Top 50 Private Domain Tricks of Brands

If 2020 is the first year of private domain, 2021 is the year of implementation. So, in this year when market development is becoming increasingly unstable, more and more companies in all walks of life have begun to vigorously develop private domains and regard private domains as an important tool. These companies use private domains to achieve different goals, such as focusing on selling products, retaining users, or testing new products...

After researching 25 brands, this article summarizes 50 private domain operation methods behind them for reference by operators from all walks of life.

01Clarify your purpose

When it comes to private domains, companies in different fields, at different stages, and of different sizes have different starting points.

① New customer acquisition battlefield

Some companies enter the private domain due to their desire for new traffic. They open up a new customer acquisition channel outside of the original stock channels and regard the private domain as a battlefield for acquiring new customers. For example, the national KTV chain brand Changba Maisong directs online public domain traffic to the private domain pool through methods such as WeChat Moments advertising.

② Provide users with tools for efficient services

The private domain itself has the characteristic of directly reaching consumers. There is no need to go through a third-party platform. Instead, companies can communicate directly with consumers through mini-programs, official accounts, corporate WeChat, Moments ads and other means.

The gay social platform Blued is a typical case. In order to meet the personalized HIV health service needs that require professional and timely responses, it has built a private domain platform to ensure efficient communication with users.

③ Channels for new product testing

When some large companies are doing private domain business, because the group brand is too large and the product line is also huge, these companies often do not use the brand to do private domain, nor do they split out a product line to do it. Instead, they use one flavor, or even a flavor's packaging, for testing in the private domain.

For example, Oreo will test its new product Zero Sugar Oreo in a private domain. Only after hearing good feedback from the private domain pool will it sell it on a large scale to the market, thus ensuring the successful launch of the new product.

④ Develop online purchasing channels

Some brands that are accustomed to selling in offline malls and shopping centers are also actively building private domains, hoping to meet consumers' demands for online purchases. This is what Dior did. On the WeChat mini program, Dior customized a "see now, buy now" service for all product categories, making it convenient for consumers to place orders for their favorite products while watching the fashion show offline.

⑤ Domestic version of DTC self-built website

"DTC" stands for Direct to Consumer, which means that the brand directly targets consumers. This DTC self-built website model is quite common abroad. Usually, a website is opened and users trade on the website.

Nutrition brand LemonBox wants to adopt this model. Because, in the health and nutrition track, the biggest pain point for users is not knowing what to eat. Therefore, in response to this problem, LemonBox wants to build its own website, introduce AI nutritionists, provide users with one-on-one consulting service experience, and help users choose suitable nutritional supplements.

⑥ Unified management of multiple brands

Traditional multi-brand operating companies can connect multiple brands based on private domains and unify operations and management.

The clothing brand Ying'er has 6 brands under its umbrella, but only one mini program and one operation team to support it. This is because the six independently operated brands under the group use the unified group mini-program mall as the hub to break down the original boundaries of different brands, form a user pool shared by all brands, and while effectively expanding user acquisition opportunities for each brand, guide consumers to continue to purchase more brands of the group, realize the conversion of high unit price value, and thus revitalize the group's overall ecological system.

⑦ Build brand power

When users see an unknown brand, their first reaction is likely to be questioning. If a brand establishes trust, goodwill, and reputation, the threshold for users to place orders will be lowered, and higher ROI can be achieved at a lower cost. Especially new consumer brands, in the fierce competition in the industry, need to build brand power through private domains.

⑧ Accumulate user assets

Private domain is an asset that enterprises can freely dispose of. Companies need to know who users are, where they are, and what they are doing, and then gradually develop strangers into acquaintances, then slowly into friends, and finally into family members. When users become family members of the company, they will naturally take the initiative to promote the company and recommend the brand to their relatives and friends, thereby generating more assets that can be freely disposed of.

⑨ New business model

In the business model of traditional enterprises, the game between headquarters and dealers has become a common problem.

Mengjie Home Textiles changed this model through private domains and adopted the form of "thousands of stores with thousands of faces". The headquarters focused on providing platforms, tools and operational support, distributing benefits, and fully granting autonomy and resources to stores and shopping guides, thereby increasing their enthusiasm. This S2B2C model has fully activated directly-operated stores, franchisees, and online agents. In 2020, 95% of stores were covered by mini-program cloud stores, and daily active users increased by 300% year-on-year.

