A guide to the counter-trend growth of self-media in 2018!

2018 has passed so quickly that the New Year’s Day bell has not yet faded away and the progress bar is only 25% left. There have been huge changes in 2018. Financial writer Wu Xiaobo said in a recent public statement that we are currently facing the biggest test in 40 years.

For millions of self-media people, the days are no longer as golden as they were in the past two years. Two cold currents are quietly spreading, one is the social and economic environment, and the other is the platform and industry cycle. Sensitive people have already felt a slight chill.

If we take the launch of Weibo at the end of August 2009 as the starting point of self-media, by the 10th year of its development, this industry has prospered enough to support millions of ordinary people and has also changed the life trajectories of many people. With the evolution of technology and innovation of platforms, as people's content consumption needs become increasingly dependent on smart terminals, and as advertising marketing becomes more social and digital, this industry will continue to grow for many years to come.

But as the old saying goes, "The future is bright, but the road is tortuous." Self-media still encountered some setbacks this winter. No one can delay the arrival of winter or end it early, but we can plan ahead and act accordingly.

one

Not long ago, at an industry conference, Wei Wuhui of "Che Ni Ji" showed a graph showing the changes in advertising revenues of Internet giants over the years:

From 2008 to 2009, the growth curve of advertising revenue of major portals had a clear trough. However, Baidu's advertising revenue was almost unaffected and remained far ahead. The reason behind this is the difference in their advertising models. The former focuses on display advertising, that is, the pursuit of exposure; the latter focuses on performance advertising, that is, speaking with results.

In the tsunami of the global financial crisis ten years ago, advertisers used their money to choose the direction of the cold winter era. When the economy is in recession, the first things companies cut are their public relations and brand advertising budgets, which have no obvious effects, and they are more willing to invest the increased funds in areas that will produce immediate results. Because when one's future is uncertain, human nature tends to be short-sighted, and people are more willing to choose effective advertising that gives you what you pay for.

For self-media that are accustomed to receiving public relations and brand advertising budgets, this is the most severe snowstorm they have to face this winter. Of course, the impact on self-media of different sizes and influence will also vary.

The top companies and the first few in vertical fields will be relatively less affected, and they have more room for concessions. Their days are not so easy, but they can still maneuver. The middle waist is most directly affected, so perhaps it depends on luck to some extent. As for the tail, the impact is not significant because this part of the budget rarely falls on them.

When we talk about the monetization model of new media , we tend to put advertising first. This is indeed the most direct and efficient monetization model. But when the overall environment is down, it's best not to put all your eggs in one basket.

two

Open source is the first suggestion. Traditional media takes advertising revenue as its absolute core, but new media may not be so. Otherwise, how can we talk about the word “new”?

New media has four major monetization models:

1. advertise
2. E-commerce
3. Content Payment
4. Copyright/IP

As far as advertising is concerned, capable self-media people still have room for expansion, that is, to transform from channel providers to integrated marketing service providers, so as to obtain higher budgets, but this will undoubtedly test the team's creativity and resource integration capabilities. For ordinary self-media people, they can also try some performance-based advertising to expand their income sources. Platforms like Xinbang Youzhuan have very low requirements for cooperative media, and a large number of advertisers' demands need to be digested by self-media.

As far as e-commerce is concerned, if you explore carefully, almost every self-media can find a category that suits them. Of course, it is unrealistic to build one’s own platform and supply chain. Trying to do some hit marketing with a single sku can kill two birds with one stone - not only can you earn extra income, but you can also deepen the self-media's understanding of user needs and brand needs.

For self-media with achievements in professional fields, there is a lot of room for trying paid content. At last year's New List Conference, we reminded everyone that they could consider migrating from the 2B business model , namely advertising, to 2C. In the industry, it is not uncommon for a single paid content course to generate revenue of hundreds of thousands. The shift from content payment to knowledge services and consulting training is also one of the future development directions.

As for copyright/IP, it is only suitable for a very small number of self-media with very scarce and high-quality content. After the restlessness fades away, it is a good time to patiently polish your work.

