The two core elements of product promotion: content and channels

Product promotion is a difficult problem. It looks simple and is easy to do, but the results vary greatly. When we see other companies doing promotion, they gain tens of thousands of followers a day, hundreds of customers a day, and their Baidu Index soars. But for us, we don’t even see a peak in the data for a whole year. So what’s the problem? On the brain.

A brain is a good thing, but not everyone has it. Taking the advertising on public accounts as an example, smart people will do a small-scale test and launch it on 4 to 6 public accounts to test the conversion rate of the copy , find the copy with the highest conversion rate, and then launch it on a large scale. People without brains wrote the copy and directly spread it all over the Internet. You can imagine the effect.

The example above includes all the elements of advertising , content and channels . Students who are doing product promotion can do these two things well and achieve whatever effects they want when promoting their products. However, the simplest things are often the most difficult. This article explains my understanding of content and channels, and I hope everyone can learn and use it.

1. Content is king

Content is king, I think we have all heard these four words. If you hear a sentence too many times, you will no longer feel it. Just like the teacher often says, one should be honest. But how many children can do this nowadays? Content is king mostly refers to content providers. If they want to retain users, they must produce high-quality content. For example, if you have an emotional public account, you will not have to worry about not having fans if the content is well written. Not only now, but in a few years, content is king will still be the truth.

1.1 High-quality content must first be useful

We can’t say that we are doing advertising and don’t care whether it is useful to users. Today's advertisements are very different from those in the past. Take information flow advertisements as an example. The biggest feature of information flow advertisements is that they are native and integrated with non-advertising content. If there is no advertising logo prompt, ordinary users will not be able to distinguish between advertisements and non-advertising. Users think they are seeing content and obtaining information, but in fact they are advertisements placed by merchants. Advertisements in Moments are also being optimized in this regard, striving to make them as subtle and silent as the wind that sneaks into the night.

When we are creating content, how can we make advertisements that are useful to users? Do it with heart. There is a term now called "craftsman spirit". In order to create something useful to others, one spends decades studying and perfecting a piece of content, and then one can gain recognition from others. The same is true for creating content, such as writing copy. For students who have just started working and have poor writing skills, the copy they write is indeed not ideal. There are too many empty and pretentious words. They must insist on writing every day and constantly optimize and adjust. After writing for two to three years, their level will be greatly improved.

1.2 Being interesting is also a form of content

Product promotion nowadays is no longer the same as before where people just read from a script and talk about products in a serious manner. A few days ago, the name change of a freight platform attracted widespread attention. Several TV stations, hundreds of media outlets, and hundreds of thousands of users actively spread the news, which greatly boosted the brand 's reputation. The most important thing is that all of this was free of charge. This wouldn't be possible if the content was boring.

Interesting content. There is another case. I guess everyone knows it. "France won the championship and Vatti refunded the full amount." Many people around me joined the ranks of disseminators and forwarded the screenshot. You know, spending money may not necessarily make ordinary users forward the content. Here, users are happy to forward and spread it without spending a penny because the content is interesting. I just want to see how much money you are going to post, hahahaha.

It is not easy to create interesting content, and the requirements for content creators are quite high. It depends on personality. People with active thinking and open imagination are particularly suitable for this. In one word, they need to be talented, which is more innate. The level of the interesting content can be seen from how well it follows the hot topics. Here I would like to give an example that is familiar to everyone. Yes, it is that dirty Xiao Du. He is the only one who can continuously follow hot topics and come up with interesting jokes.

1.3 The content is not limited in form

When it comes to content, the first thing that comes to mind is text. Articles on public accounts are the standard content format. What everyone ignores are videos, such as movies ; audio, such as songs; and pictures, such as emoticons . These are also content and a form of content. Creating content does not just require a focus on words. Some products are suitable for video promotion , so video content is also required. For example, when placing advertisements for massage chairs, videos will be much more persuasive than words.

