After the bonus period, you should take this complete guide to channel operation

The traffic dividend has passed, so how will traffic operations be carried out in the future? This article will share with you from three aspects: channel strategy, optimization strategy, and promoter 's qualities.

Our economy is going through a huge turning point. Whether it is home appliances, real estate or mobile phones, they are gradually moving from the incremental market to the stock market. This trend has already spread to the Internet. The direct consequence is the end of the capital winter and traffic dividend period in 2016.

Once the bonus is over, how to tap and optimize existing traffic becomes a problem. Different products require the establishment of new operating strategies and testing. We can only cross this road by feeling our way forward. Fortunately, I have experienced some of this in my work and would like to provide some interpretation here.

1. Channel Strategy

The essence of marketing is the insight into human nature, and channel strategy is the initial manifestation of this insight. Generally speaking, channel strategy includes, within a certain budget and within a certain period of time, the investment (financial, human, and material resources) and estimated results of each channel (main, potential, and abandoned), the coordination of product activities, the matching of paid and free channels , the rebate of paid channels (game with agents), and effect evaluation (data judgment standards, anti-cheating standards). The content of these tasks is not static. After all, traffic is constantly changing. You just need to adjust it according to the actual situation, but this plan must exist.

1. Budget distribution of channels (human resources, financial resources):

For most products, the traffic available to them on each channel is limited. How much traffic can be obtained from each channel determines the product's life cycle on this channel. The allocation of financial and human resources is different for newly opened channels, those that are already running stably, and those that are already on the decline, but it is important to distinguish whether it is an overall decline in the channel platform, short-term traffic fluctuations, or problems with optimization actions.

For example, this year it was reported that Zhihuitui will be merged into Guangdiantong . Under normal circumstances, the budget of Zhihuitui should be reduced and the budget of Guangdiantong should be increased. However, like the recent internal adjustment of Fenstong, from ordinary fans to super fans, this kind of platform adjustment requires waiting for the adjustment to be completed and observing for a period of time before making a decision. I won’t say much about the optimization actions. The poor effect caused by one’s own mistakes has little to do with the channel itself.

2. Product activity coordination should be planned in advance

The most typical thing is to create a festival, purchase a large amount of off-site traffic to cooperate with product operations , and create a wave of big news. Those who have carefully experienced Double Eleven should have a deep understanding of it. Those who have not carefully experienced it can try it this year.

There are a few small details worth noting:

1) If it is an e-commerce strategy to attract traffic with a hot product (super low price, free gift), please ensure the inventory of the product. Don’t push it hard for three hours and then remove the advertisement to replace it with other materials. Not only will it waste time, but a large number of customer complaints and a decline in account quality are not problems that can be easily solved;

2) When cross-exchanging, such as when running subway advertisements, give the App Store a logo to show, and the App Store will provide the corresponding resources. For example, during e-commerce festivals, merchants will purchase outdoor advertising to attract traffic to e-commerce flagship stores (create festivals together) and obtain certain e-commerce platform resources. It should be noted that this measurement standard has a lot of room, depending on negotiation ability. If there is a lot of room, it may be possible to gain more resources.

As for the coordination of product activities, most of them are internal communication. The basic principle is that products, operations and marketing are carried out in the same line. I will not elaborate on it here.

3. Free channels and paid channels

Free channels are usually exchanged. If you give me a certain number of banner days, I will give you something, or you can buy some prizes or coupons to exchange for some resource positions. A simple example is the points redemption area of ​​the three major video websites and the Didi points redemption area. Generally, we find the corresponding business, the process is relatively standardized, and the scale is relatively limited. It is not the main channel strategy.

What needs to be noted here is that the free resources of the app store should be viewed in conjunction with the paid effects. Although the current free resources are a bit tasteless (especially the Android distribution market), the added value is relatively large and may occasionally bring you some surprises. (App stores also need to organize activities to increase activity. When looking for someone to play with, in addition to having sufficient money, people with close relationships will naturally know the news first and have priority in selection.)

As for paid channels, we must first clarify the stakeholders involved: advertisers, channel parties, and agents.

Advertisers’ demand is to get more high-quality traffic at a lower price.

The channel party’s demand is to sell out the relatively constant advertising resources, and the higher-level goal is to make more money.

The agent's demand is to complete the amount of underwriting that has cost a huge deposit (sole agent or first-generation agent) as soon as possible to ensure no default. The more advanced goal is to make more profits on this basis.

