Review丨Mafengwo’s 25 million operating activities, is it worth it?

On December 12, 2017, Mafengwo announced the completion of its Series D financing with a financing amount of US$133 million.

Against the backdrop of Ctrip's acquisition of a large number of OTAs, Mafengwo is still able to gain a foothold in the tourism market. In addition to sufficiently strong content barriers, Mafengwo has also done an excellent job in event operations .

From the irregularly held "Unknown Travel Laboratory" to the "Guide to Internet Celebrity Walls Around the World", it always captures the hearts of the bees. (Fengfeng: refers specifically to the deep users of Mafengwo products)

During the World Cup , Mafengwo sprinted to the third place in the App Store, which reinforced the perception of "visit Mafengwo before traveling" and brought countless user growth .

What kind of activity made Mafengwo willingly spend 25 million yuan?

Today, from the perspective of an event participant, I will review Mafengwo’s “Guess the Winner and Share 1 Million Every Day” event during the World Cup.

1. Activity Background

The World Cup, held every four years, is a hot topic that all major brands will not miss.

Nearly 40,000 tickets were sold in China for this year's World Cup in Russia , which means that during the World Cup, at least 40,000 Chinese tourists will travel to Russia to watch the game and travel.

The non-holiday tourism peak that occurs every four years is the best time for marketing tourism products and activities .

2. Purpose of the activity

1. Promotion and new customer acquisition

By sharing the "no-error card" policy, old users are encouraged to invite new users to use Mafengwo.

1. Increase brand awareness

Mafengwo’s video ads appeared in commercial buildings, Youku videos and other places, but there was no introduction to the event in the video. Its greater purpose was to increase brand awareness.

1. Increase the proportion of male users

There are more male users watching the World Cup than female users . Men prefer to "enjoy life in the moment" and have a higher payment conversion rate for hobbies and travel.

1. Promoting the use of Mafengwo by football fans during their travels in Russia

During the World Cup, Mafengwo Travel Mall is also promoting Russia-related products. Users who watch the games in Russia can purchase them directly, thereby increasing their payment rate.

1. Promote tourism routes and products

According to the hot spots of the event, related route products are promoted. For example, when Iceland unexpectedly defeated Argentina, Mafengwo began to promote Iceland's travel notes and tourism products on a large scale.

3. Activity Budget

Mafengwo advertises that 1 million will be shared every day. During the World Cup from June 12 to July 15, there will be 25 related competitions with a total investment budget of more than 25 million. It's really a relief to think that people with money can do whatever they want!

4. Activity Creativity

It is not difficult to see that this time it has absorbed the two conventional forms of "betting on football" and "millionaire hero" quiz guessing.

1. Betting on Football

During every World Cup, there will be news in the country such as "XX gambler lost all his property in Beijing"; conventional "gambling" is to use the result of the game as the criterion for judging winning or losing, and you need to place a bet with real money first. The loser will lose all his capital, and the winner will receive according to the odds.

Betting on football satisfies the fluke mentality of some people who want to get rich overnight. If they win, they want to win more, and if they lose, they want to make up for their losses. This makes gamblers unable to stop and eventually fall into the quagmire.

Mafengwo has borrowed the form of football betting, but has no requirements for capital, lowering the threshold for user participation. Not only is the cost zero, but it can also make money. This not only satisfies the user's desire to get something for nothing, but also satisfies the addiction to football betting.

1. "Million Heroes" Mode

The most popular game mode in the first half of 2018, there are twelve questions in each game, and those who answer all of them correctly can share the cash prize on the spot. The prize money for each period ranges from 50,000 to 1 million.

If you answer a question incorrectly, you can use the "revival card". The resurrection card is like a life in a game . As long as you have a resurrection card, the system will automatically call it after you answer the question incorrectly, allowing you to continue answering the question.

After new users fill in the invitation code, they will have a resurrection card, so that new users will flock to the quiz site like a snowball.

Mafengwo uses the gimmick of "sharing 1 million every day" to attract users to participate, and promotes user sharing and promotion by means of "no wrong cards" and cash dividends, so as to achieve the goal of attracting new users. The combination of the two forms of activities helped Mafengwo to successfully hold this event.

5. Promotion Channels

1. Mafengwo official WeChat public account , Weibo

By releasing event information through official self-media channels , Mafengwo’s loyal users can directly participate in the event at the first time.

1. Banner, opening screen, topics and other resource positions on Mafengwo App

1. Staff Friends Circle

Because I work in the tourism industry, I have the WeChat accounts of several Mafengwo insiders.

The first time I saw this event was through their circle of friends. Therefore, the support and love of internal staff for the event is a force that cannot be underestimated~

1. Weibo Blue V Cooperation Matrix

Cooperating with other brands on Weibo to expand publicity requires long-term cooperation between brands to build a foundation of trust.

