Thoughts on retention, new customer acquisition and product of Bullet Messenger

Bullet Messenger has been very popular recently. The first wave of enthusiasm has faded. Only after the storm can we know the truth. Does Bullet Messenger have a chance to occupy a place in the IM field? I think there is a chance. So what can we do to have a chance? The following are some thoughts and suggestions on Bullet Messenger retention , new customer acquisition and products.

1. Retention

According to data, there are currently more than 7 million Bullet Messenger users, but some users uninstall it immediately after downloading it. The main reasons are that there are too few friends, communication is impossible, and the functions are not perfect enough. The cost of a second download is much higher than the first download because the first download is usually spontaneous, while a second download requires a good reason, such as colleagues in the company are using it, many friends are using it, or it has very attractive features.

How to retain existing users has become the most urgent task for Zidandongxi, so as to avoid becoming the next MiTalk or Laiwang.

I think a very good entry point for retention is enterprise users for two reasons:

(1) Positioning

The efficient communication positioning of Bullet Messenger is something that companies attach great importance to. Currently, WeChat has become an obstacle to efficient communication. Employees spend a lot of time on WeChat during work, and they feel helpless because they are disturbed by various messages, but they dare not turn off WeChat notifications for fear of receiving messages from bosses, colleagues and customers. I added a friend of mine using Bullet Messenger, and after chatting for a while he said that he would not leave WeChat. In fact, the cost of replacing WeChat is too high and it is unlikely to be replaced. I think the only chance is to promote the use of Bullet Messenger in corporate communication and encourage employees to turn off WeChat notifications during work.

(2) Local marketing

I currently have more than 500 mobile phone numbers in my address book, and I found that nearly 30 people have registered for Bullet SMS, most of whom are product managers and some middle-level leaders of Internet companies. Some managers have even started to recommend that their employees use Bullet Messenger because communication is more efficient and can be separated from WeChat Life and Moments .

If we can use a seemingly stupid method of going to various Internet companies to promote the product, placing roll-up banners, etc., and asking middle and senior management of the company to recommend its employees, it will form a force of "reality distortion" that will force employees to use it. Bullet SMS can set up a special group to communicate with various companies, respond and solve problems and suggestions in product use as soon as possible, and provide response services that exceed expectations. The goal is to help companies communicate more focused and efficiently, and I believe this is in line with the thinking of most corporate management.

I have indeed seen that some senior leaders have already launched Bullet SMS. I think this is a great opportunity. It only needs a little promotion to create a butterfly effect. Once it has formed influence in first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, it will continue to form self-growing power in the future, and there is no need to promote it one by one.

2. Attract new customers

For Bullet Messenger, if no new users register, the registered users will be lost because they have no friends to chat with. Therefore, attracting new users is as important as retaining existing users. If either of the two legs is missing, the service will not work.

I remember when Didi was first launched in 2012, there were only a dozen drivers. They went to Beijing West Railway Station to rent a spot that all drivers had to pass by and installed the driver-side App for them. At the beginning, the order scale was not large. Then one day it suddenly snowed in Beijing. Many users vaguely remembered Didi. After trying it, they found that they could get a taxi. That day, the number of orders exceeded 1,000 for the first time. Later, it accumulated and developed step by step, first in first-tier cities and then expanded to more cities. At that time, they felt the risk of collapse every day and faced numerous difficulties, but they told themselves to keep working hard until they could do nothing more. In the end, they found that God opened a window because they did not give up easily.

It is important to attract new customers, so how do we attract new customers? I think we can start from the following aspects:

(1) Enterprises

As mentioned earlier, the entry point for retention is enterprises, and enterprises are also indispensable for attracting new customers. In my opinion, the main reason why WeChat for Enterprise and DingTalk have not exploded is that they have too strong corporate attributes. They require a corporate email address or company name, etc., and are more positioned as internal company chat + OA mobile office tools . Bullet Messenger focuses on efficient communication. In fact, the main users behind it are corporate users, but there are no clear corporate company names and email address requirements. This is similar to Maimai's workplace circle, which is more free. Therefore, Bullet Messenger has the conditions for rapid explosion and is not bound by rules and regulations.

