Tik Tok game marketing example: downloads increased 40 times on iOS and 16 times on Android

Now more and more companies are paying attention to and trying to promote Douyin short videos , and there are many successful cases. This article will talk about how to do Douyin 's game content marketing .

Introduction:

I am responsible for the content of this article and promise that the cases, data and information are true and valid.

I wanted to use a title like "310,000 people participated, hundreds of millions of short video likes, six-digit new users per day, the neglected Douyin game content marketing ", but after getting to know it, I found that everyone was most interested in user conversion effects and game data, so I made some adjustments.

In fact, some colleagues in the industry have previously consulted me on how to do game marketing for Douyin short videos, but due to concerns about my identity and position, I have never explained it in detail. On the one hand, more and more companies are paying attention to and trying to promote Douyin short videos , and there are many successful cases. On the other hand, we are also seeking the consent of the original company Dongpin Games. Taking advantage of the invitation from Game Teahouse and 360 Sharing, let’s talk about how to do game content marketing on Douyin.

Contents:

We have always had an embarrassment in content marketing, that is, the lack of intuitive data statistics and effect presentation. Compared with channel recommendations and buying volume conversion effects, the effects are not as direct and more data-based. This has also directly affected the confidence and resources invested by many companies in this area. As one of the most popular apps among young users nowadays, Tik Tok has become the forefront of the gaming industry's buying volume and promotion , and is also a major hub for short video marketing , with games and e-commerce in particular reaping the biggest benefits.

The content shared today includes cases, data, marketing methods, Douyin routines, resource utilization and other angles. I hope it will be helpful to industry practitioners.

01. 310,000 people participated and hundreds of millions of short video likes.

Douyin game marketing case with six-digit new users per day

Case display:

This is the case we are sharing today: Douyin short video marketing for the mobile game "Never Give Up". As of press time, nearly 317,000 people have participated in and used the BGM of "Never Give Up" to participate in various "#" challenge activities, and the number is still growing. At the same time, big V celebrities such as Feng Timo have also actively joined the challenge. Moreover, from the initial "expression challenge", "cute pets", to "rabbit ear hats", new short videos are constantly fissioning and spreading.

It all started when a player uploaded a trial video of the game "Never Give Up" on TikTok on December 14, 2017. (Before this, many users had uploaded trial videos of the game on TikTok)

(Some examples of content marketing on Douyin for Never Give Up)

Among the Douyin short videos produced by more than 300,000 users, there are 11 videos with over one million likes and the cumulative number of likes is close to 20 million. If we calculate all the 310,000 related videos, the cumulative number of likes can reach several hundred million, and the number of video playback views will be even greater.

(Feng Timo’s video received the highest number of likes, 3.43 million, and was also recommended on the Douyin homepage)

02. Fission + Detonation

Not only did the game become popular, but also Internet celebrity products appeared

As the Chinese publisher of Never Say Die and Never Say Die 2, although we were not the first user to upload the video, we quickly adopted two follow-up measures after discovering that the number of likes on players' trial videos on Douyin increased rapidly and the number of backend users increased rapidly:

1. Organize game players to record Tik Tok videos. In player forums, player groups, and in-game advertisements, players are guided to participate in the “#” challenge and upload videos, and users who upload videos are rewarded with gift packages;

2. Arouse users’ curiosity and guide comments. Under the comments of short videos with high likes, we guided users to leave comments such as "What kind of music is this?", "This game is really good?", "The game is too difficult?", "The game is so addictive", etc., and got corresponding follow-up comments from players and users, further guiding users to download the game from the channel;

Two products that need to be highlighted here are Never Say Die and Never Say Die 2. As a series of mobile games launched in late 2014 and 2015, they have been downloaded by over 100 million users in China. The games themselves have accumulated a certain user base and the gameplay is simple and rhythmic, but the level settings are relatively difficult, resulting in user comments often being "very magical, very perverted", which further stimulated the curious to join. With the introduction of official resources and the guidance of operators , the Douyin content of "Never Give Up" has been expanded and disseminated on a larger scale.

Many people will be curious about how much it costs to do such a Douyin marketing? To be honest, it didn’t cost any money.

Because Dongpin Games is an independent game publisher, it does not have much budget for promotion. In addition, its products are not new games, so the resources it can invest are limited. We just paid for the game package and a small amount of manpower guidance. The key factor that really triggered this marketing campaign is the gameplay features of the product itself and the young user attributes of Douyin short videos . Douyin users are also the focus of our sharing later.

