Short video operation process, five rules for short video operation

Short video apps carry more marketing, user and social resources, providing valuable marketing channels for companies and brands. In the "attention economy" stage, content platforms represented by short video apps are becoming more and more like a "marketing encyclopedia."

The Zhiniuer Marketing Business Research Institute has sorted out the five major rules for successful customer acquisition for short video app accounts such as Douyin and Kuaishou, hoping to provide research content with reference value for brand marketing breakthroughs and help brand marketing fight the "epidemic".

1. The “three-second attraction” rule

The so-called "three-second" rule means that a short video must attract the audience's attention within the first three seconds in order to achieve 100% "completion". Users who frequently watch short video apps such as TikTok and Kuaishou will have a common feeling, which is “refreshing the page before finishing watching”. That is to say, the “completion rate” of some videos on the platform is not 100%, and some viewers even watch less than 50%. In the first 3 seconds, the audience has already decided whether to watch the video to the end.

Therefore, whether you can whet the audience's appetite within three seconds is a key factor in determining whether a short video can be completed. How to achieve the "three-second attraction" rule?

●Highly effective inducement

It is necessary to establish "efficient incentives" at the beginning of the short video, and transmit the essence of the video, suspense and other expected factors to the audience in a "short, flat and fast" way, so as to build the audience's motivation to "complete the broadcast". In the process of watching a video, the audience's mental journey is a series of orderly actions (watching, commenting, liking, complaining, forwarding, replaying, etc.) triggered by the previous and subsequent incentives set in the content.

Creating triggers, especially those within the first three seconds, needs to be simple, direct, and have the most visual impact. Generally, the show starts with copywriting, music, characters, IP and other factors to attract the audience's attention and build up "expectations for the end of the show."

● Copywriting incentives

The copywriting incentives are mainly to motivate the audience to continue watching by creating suspense. The main contents include: "Be sure to watch to the end...", "There will be an easter egg at the end...", "It will be even more exciting later...", "The fourth girl will be even cuter...", etc. The guiding intention of such copywriting is quite obvious, but the effect will decrease over time; in addition, some video copywriting does not set suspense content, but arouses the audience's curiosity through descriptions of time, space, and identity, thereby generating a desire to continue watching.

For example, some short videos begin with: "I am a psychologist and I have to interview a patient at night...", "I am an actor and now I am in the director's room..." Content like this not only triggers the audience's associations, but also makes them imagine the next plot based on their own expectations. Because they want to get the answer, they will continue watching.

IP incentives

Compared with copywriting, content IP has a greater reach. Whether it is a person, brand, music, or other popular content, it will immediately resonate with fans once it is launched.

For example, Zheng Jianpeng and Yan Zhen, a couple with more than 14 million fans, are nicknamed "the landlord and the landlady" by netizens. With their magical music, exaggerated expressions, and a bunch of keys they carry with them, they have established unique character traits and have a strong IP effect. As soon as their images appear, they will resonate with many fans. "Is there any new work?", "What kind of creativity will it have?" These curious thoughts will inevitably surge in the audience's minds, so they look forward to watching it all the time, and the effect of the "three-second rule" is immediately apparent.

●Sound effects

Combining various completed videos, we can find that a common feature is the sound effect element. Various popular jokes are inseparable from the magical sound effects. The magic lies in the fact that the unique music will give the audience a conditioned reflex, involuntarily arouse specific emotions, and start an immersive "inner experience journey" following the rhythm of the music. Therefore, in order to achieve the "three-second rule", the most important thing is to highlight the sense of immersion of sound effects.

2. The “Three Highs” Rule of Content

The perfect incentive setting can be said to be a good start, the purpose of which is to give the audience a good expectation so that they continue to watch. However, whether the video can be completed or have a high playback rate depends on the content of the short video, that is, the "three highs rule of content".

The so-called "Three Highs of Content Rule" means that the content of short videos must have "high-concentration display, high-density focus, and high-intensity reach", so as to incubate "vertical accounts" that come with their own traffic. The key to attracting attention and traffic with short videos is to concentrate all the audience's attention in a short period of time, which reflects the essence of content platforms' competition for audience attention.

In the fragmented era, the competition for attention is the competition for traffic. Due to time constraints, short videos need to arouse the audience's interest before they lose patience. Therefore, they need to get straight to the point and present the content as quickly as possible, which means increasing the "concentration" of the video content.

