How do “cash loan” products acquire new users?

The four major pain points of cash loan business are: supervision, customer acquisition, capital, and risk control. Customer acquisition determines whether you can enter the industry. Here, let’s talk about customer acquisition for cash loan products.

1. Who are the users?

Before we acquire users, let’s first look at who our users are.

You can first look at some scenarios of borrowing money around you.

Young people who have just graduated and entered the workplace work in big cities with relatively low incomes. Rent and prices in cities are high. Young people have a strong desire to consume, and their monthly salary is not enough to spend. They need to rely on subsidies from their families or borrow money to make ends meet.

The young man who graduated from high school and went out to work is now married and has children. His monthly income is not enough to support his family, so he needs to borrow some money every month to supplement his family income.

A single mother in her 30s, under pressure from life, wants to start a small business, but she does not have enough capital and needs to borrow some money to start it.

Several of my classmates are getting married this month, and I have to give gifts as gifts, which suddenly adds a lot of expenses. I urgently need some money to help out.

Everyone around me is using an iPhone, and I want to buy one for myself.

…

Combining the above scenarios with the user data of the cash loan platform, we can see some common attributes of cash loan users.

Cash loan users are relatively young, aged between 18 and 40. Most of them are male, accounting for more than 70%. Their educational level is relatively low, with more than half having a college degree or below. Their income is relatively low, with a monthly income of 3,000 to 8,000 yuan. Their occupations are mainly grassroots company employees, blue-collar workers, self-employed individuals, etc.

They are generally born in third- and fourth-tier cities and work in first- and second-tier cities. Their income does not match the economic pressure and consumption desire, and they live paycheck to paycheck and need to borrow money every month.

It can be seen that the users are mainly those who are not served by traditional financial institutions. They do not have credit cards and have blank credit records, making it difficult for them to obtain banking services.

Before the emergence of "online cash loan platforms", if banks did not lend them money, they could only borrow money from relatives, friends and other acquaintances.

There are several pain points in borrowing money from acquaintances. For example, you may feel embarrassed to ask for money, or they don’t have the money even when you ask, or they have the money but may not lend it to you. Also, you have limited relatives and friends and it is impossible for you to borrow money from them often.

This provides the conditions for online cash loan platforms that break geographical locations, hone interpersonal relationships, and allow for quick application.

2. How many users are there?

Let’s look at some data first.

Wind data shows that the average American holds 2.9 credit cards, which is about ten times the number of credit cards held per capita in China in the first quarter of 2016 (0.3).

China currently has a population of 1.375 billion and multiplies that by 0.3 per capita card holders, we can conclude that China's total credit card holdings in 2016 is 410 million, which is expected to cover 300 million users. Excluding children and the elderly, who number about 500 million, there are nearly 600 million users who do not have credit cards and cannot enjoy basic financial services.

Among the 870 million people included in the credit reporting system of the People's Bank of my country, only 370 million have credit records, and only 275 million people can generate credit reports. The credit information coverage rate is 27%, far lower than the 75% in the United States, and the coverage of blue-collar workers is even lower. There are still 600-700 million people who do not have a credit record with the central bank.

According to incomplete statistics, there are currently about 15 million active small cash loan users in China (users who have borrowed multiple times), and the population penetration rate is 1.1%, which is much lower than the 4% in the United States. If the penetration rate of small cash loans in China reaches 4%, it can be inferred that China's online credit has a target population of about 50-60 million, and the market size exceeds one trillion yuan.

The groups not covered by credit records, apart from children and the elderly, mainly include the vast number of blue-collar workers, gray-collar workers, young white-collar workers, and unemployed young people. Their salary income cannot meet their daily consumption needs, and traditional financial institutions are unable to provide them with credit services. There is a trillion-dollar market opportunity here. Online microcredit that breaks through geographical location, acquaintance relationships, and cumbersome processes is booming in this market opportunity.

Vertical small cash loan products are all aimed at this type of users, such as 2345 Loan King , Cash Card, Loan Money, Lightning Loan, etc.

3. Where are the users?

From a geographical point of view, cash loan users are distributed all over the country. But they are mainly concentrated in first- and second-tier cities, especially in major cities in the south.