At the same time, with the continuous fission propagation, it also led to the sales of the internet celebrity product "rabbit ear hat" on Taobao , which shows how great the dissemination effect brought by this content event is.

03. Download volume increased: iOS 40 times, Android 16 times

The average number of new users per day exceeds six figures

APRU value tripled

Of course, what colleagues are most concerned about is the results and the data conversion problem that has always plagued them. Detailed figures can be given here. The reason why we can give such accurate results is that the data of the game itself has stabilized and there is no channel recommendation during this period. We can clearly compare the number of new users brought by Tik Tok short video marketing.

According to the statistical background: the download volume of the iOS version of the game increased by 40 times (at the peak), the download volume of the Android version of the game increased by 16 times (at the peak), and the average number of new users per day exceeded 6 digits. At the same time, the APRU value tripled, and the retention data increased significantly.

iOS paid ranking trend of Never Say Die

It can be clearly seen from the iOS rankings of "Never Give Up" that the influence of this marketing event lasted for one and a half months. For this reason, the game's iOS paid download price was changed from 1 yuan to 3 yuan, and the number of downloads of "Never Give Up 2" also surged. If we calculate over 45 days, the average number of new users per day is 6. You can calculate how many users this marketing campaign has brought into the game.

There is also a very interesting phenomenon here. The growth of Douyin’s game imports is mainly concentrated in the Android part, especially OPPO and vivo mobile phone users, which directly reflects the device characteristics of young users.

04. It is neither accidental nor a special case. There is indeed a methodology.

Three tricks for game marketing

Embrace young people

Many people may think that this is a phenomenal special case, but I can tell you responsibly that this is not an isolated case, and many games also do this. Everyone has grasped one characteristic, which is the characteristic of Douyin users. And this is exactly what we hope to share content with everyone. Why are Internet companies now paying attention to Douyin? Because it is a gathering place for young people, whoever has young people will have a greater future. Unfortunately, however, a lot of the content is not down-to-earth enough.

(Official content example of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds , 4.27 million likes for a single video, 1.251 million people participated in the challenge)

Similar cases include Xishanju's Jianwang 3 and NetEase Games . However, the Internet environment has changed in the past two months. For example, you could share links directly on WeChat Moments before, but now you can’t jump directly, etc., so some new methods are also being adopted.

Before formally sharing the methodology and thoughts, I would like to talk about user reach. We need not only core users, but also reach a deeper and broader user base. We often say that we want to serve our users, but how many people dare to say with confidence that they really understand their users? In the era of PC games, there was no concept of channels and no platforms. We usually downloaded games in two ways. One was to go to the official game website. Data shows that more than 95% of users visit the official game website to download games. The other part went to media websites or download stations to download games. At that time, game companies used the method of creating hot spots to influence users. The web game era began to platformize, and buying traffic and advertising became popular . But the mobile game era has changed, and channels have emerged. It saves time and effort to go directly to the channels to get resources, but resources are limited, and slowly buying traffic has become a standard trend. Now, content marketing methods are also being valued by game companies, such as KOL , UP hosts, internet celebrities, anchors, self-media platforms , etc. The reason for all this is that due to the changes in users, we must use multiple ways to reach them through marketing.

The editor asserts that this year will definitely be a big year for game content marketing, and some low-key companies have already been doing it quietly. The key here is: follow the traffic , and go wherever the traffic is.

In view of this core, we must talk about the three axes of marketing promotion . Why are they called three axes? Because they are just three sentences:

Who is the first user? We must first understand who our users are. For those born in the 1980s, we need to sell the feelings of those born in the 1980s. For those born in the 1990s, we need to sell the feelings of those born in the 1990s. For those born in the 2000s, we can also look for the feelings of those born in the 2000s. However, you will find that the feelings of these groups are different, so we must first identify the right users.

Where is the second user? How can we influence them if we can’t find them anywhere? Young users are the main paying users of games, so we should follow the young users.

What the third user likes. Only by meeting the needs can the transmission be in place;

In fact, when we make any product, do any promotion or outreach, we can succeed if we can solve these three problems. As marketers , we follow the traffic. We conduct research wherever the traffic is and wherever the entrance is.

