As an operator, do you know how to seize the golden time of your product?

We all know that products have a life cycle, such as the seed stage, growth stage, explosive stage, and decline stage. This is a broad perspective. From a small perspective, the things that operations do in each life cycle are numerous and complex. For example, sweepstakes to attract new customers, rebate activities to increase payment, advertising when a product is launched, etc., are all centered around the product. Any small operational event can be divided into the stages of planning, launch, implementation and feedback.

Among the above stages, relatively speaking, the most exciting stage is the online link. It is like the moment when a carp jumps over the dragon gate. Whether it can jump over the dragon gate and become a dragon depends on this one move. This shows the importance of this link. I call this period of time the "golden time" or "tiger time".

This article will analyze the golden time from the following modules, as follows:

1. Definition of Prime Time

Golden time refers to the most important and valuable period of time among various operational events during the product operation process, which is irreversible. For example, the moment a product goes online.

2. Prime Time Case

2.1 Seven days before the mobile game is launched

The product development cycle of a mobile game is more than half a year, and internal testing and optimization takes about three months. It is conservatively estimated that a project will take one year from project initiation to launch. After the product is launched, it takes less than 7 days for the channel to direct traffic to the product. If the data is particularly good, that’s another story. These days when channels are directing traffic are called golden time. This period of time can almost determine the life or death of a product, so it is extremely important.

Many products with average data, due to their mediocre business and operational capabilities and unimpressive data performance, are given resources at the initial launch in the channel and import a batch of users. After that, they have no resources and can only rely on daily natural traffic . With new additions and payments bleak, the team cannot continue and eventually collapses.

2.2 First day of event launch

The event usually lasts about 3 to 7 days, and those with strong timeliness, such as flash sales and limited-time sales, only last one day. It takes two weeks to plan an ordinary event, and even longer for a large-scale event. The time is mainly spent on modifying the plan, producing materials and communicating with channels. It takes at least two weeks or even a month to prepare before the event goes online, and more than 80% of the effect after the event goes online comes from the first day. This day is golden time.

We once held an event where we gave away dolls. The event was expected to last for three days, and most of the prizes were given away on the first day. The number of participants dropped sharply on the second and third days, so we finally lowered the threshold for the event and gave away all the remaining prizes.

2.3 One hour after the official account article is published

Many public accounts are accustomed to posting tweets around 9-10 p.m., and the number of readers within one hour after the posting will account for more than 1/3 of the number of readers in the next three days (hot articles are not the same). The same applies to articles pushed at other time periods. The hour when the tweet is sent is called the golden time. The article I pushed on the "Tiger Talks Operations" public account paid close attention to the data changes in this hour.

3. Characteristics of Golden Time and Others

3.1 Characteristics of Prime Time

(1) Great value or effect per unit time

The evaluation indicators for operations are generally revenue, new users, etc. During prime time, revenue growth is explosive and user growth is also exponential. On the first day of a new game’s launch, more than 10 servers will be prepared to divert the excessive influx of users. During the stable period of game operation , it would be very optimistic if we could open one server every day.

The users we imported within 7 days of the game ’s launch were enough to support the revenue for the next three months. The number and quality of users imported later were far behind. Therefore, the goal to be achieved during the golden time is to maximize the value. Once missed, it cannot be regained.

(2) Short duration

It is called golden time because it has the same quality as gold, which is scarcity. The mobile game mentioned above, which took a year to develop, only had 7 days of prime time; an event that took a month to plan only had 1 day of prime time; and so on. The saying "One minute on stage takes ten years of hard work off stage" has the same meaning. At this critical moment, operators must be extremely alert, because whether they will have meat or soup in the future depends on these few short days and hours.

Golden time is fleeting, and the pressure of operating during this period is enormous. Any carelessness will cause irreparable losses. For example, the server crashed on the first day of the launch; the conversion process became abnormal on the first day of the activity; the title of the article was found to be wrong after it was sent out; remember to prepare a backup plan and replace it in time if any abnormality occurs.

3.2 The value of prime time

(1) Improve effective output and complete KPI

Most companies have KPIs in their operations, and it is difficult to complete them simply by relying on natural data. Organizing activities and hoping for hits have become part of daily operations work. Whether these activities and planned operational events can be effective or meet expectations depends on the trend of prime time data. The data is showing an upward trend. Congratulations, you are getting closer to your goal. If the data doesn’t show any improvement, quickly find the reason and optimize it or give up.

I previously did a Weibo forwarding campaign, but in the first few hours after it went online, the number of forwardings was very few, so it can be basically concluded that it was all in vain. Fortunately, I have some resources from big Vs. After they helped to forward the information in private messages, the effect of the activity started to improve.