Judging from the distribution of online platforms, cash loan users are distributed in every corner that provides online services. Wherever there is traffic , there are cash loan users.

Judging from the behavior of looking for loan services when they are in urgent need of money, users will actively go to application markets , search engines , loan navigation platforms, or directly go to platforms that have been recommended by others or have been seen before.

4. How to acquire users

The offline customer acquisition cost for small loans is very high, and cash loan platforms mainly acquire customers online.

Common ways to acquire customers are as follows.

1. Application marketing

Cash loan platforms basically provide services through APP, H5, and WeChat . Generally, APP users account for more than 70%, so application market promotion is extremely important.

Your goal in app marketing is to appear when users want it and drive natural downloads. There are two ways to achieve this. One is to be on the category list or the overall list to get more views and downloads; the other is to appear at the top of the user's search results to attract downloads.

The application market is divided into these four categories.

• Third-party application markets: App Store , 360 Mobile Assistant , Baidu Mobile Assistant , PP Assistant , Wandoujia , etc.
• Mobile phone manufacturer market: Huawei, Xiaomi, OPPO , vivo , Meizu, Meitu , Hammer, etc.
• Apple's official application market: AppStore.
• Apple genuine jailbreak: XY Mobile Assistant, Aisee Assistant, itools, Syncios , etc.

Now the question is, how to get on the list, such as making your APP appear at the top of user search results?

The following are some common promotion methods.

1. ASO , optimize the app name, subtitle , promotional text, keywords , app description, etc., covering hot words and competitor words , which is the basis for APP promotion .
2. Machine flashing , machine flashing download, is divided into real machine flashing and protocol flashing . Real device flashing refers to using a large number of Apple devices to flash and download, and protocol flashing refers to simulating user search and download by generating a large number of Apple IDs.
3. Points wall encourages users to download apps and then gives them rewards, which are real but worthless user downloads.
4. Brushing comments is similar to brushing apps, but instead of brushing downloads, it brushes comments. A large number of comments can guide real users to download, and are usually used in combination with machine brushing and point walls.

How to do it specifically? Find an agent and let professionals do professional things.

These are just means. Although there is cheating involved, the ultimate goal is to make your app appear higher in the list or user search results, thereby obtaining natural downloads and bringing in real users.

Because of the openness of Android, in addition to the above promotion methods, its application market also has its own promotion methods that are different from the AppStore.

For example, app market launch (currently Apple’s app market has not been opened in China), app market debut , app market special topics, new product self-recommendation, etc.

2. Cooperation with cash loan diversion platform

When everyone went to pan for gold, those who bought water made a lot of money. Cash loan diversion platforms are the water buyers in the gold rush, such as Rong360, KaNiu, Wangdaizhijia, Haodai, etc., there are many such products.

They are a navigation site that brings together numerous cash loan products, and you can filter out cash loan products that meet your conditions through various dimensions.

People who are in urgent need of money will generally look for these platforms to apply for loans on multiple cash loan platforms. This is because the cash loan platform's approval rate for new users is 10%-20%. You may not pass their risk control review after applying, so the more platforms you apply, the greater the probability of getting the money.

Different traffic diversion platforms have different ways of cooperation. Larger platforms require API docking and need to be connected according to the other party's standards and specifications. Small platform, import users to your platform through the URL you provide.

Different traffic diversion platforms have different settlement methods. Larger platforms use CPA (registration) and settle according to the number of registered users, generally 5 yuan to 12 yuan per registration; small platforms use CPS (loan) and settle according to a certain percentage of the loan amount, generally 2% to 5% of the loan amount.

The users of the cash loan diversion platform are of high quality and are very accurate users, with a high conversion rate of user applications.

3. Cooperation with cash loan platforms

It is impossible for an e-commerce platform to direct traffic to its competitors, but cash loan platforms are happy to do so. It is also rare for competitors to be in harmony with each other. The main logic is:

• Meet user needs. The cash loan platform has a new user approval rate of only 10%, and can only serve 10% of users. The borrowing needs of the remaining users are not met, so other borrowing platforms are recommended to meet their borrowing needs, increase user satisfaction and reduce user frustration.
• Increase revenue. Although cash loan platforms can only serve 10% of users, the other 90% of users also pay for it. Why not divert traffic to other platforms, reuse the traffic and increase revenue?

