G era has further lowered the threshold for short videos, and the videoization of content is unstoppable. Videos with a duration of less than 1 minute will continue to grow with the help of social short video platforms such as Douyin, Kuaishou, and Weishi. It can be seen that in 2019, the trend of short videos will continue to blow, and blow even more vigorously.

1. Social e-commerce is booming

In 2018, Pinduoduo's listing myth stimulated the hearts of many e-commerce people. Bargaining links frequently appear in WeChat groups, and the Pinduoduo logo and the "brainwashing song" of "Pinduoduo, Pinduoduo, the more you work, the more you save" are often seen in various popular programs. It also allows people to see the infinite possibilities of social e-commerce.

Given the huge potential of social e-commerce, this still makes Alibaba nervous. The reason is that social e-commerce has replaced the micro-business group that was once in full swing, because social e-commerce uses people's influence to spread information and recommend products.

By connecting the upstream and downstream of products and saving the middle links, prices can be made cheaper and quality more guaranteed. Moreover, the credit relationship between acquaintances can reduce consumers' concerns about product quality.

Social e-commerce will continue to develop in 2019, but the boom may be short-lived, and the investment in social robots or operators required will be huge. In addition, e-commerce itself has the characteristics of high investment and high risk, so you should be cautious when entering the market.

1. “Content is king” remains unchanged

A new trend focuses more on content than simple traffic. What kind of content is considered qualified content? What kind of content is considered good content?

For many people, creating content is not a difficult task. What is difficult is to create content that satisfies customers and resonates with users. When real leading brands place advertisements on public accounts, they no longer focus solely on the number of readers and the amount of dissemination, but are increasingly paying attention to the content creators' ability to create high-quality content. The clients are not stupid. The era of winning simply by relying on traffic is over.

Therefore, new media must find ways to discover more high-quality content. The only way is to increase investment to discover, purchase, and aggregate more high-quality content and achieve stable growth through "high-quality content."

1. Vertical KOLs are favored

In 2019, brands will increase their investment in vertical KOLs (experts in specific fields), because vertical KOLs have greater user stickiness and higher trust, as well as clear positioning and fixed tone. They are more capable of bringing products in their professional fields than general celebrities, and can better help brands with user positioning. For example, KOL marketing has become a mainstream method in the beauty, maternal and child care industries, and has become an indispensable brand channel.

In 2019, compared with leading self-media, vertical KOLs will have more opportunities. The more focused and vertical they are, the more likely they are to succeed. Moreover, self-media in vertical fields has gradually opened up development space. If done well, the potential is immeasurable.

1. Mini Programs bid farewell to the barbaric era

As a hot concept in 2018, "currently more than 1.5 million developers have joined in the development of mini programs, with more than 1 million mini program applications covering more than 200 sub-industries and more than 200 million daily active users."

In early 2018, popular mini-programs such as “Brain King” and “Jump Jump” became famous overnight, thus ushering in the wild era of mini-programs. By using the operational method of "catching eyeballs and seeking hot sales", it often only takes one month to create a million-level mini program.

However, this uncontrolled method of inducing sharing seriously damaged the user experience and was criticized by a large number of users. Subsequently, WeChat banned it and closed the interface for obtaining group information. By the second half of 2018, eye-catching mini-programs that relied on encouraging sharing were often warned by the authorities or removed from the shelves.

But near the end of 2018, many brands have achieved fission marketing through mini programs and realized in-store traffic. For example, KFC, Heytea, etc.

Although fission gameplay cannot be separated from subsidies, the actual benefits are greater than the costs. Therefore, in 2019, if you want to make a push in mini programs, you should focus on how to use mini programs to solve marketing needs such as in-store traffic, fission customer acquisition, online fan attraction, and offline docking .

1. Regulation is becoming increasingly stringent

After CCTV criticized the chaos in self-media and People's Daily Online published several articles criticizing self-media, the National Internet Information System carried out drastic supervision of the new media industry.

Many self-media platforms and websites have been frequently summoned for talks or rectifications, and many self-media accounts that violated regulations have been blocked or banned. Regulators have also warned practitioners not to try to cross policy red lines.

As the red line for new media content is tightened, on the one hand, new media practitioners will raise their awareness of the bottom line; on the other hand, more content teams will establish a "three-review system" similar to that of traditional media to avoid unnecessary risks. Therefore, this year, no matter whether it is a large or small new media account, it is necessary to strengthen the grasp of content direction. If there is any deviation, the chance of collapse will increase.

