Event Operations: Grasp these 5 points to increase online event participation

A popular online event can not only directly bring about conversions , but more importantly, it accumulates user reputation, which can be said to be "fame and fortune." So, how do you plan a successful event? What I want to share with you today is how to increase user engagement in online activities, mainly focusing on the following five questions.

1. The higher the first prize = the more participants?

I believe everyone has had such an experience in life. There are often some activities where the gimmick is to buy something and give away an Apple phone, or even a Mercedes-Benz or BMW. There are also some real estate copywriting that says "buy a house and give away a wife"... Everyone's first reaction to this kind of information is to stop, understand it carefully, and then leave.

If it were a dozen years ago, people might have participated in the event immediately, but after all, this kind of information is too rampant now, and users will have two doubts after seeing it: one is to doubt the authenticity of the event, or the probability of winning; the other is to worry that the time cost is too high and it will take a long time to get the prize. Once users have such concerns, they will develop a sense of numbness, which will affect their participation in the event.

In fact, the idea behind setting the prizes for this kind of activity is to emphasize the first prize and downplay the participation prize, that is, to emphasize the first prize and downplay the participation prize.

Some people may say that this refers to offline activities , so what about online activities?

Previously, I planned an online event called "Wedding Diary". The purpose of the event was very clear, which was to stimulate users to produce UGC through this event, and then screen users to ultimately achieve precision marketing . As for the activity itself, there are not many gimmicks to promote it , and it also requires users to invest a high time cost. In order to attract users, I set up 4 prizes with relatively high values. The first prize is a diamond necklace worth 4,000 yuan, the second prize is a family portrait or Xiuhe clothing worth 800 yuan, the third prize is a silver necklace worth 100 yuan, and several participating prizes will be given ID photos or pendants worth about 30 yuan.

After the event post was released, the feedback from the user group was not good. Almost no one participated. Within a week, there were less than 5 people, and the originally scheduled 1-month event cycle ended ahead of schedule. The final total number of views for this activity was 50,000, with less than 10 users participating, making it a failure. There are two reasons for this. One is that there is a problem with the prize setting. The first prize is very attractive, but the participation reward is too low and not attractive enough. The second is that the time cost for users is too long and the probability of winning the first prize is too low.

Therefore, when I later organized an activity called “Post wedding photos, post a message and give away couple rings”, I changed the idea of ​​setting the prizes, that is, to focus on participation prizes and downplay the first prize. The main prize is a pair of rings, and the purpose of the event is also to collect UGC from users, create a content topic, and then attract high-quality merchants to settle in. In terms of prize settings, the first prize is two tickets worth 400 yuan, the second prize is a massage card worth about 300 yuan, and the participation prize is a couple's ring worth more than 200 yuan. When this was first posted to the user group, they were particularly surprised, and some even said they were willing to participate for the beautiful ring.

In less than half a day, we received 3 posts, each of which was illustrated with pictures and texts. The content displayed was very detailed and fully met the requirements of the event. At the end of the 7th day, the total traffic was around 50,000, and 30 activity posts were received, which far exceeded the content required by the content topic. Overall, this event was very successful for two reasons. First, the threshold for winning is low. You only need to participate in posting and you don’t have to spend too much time. Secondly, the participation prizes were very well designed, serving as a gimmick to promote the event, thereby increasing participation in the event.

Which of these two types of prize settings to use needs to be determined based on the specific situation. Generally speaking, for activities to attract new users or expose brands, it is recommended to adopt the format of a high first prize and a weak participation prize. If it is an activity for user retention or user survey, which requires active user participation, it is recommended to use a high participation prize and a weakened first prize.

2. Low-priced prizes = low participation?

We have previously held an event called “Grab the Consecrated Lucky Bags on Laba Festival”. The purpose of the event was very simple, which was to activate old users and increase user activity. The prize is a blessing bag made of eight-treasure rice worth less than 5 yuan. The highlight of the bag is that it was blessed by praying in a temple, which is its added value. The activity is participated in in a grab-the-floor format (Note: grabbing the floor means that you have to rush with others to answer questions based on the content. After answering according to the prescribed content and grabbing the floor mentioned by the poster, you will get the corresponding prize.).

When the event started at 12 noon, I found that users were already participating very enthusiastically. At about 2 pm, the floor had reached more than 2,000 floors and more than 30 lucky bags were all sold out. This was the shortest and most actively participated event of all my events. In addition, the lucky bags had to be collected at our company. The weather was relatively cold at the time, and some users had to take a 1-2 hour bus ride. But even so, all the lucky bags were collected in less than two days.

I summarized the reasons. First, the selection of prizes took advantage of the popularity of Laba Festival. Second, it is not just a lucky bag. It is endowed with a sense of ritual and sacredness. Users' beautiful visions and wishes for the festival are all placed in the small lucky bag.