Advertisers promise to spend a certain amount of money, and agents and channels work together to configure better resources or services and give up part of the profits in exchange. Signing the framework is in the fundamental interests of agents and channels, so rebates, high-quality traffic and services are guaranteed, and it also indirectly meets the advertisers' requirements for low-cost customer acquisition. Therefore, signing the framework is an important part of the channel strategy. Since each situation is different, the specific situation will depend on it.

There are still a few details here:

1. It is said that the quality of channel traffic (self-recognized) varies. Generally, the traffic from brand advertisements is of the highest quality, followed by large advertisers, and then small and medium-sized advertisers. I won’t say much about the tail volume. Therefore, the quality of traffic allocated to advertisers who can generally be framed is guaranteed, and the agency will also assign better optimization personnel to optimize the account, so problems are easier to solve.

2. Rebates. The rebate policy has become more and more transparent in recent years. You can basically spend some time to inquire about the amount of the rebate (the channel will provide additional rebates to agents with high task completion rates, but it is difficult to measure, and the agents themselves probably don’t know it except at checkout).

In principle, the higher the rebate, the better, but please note:

1) Don’t waste a large amount of budget in pursuit of high rebates, after all, the wool comes from the sheep;

2) Generally, there will be a testing period for the access of new channels. You don’t need to pay too much attention to the rebate during the testing period. The purpose of the test is to see the service capabilities of the channels and agents, and whether the traffic attributes match the products. Therefore, the rebate difference is not the first focus.

3. Have a clear understanding of the channel strategy. First of all, the channel agency policy must be clarified. Is it divided into KA (large customers) and SME (small and medium-sized customers)? Is there any regional protection? If you take over an account, is there a requirement to suspend the account for a few months? What is the boundary between small, medium and KA? Can it be changed at any time?

For example, once the identities of small, medium and KA in Baidu search are confirmed, they can basically not be changed. However, there are great differences between KA and small and medium-sized enterprises, such as whether there are services, the number of service types, and different account permissions, which directly affect subsequent delivery. Therefore, when accessing channels, you must find out these fundamentals clearly. Sharpening the knife does not delay the chopping of wood. Going slowly in the early stage can at least ensure that there are no pitfalls later.

4. Although the framework is good, you don’t have to sign it. Different channels, different scales, and different business development stages are all influencing factors. After analysis, make a decision based on your own situation. There is no need to sign the framework. (The frame assembly depends on your own situation, but I won’t go into details due to limited space)

Regarding channel strategy, three major principles are listed in the end:

1) The strategy is based on the business, so different situations require different strategies, but you must have a strategy. At the very least, you must have a clear idea to expand. The above is just to provide an idea for your reference.

2) Channel strategy is a company-level issue in a broad sense, but it is the responsibility of every marketer in a narrow sense. Therefore, strategy is related to everyone. Only by doing your own job well and thinking more about the issues at the upper level can you become a person at the upper level.

3) The strategy does not need to be very sophisticated at the beginning but it needs to be adjusted and reviewed from time to time. As the saying goes: The situation of war is ever-changing, and the shape of water is ever-changing. The key to how to use it lies in one’s heart.

2. Optimization strategy: specific analysis of specific issues

The optimization strategy of channel operation can be summed up in one sentence: analyze specific problems specifically. First, look at the situation, then look at the competitors, and then look at yourself. Here are a few points to talk about:

Each mainstream channel optimization strategy can be written into several separate articles, so I will not go into details here. If there are any mistakes in the details, please point them out and forgive me:

1. Android distribution market

1) First of all, it is about energy allocation: it is a fact that manufacturers have surpassed the third-party market in all aspects. The only third-party market still in the first echelon is App Store . It is recommended to put the Android distribution budget in these markets. In addition, among the manufacturer channels, OPPO and vivo tend to have more female users, and Huawei users tend to be high-end. These attributes can also be used as reference attributes for distribution. In addition, with the disappearance of the demographic dividend, all channels are sinking (2-3 cities, middle-aged and young people), so your users are mainly first-tier white-collar workers. It is not recommended to use the distribution market as the main channel.

2) Secondly, I learned from chatting with my former colleagues that the current official CPD/CPT bidding has become expensive to a certain extent. Small and medium-sized developers can buy a small amount of CPD and try Android ASO at the same time. The specific prices can be basically known by asking in the market.

3) Again, in addition to being a normal distribution channel, the app store is also an important source of brand/event traffic. Since the details page of the Android market can be modified at any time, it is recommended that you try more and do some ASO. There may be some unexpected surprises. In addition, there are generally many operational activities in the Android distribution market. You can participate as soon as possible. If you have a framework with the channel agent, you can try to apply for operational activities as one of the negotiation conditions.

