Operators, how can you take advantage of the trend elegantly?

Recently, I have read books on "market trends" and "product positioning" again. There are more and more ways and means of product dissemination in today's society, and users receive a lot of information every day. How can we effectively filter out our product information in the minds of users? It is a huge subject.

This article will focus on "hot spots" and discuss with you how to take advantage of them elegantly.

What is a hotspot? Hot spot

The hot spots here do not refer to the network hot spots on the device side, nor are they links embedded with keywords in web pages.

Instead, it refers to news, information, or even people, places, and issues that are viewed by a general audience or of concern to the general public. Simply put, a "hotspot" is one or more points in the dissemination of information that attract the most public attention and have a wide range of dissemination and attention.

• Hot topics in a broad sense can refer to: "social hot topics", "news hot topics", "problem hot topics", etc.
• In a narrow sense, hot spots can refer to: "an event", "a place", "a viewpoint", "a word", etc.

From the National People's Congress meeting to the "Blueshou Xianggu" incident, all are hot information, and hot information is not just a marketing tool.

In this pervasive information age, the Internet brings convenience to people while also occupying their time. Hot information is like the G-spot, which makes users feel stimulated and emotional, and makes users feel curious and thoughtful. It is what users need.

Why do you want to take advantage of the popularity?

In fact, in most cases, both individuals and companies have considered how to create hot spots, but the "cost" of creating hot spots is generally higher than "riding on the hot spots". In addition, due to the "lazy" thinking of today's human beings, "riding on the hot spots" has become the most suitable way to spread product information. In an era when self-media, new media and mobile have not mentioned explosive growth, this is the way to create the best results at the lowest cost.

What is the purpose of taking advantage of the popularity?

Other hot spots can be used to spread the culture and value of one's own products, thereby guiding users to focus their attention on the products instead of the hot spots, so as to achieve a marketing strategy in which the products or services are known to the public and bring in sales profits.

Three ways to get hot spots

• The hotspot itself
• Leverage
• contrast

1. The hotspot itself

How to understand the hot spots themselves, for example, the topic of "freestyle" that became popular in "The Rap of China" some time ago, I believe everyone's circle of friends was flooded with it at that time, and many domestic marketing methods were vying to seize this topic.

Some companies quickly seized the hot spot, combined with the hot spot itself, invited Wu Yifan, who created the hot topic, to endorse the brand, and used the "Freestyle" label to promote the product with the help of the hot spot itself.

Nongfu Spring also took a close role in hot spot marketing at the time. As the exclusive title sponsor of The Rap of China, Nongfu Spring took the opportunity to launch a poster with a unique style, combining the product with the facial makeup of a celebrity producer to create a "freestyle" vitamin water poster.

Advantages: Highest public attention, strongest acceptability and cognition

Note: Excessive marketing may lead to word-of-mouth differentiation

2. Take advantage of the situation

Leveraging marketing is the most common and widely used marketing method.

Combine the brand itself with hot information to form a new marketing method. By following the trend, creating momentum, and leveraging the momentum, the product promotion is integrated into hot information that the public is familiar with, so that the public can understand the product in this environment and accept the product's marketing methods.

I believe everyone knows Weilong spicy strips , the leader in the spicy strips industry. Weilong is one of the most successful leveraging marketing products I have ever seen. It has entered the public eye with the help of Apple's design style, from the initial grocery store snacks to the current style transformation, from imitating Apple's simple design to now trying different design styles. It can be said that Weilong is indeed very attentive in brand marketing , and the effect is very significant.

Advantages: Leveraging hot topics can achieve marketing effects at the lowest cost that sometimes cannot be achieved even with huge amounts of money. It can also leverage the public's understanding of existing hot topics to integrate one's own brand into them.

Note: Do not overdo the marketing, otherwise you will lose the recognition that the brand image brings to users.

3. Contrast

In hot topics, contrast refers to an attitude or view that is different from other viewpoints, and may also be in a competitive relationship.

It is also a commonly used marketing method, which is to clearly display the differences and similarities in actual functions and quality between the company's products or services and those of competitors through various intuitive methods to the public, making it easier for the public to judge and choose.

Through the clever design of the comparison link, new products with unique selling points can be "strongly" compared with those of competitors in front of consumers. Judging from the results, comparative marketing is indeed a clever method in saving publicity steps, creating word-of-mouth and enhancing corporate momentum.

NetEase Yanxuan used the mobile phone you used 10 years ago to evoke everyone's nostalgia by comparing the past with the present.

Advantages: Ability to promote own brand through hot content, emphasizing the differences and advantages of products over hot topics or other brands.