Generally speaking, when we choose a gimmick for an event, it would be best if it has a gimmick that hits the user's pain points or reveals human nature. However, when we cannot find a good fit, we need to resort to prizes. Prizes are just bait and only serve as icing on the cake. In addition, the selection of awards must first be in line with the user's psychological demands, and secondly, their value. Analyzing user psychology is the key.

To meet users’ psychological needs, start with “emotions”. Taking advantage of festivals, big or small, is the easiest way to get in on the “sentiment”. Because it captures the netizens' strong desire for festivals. Use universally recognized "feelings" to resonate with users and inspire them to participate in activities.

3. Free participation = good idea?

In order to increase user participation, many activities often use the banner of free activities. However, have you ever thought: Is free participation really a good idea?

There is a well-known case in the marketing world, which comes from Luo Yonghao , the founder of Smartisan mobile phone . At that time, he was still doing English training and had done an activity of "8 classes for 1 yuan", that is, it only cost 1 yuan for the first 8 classes, and if you are satisfied, you can pay the full amount to continue to listen to the remaining courses. He personally created the advertising copy and posters: What can you buy with one dollar? An egg, a battery... or attend eight classes at "Lao Luo English". This marketing gimmick is still imitated by many educational institutions.

So, why doesn't he just make participation free? Wouldn't more people participate that way?

• First of all, free participation is not conducive to screening high-quality users, which means that anyone can participate. For some high-quality users, free will become a threshold. They will have the idea that "cheap goods are not good" and may give up participating.
• Secondly, it is not conducive to cultivating users' habit of paying. When they are used to free services, if you have to pay later, they may not accept it and may even flee.
• Again, free services are not conducive to monetization and appreciation. The fees should be increased step by step, like boiling a frog in warm water, so that users can accept it little by little.

4. Long promotion cycle = high engagement?

Many people have this idea when doing activities: the longer the promotion time, the more people will know about it, and the higher the participation will be. However, at the same time, we have also overlooked a problem, that is, if the communication cycle is too long, it will be difficult for users to grasp the time to participate in the event, which will in turn affect the degree of participation.

Although we have certain plans for something, plans are variable and no one can accurately predict what will be done at a certain point in the future, so the same is true for users. Every live event has a time point. If you see it too early, users will think about that time point and whether they can participate or not.

In addition, the promotion cycle is too long, and it is easy to miss the golden time for dissemination. From information release to primary dissemination, fission and disappearance, a dissemination cycle is up to 7 days. That is to say, our promotion cycle should not exceed 7 days. This is also one of the reasons why the registration rate for many activities is the highest in the first three days after they are launched.

Based on the above considerations, the promotion cycle should be one week in advance at the earliest, 3 days at the latest, and 3-5 days at the best. To grasp the information dissemination cycle, it is best to use two rounds of promotion, combining "soft" and "hard". In the first round of promotion, we can use storytelling or funny jokes to whet users’ appetite and allow them to easily access event information. In the second round, you can use hard advertising information, such as discount information commonly used by e-commerce .

5. Successful planning = successful event?

The first four points are some actions during the event planning period, but a successful online event includes several stages: planning period, preparation period, execution period, promotion period and online period. The planning period is the foundation of an event and is certainly very important, but it is also imperfect without subsequent execution and promotion.

The material preparation period is a very critical matter, including the presentation and output of the activity plan. When we are making an activity plan, we must add things together and take into account all dimensions of the entire event. We must be detailed and the more we think about it, the better. For example, when considering the budget, you have to take into account the cost of a pen, a piece of paper or a bottle of mineral water; when considering customer service questions during the online event, you have to think about whether to use QQ or WeChat .

In short, make a very detailed plan first, and then reduce it as appropriate based on the specific situation later.

The activity execution period is also very important. We must prepare three tables. The first one is the material table, which is set up based on the activity plan. All the materials to be used are listed, and we constantly check for deficiencies and fill in the gaps. The second is the time plan schedule, which must include the name of the item, the requirements to be achieved, as well as the start time, end time, precautions, progress status, etc. A large activity can be broken down into several small projects to facilitate timely progress. The third is a personnel division of labor table. According to the schedule, determine the person in charge and the support person, and make each person's responsibilities clear and detailed, so as to avoid some unexpected situations.

Follow the steps based on these three tables so that you can complete the corresponding work according to fixed time nodes.

After the event is launched, you must strictly abide by and implement the event rules and processes, and be fair, just and open so that users can see the fairness of the event. This will be very beneficial for subsequent publicity.

Finally, it is necessary to make a good summary of the activity, sort out the successes and shortcomings of the activity in a timely and effective manner, which will provide a good guide for future activities.