Taking WeChat Reading as an example: 3 steps to effectively implement user growth strategy!

Nowadays, the work of product and operation is becoming more and more segmented. Some people specialize in user growth , some specialize in conversion loopholes, and some specialize in customer acquisition and retention ...

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Why is everyone’s work becoming more and more segmented?

This is mainly based on the current situation of mobile Internet : the number of Internet users is growing slowly and the traffic dividend is disappearing.

As of June 2018, the number of mobile Internet users in China reached 986 million.

Compared with the end of 2017, the total number of new Internet users was 15.25 million, an increase of only 1.57%.

Compared with the rapid growth in the previous two years, the growth rate has further narrowed and the certainty of the mobile Internet demographic dividend has disappeared.

Therefore, for mobile Internet companies, how to effectively connect and convert users and grasp existing users has become a new issue.

To effectively connect and convert users, we need to understand our users better than ever before.

In the process of gaining a deeper understanding of user needs, we will face the question: How to acquire customers efficiently? How to convert successfully? How to improve loyalty? This requires dedicated efforts to increase user growth. So how do we increase user growth?

Next, this article will talk about it from the following two dimensions:

(1) Introduction to user growth methodology, understanding what growth is, why we need to do growth, and an introduction to the general process of user growth;

(2) Taking WeChat Reading as an example, analyze the existing user growth strategies of WeChat Reading and introduce the strategy logic of each user growth;

1. To increase user growth, you only need three steps

1. Let’s first look at what growth is and why we need to achieve growth?

First of all, good products grow spontaneously, which is also an obvious manifestation of the value created by the product for users.

Growth is all about efficiency, and it is about making the most of a small investment. It can be understood as growth that goes beyond the natural growth trend.

The reason why the platform is growing is that it hopes to obtain growth returns that exceed the natural trend at a lower cost, faster speed, and more precise targeting through additional resources (such as red envelope subsidies, traffic inclination, privileges, activities, material rewards, spiritual satisfaction, etc.).

2. The general process of user growth is three steps:

(1) Reach, that is, through what channels /paths to find target users

If you want to reach your users, you must first know:

• Who is the target user?

• Where are the target users?

• What path is needed to find the target users?
• After finding the users, how about evaluating the user quality of each channel?
• Commonly used external channels, such as: search engines , app stores , other platforms ( social , video, content and other media channels) or roadsides/streets where target users often appear.
• It can also be an internal channel, such as: App homepage, banner activities, a certain link in the product process, personal center, etc.

Finally, through technical means, the channels are continuously segmented, and it is determined how to circle and identify the target user groups in different channels, and finally the channels with the widest target user coverage and the highest conversion rate are selected.

(2) Cognition, that is, what product means/forms are used to make users understand the product;

If you want user awareness, you must first know:

• In what ways can relevant channels influence users?
• This includes methods already provided by the channel as well as methods built by the platform itself.
• It is also necessary to calculate the traffic utilization and conversion rate of this method.
• Commonly used product means/forms, such as: red envelopes shared by friends, banner activities on the homepage, TV commercials, guide entrances in process links, etc.

Most of us have ordered takeout, and there are many ways to send red envelopes.

For example, for task bounty red envelopes for member users, users need to complete the task (place two orders/each order is more than 20 yuan) before they can receive it, using the 6 yuan full-discount red envelope with no threshold. When the user opens the App, a pop-up window will appear on the homepage to remind the user to claim the gift.

For example, red envelopes are distributed to ordinary users, some of which are given by merchants and some by platforms. When the user is ready to order food and enters the App, a pop-up message will appear to remind the user to pick it up.

For example, after users place an order, guide them to share and receive lucky red envelopes to encourage them to place a second order.

The user's consumption capacity and price sensitivity can be analyzed from various factors such as historical consumption, red envelope receipt and usage.

Among the red envelopes received, there are general red envelopes from the platform, targeted red envelopes from merchants, exclusive red envelopes from Alipay , and red envelopes for Ctrip train tickets, which in turn forms cross- marketing sales of products.

Of course, there are also red envelopes for signing in, red envelopes for scanning codes, cash red envelopes for inviting new users, and so on.

Simply by sending different forms of red envelopes to different users in different scenarios, users can become aware of the product and promote conversions.

The platform uses technical means to match different channels and product forms, and continuously conducts AB testing in the process. Ultimately, it will be able to more accurately grasp user needs and make more accurate content recommendations for different content and provide targeted content/product recommendations.

(3) Conversion, that is, how much cost/subsidy the platform is willing to pay to promote user conversion.

If you want to convert users, it depends on how much cost/subsidy the platform is willing to pay, and you also need to calculate the minimum cost and conversion rate for different users using different means of subsidies.