(2) Advertising

You can consider subway advertising, bus advertising or building advertising in first-tier cities. The slogan could be [Use Bullet Text to stay focused at work and communicate efficiently], or [Bullet Text for efficient communication, you deserve it]. I remember that when Lagou and Boss Direct Hire were advertising on the subway, in addition to the main slogan, there were also various scene descriptions. We can describe it like this: Imagine if you receive a lot of messages every day, but you don’t dare to block them completely because you are worried about messages from your boss, colleagues, and customers, then use Bullet Messenger to communicate during work, without frequent interruptions, social circle updates, or pictures and texts posted by others. It is more efficient to focus on work during work. Bullet SMS, you deserve it.

(3) Word of mouth

I introduced Bullet SMS to a small group of classmates and friends. Although there were some small doubts, everyone was quite interested. They were optimistic about the automatic conversion of voice into text and the ability to send messages directly from the list page. One of my friends said that her leader was introducing Bullet SMS to everyone. In my opinion, this is a great opportunity. If word of mouth spreads, and everyone maintains some seed users , continuously expands influence, and continuously optimizes and improves functions, I believe that a single spark can start a prairie fire. There is still a good chance that it will surpass WeChat for Enterprise and DingTalk in the corporate user market segment.

3. Products

A blacksmith must be strong himself. Excellent products that can meet users' differentiated pain point needs are the basis for sustainable development, otherwise everything is empty talk. As for Bullet SMS, the first shot of the product has been fired and the effect is very good. It is particularly important to continue to innovate and improve on the basis of products such as WeChat, DingTalk, and Maimai.

Any product has its own advantages, and its core competitiveness can be described in one sentence, such as: Didi is committed to solving the problem of difficulty in hailing a taxi; Mobike is committed to solving the problem of travel within 3 kilometers; Meituan Waimai and Ele.me mainly solve the problem of efficient dining; Taobao mainly solves the problem of online shopping; JD.com mainly solves the problem of delivery speed and quality; 360 mainly solves the problem of free antivirus; Pinduoduo mainly solves the problem of low prices of goods; Baofeng Video Player mainly solves the problem of incompatible video formats, etc. So what problem does Bullet Messenger solve? I think it is dedicated to solving the problems of concentration and efficient communication in the workplace . According to statistics, there are 29.07 million registered physical enterprises in mainland China, employing 776 million people, with an average working time of 50 hours per person per week. This is a huge user group and market.

Specifically, in addition to the current functions, you can also start from the following aspects, which can be carried out around workplace focus and efficient communication:

(1) Consider providing a “Mobile Phone Usage Time Statistics” feature to let everyone know how much time they spend on their phones every day, such as the current Android version of the “Startup Time” app and the iOS version of the “Moment” app. Let everyone try to control the time of using mobile phones and focus on work. This feature can be turned off by default.

(2) Consider providing a [Task List] note function, which is equivalent to a notepad or task list. It does not need to be too complicated and can be classified according to priority or scenario (for example, different scenarios such as waiting for a bus, queuing, and before going to bed). There are many time and task management apps now, and you can learn from their strengths, such as Todolist, Wunderlist, Timetable, and Day Planner, etc. Remind everyone to take care of the three most important things every day.

(3) Consider providing sleep quality recording and detection functions. The premise of efficient work is a good mental state, and sleep is the key. Insufficient sleep, poor sleep quality, and insufficient deep sleep time have become important factors affecting health. There are many similar software now, such as Snail Sleep, Sleepace, Snoring Rabbit and other software. It would be a good feature if it could be integrated into Bullet Messenger. This feature can be turned off by default.

(4) It is recommended to consider providing each user with 10 free text messages per day, so that the user cost can be reduced when inviting friends via text messages and chatting. Currently, many users have reported that after downloading Bullet Messenger, they cannot chat without any friends.

(5) Optimization of other details. For example, if AA payment is provided, the entrance is directly in the group message sending, rather than in a wallet like WeChat. Voice display duration function. After adding a friend, the [New Friend] column will be highlighted. Provide general or professional learning materials, videos, audios, etc. for the workplace, and consider cooperating with some professional platforms, etc.