User operation: How to do detailed user classification?

User operation is a module of knowledge required for all operation positions, because all products must have users. Of course, this applies more to products on the C-end, and some of its contents may not be applicable to products on the B-end.

1. The core goal of user operation

The so-called user operation is to carry out refined operation on users to achieve the effect of maximizing ROI. This ROI refers to both the balance between revenue and cost at the business level and the balance between per capita input and output value at the human resource level.

2. Specific content of user operation

According to the different operational requirements of different products, they can be roughly divided into the following three types.

Grading:

Grading refers to dividing users into a certain number of levels according to certain dimensions, which corresponds to the formation of a membership system and corresponding rights and interests. In addition, since the membership system is generally linked to points, it is also explained here.

Membership system:

Not all products require a membership system. Generally speaking, products with relatively low usage frequency and relatively sufficient market competition require a membership system to ensure and improve user loyalty . In the process of building a membership system, we generally focus on two well-known models, namely the pyramid model and the RFM model . I will not go into details here. If you don’t understand, you can search on Baidu.

The membership system can be divided into three parts: level division, division dimension, and level change:

1. Level division

Depending on whether they have paid, members can be divided into three modes: ordinary members, paid members, and ordinary and paid members coexisting.

Currently, paid memberships are widely used in e-commerce and content (video + knowledge) products. In addition, there are relatively mature business models in workplace social networking and stranger social networking, such as Maimai and Momo .

The number of levels can be determined according to the characteristics and needs of your own products, generally ranging from 3 to 7. Different levels correspond to a group and corresponding operational points:

• For example, new users are mainly stimulated to register and perform key behaviors;
• When dealing with entry-level users, the main focus is to screen out high-potential users from the total number of users and strive to turn them into more loyal users;
• When dealing with loyal users, the main thing is to find out the gaps and fill them, and use material and spiritual incentives to try to win back users who are about to leave.

2. Divide the dimensions

If product type is used as the differentiation angle, the division dimension is generally measured by the product's key behaviors + personal information completion.

• For example, e-commerce products are a series of key behaviors around shopping, including but not limited to shopping frequency, purchase categories, shopping amount, shopping methods, post-purchase feedback, etc.
• For example, community products are a series of key behaviors around content production, including but not limited to browsing, sharing, following, producing content (text, pictures, videos), etc.
• For example, tool- type products generally focus on the usage time, number of times used, and number of days used of the core functional modules.

If we divide it based on the richness of dimensions, whether the calculation period is based on natural time (year, month, quarter, day) or rolling time (the last X years/months/quarters/days), and whether the calculation method is natural accumulation or a complex algorithm model, it can be roughly divided into two types: simple addition of single static indicators and comprehensive weighting of multiple dynamic indicators.

At present, since there are more relevant scenarios in e-commerce and payment, the second method is more commonly used, which can more accurately define the scope of high-value members.

3. Level Change

Level changes can be divided into three situations: upgrading, downgrading and maintaining level.

Generally speaking, for the sake of user experience , user upgrade priority is the highest, so users are usually upgraded to a higher level immediately after meeting the conditions.

Downgrading and relegation involve the concept of level validity period. On the one hand, it is due to cost issues caused by the rights and interests of some members. On the other hand, it is also a consideration to maintain the normal flow of the user system. After all, the user system is not established for the sake of establishment. The most fundamental reason is to identify the value of different users more conveniently and quickly.

Generally, the validity period of a grade is consistent with the grade calculation period.

II. Membership Rights

Membership benefits refer to the privileges or benefits that members obtain by meeting certain conditions (usually a certain level).

1. Design points

There are two main points in designing membership benefits:

1. Assigning value requires an estimate of the value that different levels of users can create during their life cycle, and making trade-offs in the design's rights and interests from the perspective of equity cost.
2. Differentiation: The rights and interests of members at different levels must be differentiated. Some rights and interests should be shared by all members, while some rights and interests should be marketing- oriented and can only be enjoyed when certain conditions are met. In the name of "welfare", users are constantly stimulated to upgrade, which serves as a material incentive. Some rights and interests should be exclusive and only open to a very small number of users, creating a sense of scarcity and dignity, and mainly serving as a spiritual incentive.

2. Design ideas

There are many ways to classify member benefits. Here are two perspectives:

The first type is divided according to whether there is cost, which can be divided into material rights and spiritual rights.

Material benefits include but are not limited to various coupons, discounts, physical gifts, etc., and spiritual benefits include but are not limited to medals, achievements, rankings, etc.

