Content consumption apps: QQ Reading, Get, Himalaya FM, which one is better?

Imagine that you get up in the morning and sit on the toilet without a book, newspaper or cell phone. What should you do? --no! At least you should pick up the bottle of shampoo next to you and take a look at the ingredients, instructions and makeup size on the label.

As the Internet and mobile smart devices gradually penetrate into people's lives, people enjoy the convenience of information sharing on the Internet and realize the possibility of broadening our horizons and thinking through information symmetry. People's demand for content consumption has always existed and is growing. This has also given rise to the development of content consumption products based on mobile Internet technology, especially knowledge and book reading products. Today we will learn about "QQ Reading", " Get " and " Himalaya FM ", three apps that are all content consumption apps but very different.

This article will compare the differences between these three apps from the following seven aspects:

1. Market Conditions
2. Product Content
3. Usage platform and usage context
4. Profit Model
5. Social Interaction
6. User incentives
7. Positioning and target users

1. Market situation

The three apps are all classified as "books" in the ISO market. In terms of both best-selling list and activity, "QQ Reading" ranks first, which is enough to show that "QQ Reading" has the obvious advantage of relying on Tencent's huge user resources. But compared with the rankings of the three, the gap is not that big.

Bestsellers

Data source : WeTest Tencent Quality Development Platform Product Public Opinion ISO List (Time: 2017-5-6 10:38)

Active Ranking

Data source: iiMedia Research (Time: March 2017)

2. Product Content

The richness of content from low to high is: "Get" < "QQ Reading" < " Ximalaya FM"

QQ Reading is the leader in terms of the amount of digital reading content

According to iResearch Consulting 's "2016 China Digital Reading Industry Analysis Report", many websites under the " China Literature Group " are on the list of "Digital Reading Industry PC Reading Coverage Number of People". ("QQ Reading" is the mobile APP product promoted by China Literature Group)

As the largest content source in China, China Literature Group, which owns "Qidian Chinese", "Chuangshi Chinese", "Yunqi Academy", "Under the Banyan Tree", "Hongxiutianxiang", " Novel Reading Network ", " Xiaoxiang Academy ", etc., it would not be difficult to use its sufficiently complete database to create a " Taobao in the digital reading field". As of now (17.5.8), the data displayed on "QQ Reading" are: 99,000 books published; 1.139 million original literature; 20,000 new books added this week.

"Get" has the least content, less entertainment and more knowledge

1. The content of the "Get" APP comes from the Luoji Siwei team, and the amount of content is relatively limited. Perhaps due to the limited content volume, not only does the APP have no obvious classification on the homepage, but most pages only have product names and not even a search function.

2. In addition to knowledge products, the business of Luoji Siwei's " Official Account Micro Mall" is also available in the "Get" APP. Although it can be said to be related to "value", non-knowledge objects (Pu'er tea, necklaces) still seem a bit out of place here.

"Himalaya FM" is the richest in terms of both content form and content volume

Almost all works that can use "sound" as a form of expression can be found on "Himalaya FM" (even party classes). The “ PGC + UGC ” content contribution mechanism also makes “Himalaya FM” unmatched by the other two in terms of the volume of its content. The editor tested it and found that the book "Elements of User Experience " could not be found on "QQ Reading", but there were three anchors reading it on "Himalaya FM":

However, no matter how rich the content of "Himalaya FM" is, it cannot cover everything, and the program list in its album "Luoji Siwei" has been cleared. It is not difficult to imagine that none of these contents will be missing on "Get".

3. Usage Platform and Usage Context

Use the platform

Both "QQ Reading" and "Himalaya FM" support switching between PC web and APP platforms. In contrast, the PC official website of "Dedao" has almost no substantive content, only product names and instructions to download the APP:

Use scenarios

(1) Commonalities

All three are sufficient to allow users to make use of their fragmented time, and they can be used as long as there are smart settings at hand.

(2) Differences

Different usage scenarios are related to different product content forms.

1. The audio format of "Dedao" and "Ximalaya FM" allows users to "multitask" . When they are stuck in traffic, doing housework, on the way to work, etc., they can open the app and just click to listen.
2. The literal reading format of e-books on "QQ Reading" requires users to use it in an "immersive" manner and requires greater energy investment.

4. Profit Model

The payment levels from low to high are: "Ximalaya FM" < "QQ Reading" < "Get"

The payment methods of “QQ Reading” are diversified

1. Paid reading: monthly subscription or single book purchase

• Monthly subscription : You can read 100,000 books in the library for free. (“Monthly subscription” does not mean that you can read all the books . I once saw the words “Monthly subscription for free reading” and immediately bought a one-month subscription. But then I found that it was not very comfortable because I found that the books I wanted to read were not free.)
• Single book purchase : recharge “reading points” to purchase. (After the monthly subscription, the price will be discounted and the coupons can be used to offset some of the fees)

2. Reward: Recharge "Reading Points" to reward the author

Paid services account for the largest proportion

In addition to "Knowledge News" which can be listened to for free, "Luoji Siwei, column subscription, listening to a book every day, e-books, and physical items in the mall" all require recharging the equivalent amount of RMB to purchase.

