What are the pitfalls of APP promotion and how is channel promotion done?

There is a saying that "channels are king" when doing promotions, especially in startup companies. Leaders always hope that students in charge of promotions can try more free or so-called cost-effective channels in order to obtain unexpected gains.

Driven by the "instructions", the promotion students worked hard on the research for several days, but finally found that there were insurmountable difficulties, such as cost, technical barriers, etc., and then gave up. Or after promotion, you may find that the external data is good, but the users are not active.

Just like discussing toxicity without considering dosage, discussing channels without considering efficiency and conversion is both irresponsible. Today, let’s talk about the pitfalls of channel thinking and how to tailor a channel combination for your own products.

Make a good combination of channels

1. Lack of data management

When promoting forums, due to KPI orientation, such as the number of daily posts, number of readings, number of inclusions, etc., there is a lack of systematic thinking in terms of the forum's detailed classification, time management, content depth and user interaction, and the forum becomes a machine for content copying and publishing.

For example, there is no data correlation analysis on reading numbers, content and time, or the degree of consistency between content structure, material freshness and user tone. Under the current market situation of vertical competition, we should return to and focus on the relationship between promotional content and users.

For example: when promoting a vertical forum with good professionalism or commonality, such as Douban groups, technology communities, fitness communities, and financial communities, the influence of KOLs is very large. When promoting, it is necessary to continuously output very high-quality content to gain attention, rather than simply pasting a large amount of online content.

2. Lack of scenario consideration

When evaluating the cost of the channel itself, it is easy to ignore the scenarios in which users on this channel are located, thus forming invalid false indicators. In this channel scenario, it is necessary to comprehensively consider the circumstances in which users come into contact with the product, the depth of their impression and recognition of the product, and whether it is possible to quickly stimulate users' first use. Even if the exposure and traffic costs are reasonable, without sufficient scenario education, the user conversion rate will be low.

3. Spread it out widely

Too much expectation of increasing revenue and reducing costs, relying on multiple free social channels for promotion and outbursts, and switching places without a sustained rhythm will lead to the distraction of research and promotion energy. In fact, many outdated ways of profiting, such as EDM group messaging, QQ group messaging, and forum group messaging, not only have high research costs, software technology and fee costs, but also have extremely low conversion effects. Instead, they reduce the overall promotion efficiency and increase labor costs.

I have even seen an APP product that only has a promotional homepage, but requires studying SEO and ranking for industry keywords in the hope of obtaining free traffic. Such a website with no substantial content pages and web pages that are only used for APP promotion but cannot quickly convert users is almost a negative example of SEO, which shows its blindness.

Be picky about channel selection

Many products that have successfully started out have grasped a few promotional methods, fully exerted their potential, and achieved phased results. The strictness in selecting promotion channels comes from your comprehensive understanding of user characteristics and your advance prediction of the promotion trends of the channels. Let’s look at how to establish a channel screening mechanism through analysis from the following perspectives.

1. User vertical type

Except for super apps, it can be assumed that most apps are vertical, but the vertical directions are different. Some are vertical for age and special stages, some are vertical for industries or hobbies, and some are vertical for gender, etc. Comprehensive channels (portals, application markets ) for vertical age products.

For example, in terms of advertising, live streaming apps, news apps, etc. are full-scale channels and can carry out multi-dimensional advertising cooperation. For ordinary vertical products, you can choose personalized CPC, CPA and other delivery methods, or cooperate with vertical communities and KOLs.

When it comes to advertising channels, one needs to be more discerning. This is no longer the era of traffic, especially on mobile devices where there are many conversion links, and the value of traffic is not the real user value. In the era of civilian internet celebrities , combined promotion can produce more powerful communication.

2. Characteristics of Users and Products

It refers to the comprehensive attributes of the target users. Each different characteristic can point to different promotion methods.

1. Social attributes. Users have a strong need to exchange content and establish social relationships. They will spontaneously communicate and produce content. For example, mothers and beauty makeup users are more suitable for community operations or building online communities. They can maintain activity through some simple operations.

2. PGC requirements. The user is interested in the field, but does not have sufficient knowledge. For example, pregnant mothers, food production, and information can obtain accurate users by distributing or cooperating with original content;

3. Online gathering place. For one-to-one invitation of users, instant messaging tools are the best in terms of efficiency, while social networking sites are the best in terms of quality, depending on the type and number of users required. If there are basic requirements for the user's social status, content ability, professional experience, etc., then mining on social networking sites will be the main focus.

4. Offline gathering place. One is the user's geographical attribute. In order to form regional services, offline promotion can "catch all users in one fell swoop" and form an effect, such as campus and O2O services. One is the location attribute. For example, for movie products, you can focus on live events in cinemas. Another category is consumer attributes, such as people in large shopping malls, who have consumption demands for quality of life and are suitable for promoting tourism and mid- to high-end life services.

5. Tool attributes. Some products enter the market through unilateral tools and then extend their services. For example, by making some query and price comparison plug-ins, you can collaborate with information service platforms to gain traffic. Another way is to provide software systems, such as " Zhihu , Weidian", which can be quickly accessed by public accounts or websites to achieve wide distribution.

