Use community operation thinking to operate core users!

For mature products with a large number of users, core users may have multiple dimensions and need to be divided according to different maintenance and then adopt different operation methods.

If the number of users divided out is very small, only a few hundred people, then the amount they contribute will also be small, and will not be of much significance in promoting product growth. Even if this part of core users is managed well, the role they can ultimately play will be extremely limited.

If the number of users divided out is large, your operating costs will increase accordingly, including labor costs, material costs, and effective cycle, etc.

User Operation

The significance of operating core users

1. Improve user activity and contribution

If you can effectively operate core users, you can ensure the base of active users in the product. At the same time, you can use these core users to drive more ordinary users, allowing the product to enter a virtuous circle.

2. Listen to user feedback

The most important thing in operations work is to connect users and products, to be the most down-to-earth person who understands users the most and becomes friends with users. Core users are the key maintenance targets of operations. Maintaining effective communication with core users can help you obtain in-depth and timely user feedback. Note the word “in-depth”. User feedback is not just about knowing what problems users encounter, but also about knowing why users encounter this problem and what is a reasonable solution from the user's perspective.

Another point is that when the product is publicly tested, a large number of core users can be invited to conduct targeted testing. On the one hand, they experience the new features or services of the product and enjoy the privileges. On the other hand, they can provide a lot of valuable feedback to the product and help iterate quickly.

3. Assisting operations

The highest level of user operation is to rule by doing nothing. Often, we take out a part of the work and let core users help do it. This gives users a sense of participation and reduces our workload. Good operations drive users to do things.

If a reasonable incentive system can be developed to encourage users to continue working for the product through effective incentives and to continuously expand the scope of participating users, a group of extremely loyal users will be cultivated.

4. Communicate the core value of the product

Often we need to release some product change information, which is very important for the product. However, due to limited knowledge of new features or services, people may not pay much attention to them. In this case, we can spread the core value of the product through core users, such as simple reposts on Weibo or WeChat, or complex product feature usage guides.

In addition, if the product generates some negative information or needs crisis public relations, the core users' words are often more convincing than your own. If your core users are more influential in the industry, the effect will be even better.

The model of operating core users:

1. Centralized operations

For a small number of core users, we can obtain user information, clarify privileges and obligations, and provide continuous motivation through emotional means.

Specific means can be divided into: establishing organization, introduction, management, activation and recall.

2. Strategic Operation

If the scale of core users is relatively large, it is necessary to adjust the operation mode at this time, drive users through strategic operations, classify user contributions through data, and then drive them in a targeted manner.

Specific methods can be divided into data analysis , user classification, demand analysis, and implementation of targeted measures.

Drive core operations through community operations

1. What is community operation?

Community operation refers to gathering and promoting the activity of these users through a series of operational means, so that they have more frequent interactions with products.

2. What problems can community operation solve?

The number of users that operators can cover is small. Insufficient operating costs and operational capabilities. Low activity of official user organizations. Inaccurate understanding of demand by operators.

3. How to do community operation?

(1) Determine the direction of the community through needs

Communities are a means to keep users sticking to products at a high frequency, so the direction of community establishment must meet user needs.

We can analyze all the needs of the product's target users, and then select some directions to extend into communities. Official resources should be allocated to some valuable communities to help them grow and thus serve as a model. You can refer to Douban’s approach in this regard.

(2) User management user

The community's system and user rights are formulated by the operators, who also provide some material support. The daily management of the community is the responsibility of the users, while the official is responsible for managing the "administrators" of these user groups.

The operations staff will centrally manage these "administrators" and eventually develop a user management team. They will continue to recruit, train, and adjust personnel until there are enough to cover all communities.

(3) Closed-loop incentive system

Whether they are community administrators, opinion leaders in the industry, or even ordinary community members, the community must allow them to demonstrate their own value and have reasons and benefits to participate.

This requires the design of a closed-loop incentive system, in which users play in the community according to designated "rules of the game ", guiding them to become outstanding members of the community and high-quality active users of the product.

The form of expression is achieved through operational means such as systems, activities, and topics. The specific situation requires specific analysis, you can also look at the following case.

(4) Measurement indicators

The ultimate goal of operating a product's core users through social means is to increase the overall user activity, etc., so we need to directly or indirectly reflect the value of the community in product data.

The most basic ones are the UV, contribution, retention, etc., such as two weeks or a month; even within a specific time period, such as the World Cup or the Spring Festival.

If we are unable to provide value from core user operations for a long time, we need to reflect on our operating methods and ideas. Community operations, like product operations , require continuous optimization of means.

Community operation case

1. The well-known brand " Handu Yishe " has established 267 product teams within the company, each with 2-3 people, including buyers and designers. The entire team can launch more than 5,000 clothing items each quarter, of which 30% can be defined as successful, so there will be 500 clothing items that will trigger sales every month.

The company only specifies systems and goals for the team, such as the number of hit products each quarter. If the target is achieved, rewards will be given and all members of the team will benefit. If the target is not achieved, the team will be disbanded and reorganized.

If we look at it from the perspective of community operation, Han Du Yishe is a product, and these 267 product groups can be regarded as user communities. The product was established and delegated to the team for self-management, with designated rewards and punishments to stimulate the enthusiasm of each team and improve their combat effectiveness, while also saving management costs. The results have proven to be very good.

2. The public account of the famous financial writer Wu Xiaobo has more than one million followers, who initially existed only as readers. As the number of readers accumulated, they began to spontaneously set up QQ groups and organize offline activities to enable more three-dimensional communication.

As the number of activities increased, regional and interest characteristics became apparent, so groups in various cities and interest groups such as reading, entrepreneurship , and financial management began to be established.

Treat Wu Xiaobo’s public account as a product and the fans of the public account as users. The groups in various cities and interests formed by these users are the communities of this product.

These communities are organized and managed by users, who form a "class committee" consisting of class monitors and class committee members. At the same time, there can be many such organizations, and the room for growth is very large, so the number of users that can be covered is also very large.

Therefore, Wu Xiaobo hardly needs to invest anything, and he can attract so many users by relying on the community operation model.

3. Maoyan Movie has currently accumulated a large number of core users. The operators have classified the user needs into watching movies, film reviews, communication, star chasing, and buying movie tickets. Based on each user need, multiple communities can be established and users can manage them spontaneously.

This model covers and motivates a large number of users without increasing operating labor costs, which will ultimately improve the activity of the product.

For each demand point, two benchmark communities are established. In the early stages, operations are needed to establish systems and user rights, and to find suitable community leaders, using resource support and experience to guide them to learn how to manage this benchmark community.

Then use the resources on the site to help recruit leaders, increase the number of members in the community, and push the community into normal operation. Then continue to recommend and display it on and off the site to encourage newcomers to follow suit.

Specifically, in terms of the demand for watching movies, Maoyan has established local branches in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and other places, which are officially authorized to be listed, given material support, and have users selected as presidents and fully managed by them. Once it operates on a large scale, it is conceivable that there will be a Maoyan user organization across the country every weekend, holding offline movie-watching activities in theaters.

Similarly, interests, fans, and film reviews are the same, so I will not list them here. Similarly, this example can also be applied to products like Douban and Zhihu.