How can mini programs take advantage of the World Cup? Here is the most complete guide!

The 2018 Russia World Cup is in full swing, and the German team's loss to Mexico has reached a small climax.

During this period, almost all businesses and brands are simultaneously following every hot topic. Recently, data released by the Kue User Research Institute showed that more than 90% of users chose to follow this World Cup through the Internet , of which 70% discussed it on WeChat Moments . So when multiple public accounts urgently tweeted to take advantage of the trend, it instantly gained over 100,000 followers.

How can we follow the latest news of the World Cup using mini-programs which play an important role in the WeChat ecosystem ?

1. These mini-programs became popular this year

As soon as the competition started, these types of mini-programs became popular.

• Game category : Everyday Football
• News: Tencent Sports World Cup+, World Cup Football 2018, Hupu Football
• Peripheral categories: World Cup avatars, World Cup must-haves

How do these mini-programs follow hot topics? The so-called hot spot chasing routines are nothing more than hot spot peripheral operations , first-hand information about hot spots and hot spot posting mini-games. Operating a mini program is actually a combination of capabilities + gameplay + scenarios. Different combinations can create different surprises.

1. Games + events are the best combination

When enthusiastic fans feel that watching a game does not give them the sense of participation they want, how can they vent their excess energy? Of course, play a football-related game! For ordinary football fans, the threshold for mobile games is too high, and small games that can be played instantly are the most suitable.

For example, CCTV.com has produced a small game called "Everyday Football", which integrates the player's mentality and football spirit into this small game. Whether you can play football or not, you can feel the fun of football competition through your fingertips.

How does this game keep users addicted? He used gameplay such as level-breaking and friend ranking to encourage users to compete with their friends.

• Break through levels: The game is a level-based game. You can pass each level by scoring 3 goals within the limit. The goal obstacles in each level are different. If you want to score successfully, you have to improve your passing and offensive tactics.

• Friends Ranking: After passing a level, you can see your personal total score, which is the average number of goals scored by your friends at this level. You can also view the game friends ranking list , where the ranking is mainly based on the total number of goals scored.

In addition, you can also forward to "show off" your own achievements and take screenshots to get the achievement chart. It is worth mentioning that since the football field in the game also has a large green space, embedding advertisements into the game has become a very "appropriate" way of playing.

2. Hot topics + information, the favorite of fans

For football fans, in addition to staying up late to watch games, first-hand information about the World Cup/stars is also a very popular demand. Data from the Kue User Research Institute shows that in addition to watching the games, 38.4% and 26.2% of users quietly follow the updates of the stars and cheer for them on social media .

So even before the World Cup officially starts, many mini-programs with information related to the event have already appeared on WeChat . like:

• Tencent Sports World Cup+: Contains previews and information on various matches. In addition to the World Cup special, there will also be a live broadcast with pictures and text after the match starts.
• World Cup Football Information 2018: This mini program not only provides the latest information on various events, but also detailed data analysis of each game, such as player data, team status, and national points. Click on the " Encyclopedia " to get detailed information about each team, star player and various technologies;
• Hupu Football: Focus on first-hand football news at home and abroad, display netizens' comments, and increase the sense of interaction;

From left to right: Tencent Sports World Cup+, World Cup Football Information 2018, Hupu Football

These small programs can be said to have their own functions. For example, live broadcast with pictures and texts satisfies the pain point of users who cannot watch videos directly; data interpretation allows novices who have just entered the "pit of football" to quickly grasp the knowledge; first-hand news from home and abroad allows fans to get all kinds of football information.

3. Fan system + hot spots, unofficial can also play well

The so-called "fan-made" refers to products made spontaneously by fans, without official participation in the production. For example, fan-made posters, fan-made dramas, etc., and recently fan-made mini-programs are also very popular.

This summer, the most popular talent show is "Produce 101". Even if you haven't watched the show, you must have heard of "Wang Ju". The selection criteria for this program are basically determined by fan voting. A small program called "Please start your pick" took a different approach and developed a gameplay that is different from the official voting methods of programs such as Tencent Video and Xiaohongshu , allowing fans to choose 11 members suitable for the group according to their preferences.

For fans who already have a "partner in mind", the opportunity to decide the members of the group themselves certainly cannot be missed. Therefore, many WeChat groups were flooded with posters of "The strongest girl group selected by the team officially debuts".

This gameplay can also be applied to the World Cup. For example, many companies have launched mini-programs such as “guess the ball” so that all fans can study their luck index while watching the game.