Note: If used improperly, it may directly lead to a slap in the face.

Four main points of hot spots

• quick
• powerful
• just
• deep

1. Speed ​​should be fast (three points)

News is all time-sensitive, not to mention hot topics. Hot topics are usually time-limited. How to effectively grasp hot information at the first time is of great value for product/brand communication.

Here are three points to help you summarize the point of "fast".

• Quick understanding: Quickly understand the whole story of the "hot spot" event, the core issues, the center of public opinion, and ensure the reliability of the content
• Rapid integration: quickly integrate product/brand promotion into hot topics
• Rapid dissemination: quickly share and disseminate online and offline to grab the public's attention and topics

Just as this month's iPhone new product launch conference is the best example, when the new iPhone came out, major brands began to quickly seize the "hot topics" and take advantage of the popularity of Apple's new products. This allows them to use the iPhone's brand popularity that was originally understood and accepted by the public to promote their own brands.

Function: In the Internet age, people receive information very quickly. By leveraging hot information, we can help promote brands/products better and focus on timeliness.

2. Strong interaction

Simply put, it is the ability to generate topical buzz.

Although people are individuals, the world is a collective. No one can survive alone in society without being part of the collective. This is also the reason why community product types are enduring.

As a company or a product, when expressing and spreading its own value, it is not only a one-way operation, but also a process of interactive communication with the public.

Hot information itself has a sense of "user participation". Hot topic marketing must also fully consider user participation and let users regard your brand as a topic. Only then can the brand's hot topic marketing be considered successful.

Function: It makes the connection between the brand and the public closer, the public feels more familiar with the brand, and it is more conducive to the dissemination of brand culture and the promotion of products.

3. Have a positive view

Your promotional content needs to focus on the central point that needs to be highlighted. It may not be amazing enough, it may not be perfect enough, it may have typos, but it must not cross the bottom line and distort reality.

No matter what the information being disseminated is, first of all, we must have a correct outlook on life, the world and values, and the product must have its own bottom line. I believe this is something that many product people and operators should think about carefully in the early stages of the product.

Just like the hot topic of Sanlu milk powder, your marketing topics around this hot topic can be "Eliminate harmful milk powder and ensure healthy growth" etc. (I just wrote it casually here, I'm afraid no company would dare to do this), but you cannot beautify or defend topics condemned by public opinion. If the product goes against people's hearts, then it is doomed to self-destruction.

Function: It is easy to establish a positive image of the brand. For the general public, brand awareness also comes from the brand’s dissemination and even influence on social concepts. It is also easy to be shared and spread by the general public. For example, ideas that oppose world peace will definitely not be welcomed and spread.

4. The content should be in-depth

The "deep" here means profound, referring to the content depth of the brand image or corporate image, including the product influence and appeal left after the product is disseminated.

Content depth is something that many brands need to cultivate rather than casually borrow or even plagiarize. Content that is infectious and influential can be interesting and can have routines. It does not simply mean that the content must be sensational, but that it must withstand the public's thinking about the value of the product.

Just like the mini program here, it is not just a hot topic. The birth of the mini program in WeChat is really a revolution in mobile applications. It caused a huge social sensation at the time. From this "hot topic", other corporate products, such as Alipay and Xiaomi, also began to conduct research on "mini programs". Focusing on the core light application features of the mini program, they have successively launched functions such as Alipay mini programs and Xiaomi direct services.

Function: It is easy to form a loyal user group for the corporate brand, easy to spread the brand value culture, and can be used as a starting point to derive and establish a "hotspot" belonging to its own brand, while developing hotspots belonging to its own brand/product.

What is the value of riding on the popularity of other topics?

Every time a hot spot appears, it is a "carnival" for the brand. It is a marketing strategy to attract consumers' attention through the media, rely on consumers' own communication power, and subtly guide market consumption through relaxing and entertaining methods, in order to increase the visibility and reputation of the company or product, establish a good brand image, and ultimately promote the sales of products or services.

Some readers may ask, why is this article related to product managers ? Shouldn’t it be related to operations?

The brand value of a product lies in the overall understanding and control of the market situation, that is, the positioning of the product itself.

Summarize

Based on the above analysis, whether you want to take advantage of the trend or follow the trend when promoting your product, the product and operator need to judge the market environment and the needs of the public.

• "Hotspots" are creatable and can come from your hand.
• "Hotspots" can also be recreated. They can pass through your hands and be derived into new hot information.
• "Hotspot" is a double-edged sword. If used properly, it can make the brand influence and communication power further. If used improperly, it may cause the corporate brand image to fall into decline. Please use it with caution.