Through continuous AB testing, users are continuously segmented and the lowest conversion cost for different users is refined.

For example, in the example of ordering takeout just now, the costs paid by the platform are mainly platform red envelope discounts, store shared costs, cross-selling investment costs, etc.

Let’s take a look at a book app case to learn how they increase user growth.

2. [Case Study] WeChat Reading User Growth Analysis

1. Why choose the Book App?

In the current Internet situation where the traffic dividend has disappeared, users' personalized needs are obvious.

Take reading as an example. Some people like to read, some like to listen to books, some like to watch videos, some like to read comics, some like to read novels, some like to read technical books, some can read for 2 hours a day, and some can only read for 2 hours a week...

Therefore, book apps are segmented and developed vertically to meet user needs. Book apps are a typical type of long-tail application.

like:

• Ximalaya FM is the most popular free book app with a total user base of over 470 million. It is a well-known audio sharing platform that calls itself an audio library.
• WeChat Reading is an official reading app based on WeChat’s relationship chain. It provides users with an ultimate reading experience, recommends suitable books to users, and supports users to view WeChat friends’ reading dynamics and discuss the books they are reading with friends.
• [Shuqi Novels] produced by Ali Literature to read the complete novel collection;
• Tencent Comics , a comics platform that claims to have 200 million users;
• [Fan Deng Reading] updates the essence of a high-quality book every week and delivers it to users in the form of video, audio, graphics, etc.;
• Produced by the " Luoji Siwei " team, it advocates fragmented learning methods, allowing users to acquire effective knowledge in a short period of time, and is a good choice for those who want to build a lifelong university.
• NetEase has launched a new reading product that offers one hour of free reading every day. With the dimension of "paying for time", it focuses on in-depth reading of high-quality published books and can be regarded as a breath of fresh air in the reading world. [ NetEase Snail Reading ]

…

These segmented book apps all meet the refined needs of different users.

2. Why choose WeChat Reading?

First of all, WeChat Reading is a book app.

According to iResearch's "2018 China Digital Reading Industry Case Study Report", as of the end of 2017, the overall market size of the digital reading industry was 15.2 billion, and the total user scale was 380 million.

Today, judging from the number of KuChuan Android downloads alone, WeChat Reading users have reached 167 million, ranking second among book apps. It entered the market relatively late, but has developed rapidly and its user base has increased dramatically.

Therefore, we will take WeChat Reading as an example to see how they increase user growth, how they effectively connect and convert users, and how they grasp existing users.

3. WeChat Reading – Discovery page, full of recommendations and strategies

1) Search Book City, there are guess what you like and search history, which is the search strategy.

2) Recommended for you, calculated based on your reading history, updated daily, this is book recommendation.

3) Friends’ reading status, which takes into account factors such as the number of readers, book quality, and book types, and is also a book recommendation.

4) Receive a 3-day unlimited card. Both new and old users can participate. The activity entrance will be displayed randomly according to the rules. This is a strategy to attract new users /promote activation.

5) Team up to draw unlimited cards, and carry out new user acquisition and activation activities tailored to the user's reading scene. This allows users to gain awareness through activities and thus convert. This is a new user acquisition/activation strategy.

6) Reading ranking, showing the user's reading time, ranking among friends, occupying the top of xx friends list, guiding users to share, and more importantly, promoting user activity, which is an activation strategy.

7) Share and get it for free. After sharing, users can get the corresponding books for free and permanently. This is a new customer acquisition strategy based on book recommendations.

8) Limited time give-one-get-one promotion. Users share within the limited time. After the book is claimed, the sharer will get the book for free. This is a new customer acquisition strategy based on book recommendations.

9) This week’s recommendations are calculated based on the reading habits of platform users and updated weekly. These are book recommendations.

Let’s take a closer look:

3.1 Discovery - Free Book Sharing

Business rules:

The platform recommends books that users may be interested in based on many influencing factors, including popular books (number of readers, number of people adding books to bookshelves, number of comments, number of shares, number of searches), well-received books (high or low ratings), newest books (newly listed), and user reading history.

Set up the [Share for Free] rule to attract users to actively share. After users select their favorite books and share them, they can receive the corresponding books for free and permanently.

An update is released every Tuesday and Friday. There are 6 books to be shared in each issue, and you can receive a maximum of one book in each issue.

How are specific growth plans being implemented?

(1) Let’s first look at reach:

It’s very simple. Old users only need to share it with their friends through WeChat’s unique channel - WeChat friends, to reach them.