At the same time, the video content needs to be sufficiently focused, and the content of a video should be unique or limited, so it can be rendered more comprehensively using diversified means. The result of focusing is to highlight the personality of the video. Currently, the more popular content on the Douyin platform is classified into several categories: good-looking (appearance, figure), funny, talent, plot, grass-planting (selling goods), and tips. Around these contents, music, dialogues, characters and scenes are added to create a highly personalized scene, ultimately producing a better touch effect.

Through the strengthening of content, the Douyin platform has incubated a series of personalized "vertical accounts". The fixed content style has formed a fixed "content tone" of the account, thereby gathering a fan group with distinctive characteristics.

Incubating vertical accounts through the "Three Highs of Content" is not only a development trend for Douyin, but also for other video content platforms. As the account community continues to grow, user traffic will also be labeled. Through the classification of user traffic, content platforms represented by Douyin will achieve orderly management of users and content.

3. The “funny + planting grass” rule

The so-called funny + grass-planting rule means that with the development of the short video trend, its content is no longer limited to a single field, but has several contents at the same time. The most obvious aspects are selling goods and being funny, which are becoming the driving elements of the "fun" economy.

Looking at the development trajectories of many content platforms such as Douyin and Kuaishou, "Zhi Niu Er" found that the marketing attributes of short video platforms are becoming more and more obvious, and are shifting from content-oriented to merchandising-oriented.

According to the analysis of big data on the Internet, the two most popular categories at present are funny and grass-planting. The entertainment value of the content is increased through interesting plots to meet the audience's demand for "good looks". At the same time, the display of product functions is added to the plot, and the plot is linked together through the use and effect content of the product, which enriches the funny content and meets the audience's demand for "sense of gain".

"Zhi Niu Er" believes that the content of short videos should not be too extensive, otherwise it will lose focus and affect the audience's "depth of immersion" in the scene. Therefore, fun and interesting are the keynotes of short video content, while promoting products and promoting products is the "real hammer" of the video.

Allowing users to experience products in a relaxed and happy manner, promoting marketing conversion and brand awareness, will be the development trend of content marketing on video platforms.

4. The rules of drama chasing mode

The so-called "series chasing mode" rule means that the account content is presented in episodes to guide the audience to continue to pay attention, creating a "series chasing" effect to increase the stickiness of the account and the platform.

Users of TikTok all have the experience of "swiping videos", and the constant "swiping of the screen" reflects the casualness of users' use of TikTok. Users have a clear purpose for using TikTok—they hope to get the expected enjoyment, but they lack the ability to implement it in practice.

As the saying goes, "I know TikTok is good, but I don't know why it's good." At this time, users need to be further guided, and the serialization of account content can better solve this problem. The content has a unified style and is presented in episodes: the audience is still wanting more of the hit content, they are very curious about the plot, and their expectations are urgently confirmed... The Douyin account continuously guides the audience's attention through the tone of the content to achieve the effect of "chasing the drama".

By continuously following an account, users' viewing efficiency will be greatly improved. Instead of spending several hours looking for content they like, they will gradually spend the same amount of time immersed in the content they like. The viewing satisfaction continues to increase, which in turn leads to increasing account and platform stickiness. For example: Baozuo Xiaofeng, Huayicun, Huihui Zhou, etc., all use series of content to lock in fan groups and ensure the continued attention of users.

5. The Law of Real Person Attributes

The so-called real person attribute rule means that users' use of short video apps largely follows the usage logic of high-quality content orientation -> continuous attention to the account -> following the charm of the character.

As the frequency of use of short video apps increases, users have progressed from initially looking for suitable content to continuously following certain types of content accounts, and finally becoming account owners - account owners - fans.

An excellent short video account will not only attract the audience's attention and build a fan base, but also serve as a window to showcase one's personality.

Out of curiosity, the audience will also have a strong interest in their favorite "account owners". Through the Internet, we can continuously learn about the protagonist’s personal information and continue to pay attention to personal behavior under the inspiration of the “personal charm”.

At this stage, the account and personality are integrated into one. The short video app is not only a platform for content, but also an interactive medium between fans and the "account owner". The appearance of the "account owner" will increase the number of completed broadcasts, likes, bullet comments, and reposts, and the personal IP will become the most valuable asset of the Douyin platform.

The Zhiniuer Marketing Business Research Institute presents the above research content by sorting out the rules of account operation on short video app platforms represented by Tik Tok. Whether it is the creation of personal KOL or the operation of Blue V, especially brand enterprise accounts, you are welcome to participate.