4) Finally, regarding pre-installation, the budget for pre-installation by manufacturers is generally huge, and it is more suitable for head apps (where there is really no place to find volume) and tool apps. In addition, there is a high possibility that pre-installation will be washed, so please proceed with caution.

2. Apple ASO

One-sentence evaluation: Apple ASO's bonus period has passed, but it is still the channel with the lowest customer acquisition cost among conventional channels, but the strategy is more refined than before.

In addition, due to the excessive popularity in the past few days, it is inevitable that there are both good and bad things. There is a large gap in the level of industry practitioners, and the phenomenon of counterfeiting is serious. Moreover, due to the closed nature of Apple's data, it is extremely difficult to verify the authenticity.

1) Current situation: It is getting harder and harder to pass the review for highly homogeneous vest packages, and higher requirements are placed on technology and design. It is estimated that 4.2/4.3 has become a greeting among peers. Long-term stable and effective machine brushing (real machine brushing/ protocol brushing ) is basically extinct, and the points wall sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. Basically, the effect of brute force typing is far worse than before.

2) Countermeasures: First of all, it should be noted that the multi-jacket strategy is not the preferred strategy for most developers after brute force word brushing is no longer effective. It is better to concentrate on the main package. If you really want to, you can try to change the comment block, add junk code, and change the interface design (the application cost is relatively large, and the expected profit is relatively low). For specific operations, search for tutorials on the Internet, although it depends on luck:)

Secondly: brushing words is a subset of ASO, not all of it. Long-term, stable and continuously updated vocabulary, regular and continuous updated versions, and moderate optimization of keywords are the correct practices of ASO at present. It should be noted that ASO has a good effect in the early stage of bringing in volume, but as the volume grows, the effect of keyword ranking will gradually deteriorate and become difficult to distinguish. In the later stage, on the one hand, it is necessary to expand the vocabulary and generalize the keywords to ensure growth. On the other hand, maintaining the ranking of hot words, striving for recommendations, and adapting to Apple's new features are what ASO personnel need to do in the later stage.

3) Future: The Apple Store is moving towards perfection. Recently, regarding the topic, a self-recommendation system for recommended positions has been launched. In the foreseeable future, the competition for Apple's operating resources is a compulsory course for ASOers. The other is the ASM that has been controversial for a long time. Recently, the false fire has declined a bit. I would like to say something rationally: First of all, this is not good for small and medium-sized CPs. Bidding means that most of the words that are truly in large quantity will be occupied by industry giants for a long time. For those who have a budget, please remain cautiously optimistic. It is speculated that bidding will soon exceed people's imagination, and then return to normal after a period of time. At present, it is best to do a good job in basic ASO first. After all, you can bid only after it is covered, and the launch time of ASM may not be as early as everyone guesses. After all, profit distribution and Chinese word segmentation are not easy to solve problems. Let me talk about a distant update. Apple's backend opens data source statistics. The data openness is still good, but pay attention to the time when viewing it. One is the world time, and we use the time in the Eastern Time Zone 8, so the details are a little worse, but it is an excellent place to see trends, and everyone can use it more.

4) Related: SEM / SEO

There are two small details to note about this channel:

First, because the channel has been developed for a long time, there are many agency rules and the interests are complicated, so you need to be more careful in choosing specific commercial products.

Second, this is a channel with volume, but the price will be relatively high after the volume starts to increase. Please note this. In addition, the account quality and the restrictions on keyword expansion will make the optimization of this channel more refined and require more patience. Regarding SEO, SEO is meaningful only if there is a website. A download page is not called a website. In fact, this is a reverse thinking. Mobile traffic is very popular, and PC traffic is easier to get. If your business has more scenarios on the PC side, you can try to build a website, which may be an unexpected surprise.

3. Information flow channels

I won’t say much about the optimization of copywriting and materials. The principle is still to speak with data. If you want to know some methodologies, there are many on the Internet. Here are a few details:

1) First of all, information flow delivery is a very troublesome channel. The configuration of the landing page generally needs to be done by the front end. Therefore, if the technical resources cannot keep up, the effect of the information flow will be discounted. Therefore, internal coordination is required. Fortunately, mainstream platforms generally support website building, so it can be overcome, but it is still better to do it on your own.

