Fan support: a way to commercialize entertainment products

In the early stages of an Internet product’s launch, it usually focuses on accumulating user traffic . Once the product reaches a certain usage base and has stable daily active users, the next step is to think about how to make money.

Generally speaking, the simplest way is to buy ads. As we have seen recently, Mobike has also started to add ads on its startup page. Then it is to cooperate with other friendly companies to achieve the two goals of attracting new users and monetization through operational activities. Of course, there are more complex monetization strategies, which need to be implemented based on the product's own positioning (the following keywords are summarized from: "Ten Thousand Words of Dry Goods | Implementation Strategies for Commercial Monetization of Mobile Application Advertising"):

1. Value-added services: Allow users to obtain more services. For example, tool -based products will restrict the in-depth use of tools and require users to pay, such as Apple iCloud and Evernote; such as content consumption products, charge ordinary users and paid users ;
2. Advertising: A relatively common method of monetization. Any product with traffic, platform, and entrance can be monetized through advertising. Since users are dependent on products, advertising services can be provided at some service touchpoints. For example, for products that focus on content consumption, patch ads can be added during the content consumption process.
3. E-commerce service: a way of combining content and consumption. Users can get the purchase channels of corresponding products in real time while browsing the content, which improves the actual use experience of the products, such as the on-screen purchase function during video playback. The monetization method of e-commerce services can also be considered as the method with the least impact on product experience;
4. Application distribution : It relies on the powerful platform and traffic distribution functions of the product itself, but users have little awareness of this.
5. Offline services: Use O2O methods to establish connections with offline products and provide users with convenient services. This is more common in food delivery and group buying applications.
6. Hardware sales: related to its own products and services, such as Air Fruit of Moji Weather and related products of Xiaomi;

Having said so much, these are not the focus of the article. What the article wants to elaborate on is another more significant way of monetization - fan support.

Fan support is more applicable in products where fans are the main target users , such as owhat, Ali Planet, etc. Once the product has accumulated a certain number of active users and enough celebrities have joined, it will be relatively easy to achieve commercial monetization through fan support. However, there are still many pitfalls to overcome in this process.

For fan users, the influence of idols is unlimited, and fans are more willing to make their own efforts to protect their idols. Although fans may have some behaviors that are beyond rational understanding regarding star-related products, peripherals, activities, etc., from another perspective, loyal fans have very demanding requirements for stars to enter platforms and participate in activities. Therefore, when designing support products, it is necessary to conduct an in-depth analysis of fans' psychology and concerns.

1. Analysis of Fan Characteristics

According to the research results of fans of a certain entertainment platform, among the fans who participated in the support activities, the proportion of females was generally higher than that of males, and users under the age of 25 were the main group, of which users aged 19 to 25 accounted for 24%, that is, the majority were users born in the 1990s and 2000s, but the elderly user group also existed, among which women were the main consumer group;

Let’s look at another set of consumption amount data:

As can be seen from the chart, female users make up the majority of all consumption levels, especially in the 10-99 yuan range, where the difference in proportion is particularly obvious and they are more likely to make impulse purchases. Combined with the age ratio, it can be seen that the overall consumption of support activities is getting younger, and younger users are mainly in the consumption range of 0-9 yuan, 19-25 year old users are the backbone of the consumption range of 10-99 yuan, and people in older age groups and high-spending groups are also prone to impulse consumption, and the amount accounts for a relatively high proportion. However, the target user settings of current general support products are blank for users aged 30 to 40+, and there is a lack of research on user needs and psychology in this age range.

Research on user characteristics shows that the design of support activities is mainly for young people. Lowering the unit price of support activity products can quickly build a community atmosphere of enthusiastic participation and quickly obtain high exposure and publicity. For example, in star event support on owhat, the unit price of products is often low, and the low threshold restrictions can attract a large number of young users to participate. At the same time, there is no limit on the number of products purchased, which opens up the entrance to high-end fan groups and stimulates the participation and consumption willingness of all users. Despite this, low-priced support products can still easily lead to the loss of high-spending users, giving fans a "low-end" impression. For some high-value activities, the amount of money allocated is often difficult to meet expectations.

2. Analysis of Support User Cognition

Fans have an open attitude towards the form of support activities and are not satisfied with just financial support. Fans are more willing to participate in support activities in various forms and channels, and approach their idols from different entry points; such as traditional offline birthday parties, concerts, award ceremony support, fan meetings, etc., as well as online voting support, chart support, etc. The openness of the form is conducive to more innovative forms of support.

Among all the factors that make up a support campaign, fans mainly focus on the following:

1. Whether it is an official event: This mainly involves building trust among users. The official attributes of the official or registered platform can give users a unique sense of psychological security. After all, cheering activities are also a form of consumer behavior. The official nature of the consumer object can help users reduce the psychological burden of consumption.
2. Flow of funds or support: After fans participate in the support activities, the flow of funds or other support content they pay is the focus of attention. Similar to the logistics tracking process of purchasing goods, the real-time progress transparency of goods makes users feel more involved and in control of the activities. At the same time, as the event time approaches, it can continuously strengthen users' cognition and psychological expectations, and improve user stickiness (think about your temperament when you see the push message that your product has arrived in the nearby neighborhood and the delivery man is delivering it);
3. Activity results: The main goal of fan support is to expand the influence of idols, attract more fans, and narrow the distance between themselves and the stars. Activity results are an indispensable part of the entire support activity cycle. Whether the idol has truly received the fans’ love is the biggest wish of the fans. Therefore, the display of event results needs to be fed back in a timely manner after the event. At the same time, star feedback or related links can be added to enhance users’ sense of participation and honor.

3. Experiences that influence fan engagement

1. The activity introduction is not detailed

On the support event page, the event description is the main channel for users to learn about support information, and is therefore also an important factor influencing whether users are willing to participate. The event introduction does not necessarily need to be as detailed as a business plan, but the overall process of the event should be broken down into each step, each time node, and each expected goal. In this way, users can build a complete cognitive model of the entire support event. The detailed event description also reflects the professionalism of the platform, and fans will naturally be more willing to participate.

2. Specific participation methods

Support activities come in various forms, involving both online and offline coordination. Fans need to understand what role they play in the support activities and what contribution they make. Therefore, a detailed display of the activity methods can make fan users more purposeful in their participation and reduce their psychological insecurity.

3. Expected Results

What effect the event will produce, how to deal with insufficient support funds, etc., the evening event's ability to cope with various uncertainties will enhance the psychological security of fan users.

4. Lack of relevant information

Support activities are cyclical and reciprocating. Support activities under different themes may have the same specific form. Therefore, presenting relevant historical event information, on-site pictures, support results and other information that is strongly related to the current support during the support activities can enhance the fan users' willingness to participate.

The analysis of support ends here. In the future, we will mainly analyze the support activity process and page design. Please stay tuned~~~

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