⑩ Change the user’s lifestyle

The ultimate goal of private domain is to enable companies to better understand brands and users, change consumers’ lifestyles, and be more meaningful to society. In the future, almost all companies will enter the private domain, but consumers will most likely not accept so many corporate WeChat accounts and communities, nor will they install so many apps. Instead, they will choose a few or even just one company in terms of travel, hairdressing, etc.

Taking the British bicycle brand Brompton (nicknamed "Xiaobu" by Chinese fans) as an example, this is a bicycle that girls can pull while shopping, which has changed the existing stereotyped lifestyle of consumers. After purchasing, consumers can go to any offline franchise store, direct-operated brand store, etc. to enjoy free car washing, air pumping, maintenance and other services. They naturally become Xiaobu’s “family” and actively recommend Xiaobu to people around them.

02Customer Development

After deciding to build a private domain, the first thing an enterprise needs to do is to direct traffic in the public domain to the private domain. So, how to do it specifically? In this regard, Morketing summarizes 10 commonly used methods.

① WeChat Mini Program

Compared with the independent installation of APP, the development and maintenance costs are higher. Many companies will use WeChat mini programs as the main battlefield in their private domains.

For example, the key to LemonBox's business model is to fully understand customer needs, communicate with customers in a long-term and in-depth manner through the AI ​​nutritionists in the mini program, and guide customers to repurchase. The mini program's GMV exceeds 60% of the brand's total revenue, and has served more than one million WeChat users in total.

② WeChat official account

WeChat public accounts make it easy for companies to continuously promote their brand image through content and enhance trust.

A high-end villa decoration brand does this by displaying actual cases through WeChat official accounts to attract interested users to settle on the official accounts. It then screens out high-potential customers through a combination of artificial and intelligent methods. Through continuous communication, it gradually builds user trust in the process, influences users' key decision points, and ultimately facilitates customer transactions.

③ Moments Ads

In the Tencent ecosystem, Moments ads, mini-programs, official accounts, etc. support mutual redirection. Companies can use Moments ads to attract target users to mini-programs to complete orders and purchases.

Taking LemonBox as an example to further illustrate, many people who have not come into contact with this brand are not clear about what this brand does and what its products are. Therefore, when promoting WeChat Moments ads, LemonBox used large, high-value pictures and content targeting different groups of people to promote its products to potential users. For example, girls pay more attention to skin care, and the push materials focus on "making your bare face as beautiful as if you are wearing nude makeup."

④ WeChat for Business

Under the Personal Information Protection Law, enterprise WeChat has become a relatively low-cost channel to reach users and communicate directly with users. Almost all private-domain companies are using it. McDonald's issues exclusive coupons to users through WeChat for Business; LemonBox is more suitable to use WeChat for Business to communicate with users one-on-one because users' health issues and nutritional advice are relatively private...

⑤ Video account

In the Tencent ecosystem, video accounts are also a tool that facilitates brands to broadcast their own content.

Jewelry brand Chow Tai Fook once achieved a record of over 60 million GMV in a single live broadcast on Video Account. How did it do it? Their anchors are not celebrities, but executives of Chow Tai Fook. They believe this is a trust business. Do consumers trust an eloquent anchor or a general manager to guarantee quality? So they personally went live to broadcast the show.

⑥ Community

Communities are channels that facilitate continuous communication between companies and users, and can provide users with coupons, new products, live event information, etc.

In the Luckin Coffee community, "Chief Welfare Officer lucky@Luckin Coffee" will launch limited-edition products, limited-time coupons, new products, etc. based on the breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, and after-get off work scenes of working people. During the four time periods of the day, Luckin Coffee constantly tries to reach group members to awaken their desire to buy. Data shows that after Luckin Coffee's ordinary customers become social users, their monthly consumption frequency increases by 30%, the number of weekly repeat purchases increases by 28%, and MAU increases by about 10%.

⑦ APP

Mature leading brands generally build their own apps to support private domains. According to a report by Frost & Sullivan, KFC is the first fast food brand in China to launch a super APP, making it convenient for consumers to order takeout, place orders via mobile phones, and order food by scanning codes at the table. The proportion of digital orders in sales increased from 38% in 2018 to 55% in 2019, and reached 80% in the first half of 2020.

