0. What is event operation?

Before we talk about how to organize a high-participation event, let’s first look at the employer’s definition of event operations .

The following picture comes from a random screenshot of a company's recruitment information:

Therefore, it can be seen that event operation is: activity planning for a certain platform, such as e-commerce , APP, mini program , new media , etc., focusing on a certain purpose, including brand promotion, user activity, retention , and new user acquisition.

This also shows that event operations should focus on the purpose of the event from the very beginning. Set specific indicators that can be achieved through this activity and set KPIs for individual activities. For example, if the main purpose is to attract new users, don’t look at what benefits can be provided to old users or how to increase activity. For example, if the main purpose is to evaluate based on sales and GMV, don’t just look at indicators such as brand exposure and how many people read and commented.

Even if the same operation is responsible for many indicators, it is enough to choose one purpose for an activity. The improvements in other indicators are incidental and are bonus points, not must-haves. For example, the fundamental purpose of a certain e-commerce company’s big promotion on 11.11 is to increase sales. At the same time, it cooperates with major platforms to carry out activities. So there will definitely be brand exposure and user favorability, but the main indicator is still sales. It’s best not to want everything.

Secondly, we must also pay attention to coordination. The third point in the screenshot, "Develop marketing plans for quarterly, monthly, weekly and key promotion periods based on operational conditions", requires operators to formulate operational plans in advance and set the pace for the launch of the entire operational activities. Some large-scale activities even need to be arranged and executed one quarter in advance.

Point 4 of the screenshot, "Coordination of resources, R&D follow-up, event execution, data analysis ...", elaborates in detail what needs to be done before, during and after the launch of an event, because the quality of each link is related to the effectiveness of the event. Rather than being a high-participation activity that requires perfect coordination of all aspects, this item is more about testing an operator's ability to coordinate and plan.

So how do you plan a high-participation operational activity?

1. Why do we need to organize activities?

2. Why should you participate in the event? 6 baits to hook users

3. How to play?

1. Why do we need to organize activities?

Activities often require a reason, that is, a reason for planning an activity. Why do it now and not next month? The actual reason may be that the boss wants indicators and needs to meet KPIs at the end of the month, but you can’t just write “end of month sprint and large-scale benefits” (sometimes it’s okay to do it occasionally or play a pitiful role).

The reason is to organize an event and tell users what benefits they can get! There are many reasons to launch activities, such as holidays, e-commerce self-created festivals ( 618 , 818, 1111, etc.), major events, hot topics, popular jokes, brand anniversaries, membership days, etc.

I once had an event but I really had no point to talk about, so I used the theme "Boss is in a good mood today, so I'm giving out tons of benefits." Jiangnan Leather City is best at this kind of sales at street stalls. "Jiangnan Leather City has closed down, the boss and his sister-in-law have run away, here's a clearance sale, a wallet originally priced at xx is now priced at xx." In short, give a reason to convince users why you should do this activity, convince them that the benefits are really good, and everyone will celebrate and be willing to take your bait.

For example, on the day when iPhone XS was launched, the pictures released by Durex’s official Weibo account, the king of hype, caused a wave of reposts in the circle of friends . If it takes the opportunity to say that if you retweet this Weibo post, you will get an iPhone XS for free, the number of retweets will definitely increase dramatically.

2. Why should you participate in the event? 6 baits to hook users

The bait is also called the interest point, which is the reason why users participate in the event and takes the bait.

1. Material incentives make people feel profitable

This is easy to understand. When e-commerce websites hold events, they will put out all kinds of coupons, such as discounts, free discounts, spend xx and get xx free, original price xx for a limited time xx. They would like to fill the entire screen with what benefits you can get by participating in the event. Although it is impossible to calculate how much money you can save in the end, it makes you feel that you will miss out on a lot if you don't participate.

Some big sponsors hold an event and say they will give away x billion yuan right from the start. In fact, the probability of winning is very small, but it looks grand and the bait is generous enough, as shown in the picture below: sharing will give away 1 billion yuan in cash, but a closer look shows only 5 to 100 yuan. As an old hand at event management, you can tell at a glance that there is a high probability that only 5 yuan will be won.

2. Create emotions and resonate with people

If we compare "activity" to a mute, although he cannot speak, he can express his thoughts and feelings with facial expressions and body language, and when he wants to express it strongly, his emotions are conveyed particularly strongly. At this point, the emotions of the activity are 100% empathized by the other party. To create emotions, you can start with the following 3 points:

(1) Creating a sense of anxiety has been a common method in recent years. The new interpretation of the old term "greasy middle-aged" instantly hits many people born in the 1980s, and " escape from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou " hits a large number of struggling young people who are entangled in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. The most convenient method is knowledge payment . When everyone is anxious, it provides a solution to quickly solve the anxiety problem.

For example, in the following picture, "What should the official account post today? I am at a loss every day when choosing the daily topic", the new media operation editor should be able to resonate with this and give a solution: a new media topic selection secret and the personal experience of a 10-year copywriting veteran. The editor who is troubled by what to post every day probably can't wait to scan the QR code and take a look.

How long has it been since you finished reading a book? It also creates a sense of knowledge anxiety and provides a solution: join a book reading plan, read a book together every week, and easily read 52 books a year.