(2) Let’s look at cognition:

——> Old users choose a book they like and their friends may also like from each issue of free books and share it with their friends (potential customers)

——> Through the shared link, potential customers can learn about the book information (cover, title, author, introduction) shared by friends, as well as the other 5 free books shared in this issue

——>At this time, potential customers can choose to receive books shared by friends, complete registration/login, and become new users of WeChat Reading

——>You can also choose your favorite books from the other 5 books and share them with your WeChat friends to receive them at cost. Of course, the prerequisite for this is to complete the registration/login and become a new WeChat Reading user.

As mentioned above, potential customers became aware of WeChat Reading through the “Share for Free” activity.

(3) Finally, look at the conversion:

New users can click [Go to WeChat Reading to receive books for free] to directly download and open WeChat Reading to receive the books. At this time, both new and old users can receive the books for free and obtain the books permanently.

This is what the platform hopes to achieve through the “Share and Get Free” campaign, by investing the extra resource of “shared books” and giving them away for free to users on both sides, thereby achieving user growth that exceeds the natural trend at a lower cost, faster speed, and more precise targeting.

3.2 Discovery - Team up to draw unlimited cards

Business rules:

The platform is well aware of users' reading needs and is also an initial attempt at paid membership. In line with user scenarios, it has planned a team lottery event suitable for new and old users to participate.

A team of 5 or more people can participate in the lottery, and each member will receive a prize after winning. The prizes are 3 days, 7 days, 15 days, 30 days, 365 days and lifetime unlimited card membership.

This means that the winning rate is 100%, and the worst case scenario is a 3-day unlimited card membership. If you are lucky, you will get a lifetime unlimited card membership.

The prize drawing time for this event is: October 13th 12:00.

How are specific growth plans being implemented?

(1) Let’s first look at reach:

Similarly, old users can share with friends through WeChat’s unique channel - WeChat friends, thus reaching users;

(2) Let’s look at cognition:

——> First, old users see the "Team Draw Unlimited Cards" event on the WeChat Reading Discovery Page. There is no further event introduction, and the event rules are so simple that users can understand at a glance what this event is, how to participate, how much the participation cost is, and how high the probability of winning is (so far, old users have first understood it)

——>Old users think the event is good, click to enter the event page, share it to WeChat with one click, and invite friends

——> New/old users can learn about the activity rules from the sharing link page, join the team after becoming interested, and continue to share with friends. Of course, if you are a new user, you need to register/log in to WeChat Reading first (at this point, the person being shared has completed the understanding and can share in turn)

(3) Finally, look at the conversion:

After the team is formed, you will draw a lottery, wait for the prize drawing, and receive the corresponding prizes (3 days, 7 days, 15 days, 30 days, 365 days and lifetime unlimited card membership) according to the winning results.

These prizes represent additional resource investment by the platform, which enables it to achieve user growth in an efficient and low-cost manner.

3.3 Discovery - Get a 3-day unlimited card

Business rules:

The platform regularly gives away 3-day unlimited cards to old users. There may be some today and there may be some next week. User A may have it but user B may not. There is some randomness here. Of course, there must be a certain algorithmic logic behind the randomness.

Although it is a gift, users are required to click to receive it. After receiving it, all the books can be read for free within 3 days.

How are specific growth plans being implemented?

(1) Let’s first look at reach:

New/old users can only receive it on the site through the WeChat Reading APP, which reaches users through the site channel;

(2) Let’s look at cognition:

——>New/old users can click on the page "There are xxx unlimited cards to be claimed" on the WeChat Reading Station to claim them;

At this point, a line of text + a card + a "click to receive" button has achieved the purpose of making users aware of the product.

(3) Finally, look at the conversion:

The unlimited card will take effect immediately after the user receives it, and will be valid until xx/xx/xx. The user can immediately view the recommended books.

Obviously, the extra resources invested by the platform are the free reading service of all books within 3 days brought by the 3-day unlimited card. This activity is very thoughtful and universal, suitable for attracting new users, retaining users, and activating users.

3.4 Discovery - Limited time offer of one get one free

Business rules:

Similar to "Share and Get Free", the platform first combines multi-dimensional influencing factors to guess the books that users may be interested in and recommends them. At the same time, it motivates users to give away books within a limited time (such as before October 12) for a chance to get books for free.

Since it is a book that users may like, in order to get it for free, users are willing to move their fingers and give it to friends. After all, what they give is a good book and their friends should like it.

There are a total of 6 books in this limited-time event.

This gift is free, and after the book is received, the sharer will receive the book for free. Friends can receive up to 2 books through this path.

How are specific growth plans being implemented?

(1) Let’s first look at reach:

Similarly, old users have reached users by sharing with friends through WeChat’s unique channel, WeChat friends.

(2) Let’s look at cognition:

——> Since these are books that old users may like, the probability of selecting a book that the user likes the most and that his friends may also like is still very high. After browsing the covers of the six books, old users can instantly make a decision to give it as a gift or not.

