What exactly does user operation operate?

Event operation , community operation , content operation , etc. can be understood very intuitively through their literal meanings, because they have operation scenarios - "events", " communities " and "content". Through activities and based on communities, editing content promotes product traffic , attracts new customers, promotes activation and retention . But what exactly is user operation operating?

I believe that "user operation" is to use user behavior data as a basis, user incentives and rewards as a means to continuously improve user experience , promote user behavior conversion , and extend the user life cycle value.

1. User Behavior Data

Number of product visitors, page views, user consumption/engagement

First, we need to identify which data we want to analyze:

• User scale and conversion indicators: product downloads, unique user visits (UV), daily active users (DAU), new registered users, number of users converted to consumption, average revenue per user ( AR PU), conversion rate of each link, retention rate , activity rate, etc.
• Conversion rate (analysis of users' use of a product or participation in a page activity) main indicators: number of times the product/activity page is launched, number of users participating in the activity, page dwell time (TP), A/B test conversion rates, etc.
• User channel analysis (for changes in the number of people, amount, trend, etc. of different channels) Main indicators: number of channels, channel traffic , conversion rate of each channel, return on investment (ROI) of each channel, etc.
• Functional analysis (for user conversion during APP use) Main indicators: button clicks (UV) of each page, page views (PV), page churn rate, etc.
• User portrait analysis (creating user portraits based on user behavior and basic attributes) Main indicators: user gender, user age, user location distribution, education level, credit level, consumer behavior habits, etc.

(Users who are not familiar with terms such as UV, DAU, ARPU, etc. can read "How to Deeply Understand Those Operational Professional Terms")

What’s the use of data then? Can I not look at this data?

The answer is: very useful. If you need to do user operations, you must rely on data.

In my previous article "A Little Story Tells You: The Role of Operations in Products", I simply divided the operational thinking modes into two types - user-oriented operations and data-based operations.

Customized operation:

They tend to consider things from the user's perspective, and more often they will substitute the user's role into the consumption scenario, whether it is empathy or questionnaire survey. For example, in the story, B organized a lot of activities, provided raffles and various benefits to attract users, encourage users to initiate designated actions, increase user activity and unit price, etc.

The advantage of user-oriented operation is that it can be closer to users' ideas and is dominated by user perception. This will lead to a higher reputation and better user loyalty . However, it is more effective in the early stages of the product, but this operational thinking model will encounter many problems in the middle and late stages.

Data-driven operations:

Whether it is traditional industries or Internet operations , data analysis is indispensable. In the early stages of a product, when there is less traffic and fewer users, user-friendly operations may be relatively simple and effective. By organizing an event, traffic can skyrocket and the product will receive rave reviews. However, as the product matures and users become more stable, data-driven operations begin to demonstrate their importance.

Break down the data, break down the problem. Big data can tell us a lot. So this is the user portrait? So this is what users like? Data analysis can often give operators new perspectives and new operational directions. It will never work if you work in isolation.

“User operation” is not just “user-oriented operation”

As mentioned above, if user operations are done by merely imagining what users want, and then using empty and exaggerated copywriting to fool users, will users really buy it?

I once worked in the early stages of operations at a startup company. There was almost no marketing system, not much user base data, and only a bunch of user phone numbers. In the early stage of building the operation system, in order to carry out user marketing, we stratified users based on simple age groups and length of APP usage cycles, assumed user preferences at different levels, and hoped to use this as a reward to motivate user conversions.

It's like everyone has their own preferences, but until you see the post-event review data, you will find it shocking and unexpected.

We thought that Type A users liked green vegetables, but the sales volume of radishes increased by 30% year-on-year.

We thought that Category B users liked radishes, but they didn’t like radishes or green vegetables, and overall sales dropped by 60%.

“User operation” requires “data-based operation”

Through data analysis, we can divide users more accurately, not only based on their age, geographical distribution, and activity level, but also more deeply distinguish their channel scenarios, behavioral habits, consumption preferences, etc. We cannot force ordinary users to become paying users , but we can stimulate users to increase and accelerate conversion through more attractive and targeted means.

In fact, we can take e-commerce as an example. By analyzing the user classification and level, we can create a user label group consisting of: between 20 and 35, male, low-income people, pet lover, Scorpio..., and recently bought a bag of brand X dog food, then another person with the same label may also have this demand in a certain period of time.

Taking cash loans as an example, by analyzing the user population portrait risk model, etc., 30% and 60% interest reduction coupons are sent to people with lower and higher remaining balances respectively to encourage them to withdraw again. The reason for sending different coupons to users with different balances is to control costs and improve ROI on the basis of attracting users.

Data-driven operations are a process that has a thousand faces for a thousand people, just like a hundred people looking at Mona Lisa will see a hundred different smiles. When user operations are in place, if one hundred people use your product, there will be one hundred kinds of "satisfaction".

2. User Lifetime Value

Customer life cycle, referred to as CL (customer lifetime), may also be called LT (life time), but what I want to talk about here is something more important: customer life cycle value, referred to as CLV (customer lifetime value).

I believe everyone is familiar with the user life cycle, which can be roughly divided into the introduction period, growth period, maturity period, decline period and churn period. If we can extend the user life cycle, it means we have more opportunities to convert users, but don’t forget our original intention. It is important to retain users, but more importantly, it is necessary to let users create value - user life cycle value (CLV).

Aunt Wang in the vegetable market, Uncle Li in the barbecue restaurant, Aunt Ma in the fruit shop, they will give you a handful of green onions, two skewers of lamb, and two oranges every time you visit. It's not because you are handsome or beautiful, but because they know that if they keep you at a low cost, you will create greater value in the future.