Here is a detailed description of spiritual rights:

1. The operation of spiritual rights is different from that of material rights. Due to the costs involved, material rights and interests are often only open to some users who need focused guidance, but spiritual rights and interests can basically be open to all users and can be quickly adjusted according to the product iteration direction and recent operational focus. Therefore, when designing which behaviors can be used as conditions for medals, achievements, or rankings, you can focus on behaviors that are currently less accessible to users, including but not limited to single behaviors, cumulative behaviors, and continuous behaviors.
2. In terms of the front-end style display, it is necessary to highlight the progress bar and the sharp contrast between the completed and unfinished parts. It is generally considered to gray out the unfinished parts.

The second type is divided according to the degree of association with the main business, which can be divided into three types: main business rights and interests, related business rights and interests, and cross-border business rights and interests.

For example, if the main business rights of an e-commerce website are directly related to shopping, the related business rights may be consumer finance, such as insurance, wealth management , etc. Cross-border business rights generally cover a wider range, such as the aviation industry, banking industry, etc.

3. Points system

The points system is generally used in conjunction with the membership system. Its main purpose is to effectively guide user behavior by breaking down product functions, identifying user operations, analyzing user behavior characteristics, screening key behaviors, and determining which ones need to be rewarded/punished.

Although the points system is related to the membership system, it is not recommended to use points directly as a criterion for dividing levels, because the consumption of points is likely to cause the user to be downgraded. Out of loss aversion, users will tend not to consume points, resulting in the normal flow of points. On the one hand, this will reduce users' enthusiasm for participating in activities involving point consumption. On the other hand, the accumulation of a large number of points may lead to cost risks and technical risks of large-scale use in the short term.

There is a difference between points and the growth value in the membership system. The essential difference is whether they can be used as money. Each company may name the points differently, but in essence they are virtual currencies that can only be used in their own products.

1. Incentive rules

• The first step is to confirm the value, that is, each currency unit = X yuan. The rule design for this needs to consider the user scale of the enterprise and the total budget cost of the points business. The specific method is to use the expected investment cost to reversely calculate the value of points. For example, one check-in per day represents the number of returning users per day. The value of this behavior can be estimated to be 0.1 yuan. If I issue 10 points, it means that 1 point represents 0.01 yuan.
• The second step is to confirm the validity period, that is, whether the points need to be recycled, whether they are valid forever or recycled in a fixed period (X days/months/years). If recycling is necessary, it is recommended to keep it consistent with the validity period of the level. This will not only reduce the user's memory cost, but also facilitate the operator's publicity and reduce possible user complaints.
• The third step is trading rules. Because points are essentially virtual currency, it is necessary to confirm whether users are allowed to trade or transfer them. In the long run, this may affect the conversion ratio of points to RMB, and also increase the amount of data written and the difficulty of calculation in the backend system.

2. Acquisition mechanism

Formulating rules for members to earn points requires ensuring the diversity of channels , rapid arrival at accounts, and transparency in presentation.

Each detailed rule needs to include the corresponding module, the user operation path, the value of the points given, whether the behavior is repeatable, and whether the reward is unlimited.

3. Consumption mechanism

The more common forms of consumption are as follows: redemption, cash discount, and as ticket fees for participating in events.

Based on business needs, you can determine whether the user participation time is any period of time or a certain period of time. Generally speaking, the former is used as a normal user incentive mechanism, and the latter generally exists as a sub-activity of a large-scale event to increase user return visits during a certain important period of time.

4. Monitoring Mechanism

Since points involve costs, if we can try to achieve a relative balance between the acquisition and consumption of points at the beginning of the design, it will help us control costs. This therefore requires us to:

1. From the perspective of points, the number of newly generated and consumed points is monitored every day, and we try to keep the number of newly generated points slightly higher than the number of consumed points. In addition, the distribution of points possession should be checked to see if it is approximately normally distributed. If not, the related behaviors or rewards/penalties for new generation or consumption need to be adjusted.
2. From the user perspective, the number of users who earn and consume points is monitored every day, and the approximate range of peaks and troughs and their causes are studied. If any abnormal situation occurs, the cause must be studied in a timely manner and corresponding measures must be taken. In addition, from the perspective of effect evaluation, it is also necessary to see whether there is a significant change in the size of the population for each behavior before and after the launch of the points incentive. If there is no change, it is necessary to consider enhancing incentives, replacing rewards, or canceling incentives.

The author of this article @陈硕 is compiled and published by (Qinggua Media). Please indicate the author information and source when reprinting!

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