05. Do you really understand Tik Tok?

Weibo's Model and Routine

Since we want to make short videos on Douyin, we must first understand Douyin.

1. Use music as a starting point and combine it with dance, parkour, performance and other creative forms of expression;

2. Create a variety of gameplay for users, allowing them to easily and quickly create unique and exciting short videos;

3. Interact with many users in the Douyin community;

User Features:

Young, magical, trendy, technological, social , curious

The ratio of male to female users is 4:6

Tik Tok short video: vertical screen, 15 seconds, rhythm, and humor

In fact, if we compare Douyin to Weibo, many people will probably understand how to create marketing content for Douyin. On Douyin, young users participate by playing with various templates, updating their own content, and posting daily statuses in a very casual and relaxed manner, just like a short video version of Weibo.

Why is there so little said here? Because there are so many data reports , case analyses, and Douyin articles shared by big names, I won’t go into details here.

06. What can a 15-second short video do?

You'll find you can't do anything.

The short videos on Douyin are only 15 seconds long, but Douyin now supports core influencers to extend the length to 1 minute. So I suggest that if you want to have in-depth cooperation, you should still find a way to lengthen the video. Because 15 seconds is really too short, and the more manufacturers focus on the content of the 15 seconds, the more the 15-second video looks like an information flow ad or a patch ad. It will be very easy to deviate from the essence of the video and not be so creative. It is better to spend money directly on information flow . But if you can reach 30-60 seconds, there is a lot of room for improvement.

So do you really do nothing during these 15 seconds? Not really. There are three things you can do. The first is the cover. A good cover can attract a lot of traffic. Then it can influence the number of likes and reposts. How to use the rhythm of music as a prelude to the content to tell a joke and create a meme. Those who often watch TikTok will find that you will never know what the meme is about until the last second. This is the surprise that TikTok gives us. As for what method and form to take? That depends on creativity.

We mentioned earlier that the forms similar to Weibo, such as posting on behalf of others, forwarding, original creation, and even likes, @ friends, etc., and the same is true for Douyin's content marketing routines.

The first batch of manufacturers who made Douyin would crudely use the advertisements originally placed in the information flow to directly promote and distribute them on major accounts, just like information flow ads, but the authorities would respond quickly and ban them. Douyin has been monitoring this matter, but it is difficult to define the commercial purpose. However, if the information flow ads are released directly, it will be easy to detect. The official has been slowly doing this kind of review. Toutiao 's technology is very mature and can support original content exclusion.

The second type is the #-style activity. Now Douyin official itself is selling it, such as the cooperation with PUBG. However, many products have not found the good points and it is difficult to achieve results. This is also the biggest opportunity for all marketing companies. You need to think about the #activity yourself based on the characteristics of the game product. In addition, after the #activity is launched, a large-scale response is required, and these resources need to be integrated. Instead of sending, forwarding or editing a video directly. The important thing now is to let big accounts participate in the event. When users see many big accounts responding to the event, the hot spots will be highlighted. As for whether the hot spots are really highlighted, it depends on whether the hot spots are really found well. Only when the challenge becomes popular will users continue to participate. There are two paths now: 1. A large number of users at the tail end participate in short video creation; 2. Top celebrities participate in producing high-quality short videos. Students are the most common, the quantity is large, the price is cheap, and it is suitable for impulse sales. What’s more, students’ creations are often surprising, and there are often outstanding ones in a large number of them, and the effect is better than that of celebrities. The red goods are of high quality, good looking, and have something to offer, so sign them directly.

The third way is to find the points that impress users. Of course, for hot manufacturers, they need to find the points of interest to players through content delivery and various promotion methods, or third-party marketing, and explore them. For example, when " Onmyoji " did a lot of COS, voice actors, and illustrations, it was finally discovered that what was popular was actually card drawing, and this point must be found accurately. It is important not to assume that something will be popular and successful right from the start. These are contents that valuable marketing companies can help manufacturers achieve, and they need to be planned slowly. For example, for football products, when the World Cup comes, if you make a point to cheer for your favorite team, users may respond and it will naturally become a hot topic.

07. How should we use TikTok?

First learn to shake, shake, shake

After becoming familiar with TikTok and its marketing model, how should we use TikTok?