Nowadays, in addition to traditional main products such as hamburgers, French fries, and fried chicken, the KFC APP also provides consumers with facial masks, electric ovens, yogurt, coffee, and other beauty and personal care products, digital toys, food and beverages, etc.

⑧ Offline stores

In addition to online traffic channels, offline, stores are the largest traffic entry point.

In Luckin Coffee stores, QR codes can be seen everywhere, including table materials, cash registers, roll-up banners/posters, coffee bottles, etc. Some are for guiding customers to follow official accounts, some are for joining communities, and some are for facilitating ordering. Whether scanning the code to join a community or following an official account, it means that consumers have entered the private domain of Luckin Coffee.

⑨ Clerk

Offline, in addition to store materials, store staff will also guide customers to join corporate WeChat.

In Bosideng's offline stores, there are an average of 4 to 5 sales clerks in each store, and each clerk can add up to 20,000 friends, which means that each store can add 80,000 to 100,000 friends. Specifically, if a consumer enters the store and intends to purchase a product, before the transaction is completed, the clerk will guide the consumer to add the corporate WeChat account and provide the consumer with an order coupon. Since consumers are ready to buy, they will not be too resistant when adding corporate WeChat. In addition, with the preferential guidance of coupons, some consumers are even willing to actively add corporate WeChat.

⑩ Find the first batch of users from investors

Since many companies have some capital support behind them, the first batch of users can develop from investors.

This is what NIO did, and its first batch of users were mainly executives and employees among investors. Since most of these users are senior executives, they have a high voice and a certain appeal and influence, and can call on people around them to buy NIO.

03Member

"Members without private domains are dead members, and private domains without members are marketing channels for issuing free coupons." This is a sentence we often hear. So, in the process of building a private domain, how should companies operate their members?

① Free membership

Whether in the APP or the mini program, when we want to buy beauty products or milk tea, we have all had similar experiences. "Enter your mobile phone number to register as a member." This is also a common practice used by many brands to facilitate users to quickly join as members.

② Paid Membership

In addition to free membership, some brands also provide users with paid membership in order to facilitate users to enjoy more preferential benefits and improve customer loyalty. For example, lululemon's paid members pay $39 (about 255 yuan) per month to enjoy additional benefits such as offline activities and online exercise classes.

③ Membership system

Whether it is a free membership or a paid membership, there is a complete membership system behind it.

For example, after registering as a member, when consumers place an order on a tablet computer or mini program at a Haidilao store, the membership system will display their personal information, dining and historical orders, preferences, etc., so as to recommend more suitable dishes to consumers. As of June 30, 2021, Haidilao has accumulated 85 million members, with an average turnover rate of 3 times per day, and members' consumption accounts for more than 80% of the total turnover.

④ Tiered membership system

In order to further refine services to different member users, some brands operate their membership systems in different levels. Heytea has set GO membership to 5 levels, and the upgrade conditions are relatively easy. For example, after registering as a Heytea member, you will automatically become a VIP.1 member, and you can upgrade to a VIP.2 member by spending 1 yuan.

⑤ Member points can be used to deduct part of the cash

In order to allow users to truly enjoy preferential benefits, some companies support member users to use points to offset part of the cash. In Haidilao restaurants, members can accumulate 1 reward point for every RMB 1 spent, and can redeem different levels of discounts based on the accumulated points.

⑥ Member points exchange for gifts

In addition to cash redemption, some brands offer members gift redemption promotions. On Huaxizi’s Douyin corporate account, we can see that Huaxizi has positioned December as the “membership redemption month”. After members have accumulated points for a whole year, they can use the points to redeem gifts within December.

⑦ Exclusive Member Day

December can be regarded as the exclusive membership month prepared by Huaxizi for its members. Some brands also prepare exclusive membership days for their members, allowing members to truly enjoy unique services and products. Honor has designated April 26-28 as Honor Super Member Day, and has prepared blind boxes, holiday gift packages and other benefits for members.

⑧ Exclusive membership gift

Providing exclusive gifts to members is also a method that brands will use in the process of membership operations.

In PROYA's Douyin live broadcast room, the anchor repeatedly emphasized that "joining as a member can get a facial mask worth 20 yuan", allowing fans to feel the brand's emphasis on members.