III

We need to increase revenue while reducing costs. Reducing costs, avoiding blind expansion, and reducing unnecessary expenses have always been necessary measures for companies to survive the winter.

Not long ago, when I was having dinner with a big boss in the industry, he mentioned that their office in Beijing had been closed. I was quite surprised at the time because they had dozens of people in their Beijing office and seemed to have established themselves.

He and I did some calculations and found that hiring a random employee in Beijing would cost between 6,000 and 8,000 yuan, and he still felt that the salary was too low. But in the third-tier cities where they started, they can recruit employees of the same level and with higher work enthusiasm by offering half the salary. And what’s strange is that the output of employees in the Beijing office was only half of that in third-tier cities. All in all, the labor cost in first-tier cities is almost four times that of third-tier cities.

The top talents may still be mostly concentrated in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, but ordinary talents are actually not far behind in second- and third-tier cities. After all, over the years, countless young people have " escaped from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou ". They have received a good education and have experienced the tempering of the workplace in first-tier cities, and are capable of handling most jobs. If your business is not very regional or resource-intensive, you don’t necessarily have to stay in Beijing, Shanghai or Guangzhou.

Of course, you don't necessarily have to move from one city to another. After all, most people won't move their families to follow a company. From the perspective of internal company management, reducing staff and increasing efficiency is a must. The survival of the fittest and the creation of a sense of crisis are also necessary. Being tolerant to mediocre employees is unfair to excellent employees.

In addition to labor costs, careful calculation of business investment is even more critical. As fan stickiness decreases and the payback period for budget invested in user growth becomes longer, it is time to stop blindly pursuing the number of fans.

It may be more urgent to find ways to improve user stickiness and activity, while exploring new monetization channels. As for starting a new business and creating a new account, you need to plan carefully before taking action.

IV

Continuing from the above, what self-media needs to do now is to refine operations to improve the AR UP value of users, or to tap the value of existing users. This is especially important for self-media in niche vertical fields.

The first is to improve user stickiness and establish strong links. Event operation , community operation and personal WeChat account are still the three most feasible measures. Activities provide stimulation and increase user participation and activity. Communities and personal WeChat accounts can accumulate loyal fans, provide a secondary means of reach beyond official accounts, and also offer more opportunities for refined operations and commercialization.

As the opening rate of public accounts declines, the value of a well-operated personal WeChat account with 5,000 friends may be greater than 100,000 followers. If it is a vertical field, such as finance or maternal and child care , the value will be even higher.

The second is to provide diversified services so that users are willing to spend more money. The four business models mentioned above are based on the standpoint of self-media people, but from the user's perspective, self-media actually needs to provide users with more products and services in addition to daily content, and provide more diversified value.

In addition to being able to create content, self-media people also need to be more flexible, able to work in both the parlor and the kitchen. As long as the user needs them, they can be a caring sister or uncle who can chat and relieve boredom, or a mentor who can give advice in the workplace and provide makeup techniques. Of course, self-media people must improve and transform faster and constantly give fans a sense of freshness in order to gain their support.

Wu

Excellent entrepreneurs must learn to survive the cold winter, just as excellent investors must learn to survive the bull and bear markets.

Compared with the razor-thin profit margins of the manufacturing industry, the profit margins of self-media are still very generous, which also means there is more room for maneuvering. In addition to consolidating existing businesses and increasing revenue and reducing costs, self-media also needs to transform and upgrade.

In addition to text, can I make comics or short videos ? In addition to creating content, can we create products, tools , and services? We have always been online, can we try to extend it offline? Does Tik Tok have a chance? Do mini programs have any chance? Only by stepping out of your comfort zone can you discover new opportunities.

In fact, there is only one core question: Can self-media people break through the mindset of "content- traffic -advertising" and explore and meet deeper user needs?

There are huge mountains and rivers between content creators and content entrepreneurs .

Step forward and you will see the sky is high and the sea is vast.

Source: Newrank (ID: newrankcn)