What is the most popular thing on Bilibili ? Actually it's all about twitching and awkward dancing. Young people like this, and we need to find content that they like. Tik Tok is a music product. It not only needs beats and rhythm, but also content. Of course, creativity must be added to it. We need to combine our own products to find characteristics.

When it comes to short videos on Douyin, we have two major directions. The first is the output of high-quality content. On the one hand, people are now very professional in placing game information flow ads on Douyin. During peak hours, you can see a game ad after watching two videos. On the other hand, it is the operation of official accounts and game cooperation with Douyin, such as joint operation cooperation, etc. In fact, the official page can already add game download and official website address jump functions. Creating some down-to-earth content can also be very effective.

The second type is to optimize the secondary search entrance, recommend nearby people, etc., just like our more common topic challenges, which we call "#" activities, to find hot spots and create content accordingly; there is no need to say much about BGM. The popularity of "Never Give Up" is related to BGM. We can not only use the music of the game, but also use editing and synthesis. For example, the case of "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds" is pure edited music. At the same time, young people's mentality of borrowing and imitating trends will also lead to the use of these interesting materials.

In addition, the resource quotation section will be divided into different prices and grades for your reference when doing Douyin content marketing. It used to be very cheap, but the price has gone up a lot recently.

08. Tik Tok is really different

The value of content marketing lies in accumulation

If you think you can really understand TikTok in this way? That would be wrong, but it’s actually far from it.

The content on the Douyin platform is very interesting. They are not like video platforms that lose volume after being recommended today, because it is difficult to say what will happen tomorrow that will make the video popular again. There are many trial videos of "Never Give Up" on Douyin, but suddenly one of them became popular, which triggered a series of fission content. If you create a massive amount of content on Douyin, you never know when it will be discovered by users and become popular again. There are many possibilities. For some marketing case products, the initial short video playback performance was not good, but the playback volume increased dramatically after a period of time. This also makes it difficult for us to evaluate the effectiveness all at once in the future, and we need to continue to explore and experiment. The most practical way is to create a #account, respond through the big account, and operate your own official platform account. There are very few manufacturers who have the courage to accumulate content. Of course, it also depends on luck and future potential. What’s more, what we can see at present are the number of likes and exposures. There is no direct feedback to the manufacturers on the newly added data, which is also very embarrassing. However, after excluding buying traffic and channel recommendations, we can actually evaluate the effectiveness of Douyin’s content marketing.

Now that manufacturers are eager for volume, Douyin’s information flow ads are quite cost-effective, and manufacturers who have placed them know how effective they are. Moreover, the information flow is now direct and the data is clear. However, it should be noted that these advertising resources are limited. When all manufacturers come in to place information flow ads, the prices will inevitably increase to the point where they will eventually become unaffordable. In view of the resource bottleneck and ROI of information flow, it is imperative to make some content marketing attempts.

09. The value of content marketing in my opinion

Channel traffic has dropped dramatically, and we used to often ask, " Where did all the traffic go ?" However, the traffic and users are there, and the key is how to activate them. Users are no longer the newbies they were back then, and the solidified rankings themselves are no longer able to attract them. So how do they obtain game information? In addition, a large amount of users’ time has been occupied by other entertainment products. How can we win back users’ time? Channels + buying traffic is the conventional way to acquire users. There are not many companies that are really good at content marketing, and the future will definitely be a combination of channels + buying traffic + content marketing. It’s just that each company has different products and strengths, and has different focuses. What we need now is not only good products, but also good content, as well as communication that can interest young users. Sincere communication and delivery may be the most effective way to impress users.

Although we only shared the case of Tik Tok short videos today, content marketing is not limited to this. There are still many content methods and forms to be explored.

Finally, the editor would like to talk about a topic that comes from a friend’s sharing. We all talk about short video communication and short video marketing, but who can tell me what short video is? Tik Tok is 15 seconds long, and if a 15-second video is called a short video, then is a 30-second video considered a short video? Does a 1-minute video count? What about 3 minutes, 5 minutes, or 10 minutes? You will find that short videos are not necessarily really short. The core of short videos is still centered around the “hot” factor. If we really want to do short video marketing, we must actually hit this point. As for how to grasp this point, it requires discussion and communication among everyone.

The author of this article @罗基 is compiled and published by (Qinggua Media). Please indicate the author information and source when reprinting!

Product promotion services: APP promotion services, advertising platform, Longyou Games