⑨ Exclusive coupons

Similar to exclusive membership gifts, some brands will provide members with exclusive coupons, all to allow members to experience unique membership benefits.

Under Heytea's membership system, different exclusive coupons are provided to different members. For example, after upgrading to VIP.3 members, they can immediately get a half-price coupon for the second cup, and VIP.4 members will get a free drink coupon.

⑩ Guide online members to consume offline

In the process of membership operation, enterprises have more opportunities to understand the needs of members, and at the same time, combined with the needs of balanced online and offline development of the enterprise, guide online members to consume in offline stores.

Skin care brand Lin Qingxuan once randomly selected 1,000 customers who only purchased products in its online flagship store and guided 200 of them to visit offline stores for experience. In the end, regardless of whether these 200 customers purchased in offline stores or not, when they returned to purchase online, their average order value doubled compared to the past.

04Conversion

After members are deposited in the private domain pool, the next step the company needs to take is conversion, on the one hand, the conversion of users, and on the other hand, the conversion of transactions.

① Old users become new users

After a company gains the favor of the first batch of users through its own services and products, this group of users will actively bring new users to the company.

NIO is a typical case. During its third-quarter 2019 earnings call, NIO noted that 45% of new users were referred by existing users. Behind this, NIO has made efforts in three aspects: first, it has set up an incentive system to reward points for user recommendations; second, it has allowed car owners to truly experience NIO's products and services, such as battery swapping and battery rental services; third, it has strengthened interaction with car owners through offline activities to output the brand's service concepts and values.

② Share coupons to bring in new users

In addition to spontaneous invitations from old users, companies can also invite friends to enter the private pool by encouraging users to share coupons.

In Luckin Coffee’s mini program, users are encouraged to give their friends coupons for a 20-yuan discount on their first cup of coffee. After their friends place an order, the users themselves can also receive certain rewards.

③ Share social products to attract new users

Some products have certain social attributes and have a certain appeal to users in the same circle, such as blind boxes. Pop Mart provides users with an instant sharing service in its mini program, allowing users to share not only with friends, but also in communities with people who share common interests. Currently, Pop Mart has over 10 million WeChat members, with a repurchase rate of 50%.

④ Attract users through peripheral products

In addition to traditional main products and services, companies can also provide users with more trendy toys, beauty and personal care products, daily necessities and other products, and turn mini programs or apps into e-commerce platforms. In Haidilao's APP, users can not only order food, but also purchase products such as lipsticks and earrings. Among them, the peripheral product Haidilao Cultural and Creative Ou Yu earrings have sold more than 10,000 pieces.

⑤ Develop user families into new users

In addition to friends around them, some companies have expanded the target of fission to users' families, encouraging users to bring their families into the private domain pool. The catering brand Zhen Gongfu provides users with a "Family Sharing Card". After recharging, users can share the link with their parents and children, who can then click on the card to use it for consumption. When the family members click on the link, it means they have entered the private pool of Zhen Gongfu.

⑥ Social media push limited-time products

In order to encourage users to place orders quickly, some companies will push limited-time products to community users during breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and other scenarios. For example, during the breakfast time on weekdays, McDonald’s community will push breakfast packages of “any combination starting from 13 yuan” to users.

⑦ Limited-time group buying in the community

In order to promote rapid conversion of user transactions, some companies will set up limited-time group buying in the community, allowing users to quickly place orders for goods with friends or strangers, creating an atmosphere of "getting a bargain" for community users, while also encouraging group members to place orders with each other to promote immediate conversion.

⑧ Mini Program group purchase discount

In addition to group buying in the community, companies can also set up a "group buying and discount" entrance on the mini program homepage, which makes it easier for users to call on their relatives and friends around them to quickly place orders together. This entrance is set up in Luckin Coffee’s mini-program interface.

⑨ Push coupons on the mini program opening screen

In addition to the interface, on the homepage of the mini program, companies can set up coupons to attract users to place orders quickly with actual discounts. When we open the LemonBox mini program, LemonBox will push a variety of coupons on the opening screen, including coupons for purchasing vitamin C for 0 yuan, 20% off coupons, and coupons for discounts on purchases over a certain amount.