1. KOL Weibo, Moments

As mentioned earlier, sharing the error-free card not only gives you a chance to avoid making mistakes, but also allows you to get dividend rewards. If the user who uses your error-free card to download Mafengwo and answer questions guesses correctly about the game, you can also get a certain percentage of the dividends. This naked cash temptation prompted KOLs with a large number of fans to actively forward and share the content on their own social platforms.

1. Youku video ads

Youku is the only online broadcaster of this World Cup, and Mafengwo is also the live broadcast sponsor of CCTV's 2018 sports events. It is a wise choice to place advertisements on Youku videos. Although the content of the advertisements is brainwashing, the effect is still good.

If this event is promoted in advertisements, it may be more appropriate and the participants of the event will be more accurate. While football fans are waiting for the advertisements to play, it will be easier for them to search and download to participate in the event.

Among the above promotion channels, except for video advertising space , other channels are almost zero cost.

VI. Event Highlights

1. Rapid updates and iterations

Throughout the entire event, Mafengwo updated and iterated at an astonishing speed, whether it was the event copy , UI or sharing format. It is estimated that Mafengwo prepared a lot of Plan Bs when planning the event at the beginning, and was able to make timely adjustments after real-time monitoring of the data.

For example: In the early stage of the event, click on the error-free card to jump directly to WeChat Moments and share the event poster with a QR code; in the middle of the event, directly copy the invitation code and send it to friends; in the later stage of the event, send it to friends in the form of a password.

1. Scrolling Barrage

The activity page has words like "XXX people are participating" and "XXX guessed successfully and earned XX yuan", which directly stimulates user participation and increases the authenticity of the activity.

1. drainage

In the later stage of the event, traffic was directed to the Mafengwo mini program to obtain error-free cards, which brought in a group of new users for the mini program.

1. Anti-cheating

The rules of the entire event are written on several mobile phone screens. "The same login account, the same mobile phone number, the same terminal device number, and the same Alipay withdrawal account are all regarded as the same user." Strict rules can ensure the authenticity of new users and effectively prevent the practice of taking advantage of others. However, the disadvantage is that few people will read the rules of the event carefully, and everyone participates in the event based on their feelings or interactive guidance.

1. Withdrawal & Expansion

After users win the prize, they have two options: one is to withdraw the money directly to Alipay, and the other is to randomly double it and turn it into a voucher.

To withdraw cash to Alipay, Mafengwo needs to pay real money to redeem the promise; expanding it into vouchers can not only stimulate users to consume through Mafengwo, but also reduce some cash expenditures.

7. Some shortcomings and thoughts

1. The activity timeline is not tight

During the World Cup, there are an average of more than two football matches every day, but Mafengwo only has one betting. Many users forget about this activity after participating in one betting and no longer participate. If we add more guessing sessions according to the time of football matches and divide the 1 million equally among each game, we can increase the sense of urgency for users to participate in the event. When products like Millionaire Hero were at their most popular, there were an average of more than 6 competitions every day, and everyone was eager to set the alarm so as not to miss any opportunity to make money.

1. This event cannot be participated in via the web version

This is understandable because it is difficult to synchronize the PC and mobile versions, and adding web-based entrances will also increase the risk of being fleeced.

However, fans usually watch live matches on their computers. When they see Mafengwo's video ads, they will subconsciously search for Mafengwo's website on their computers. During the World Cup, there were no special activities or special logos on Mafengwo's website.

1. Increase the bonus of team guessing to double

The activity tends to run out of steam in the later stages, so you can upgrade the gameplay and rules at this time.

Football fans usually watch games in groups of three or five, or have a group of friends who like football, and among these friends, the teams they support are often similar. If more than 3 people can form a team, I have 6 friends. We team up together to choose a result. If we win, the prize money will be doubled, which stimulates more people to participate in the event.

1. When the activity is about to end, the withdrawal deadline should be clearly indicated

Because many people do not pay much attention to the small text on the page, the event entrance will be closed directly after the event ends. Many users will report that they cannot find the event entrance before they can withdraw their money. Those users who have participated in the event and worked hard to attract new users will easily become dissatisfied.

8. Conclusion

1. A large part of the creativity of the event comes from reference and reflection on other events;
2. Try to create a close connection between the activity and the promotion;
3. Regardless of the size of the channel, once it is spread out, it will form a battleground;
4. Sharing is a key factor in the success of an event. Good sharing will inspire users to help spread the event.
5. Plan B, A/B testing , and rapid updates and iterations based on data can ensure the smooth running of activities.

Source: Xie Yue