(2) Realizing personal value

Whatever we do, besides for work, it is also for the realization of personal value. Seizing the golden time and bringing effective output can greatly enhance personal value. You will have a say when it comes to job hopping or salary increase.

Some of the plans I worked on before brought in a lot of users and recharges, but I didn’t receive any commission. There is not much difference in salary whether you do well or not, but it will greatly boost personal confidence. When facing difficulties, you can pat your chest and say: yes, I can!

3.3 How to seize the golden time

(1) Sandbox Exercise

Since the golden time is short, operations need to conduct a project drill before starting. Create a timeline in your mind or on paper and fill it with work content. Rehearse everything you do during prime time in detail, and actually test each link before going online to reduce the probability of problems as much as possible and see if there is room for optimization.

For example, before an event goes online, you start rehearsing in your mind: the channel for the launch is so-and-so; where the materials for the event will be placed on the day; after users see the materials, they become interested in participating; in the process of participating, they pick up their mobile phones, scan the QR code, enter the event page, and follow the instructions on the page to participate in the event; after participating, they enter user information, wait for the prize draw or the on-site draw, and distribute the prizes; there must be no mistakes in every link, otherwise the event will not progress. The most common problems I encountered were that the event page could not be loaded and the prize distribution was chaotic.

(2) Follow the progress in real time

During the golden time, operators need to have a sense of responsibility and treat their work as entrepreneurship . Pay close attention to the progress of activities in real time. Some activities are physically demanding to operate, such as those that last for several days. Pay attention to the progress of activities, first, to discover problems in the activities in a timely manner, and second, to judge the gap with expectations based on actual conditions and whether there is a need for temporary changes.

When the Apple market review took a long time, we in operations had to keep an eye on the Apple charts 24 hours a day, from day to night, and from night to day. It was really exhausting, both physically and mentally. But after smoothly passing the golden time, we can now relax and have a good rest.

3.4 How to solve problems during prime time

Go directly to the backup plan. The prerequisite is to have a backup plan. We often see such plots in movies : Plan A, Plan B, and if all else fails, there is Plan C. The same is true at work. When encountering unexpected problems and there is no time to adjust, it is more appropriate to go directly to the backup plan. Because the backup plan has been rehearsed, once it is implemented, we can quickly connect back and reduce losses, which is much better than just doing nothing.

Deal with it first, then hold people accountable. When something goes wrong during prime time, some company departments begin to blame each other and shirk responsibility, which not only fails to solve the problem, but also further increases the losses. The effective approach is to put aside disputes and solve problems first. After the storm has calmed down, we will start pursuing accountability.

I helped a colleague upload a client before, but there was no follow-up after uploading. On the day of launch, it was not approved, which resulted in users being unable to download it. At this time, no one paid attention to who caused the problem. Some of the team members were trying to appease the users, while others called the channel business for communication. The problem was perfectly solved within an hour, minimizing the losses.

3.5 Other considerations for prime time

Data is the most critical. During golden hours, data often shows an abnormal growth trend. If at this time, the data is flat with no obvious fluctuations, there must be a problem in a certain link. In most cases, the reason may not be found, but don't doubt it, there must be a problem.

We once sent mass text messages to 100,000 users across the entire network. After the messages were sent at 11 o'clock, the active data hardly changed. I checked the process and found no problems with sending, receiving, downloading and logging in. I was stunned and even suspected there was something wrong with the data. Finally, it was discovered that most Android users’ text messages were blocked, which was undetectable by Apple users.

Teamwork is the best way to ensure results. Two fists cannot beat four hands. No matter how capable a person is, it is impossible for him to do everything himself. This requires a team. Everyone focuses on one thing. Once a problem is found, all strength is concentrated on that one point and the problem can be solved in minutes. If a person is exhausted to death, not only the result may not be good.

4. Golden time in a broad sense

The above refers to the important time nodes in operational events, which are called golden time. In fact, if we expand on it, the broad definition of golden time also includes: the six months after getting a promotion; the month after entering the workplace; the seven days after learning new knowledge (it is roughly possible to master new knowledge in seven days); the few hours before the college entrance examination, etc. Some may even have a profound impact on your entire life.

In everyone's life, there are many time periods that can be called golden time. We call this period of time "tiger time". Now you know the importance of tiger time, so the question is, are you ready to seize the "tiger time"?

Summarize

Prime time plays a vital role in operational events. As an operator, most people only see the trees and fail to see the forest. They work hard to think of solutions and make plans, but fail at the moment of going online, and ultimately fail.

This article aims to illustrate the importance and value of golden time. We hope that operations partners can pay attention to it. By seizing the golden time, effective output may be twice the result with half the effort. Only by working harder can we spend less time and achieve greater success. Shifting the focus of work to golden time is a good method. Anyone who has used it will know it.