The correct approach to content creation is to think of selling points, determine the platform for delivery, and create content in the corresponding form based on the attributes of the platform. Advertising on TikTok is video advertising . This worries many students who are doing promotion. They have no experience in making videos, so what should they do? They still have to advertise, so they might as well just shoot a random video and send it out. Then I found out that the conversion rate is so damn low. There’s nothing I can do about it. This is how people get rich and stupid.

2. Channels as a supplement

In the eyes of those who are in charge of promotion, they often put the cart before the horse and attach too much importance to channels. After the leader arranges a promotion task, the first thing they do is negotiate the channels. It seems that once the channels are found, the promotion effect will be a natural result. Let’s take the example of promoting public accounts. I like to use public accounts as an example. If you don’t agree, come and hit me.

There is an organization that provides courses and has placed advertisements on my official account twice. One time there were zero transactions, and the other time there were many transactions. I am not in a position to disclose the specific data because tigers also need some privacy. The reason for this polarized situation is still the copywriting's fault. After optimizing the copywriting, the conversion rate has increased a lot, and the effect of 200% is still possible.

2.1 Mobile Internet makes channels more diverse

What were the advertising channels in the past? Television, newspapers, websites, that's basically it. With the rise of mobile Internet , you can see that even Baidu is no longer doing well, which means that its users have been diverted away to individual apps and public accounts. For users, there are more ways to obtain information, but for students doing promotion, the workload is greater. In the past, it was enough to handle one Baidu search , but now we have to handle dozens of apps, so the workload will naturally increase.

As the number of channels increases, there must be a corresponding knowledge reserve, and continuous learning is crucial. If you want to master one platform, it will take at least a month. If there are more than a dozen platforms, how long will it take? Take the official account as an example. Oh, it’s another official account. Platforms similar to official accounts include Baijiahao , Toutiaohao , Dayuhao , Sohuhao, and Penguinhao (in no particular order). Each platform has its own characteristics, and it is not easy to do well.

There are also various APPs. If we are engaged in e-commerce and sell diapers, in addition to the traditional Tmall , Taobao , and JD.com , there are also many small platforms such as Pinduoduo, Meilishuo , Juanpi, etc., as well as maternal and child APPs, which are suitable for soft promotion. If the platform has e-commerce attributes, you can also settle in. With so many platforms available to those who are doing promotion, there is a question: should they expand everywhere or focus on one? Each has its pros and cons, it depends on your ability.

2.2 Hold on to the channel’s thighs tightly

The relationship between channels and us is very delicate. If we want to obtain resources for free, then the channel is the boss. We need to study the rules of the channel, create suitable content, and let the channel recommend it. If we pay for promotion, then the roles will be reversed. We are the boss and the channel has to rely on us. This kind of ups and downs in the relationship is really hard to grasp.

For example, the effectiveness of using the Douyin platform for product promotion is obvious to all. Let’s take a look at how Douyin works in both free and paid ways. It’s free. You can create your own Tik Tok account, shoot videos, and post them to attract fans. If you want to get recommended, you only need to study the rules of the platform carefully, understand the recommendation mechanism, and shoot videos that meet the recommendation requirements. Then you can get exposure and promote your product.

For payment, you can cooperate with Douyin's MCN agency or invest in official CPM advertising. Money makes the world the boss. The same is true for Douyin. Douyin has its own business team and agents. If you invest one or two million yuan every month to buy CPM advertising on Douyin, you can do whatever you want on Douyin.

3. In summary

The knowledge involved in the two modules of content and channels is far from what can be explained clearly in one article. In the future, I will give separate explanations on a small part of it, such as how to choose a title with a high click-through rate , the significance of the existence of Baijiahao, etc. The work process is also a process of learning and growth. There are new ways of playing every day. Everyone should keep pace with the times, try more new ways of playing, and think of more new ideas. In this way, product promotion will become much simpler.

Source: Tiger Talk Operations