⑩ Display the “Monthly Best Drinks/Foods List”

Taking into account that some users may have difficulty making choices, companies can provide users with a "monthly list of good drinks/foods" from which users can quickly make their selections. In Luckin Coffee's app, a "Monthly Best Drinks List" was launched based on user purchase data, which lists the 12 drinks that users buy most frequently each month. This not only provides convenience for more users to choose, but also makes it easier for Luckin Coffee to stock up in the kitchen.

05Operation

"Acquiring customers is fun, but operating a crematorium is a disaster" is a phrase we often hear. After a user enters the private domain pool and has completed a consumption, how can the company operate to ensure that the user continues to repurchase or continuously bring in new users?

① Share useful content

If users are simply asked to “buy it, buy it, buy it”, they will eventually get bored, so companies can provide users with some practical tips.

On Douyin, Hua Xizi has specially opened an account called "Hua Xizi Customer Service Team", which teaches fans makeup tips through live broadcasts from Monday to Saturday. In the live broadcast room, no matter what makeup techniques fans want to learn, they can type them on the public screen and the host will explain them one by one.

② Actively solve fans’ problems

In addition to sharing practical skills, Hua Xizi also provides exclusive solutions to various problems through the "Hua Xizi Customer Service Team" and fan communities, allowing fans to trust Hua Xizi more while enjoying the service. When fans trust Hua Xizi very much, their loyalty will increase and they will actively share information about Hua Xizi's products, live broadcasts, short videos, etc. The brand promotion video pinned to the top of "Huaxizi Official Flagship Store" has received over 20,000 likes.

③ Initiate corresponding discussion topics in the community

For industries such as apparel, maternal and child care, beauty, and home furnishings, you can initiate topics such as tutorials and knowledge sharing in the community to guide community members to actively communicate. For example, maternal and infant brands can raise the question of "What should the baby's first complementary food be" in the community to guide everyone to communicate.

④ Provide users with one-to-one exclusive services

In order to gain users' favor and enhance brand trust, companies can provide users with one-on-one exclusive services, allowing users to truly feel the company's warm service. For example, PRADA extends the brand's sense of dignity from offline to online, providing customers with private and exclusive services in the form of "private one-on-one online shopping guide".

⑤ Continuously provide services before, during and after sales

For digital 3C, home appliances, home decoration and other industries, we can provide users with pre-sales, in-sales, and after-sales services based on products, as well as consulting, installation and other services.

⑥ Offline large-scale activities

Offline, companies can provide users with a variety of activities to stimulate users' enthusiasm for participation. NIO has won recognition from many users in this regard and holds grand Nio Day events every year. At the Nio Day 2020 event, NIO was divided into a main venue and 64 sub-venues offline, and live-streamed simultaneously on 35 online platforms, with over 100 million people watching online. Wang Feng was invited to perform songs such as "Brave Heart" on site.

⑦ Offline small-scale activities

In addition to large-scale events like NIO’s, companies can also organize small-scale events. For example, catering companies can hold new product evaluation sessions. In order to enhance the member experience and strengthen member stickiness, Haidilao has launched a variety of activities at different times throughout the year, including cloud gatherings, new product evaluation sessions, Facebook DIY, etc.

⑧ Share the latest live events in the community

Online, companies can organize live events and share them in social networks. For example, in Hua Xizi’s fan community, the group owner “Hua Xizi Official Flagship Store” and the administrator “Hua Xiaoxi” will share the latest live broadcast events and other information, and guide fans to watch in the live broadcast room, thereby increasing traffic to the live broadcast room.

⑨ Organize activities in the community

Companies can also host live events in the community. McDonald’s communities often hold activities such as guessing the burger from a picture. When a user guesses correctly, the assistant in the group will provide the user with corresponding coupons or give away coupons for single products. This not only livens up the community atmosphere, but also attracts users to place orders quickly.

⑩ Reach users with comprehensive products

Fast-moving consumer goods companies with high frequency and low average order value should not limit themselves to reaching users with only a single product, but need to extend their reach into users' lives, allowing users to buy children's products and middle-aged and elderly products for their children and elderly at home while purchasing products for themselves. This way, users can buy more at one time and increase the average order value.

06 Conclusion

In summary, based on the key steps of private domain operations, namely purpose - customer acquisition - membership - conversion - operation, many companies have already set examples. However, in the actual operation process, due to being in different fields, different stages, and different sizes, companies also need to combine their own actual conditions and refer to the practices of other companies in order to find a private domain operation method that is truly suitable for themselves.