With 20 billion views in 3 years, how does Ergeng impress users with its content?

As a content carrier that is suitable for use in fragmented time and has concentrated information, short videos will remain a popular method in content marketing in 2017.

As one of the top short video teams, Ergeng announced the completion of a RMB 150 million Series B financing in January 2017. In April, it won the Miaopai "Golden Chestnut" Award. Not long ago, it won the Toutiao "Golden Second Award" again and was recognized as the "most influential short video brand." At the same time, as of June this year, the cumulative number of views of Ergeng’s video works has exceeded 20 billion times.

Ergeng's performance has been continuously recognized by the industry. So how does Ergeng achieve content marketing ? Its CMO Mr. Zhang Wenguang mentioned at the Beijing salon of TuiAh-Performance Advertising Huashan Sword Contest that native content is the magic weapon to impress users. Only by reshaping the relationship between consumers and brands can a win-win situation of native content cooperation be truly achieved.

1. Why the relationship between consumers and brands needs to be reshaped

" Native advertising is a form of content marketing." Zhang Wenguang believes that in the era of mobile Internet , content presentation is increasingly taking on a variety of forms, such as text, pictures, videos, audio, live broadcasts , etc. Users have more initiative, content choices have become more diverse, and at the same time, the requirements for content quality have become higher and higher under fragmented time. “As massive amounts of content continue to be inundated by new waves , it has become very important to reshape the relationship between users and brands.”

2. How to reshape the relationship between users and brands

What should be done specifically to reshape the relationship between the two sides? Zhang Wenguang proposed that native content is the magic weapon to impress users.

1. The relationship between native content and advertising

Usually users don’t like the ads before the video starts playing. For example, when "My First Half of Life" was broadcast some time ago, there were advertisements for about 90 seconds before the broadcast, and users hoped that the advertisements would end quickly.

But there is a scene in the TV series that I still remember clearly. Zijun's mother came to He Han's house and said, "You actually have this kind of refrigerator at home. What are the functions of the refrigerator?" I heard this scene. This is the advertisement in the video content, with the advertising slogan implanted into it. This is the relationship between native content and advertising, and the content is the advertisement. This is also the reason why the short video field has developed very rapidly this year.

Native advertising has three characteristics: value, originality, and initiative.

Value means providing valuable content to users. Every fragmented time of users is very precious, and we must provide them with valuable content. Native advertising is not just advertising information, but can provide users with information that satisfies their lifestyle.

Nativeness refers to the implantation of harmonious content to present brand information. For example, the function of the refrigerator in "My First Half of Life" does not feel out of place. Nativeness means that the implantation and presentation of content does not destroy the harmony of the page itself, rather than being presented abruptly in order to grab the user's attention, destroying the harmony of the picture.

Initiative means being willing to share rather than just having my own way. Users enjoy reading, sharing and participating. Advertising content that simply says "that's up to me" is not conducive to sharing and dissemination. Every user can become a diffusion point for interactive sharing and dissemination. For example, sharing and spreading in the circle of friends is a proactive behavior.

2. Which native content can impress users? Beauty, harvest, curiosity, feelings

The core keywords of any native content that can be spread include beauty, benefit, novelty, and emotion.

Beauty means goodness, and beautiful things can be seen through the visual sense. I believe that as long as human beings still have dreams and beliefs, beautiful things will never decline.

Profit refers to harvest. For example, everyone here today is here to learn or gain something that is beneficial to yourself, and this is benefit. From the perspective of content entrepreneurship , such as Himalaya ’s paid content , it is for profit for both the platform and the users. The platform saves users time and allows them to obtain knowledge content that is beneficial to them, which is a very core point of content entrepreneurship .

New means novelty. People hope to see something new and novel.

Qing refers to feelings. For example, very popular words such as sentiment, ingenuity, and companionship can resonate with and trigger emotions among users, and you can write about this aspect.

Case: The Tree of Life

This case is one of our public welfare projects.

Walnuts are grown in abundance in a very poor mountainous area in Guizhou, and are a very important source of cash income for the local area. But the transportation here is very inconvenient, so what should I do if I can’t sell the walnuts? How to sell walnuts through video content? We found a kid named Che Sihong from Guizhou. His parents work in the city. He likes to play very much and is enjoying his childhood just like his peers in the city. But every day after school I had to do a lot of farm work when I got home, one of which was to help my grandfather peel walnuts.

His hands were very black, and he asked his grandfather why they were so black. His grandfather said it was black because it was peeled too much. He said that when I grow up I want to invent a machine for peeling walnuts. In fact, machines for peeling walnuts have already existed, but this was just his ideal.

We started from this level, advocating "good cause marketing" and spreading the word through this video, which brought huge sales to local walnuts. The meaning of the video is that "even a faint light can penetrate the black wall."

Case: "One Person's Family Portrait"

This is a case of cooperation with Ping An Life Insurance.

During the Mid-Autumn Festival, Ping An Life Insurance will use the occasion to make a video with the theme of "Companionship". Do you have family photos on your phone now? Apart from taking selfies, taking photos of scenery or taking photos of friends, we rarely take a formal family photo with our family. This is a common social phenomenon.

According to the data in this chart, 34% of Chinese people have not been reunited with their families during the Mid-Autumn Festival for at least 5 years. We start from this point and use "One Person's Family Portrait" to reflect the current situation of elderly people living alone or left behind, triggering emotional resonance among users. After the video was broadcast, it brought in huge traffic and achieved exposure beyond expectations for the brand.