3. Industry gameplay reference

Industry references are competitors or areas where there is overlap in users. There are two key points. The first is to understand the starting point, such as whether the purpose of offline activities is to expand new business or brand influence; the second is data effects and process references, such as the number of users of the other party’s community operation, operating rules, the main channels for advertising , and how much it costs.

The promotion channels that the other party focuses on are, to a certain extent, extremely representative and of reference value.

Channel Combination

When promoting, it is easy to be misled by false indicators on the surface. One is the KPI of workload, and the other is the superficial traffic cost. The result is that the user's conversion path is not simulated and the final user cost after conversion factors are added is ignored.

The significance of channel combination is to increase impressions and educational scenarios through channels of different dimensions, and to reduce user loss in each link through guidance in different links , thereby reducing the actual overall promotion cost, or increasing the communication effect.

1. Channel and scenario combination

There are several common problems that may arise during promotion. First, users are forced to promote in uncomfortable situations, such as handing out flyers on the street. Second, users are given benefits that have nothing to do with the product in order to obtain downloads and registrations. Third, throughout the entire promotion process, users passively enter and do not actively spread the word.

Overall, we need to build a promotional scenario that can attract users , such as theme decorations of the event site and personnel, or special peripherals related to the product theme. In a short interaction, participants can be made aware of the services provided by the product, and a process of guiding registration and dissemination can be set up.

Example 1: As mentioned before, during the World Cup, Dongqiudi conducted a campus promotion , distributing posters with the World Cup schedule with brand promotion on campus, which met the needs of users. Students were very interested in it and hung it in their dormitories to show off, thus achieving the desired communication effect. When watching the game, there is a high chance that they will be converted into users based on the poster guidance. The entire promotion process is very lightweight.

Example 2: The offline promotion of the " Where to Go on Weekends" APP has long-term cooperation with medium and large shopping malls, with on-site promotion. Craftsmen and users are recruited to participate in hand-made activities on site, which attracts many users to watch and inquire. The mall itself also enhances the atmosphere through special on-site activities.

2. Multi-dimensional channel combination

Channels of different dimensions give users different experiences. For example, print ads have excellent visual effects, but due to the network environment, users may not download them at the time and will forget about them later, so the cost of a single channel is relatively high. If the purpose is to acquire users, elevator advertising is usually carried out in conjunction with ground promotion to allow users to be exposed to the positive image of the product and enhance the chances of conversion.

When we place advertisements or pin posts in some communities, we usually also organize activities to increase clicks and participation interest when users see the promotion. The superposition of dimensions creates the effect of 1+1>2.

For example: In June 2016, Keep launched its largest brand campaign, "Self-discipline gives me freedom". Within a one-month period, around this theme, it used joint channels in many dimensions, including TV advertising, light box advertising, stadium ground advertising, Weibo topic activities, new courses, etc., to connect offline and online effects.

From another perspective, it is also necessary to make a good combination of "time nodes" and repeatedly contact users by covering continuous time nodes within a period of time. The superposition of time nodes also creates the effect of 1+1>2.

Seeking brand cooperation

After a product enters a stable growth period, general promotion and traffic channels are unlikely to bring explosive growth to the product. At this time , considering some brand cooperation in the same or different industries can enhance brand communication and greatly enrich the operational dimensions.

Multiple parties are usually brought in to support the expenditure and resources of the entire collaboration. Of course, you can also consider it earlier in the early stages of the product, open up a cold start situation for the product, and obtain a lot of brand endorsements. Let’s talk about some common ideas for cooperation.

1. Output traffic value

Output its own traffic as promotional resources, formulate theme activities based on the partner's brand, and have the brand or a third party provide prizes for joint promotion. This will enable us to obtain new forms of activities, brand influence and publicity investment. You can try it for any product that has a stable user base.

For example: In Jianshu’s “Magical Turnaround” competition, users create stories with brand elements based on the brand theme set by its partner “Meizu” and participate in the prize-winning selection. Throughout the entire process, Meizu provided sufficient rewards to obtain the first round of participation from Jianshu users. The content generated by the event was spread on Jianshu and social networks, attracting external attention. By using an interesting topic, Jianshu has increased user activity at a low book cost and also gained a lot of external attention.

2. Output User Value

Compared with the value of traffic, this tends to magnify the value of a small number or a single user. The essence is to discover users who are distinctive or influential on the product, and output them to the cooperative channels through cooperation. The users gain attention and benefits, the channels gain character materials, and the products gain publicity.

Among the products that have been introduced before, such as "Dongjia", every craftsman who settled in has a cultural and craft story behind him. They are good character materials for cultural programs, or for commercial organizations that need to cooperate with cultural content, such as clubs, art festivals, etc.

3. Output Content Value

There are many visible cases of content value. One is UGC, which is uniformly gathered, distributed or published through online e-books, e-commerce channels and offline sales, such as Zhihu and Guokr. The other is customized distribution of PGC, which is not only an integral part of the platform itself, but can also be customized and distributed to partners who need similar content.

Through cooperation in different value dimensions, products can be transformed from one-way channel delivery to diversified value interaction, with the possibility of breakthroughs achieved with less book expenditure costs and the help of partners' resources.

Promote Mo Que Tui

Channels are not isolated, but need to be bound to users at all times. When choosing promotion methods and channels, you need to consider the user's conversion scenarios more comprehensively and link different links together.

Return to the product and the users, and the promoter with a lame leg will surely have his other leg healed and grown.