In addition, not only is the supervision of graphic and text content strict, but the supervision of short video content is also strict.

1. Increased copyright awareness

Nowadays, many industries have begun to pay attention to copyright, and the original authors' awareness of rights protection has been continuously improved. Copyright issues such as font infringement, image infringement, portrait infringement, and plagiarism continue to occur. Copyright will become the most troublesome area for many new media people in the future. In addition to enhancing copyright awareness of original content, operators also need to learn how to avoid "stepping on mines" in the future. Therefore, original copyrighted content will be a very profitable direction in the future.

1. Diversification of profit models

In today's era of "scarce attention", Weibo, WeChat, Toutiao and various new social apps are all trying to meet users' needs for obtaining information and consuming content. So, users stay here for a longer time, and stay in other places for a shorter time.

Increasing fan activity, tapping into more commercial value from existing fans and communities, and actively and quickly monetizing traffic are issues that every new media person must focus on.

The reading volume of the headlines of most subscription accounts is less than 5%, and some are even at 0.5%. If we can find a suitable way to increase user activity, then the profit model will naturally be easier to figure out.

You can see that this is a major trend. For example, more and more self-media offline stores have been established, such as Yitiao, Shidian Reading, and Rishiji . Offline dividends are becoming a monetization model pursued by public accounts.

2. How can new media adapt to the trend in 2019?

1. IP-based operation roles

Never position your IP as a customer service role. This IP should be the company founder, star employee, expert, internet celebrity, etc., to increase user trust and attract user attention.

A clear and specific IP image can help others recognize you quickly, and the people attracted are those who have the same interests, hobbies or specialties as you; or those who are interested in your products and services.

If you are operating maternal and child products, you can position yourself as a maternal and child expert like Chenggaomamama, and frequently share professional knowledge related to maternal and child care with your fans.

1. Do a good matrix layout

In an environment where traffic is king and channels are diverse, how can new media operations of brands large and small keep up with the pace and not fall behind? Then we need to make a good matrix layout.

In the past, when working in new media, "if you seize a platform that is on the rise, you can grab the traffic." But in 2019, what you need to do is not just to focus on Douyin or Weibo, but also to post your content on multiple platforms such as WeChat public accounts, Toutiao, Zhihu, Himalaya, iQiyi, etc.

For example: the relationship between a brand and its fans on open platforms such as Toutiao, Weibo, and Douban is a weak relationship, while the fans gained on WeChat public accounts have initially established a strong relationship.

After gaining a wide range of fans on the open platform, we directed the target users to the WeChat official account through interactive activities and exchanges of useful information, and then developed them into WeChat groups and QQ groups. Promotion and customer service staff personally participated in the exchanges and interactions, which firmly retained this wave of fans and cultivated them into loyal users of the brand, completing the traffic diversion seamlessly.

1. Focus on sinking users

Today, user penetration rates in first- and second-tier cities have reached their ceiling, showing signs of a traffic dilemma. However, the user demands in third- and fourth-tier cities and even in rural areas are far from being met, and there is still considerable room for growth in the market. Projects that are commonplace in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou still have a certain appeal in third- and fourth-tier cities, and consumers in third- and fourth-tier cities also have consumption motivation and purchasing power.

A research report by Penguin Think Tank stated, "Among the vast rural population, middle-aged and elderly people, and people with low education and low income, their demand for content consumption is far from saturated." In this post-traffic era, past experience may no longer be so effective, and the new media industry may be reconstructed in a "surrounding the city from the countryside" manner.

1. Improve business capabilities

The new media sector is the group that is most sensitive to external changes and will respond fastest. Therefore, as a professional new media person, you need to make adjustments based on changes in the environment. For example, in recent years, pictures and texts have gradually cooled down, while short videos have continued to rise. At this time, in order to be a good new media, in addition to being able to produce high-quality content, you also need to understand the dissemination routines of short videos.

Conclusion

Will new media operations become more difficult in 2019? To borrow the words of Wang Xing, the founder of Meituan:

“2019 may be the worst year in the past decade, but it will be the best year in the next decade.”

Therefore, new media people do not need to be overly anxious. The more difficult it is, the more it shows that there is a lot of room for optimization, and opportunities and changes often hide there.

Keep the original intention, create content carefully, and clarify the core of service. No matter how the situation changes, the impact on new media people will be minimal.

Source: Activity Box (huodonghezi.com)