I found that many operators are very keen on establishing a user life cycle system, but ignore the value of the user life cycle. Operators have to accept the fact that no matter how powerful the operator is, they cannot stop user churn . You can delay it, but you cannot stop it. CLV will become longer and longer, CL will become shorter and shorter, and they will always complement each other.

If we take the user lifetime value (CLV) as the center, we can derive a formula: Operational value = CLV - CAC (customer acquisition cost) - COC (operating cost)

This formula is not something that can be directly used for calculation, but every operator must have this concept in mind. We need to calculate the different operational values ​​for users in each different life cycle stage.

Are users in the introduction period the most valuable? Or are users in the mature stage the most valuable? Or a user in the growth stage?

Which users have the longest user life cycle? What are their characteristics?

In current products, is the life cycle value the 28th law or the long tail effect? How to correctly formulate reasonable operational directions and strategies?

Users at every stage of the life cycle will generate value, but some stages are bound to maximize value.

3. User Incentives and Rewards

As mentioned above, user incentives and rewards are formulated based on user behavior preferences, payment conversion rates, etc. However, there is another classification with a higher dimension and a wider range of applications, which is based on the user life cycle.

Based on simple data analysis, you can try the following operational actions:

1. During the user introduction period, a large amount of traffic enters, and the focus is to make them retain the product and develop a certain degree of stickiness.

You can use first-time purchase coupons (cash discount coupons for e-commerce and discount coupons for restaurants). In fact, after using well-known apps such as Meituan , Ele.me , MissFresh , and Didi , we can easily find that using high-value, low-threshold, and short-term coupons during the user introduction period is a very effective means of retaining users.

The threshold for user introduction period rewards on major platforms is almost the same: enter your mobile phone number.

If you know the user’s mobile phone number, you have the “straw” for multiple marketing to the user. Here we need to mention some additional advantages of SMS:

• The cost is low. An ordinary marketing text message costs about 0.035 yuan per piece (within 70 characters), which is very cost-effective compared to telemarketing or other large-scale marketing methods.
• Convenient for batch use. At present, whether in the Internet industry or traditional industry, having a third-party SMS sending platform can send marketing SMS in large quantities.
• Mobile phone number transactions. The mobile phone numbers of some difficult-to-convert or dormant users will be packaged and traded to earn a certain fee by people inside or outside the industry. Of course, this transaction is conducted out of the public eye.

2. During the user growth stage, users begin to understand the product. They are not necessarily paying users, but they have a certain interest in the product.

At this time, I personally do not recommend using coupons for marketing stimulation. Long-term coupon incentives can easily cause user fatigue and indifference. During the user growth stage, it is recommended to combine marketing with event operations, whether it is a lottery to win an iPhone X or giving away iQiyi membership when a certain amount is reached? These activities can make product use more interesting and create user stickiness.

Physical prizes are often selected from the recent popular 3C prizes. Compared with user coupons, although the final audience of the prizes is smaller, due to their extensive marketing in the market and their greater value, the visualization increases the appeal of the prizes. During the user growth stage, it is often a good way to attract attention.

3. In the mature stage of users, most of them have been converted into paying users and have brought revenue to the product. At this time, the focus is to make them pay again and cultivate user loyalty.

The advantage of old paying users is not only that they have paid, but also that they have a better understanding of the product and have a certain degree of self-awareness and sense of belonging. We can leverage their trust and recognition of the product to develop their “old customers bring in new customers” approach. Alipay ’s scan code link red envelopes, or Meituan and Ele.me’s sharing red envelopes, are both ways for old customers to bring in new ones.

As the largest and most commonly used social platform, WeChat has naturally become the main battlefield for major businesses and platforms. Take-out, shared bikes , games or WeChat mini-programs can all be shared through WeChat to attract new users. Not only by giving new and old users respective rewards and benefits, but the biggest point I think is the trust and following of WeChat friends. Everyone is playing it? Will you refuse?

4. During the user churn period, users gradually begin to sleep and their activity levels plummet. Encouraging them to be active is the key at this time.

During the user churn period, I like to call this stage the risk control period of user operation. Increasing external traffic is important, but it would be much more effective if you could reduce the churn rate of old customers. However, the secondary sleep rate of lost users after being awakened is often as high as 80%, which highlights the importance of precision marketing at this stage.

By analyzing data from the introduction period, growth period, maturity period, and churn period, we can discover changes and problems in user conversion rates at different periods. By analyzing user pain points and considering our own costs, we can select user incentive plans that maximize benefits. Maximizing benefits is actually a very long-term and tiring task. According to Tessler's Law: every process has inherent complexity and there must be a critical point. Once it exceeds the critical point, it can no longer be optimized. So come on, fellow operations partners, try more methods, constantly optimize and summarize, and you will surely have a day of surprise.

IV. Supplement and Summary

In addition, I have recently been analyzing and exploring the adjustable variables in user operations. For example, when users submit information, due to which project the order is blocked? In which application project do you stay the longest? When does the technical maintenance start? What is the size of the banner on the product homepage? Do a competitive analysis and then make adjustments, and you will find that it will have miraculous effects, miraculous effects, miraculous effects.

In summary, user operations require higher data analysis capabilities than other types of operations, and also require higher internal and external collaborative work capabilities. Don’t worry that you don’t have innate data sensitivity. User behavior characteristics are actually easy to understand, and it is not difficult to formulate corresponding operation strategies. But please be sure not to interpret what you think as what users think, and just keep the operation strategy on that page of PPT. Practice and analyze, and everything will fall into place.

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

Product promotion services: APP promotion services Advertising platform Longyou Century