2) There are not many general delivery forms (direct download/ landing page , etc.) that match the display forms of the landing page (collecting information/free discounts/jumping to the app store, etc.). It is necessary to do a high-intensity test in the early stage to see which combination is better (if possible, assist with some other conditions such as GD, OCPC). I once increased the number of customers by 10 times because I changed the general landing page. Although there are other factors that affect it, it can also prove that different combinations will have magical effects. In addition, information platforms, especially mainstream information flow platforms, are developing at a high speed. If they fail for a period of time, it does not mean that they will always fail. Backups and sedimentation should be done well, and they can be tested again after a certain period of time depending on the situation. In addition, the technology of information flow is also developing relatively fast, and timely use of new technologies may have a bonus period. In addition, due to the fierce competition in the overall information flow, data of 50,000 yuan is generally more accurate. For highly competitive industries, it is generally necessary to invest and cherish them. After all, there is a shortage of quantity. This also explains why channel strategy must come first. This is not a good choice for CPs in the early stages of business development. Do a good job of application distribution and then consider information flow.

3) The classification in the mind map above is what I consider to be first-class channels and second-class channels. The reason is the number of users and technical capabilities of the platform itself (algorithm allocation of traffic is not a simple technology). Fanstong and Momo in the second-class channels are social platforms, and there will often be accidents (not necessarily good or bad), so everyone needs to pay extra attention. Information flows similar to traditional portal news have miraculous effects on some industries (for example, Sina Fuyi has a good effect on finance), so you can try it yourself.

4) WeChat MP (cards/ friends circle )/ Mini program
The reason why this item is singled out is that, first, it is relatively easy to grab your own users from WeChat's traffic pie, which is especially suitable for CPs that start out as service accounts and subscription accounts to increase their volume (basically there is no transfer cost). The app is really too heavy. Second, Tencent is gradually releasing the capabilities of mini-programs, and the traffic of the WeChat system will be fed back. The future traffic is worth looking forward to. The only thing to note is that there are many areas that require development participation, and internal communication must be done well.

4. Others

1) Affiliate network / CPA channels. In a word, don't touch them if you are afraid of trouble. Settlement and data verification are the key points, and it is also the place where cheating and black technology are rampant. Unless there is a shortage of supply to the point where there is no other way, it is recommended not to try. If you have to touch it, there are two small tips. First, extend the settlement cycle to give yourself reaction time. Second, find a professional data statistics/anti-cheating platform to build a data settlement system.

2) Non-standard resources: In a word, non-standard resources generally refer to long-tail traffic or traffic that has just been commercialized. There is a lot of room for negotiation. It is not impossible to negotiate from T/M to C/A. It is also a place where surprises are often encountered, but the overall scale is not large, so there is no need to put too much energy into it.

3) New media / ground marketing : I have not played much, and basically all my experiences are failures. For example, when giving out corporate benefits, all the people who come are just trying to get freebies . There is no real user value. Let me tell you about it so that everyone can avoid the pitfalls.

a. The influence must be reasonably judged (number of fans, coverage), this is the most basic.

b. Regional matching is very important, emotional resonance is very important, and it would be best if there is an interactive link. The sense of exclusivity of a certain fan is a lifeline of new media in my opinion, and so is ground promotion. The active transition from offline to online is also a task that the interactive link must undertake. This field is indeed a channel that can generate explosive growth, and we need to do the basic work well over the long term to wait for the dividends.

3. Self-cultivation of traffic operation

This is the last part. Thank you for reading this. Here are some of the main capabilities of channel operations:

1) Data analysis and logical judgment ability.
Dealing with numbers every day is a core skill, but it should be noted that data itself has no meaning. It is logic and business that give meaning, and data may deceive you. The relationship between acclaim and popularity is a typical data trap, because the measurement of user value is missing data. The refinement of core indicators and the assistance of other indicators can make decisions using data, so building a self-consistent logical chain is a core skill.

2) Thinking ability.
To be honest, in this increasingly mature field, there are enough ready-made wheels. Thinking about how to use the wheels is the core competitiveness. You don’t need to create wheels, you just need to innovate ways to use them.

3) Ability to obtain information.
Obtaining more, more accurate and more effective information is the key to success. A promoter who does not go out is not a good promoter.

IV. Conclusion

Compared with the games I often play recently, if the goal is to push down the enemy crystal, the optimization strategy is your equipment in each game, and the channel strategy is to develop slowly, don't be reckless, prioritize pushing the tower and pay attention to controlling the dragon, the basic principle is not to be reckless when the wind is favorable and not to surrender when the wind is unfavorable. Obviously, the big principles are much more important than the specific equipment. After all, the king's consciousness can create a king, so the channel strategy precedes the optimization strategy. The quality of the operator is the level of the summoner. Thinking hard and upgrading madly is the right way.