Some people may have doubts. Will other cash loan platforms accept users who fail my review? Selective. First, everyone’s risk control rules are different. You might want the users that I don’t want. Second, everyone’s risk control models have different degrees of tightness. Some are very strict, with a 10% approval rate for new user applications, while others are more aggressive, with a 30% approval rate for new user applications.

Don’t underestimate the traffic diversion of cash loans. There is no financial risk, it is pure profit, and the profit is beyond your imagination.

There are two ways to divert cash loan platforms to others:

1. Users who pass the review will be kept by you and not exported; users who fail the review will be diverted to other companies.
2. All users are open to the outside world, and users can choose me or others.

How to play it specifically depends on your profit calculation.

The users directed by cash loan platforms are basically borrowers with a strong willingness to borrow. However, because they have been filtered by other platforms, there are some risks in the users' repayment ability and willingness.

4. Comprehensive traffic platform cooperation

As long as there is a platform with traffic, you can place orders and promote. include:

Information streams : Toutiao , Zhihuitui, Yidianzixun , Changdu, Sohu Huisuan, Sina Fuyi, Zaker, etc.

Social information flow: Fanstong , Guangdiantong , WeChat MP, Baidu Tieba , Momo , etc.

Browser information flow: UC Browser, QQ Browser , Cheetah, Xiaomi, etc.

DSP information flow: Youdao DSP, Duomeng DSP, Limei DSP, Imobi, Admob, Juxiao, etc.

Tool information flow: wifi master key, cool lock screen, red envelope lock screen, perpetual calendar, ink weather , etc.

Domestic and foreign alliances : Kuaiyou, mobvista, yeahmobi, glispa, matomy, etc.

Video category: iQiyi , Youku, Sohu Video , etc.

SEM /ASO: Baidu SEM, 360SEM, Shenma SEM, appstore ASO, etc.

There are many traffic platforms, but the users are not that accurate and need to be tested in a refined manner.

You can first choose a large platform that matches the target customer group of your product, and then focus on testing and optimization. It is normal that the initial cost is high and the ROI is low. You need to continue to optimize your account and delivery strategy to gradually reduce costs.

5. User invitation

The usual idea of ​​acquiring customers is that you give money to the advertiser/agent, and they give you the volume. User invitation is when you give benefits to users, let them help you promote, and invite more users to your platform.

Financial products are very good at this trick. They invite users to get cash, invite users to get trial money, invite users to get interest rate coupons, invite users to increase annualized yields, invite users to get iPhone X... I'll give you whatever you want, as long as you can bring me users.

Compared with other customer acquisition methods, user invitations are calculated based on CPS (effectiveness) and have low costs.

Cash loan products are based on user invitations. In addition to the common sharing invitations through WeChat, QQ, and Weibo, cash loan platforms require user communication permissions or operator authorization for risk control purposes. This means that cash loan platforms have data on users' address book friends. In this case, motivating users to invite their address book friends is a point that can be explored in depth.

When inviting a borrower, the user will generally be given 50-100 yuan in cash. As long as the cost of inviting friends is lower than the average cost of acquiring customers in the market, the activity is effective.

6. Other methods

The above categories are commonly used ways to acquire customers for cash loans. As the cost of acquiring customers for cash loans becomes higher and higher, cash loans have begun to consider more diverse ways to acquire customers.

1. Including traditional media, such as building advertising, television advertising, newspapers, program sponsorship and other brand advertising.
2. This includes acquiring customers online and moving to offline, such as street canvassing and cooperating with offline merchants.
3. Including more creative ways of playing, such as video placement, viral marketing , etc.
4. It even includes going overseas and providing cash loan services to overseas markets, especially in Southeast Asia, because the acquisition cost there is equivalent to the cash loan customer acquisition cost two years ago.

Here we simply share the common methods of acquiring customers without elaborating. Students who are interested can look for information on their own. Each promotion method is worth exploring.