——> Then, the old user selects the book he likes, clicks "Get", opens a new page, displays the information of the book to be given (cover, title, author), and the book's own edited message, and the old user clicks "Give to Friends" to share it with friends in a targeted manner (so far, the old user has completed the understanding of this activity)

——> New users can learn about the books given by their friends through the shared link, and if they want to receive them, they need to register/log in first. They can also see the other 5 books recommended by WeChat Reading.

——> New users can choose to receive or select other books, provided that they have completed registration/login (so far, new users have become aware of this free-one-get-one event and have triggered actions)

(3) Finally, look at the conversion:

When a new user completes registration/login, he/she can successfully receive the book. At the same time, both parties get the book for free.

The additional resource invested by the platform is this donated book, which is obtained free of charge by both parties.

3.5 Old users spontaneously share books

Another possibility is that after seeing a good book, the user likes it very much and actively shares the book with friends;

Reach: Old users share with friends through social channels (WeChat, Moments , private messages to book friends, Weibo, Space, and other applications);

Cognition: Old users share books with friends along with book introductions, wonderful reviews, etc. Old users can click "Start Reading" and new users can be converted into new users.

Conversion: old users actively share, new users open and view, no other costs.

3.6 Hour Coin Exchange and Rewards

Business rules:

Every 30 minutes of reading can be exchanged for 1 hour coin, and a maximum of 10 hour coins can be exchanged per week;

Audiobooks that are longer than 2 hours cannot be redeemed;

After purchasing a book, you will be given random coins for sharing;

Invite friends (new users) to get time coins.

Reach: Old users share with friends through WeChat’s own channels such as WeChat Friends and Moments;

Cognition: When old users share, they will come with pre-edited sharing words (including: the old users’ cumulative reading time on WeChat Reading and the cumulative number of books they have read), and they can click to share with the corresponding friends;

Conversion: After a new user downloads and logs in to WeChat Reading through the page shared by an old user, the old user will receive 5 time coins.

3. Finally

(1) General process of user growth: reach – awareness – conversion. The strategy framework is simple, but it is not easy to use it well.

First of all, you need to understand users, their needs, and the scenarios in which they use your product. You also need to have a very clear understanding of your products and business, as well as what problems you can solve for users.

Then, based on the phased goals of user growth, find the key points that fit the demand scenarios, combine your own business advantages, and use the growth strategy framework to design a function or plan an event...

Finally, through specific product means, the best solutions that the platform can provide can be reached to users through high-quality channels, allowing users to become aware of the solution. The platform only needs to invest some additional resources to complete user conversion and ultimately obtain growth returns that exceed natural trends.

(2) WeChat Reading relies on its own and mature social relationship chain to increase its user base, which gives it a natural advantage.

Especially in the cold start phase, we are able to accurately grasp the detailed user characteristics of the WeChat user group, such as gender, age, region, occupation, income, consumption capacity, interests and hobbies. As users continue to look for books, read, share, and redeem time... to stay active, we can also conduct a comprehensive analysis of user behavior data based on user historical reading history, and ultimately accurately grasp users' differentiated reading habits and content preferences. Only then can we make book recommendations that meet users' personalized needs and find the right entry point to promote user growth through functional design or innovative activities.

(3) WeChat Reading is based on user reading needs and fits the reading scenario, flexibly triggering different types of growth methods.

Through time-coin-based redemption rewards, active book sharing, no-threshold access to 3-day unlimited cards for (old users), limited-time one-get-one-free, share-for-free, team-up to draw unlimited cards and other products/activities, we can ultimately achieve the acquisition and conversion of new users at a lower cost, faster speed and more precise targeting. Under the current situation of the Internet where the traffic dividend has disappeared, WeChat’s own traffic can be efficiently utilized to activate resources, thereby achieving effective connections, converting users, and truly grasping the existing users.

(4) Leverage the WeChat social relationship chain to continuously improve user stickiness.

Through the weekly ranking of WeChat reading friends, reading time (ranked xth among friends, occupying the first place in the x-friend ranking), number of words read, etc., users are encouraged to remain active, read and brush the rankings, and enhance their personal sense of honor. In order to satisfy the desire to show off, users will also take the initiative to share their personal reading rankings with WeChat friends or friends circle. In this way, user stickiness is continuously improved, user loyalty is deepened, and ultimately efficient user growth is achieved.

It can be seen that WeChat Reading has a rapidly growing user scale today. In addition to its own WeChat relationship chain advantages, it has also implemented many precise and efficient user growth strategies. In addition, it also has high-quality publishing book resources. Therefore, even though WeChat Reading entered the market relatively late, it is still developing rapidly.

Source: Zhao Xiangwei