It is worth noting that you cannot bet on football on WeChat. Whether it is a public account, a mini program or a WeChat group, gambling on football is not allowed. At the very least, the account will be blocked, and at the worst, the police may invite you to "chat"~

4. Hot spots + surrounding areas to satisfy the user psychology of "visiting here"

For Chinese consumers, buying souvenirs is a necessary expense when traveling. According to data analysis from the Cool Goose User Research Institute, 75% of users will pay attention to World Cup peripheral products, such as autumn clothes, mascots, pendants, etc.

Therefore, various mini-programs related to the World Cup have also appeared, and each one is particularly suitable for WeChat social communication. like:

• World Cup avatar: Users can create their own World Cup avatar. This type of gameplay was popular as early as last Christmas when the "@微信官方wantSanta hat" incident made a certain Santa hat mini program taste the sweetness. The data shows that this mini program created an amazing achievement. On December 22, it had less than 100,000 PVs, but by the 23rd, the cumulative PVs reached 40 million, and a total of 17.7 million avatars were generated.
• A must-have for the World Cup: Another approach is to photoshop pictures of World Cup tickets, plane tickets to Russia, etc., to get users to post them on their Moments to show off;
• 2018 Russia World Cup Souvenirs: Real sales of peripheral products to satisfy fans' commemoration of this year's World Cup and achieve the purpose of "visiting here".

From left to right: World Cup avatars, World Cup must-haves, 2018 Russia World Cup souvenirs

2. These "soft and hard" gameplays make mini programs "more powerful"

In addition to the above-mentioned gameplay, Captain Ying also summarized 2 WeChat secrets to make your mini program "different".

1. One-step access to "hard" goods, the gameplay changes instantly

At present, mini program plug-ins are fully open. Any mini program can search and use related plug-ins in the background. What plug-ins are suitable for taking advantage of the World Cup? I think: WeChat simultaneous interpretation and Tencent video plug-in can both come in handy.

The WeChat simultaneous interpretation plug-in supports open speech-to-text, text translation, speech synthesis interface and other functions. Let’s take an example:

• The "Winter Olympics with You" mini program of the Winter Olympics uses this plug-in, which enables users to "share the same stage" with celebrities. Users can say to the celebrities, "Hello everyone, I am XX, I am in XX, I am with the Winter Olympics, and I invite you to come to Beijing to watch the Winter Olympics in 2022", and then synthesize their own voice with that of the celebrities.

This method can also be used in the World Cup to record opportunities to "share the stage" with the stars.

The Tencent Video plug-in can provide complete video playback capabilities for mini programs, allowing e-commerce mini programs to display product videos, entertainment mini programs to recommend videos, information mini programs to interpret videos, and mini games to provide video guides. For example, the following scenario:

• When reading World Cup-related information, simple pictures and texts can no longer meet user needs. If companies build video services within mini programs themselves, the development costs will be very high. If you use the Tencent Video plug-in to link to the video, there is no need to develop it. You can give users a better content experience in one step~

2. Optimize small functions to reflect "soft" strength

The mini program also has several small capabilities that can help you get in on the latest news about the World Cup. For example: developers can customize the mini-program forwarding page and the ability to sign in and clock in.

Pinduoduo CTO Chen Lei once said at the WeChat Open Class that it is necessary to keep up with the opening of new capabilities of WeChat. Sometimes some seemingly insignificant small capabilities can actually effectively increase user conversion rates. He gave an example of the ability to customize the mini-program forwarding page. Pinduoduo optimized the product placement, forwarding copy and other information on the mini-program forwarding card, which increased the reading click rate by 50%.

Mini programs can also be used to fit the World Cup elements, such as:

• In the group buying mini program, when users forward a mini program card of a certain milk powder or functional beverage, they can add World Cup elements to ignite the user's fighting spirit and increase their browsing interest;

In addition, the ability to sign in and clock in is also very effective. Since the World Cup starts late at night every day, many users will miss the time. If there is a small program that can remind users that the World Cup is about to start, it is also a good choice. But having functions alone is not enough. Adding some content that can solve users' pain points again will make it more attractive.

For example: In addition to reminders, adding a collection of gameplay methods such as user discussions, champion predictions, and football knowledge competitions can greatly increase the competitiveness of your mini program.

To put it bluntly, the so-called new way of playing is the combination of scenes + capabilities + other ways of playing, which can make the mini program different from others.

Of course, gameplay alone is not enough, operations are also very important. A good product does not only refer to content, good operations can also make good content even more powerful. Even if you are an outsider, you can’t miss the highlights of the World Cup. Have you figured out how to get in on the action?

This article was compiled and published by @晓程序观察(Qinggua Media). Please indicate the author information and source when reprinting!

Product promotion services: APP promotion services, advertising platform, Longyou Games