User operation, here is a decision model you can try

1. Key elements of user operations

The so-called user operation is to increase the number of users and user value through various means, and ultimately maximize the value of the product. With attracting new users , retention , activation and paid conversion as the main goals, the user perspective is prioritized. That is to say, if the purpose of user operation is to "attract new users", then the first thing that comes to mind should not be advertising for channel operations, but how to use the product's existing users to achieve new users, such as the Referral system, which is essentially an operational strategy of inviting new users through old users.

In addition, the essence of user operation is refined operation, which is to provide different services and guidance for different users. Therefore, the strategies to achieve a certain operation purpose under the user's thinking are diverse. Taking attracting new users as an example, in addition to the invitation mechanism, new users can also be introduced through online interviews with high-quality users (loyal users) or KOL live classes.

2. User Operation Decision Model

Share a solution decision model: based on two dimensions: the number of users required to achieve a certain operational goal and the time period required for user participation, that is, adopt the best operational strategy at the right time.

User operation decision model

Combining this model with the common user operation strategies in the industry, you can determine what user operation strategy to formulate based on the two dimensions of user volume and engagement duration in the model.

1. Community management

A method of importing users into WeChat groups /QQ groups/IM group chat tools that come with the product for targeted management. It is suitable for a small number of users, but requires users to participate for a long time and can communicate with users quickly. In the early stages of community products, this type of management can be used for core users who are responsible for content production. Although there are not many of them, they need to continuously output content for the community. Sometimes, for the sake of timeliness, it is also necessary to quickly provide them with hot topics that are relevant to the product.

2. Directional PUSH

The realization of some operational goals does not require users to spend time and participate in depth, but only requires them to be aware of them, such as the launch of special activities, function optimization notifications, platform announcements, message prompts, etc. As a user operator of message push, you need to know the basic properties of the message push channel.

Push channels are divided into on-site and off-site channels. On-site channels include push , pop-up windows, notification center, and banners, while off-site channels include mail, SMS, email, and new media . Operations staff need to choose channels based on the importance/urgency of the message. For example, for important and urgent messages such as server migration/upgrade, it is recommended to use push, SMS, or even all channels at the same time to let users who need to back up data in advance know as soon as possible.

3. Event planning

When the purpose of the operation is to encourage users to produce more content or participate in brand communication, it is usually achieved through activities + spiritual/material incentives. In order to allow more users to participate in the activities, in addition to displaying activities and targeted push notifications on pop-up windows and homepage banners for core users, we also provide incentive policies such as discounts on value-added services and practical gift redemption.

Select the group

Description: Users who choose "click on the homepage banner" to view event details

Choose your timing

Note: If the required actions are not completed within 1 day, such as posting, liking, sharing, etc., incentive policies such as cash benefits for participating in the event will be pushed to the user group via SMS/in-site messages.

4. Product Strategy

Let’s take an example. “Like” is the lowest-cost way of user interaction. No matter which product it is, it is very effective in increasing the enthusiasm of sharing users and the interaction rate with the product. In 2013, Xiaohongshu has been planning to increase the enthusiasm of content sharers by increasing the number of users' likes, and of course, to make the overall community interaction data look better. At that time, a PK activity for the number of likes or content likes was planned in the community. The data did improve during the activity, but the data dropped sharply as soon as the activity was ended. It felt like the effect would stop if the activity was not carried out.

It can be seen from this that the effect of planning activities is limited. In fact, the most effective thing is to enlarge the like button or adjust it to a better position at the product level. Later, Xiaohongshu displayed the like button in a prominent position in the new version, which greatly increased the overall number of likes for the product, and quickly doubled the like data as new users increased.

Xiaohongshu interface

The most effective user operation is to make changes to the product, but you can't just make changes to the product whenever you want. The premise is that the operation goal you want to achieve requires a large number of users to continue to do so. If it is just for the sake of setting a scene during the Chinese Valentine's Day and allowing users to go on online blind dates on the "Magpie Bridge", this is not an operational activity that requires long-term user participation in the community. In order to save development costs, it can be implemented with an H5 page .

Practical example: Relying on user behavior data to revise products

The Baozou Comics team is a data-driven team and is one of Zhuge.io’s earliest clients. For content products like Baoman, user activity is a very important indicator. After each product iteration, the team hopes that user activity will spiral upward. However, as a well-known anime brand that is loved by a large number of young audiences, Baozou Comics must also meet the "unpredictable" needs of the new generation of humans. It is not easy to optimize on this basis and further improve user stickiness.

-Solution: Compare different user groups and find the key to stimulate user activity

User behavior data analysis provides a low-cost and convenient means of observing user behavior. First, we distinguished between “highly active users” and “ordinary users” through user grouping, namely: “users who have visited more than 10 times in the past 7 days” and “users who have visited less than 2 times in the past 7 days”.

By splitting the new users in the same period into two user groups and comparing them in multiple dimensions, the Baozou Comics team found that there was no obvious difference between "highly active users" and "ordinary users" in terms of regional differences, mobile phone brands used, system distribution, channel sources, etc.

When the general dimensions showed no effect, the team began to compare the behavioral differences between the two user groups. An interesting phenomenon was discovered: within two days of new user additions, nearly 80% of users who had browsed comic content, added friends (subscribed), or watched my rampage (subscribed content stream) events became highly active users.

Previously, the homepage of the Baoman APP displayed different categories, such as "Rage Videos", "Brainless Dialogues", "God Complaints", etc. First-time users did not know what these categories corresponded to, and could only randomly choose one to watch. If they saw content that interested them, they would keep watching; if they were not interested in the content, they would leave.

Based on this discovery, the Baoman team made a bold guess: presenting content streams that match users’ interests as soon as possible is the key to stimulating user activity! In this way, an important decision was made: to change the column-style homepage to a waterfall flow.

After the revision, the homepage directly displays the content, and there are corresponding categories behind the content. New users will naturally click on the content they are interested in, and then they will enter the category accordingly. They will continue to read and become active users. After the new version was launched, the number of times the Baoman App was launched increased by 1.5 times, the duration of a single visit increased by 1.3 times, and the retention rate on the next day increased by 1.3 times. This verified the previous hypothesis and achieved an increase in overall activity.

The birth of any outstanding product is inseparable from a deep understanding of user needs and human nature; similarly, any product that wants to have long-term vitality is inseparable from user operations. The essence of user operation lies in the understanding and grasp of users, facing specific users with the right attitude, and constantly integrating into the users. Only in this way can you become an excellent user operator. Otherwise, you can only stop on the road of primary user operation.

The author of this article @于晓松 ​​is compiled and published by (Qinggua Media). Please indicate the author information and source when reprinting!

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