(2) Play the emotional card, make you cry or laugh

Emotional cards include family affection, friendship, love, affection between colleagues, neighbors, strangers, and even the feelings between people and animals and things.

Most of these activities play the sentimental card. For example, NetEase Yanxuan held a theme of "Every old person was once a child" on the Double Ninth Festival. With the theme of "I want them to become children again", it recommended clothing and supplies for the elderly from the perspectives of "helping them find their youthful appearance", "taking them to faraway places in stories", and "making a 'children's meal' for them". It recommended tableware and other supplies. These activities are very fresh and clean among e-commerce APP activities.

Many people play the sympathetic card, but if you are not particularly attentive, it can easily make people feel bored, so the narrative angle must be novel. Some emotional cards are nostalgic, for example: "The Childhood that Adults Dare Not Open" by NetEase News x DaDa selected classic childhood memories and presented them in a black and white hand-painted 3D stereoscopic way, accompanied by classic background music and lines:

(3) Stimulate the desire to protect

Everyone experiences loneliness. At the same time, everyone has also developed sympathy and compassion for things that are weaker than themselves, which in turn stimulates a desire to protect them.

Let’s take the “Tencent Charity Children’s Gallery” as an example, which has also gone viral on WeChat Moments . If it were an ordinary children’s gallery, it would definitely not be widely disseminated. This is because we knew from the beginning that this group of children were extraordinary, and that the small actions of the participants could help them realize their desires. The desire to protect that was originally hidden in their hearts was easily stimulated and transformed into action.

3. Satisfy narcissism. Everyone has their own agenda.

The third point is also very important and commonly used bait. Almost everyone will subconsciously create the side they want to show when they forward or post to their friends.

The Jungian psychological test on NetEase Cloud Music that was popular some time ago actually shows that no matter which personality you are, it is all “praise”: wisdom, kindness, purity, tenacity, truthfulness, warmth, generosity, justice, courage, unruliness, greatness, legend, passion, enthusiasm… They all seem perfect, right? So no matter which personality you are, when you forward it to your friends, the subtext is: I am great, I am excellent, I am beautiful (handsome), look at me!

4. Stimulate competition awareness

Competitive consciousness is a common relationship in social apps , communities, and social groups . For example, some people are very enthusiastic about the daily step count on WeChat , often reaching more than 10,000 steps. It would feel great if they could occupy the cover of the Moments one day.

Recently I joined a daily reading group, and I update my daily reading status every day. The same principle applies. "Others are persisting, so I have to persist too. Someone persisted for XX days, I can't lose. Today I defeated XX people again." These are the subtexts that will be played out in my mind.

Alipay bills are a typical example of stimulating competition and comparison:

5. Fun

This "interesting" refers to the fun of playing the activity itself, and also includes the aesthetic taste of the participants themselves (I am very interesting). The first Drama Cultural Relics Conference, with its novel expression methods and popular Douyin jokes , made people unable to stop and could not help forwarding them. Similarly, there were also various creative h5s of the Forbidden City that were of the same interest. While forwarding them, it also showed that one was paying attention to current popular elements, being interesting, and having fun.

6. Star Effect

The star effect also includes celebrities and KOLs who have a certain degree of fame, influence, and number of fans in the industry, using the protagonist's own traffic to create topics and participation in the event. Only big brands can afford this, so if you have a limited budget, just give it a try.

3. How to play?

After talking about the six baits, let's talk about the form and gameplay of the activity. Remember to follow two key points:

1. If you don’t want to play, don’t go online

If you find this type of activity boring and don’t want to participate, then don’t force users to participate.

What’s interesting is that, as an event operator, raffles are the way of playing that I disdain the most (because I think they require no technical skills), but almost all users buy into them. This is probably because raffles are based on probability of winning, and probability has a bit of a “gambling” psychological nature, and the way to participate is extremely simple, so after playing for a while, you gradually become addicted.

Probabilistic lotteries include roulette, golden egg smashing, slot machines, flip machines, dice rolling, claw machines, etc. The underlying logic is probabilistic lotteries.

2. If it’s hard for you to play with them, think again.

Users will only become lazier, more picky, and less patient. If the format and gameplay of an activity are too complicated, and the participation process or prize collection mechanism is too cumbersome, people will have to stop and think about how to play. Then, we need to consider whether the activity mechanism needs to be optimized. Each step is a funnel, which is related to the user experience and affects the activity funnel conversion.

I once did a continuous sign-in activity. The first time I did it, you could get XX gift only if you successfully signed in continuously on the third day. At that time, I thought that it was only 3 days and users would persist for the prize. However, I found that XX% of users churned on the second day, and the churn rate for users who signed in continuously for 7 days was even higher. Therefore, during the second optimization, it was set up on the first day so that users could get XX prizes, giving them a reward. In this way, if you sign in for 3 consecutive days, there is only one more day, and the retention rate will go up.

Summarize:

Before doing an activity, you must be purposeful and coordinated (coordinate the necessary resources in advance). After starting planning, you need to find a reason to tell users why you are doing this event and what you want them to gain. Then, six major baits are used to hook users: material incentives, creating emotions, satisfying narcissism, stimulating competition and comparison, fun, and celebrity effect. Finally, the gameplay must be simple, easy to learn and operate, and pay attention to the experience and funnel of each link.

Source: Lingxi