"Himalaya FM" has the smallest proportion of paid programs

Some of the premium programs on "Himalaya FM" are available only after paying (recharging "Hi Points"), but compared with the huge total audio library, the proportion of paid programs is not large. The scenario where money flows more frequently is "rewarding the anchor."

It is worth mentioning that the minimum threshold for recharge on the three platforms seems to follow a certain industry standard, and they are all 6 yuan.

5. Social Interaction

The degree of social interaction from low to high is: "Get" < "QQ Reading" < "Ximalaya FM"

The social interactions on QQ Reading are mostly focused on books and authors.

1. For books : "Vote for recommendations, give rewards, vote for monthly tickets, review books, share"
2. To the author : "Follow, read and ask questions"

Most authors of “original literature” have personal homepages (authors of “published books” rarely have personal homepages). It is obvious that "QQ Reading" has the ability to integrate the resources of the original literature websites under "Reading Group", as well as the spiritual immersion and strong enthusiasm for reading among readers and fans of original literature.

"Get" has the least social interaction

Different from content-based products with many functions, the social interaction of "Get", which focuses on selected content, is also extremely simple:

1. The “Share” function on the paid column page only has WeChat and Moments as landing pages .
2. There is no "Share" function on the internal individual work pages.
3. There is very little interaction between users, limited to "liking" other people's comments.

"Himalaya FM" has the highest level of social interaction

On "Himalaya FM", users can interact with "anchors", "albums", "works" and "other users", and it has the most functions. This should also be related to the UGC content mechanism of "users themselves are also anchors".

6. User Incentives

• "QQ Reading" : Use "reading coupons" to encourage users to use the APP more frequently and for longer periods of time .
• "Get" : Use the gold medal column "Luoji Siwei" to attract users and guide them to make their first expenditure on " knowledge payment ".
• "Himalaya FM" : Use the commission earned by "sharing" paid premium products to encourage users to spread the word .

7. Positioning and Target Users

With the above six points of analysis, the positioning, target users and target value of the three apps have gradually become clear:

 "QQ Reading" - Complete e-book collection

The aim is to create a "Taobao of the reading market" with massive e-book works.

• Target users : All Internet users (especially original literature enthusiasts)
• Target value : provide you with a large amount of content and let you read freely

"Get" - Selected paid knowledge

Take a different approach and create “small but beautiful” content in terms of selection and value.

• Target users : Consumer-savvy smart mobile device users
• Target value : Screen for you and give you more valuable knowledge

"Himalaya FM" - various possibilities in the voice world

Use voice to achieve the ultimate in comprehensive knowledge and content.

• Target users : All network users
• Target value : liberate your hands and eyes, allowing you to read and listen freely

Extension analysis: Business overlap among the three apps

It seems that the three apps that seem to have "each their own characteristics and positioning" are not completely "focused" and there is no lack of "mutual learning"?

Audiobooks via QQ Reading?

As a reading e-book, "QQ Reading" also involves "voice function", but the experience is slightly poor:

1. Set the "read aloud" function when reading ("sweet female voice" or "emotional male voice")

• Audio experience : Because it is a synthetic reading technology, the sense of discontinuity in word reading by the robot is always different from listening to a real person reading.
• Interactive experience : You cannot browse other pages while listening. If you want to exit from the book page to other pages of the APP, you need to "exit reading mode" first.

2. "Audiobook Zone" in "Discover"

• Sound experience : The reading works recorded by real hosts have high-quality listening experience.
• Interactive experience : You can exit to other pages of the app during playback, but the player control bar is not displayed on other pages. It is really annoying to turn off the voice: you need to click on a certain audiobook, wait for it to start playing, and then press pause.

The e-book you “got”?

E-books are naturally also "knowledge"; then high-quality e-books can also be said to be "high-quality knowledge." Although there is no search or classification in the "e-book" section of "Get", the number is not as small as it seems. There are at least more than 400 books, and you can read them directly in the APP after successful purchase.

Interactive experience: The operation is relatively smooth and copying good sentences can generate a "high-quality sharing page".

Paid premium product of “Himalaya FM”?

"Paid Premium" is placed in the first category of the "Himalaya FM" category page. After browsing the product content of paid premium, it is not difficult to see that the main types of its content are:

1. Business/Economics/Finance;
2. Science and technology/popular science/humanities;
3. Psychology/thinking improvement and growth category.

These types of content are very similar to the paid content subscribed to in the columns of "Get".

Interactive experience: The interface and operation are the same as free audio programs, and some of them can be listened to for free.

Conclusion

The prerequisite for the success of an Internet product is to accurately identify your own positioning and target users. After all, historical experience has proven that QQ Mall cannot be as good as Alibaba 's Taobao, and Alipay cannot be as good as Tencent's WeChat social networking. But "creating a Taobao for the reading market" seems to be a reliable thing to do. "QQ Reading", "Get", and "Himalaya FM", even if their target users overlap, there is essentially no real difference in terms of success or failure if they are committed to meeting the needs of different users in different scenarios.

As for the areas where the three APP businesses "learn from each other" - it seems that they are not focused enough, but the content and form do not overshadow the core business. In fact, they can be understood as supplementary services outside the core business. After all, in the Internet age, the risk of "absolute focus" is that if one day you suddenly find that the business you focus on is being abandoned by the fickle market and users, it will be too late for you to change.

Mobile application product promotion service: APP promotion service Qinggua Media advertising

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