What is channel operation?

Channel , we all know that channel has a synonym: thigh. In the eyes of all CPs, channels are like gods that need to be worshipped and worshipped. Because channels determine the user scale of each product, if a channel can direct tens of thousands of users, it may be able to save a small game development team. Many development teams go bankrupt, not only because of the poor quality of their products, but also because of the failure to cling to the right sponsor. Of course, there are also some development teams with high-quality products that still don’t make any money. So what exactly is a channel?

This article will reveal the secrets of channel operations through the job responsibilities of channel operations , so that when developers face channels, they can also be targeted and cater to their needs.

Introduction to mainstream channels

I divide the channels into three categories. The first category is the mobile phone manufacturers, the legendary hardcore alliance (OPPO/VIVO/Huawei/Lenovo, etc.), which are currently the absolute big players. One category is assistants, including 360, App Store , Baidu Assistant, etc. The other category is various miscellaneous application markets , which are not well-known but also have some scale. Although each channel has different attributes, the operational ideas are consistent - maximizing the value of advertising space .

Channel KPIs

Added

Even if you are called a big shot, you will face the same problem as all developers: adding new features. In the early days of mobile Internet , many companies that were the first to try out the technology, such as Wandoujia and 91 Mobile Assistant , saw a significant increase in the number of users thanks to the mobile dividend, and 360 Mobile Assistant also rose to prominence at that time.

As the saying goes, different times have changed. Back to the present, the disappearance of mobile dividends and the rise of hardcore alliances have reduced the living space of many mobile assistants and application markets. New additions have become the biggest headache for the channel. When I was working on an application market APP, the pressure to increase sales was also very high. At that time, I could still negotiate with some unknown manufacturers for pre-installation. With the tightening of policies and the trend of manufacturers doing their own marketing, it has become increasingly difficult to increase sales. Every day I can only see the new data in the data background gradually declining, but I can do nothing about it.

In the channel, the newly added task is business work, and the operation work is to analyze the quality of these new users and determine whether there is false volume through retention and usage habits. We have encountered this before. There was a channel that brought in hundreds of thousands of users, but there was no download behavior in the market. It was obvious that it was a fake download.

Therefore, the operation strategy becomes the assessment of incremental growth and the monetization of existing stock.

active

It's very strange, right? As a channel, there are also active assessments. What operations think about every day is how to increase the activity of existing users. They wish to have users log in once a day, and it would be even better if they could open the app several times a day. When users log into the market, some of them will browse the recommended applications or games. If they see an APP that they are interested in, they will download it to try it out. Once it is downloaded, the channel will earn money.

In order to increase activity, operations will also stimulate through activities. We launched a sign-in activity at that time. Many APP applications have sign-in activities. Our market bundles sign-in, points and physical redemption together. You can earn points by logging in every day, and the points can be redeemed for physical items. Of course, in order to control costs, the quantity of physical items is limited. If you can exchange them, I lose.

However, it is feasible to give away traffic packages for signing in. We will calculate the value brought by a user who logs in for seven days, and then purchase a large number of traffic packages at a very low cost to reward the user. The prerequisite is to clearly calculate the value of the user, otherwise it will be a losing business.

For example, if you purchase a traffic package for 5 yuan, it must be sent to users who generate value of more than 5 yuan. So, it is true that operations are very smart.

download

The core function of the application market is downloading, which is often referred to as application distribution . Then the daily distribution volume is also a data that operations should keep a close eye on. Under the condition of stable user base, increasing downloads means increasing revenue. You should know that the top applications in the market are all paid promotions . When users download and use them, the channels will receive money. If you increase the number of downloads from 100 to 200, your revenue will double. How to increase the number of downloads is a problem that operations have to think about and solve every day.

The simplest data is the average download volume of logged-in users. For one logged-in user in the market, the number of downloads per day is 1.5 to 2 times. This means that if there are 100,000 logged-in users, there will be a maximum of 200,000 downloads, divided between apps and games. In order to increase the number of downloads, we will create special topics, package the applications that users like, and even recommend similar applications when users download a certain application. For example, if a user is looking for a dating app, when he downloads one of them, several similar apps will be pushed to him by default. He can decide whether he is surprised or not, whether he likes it or not, and whether he wants to download it or not. Of course, he will download it. Through little things, the number of downloads gradually increased .

When faced with an app that users don’t like or are not interested in, how do you encourage them to download it? excitation. For example, downloading an app can earn you a red envelope and a chance to win a lottery. Faced with the inducement of benefits, users can't resist the temptation to download. The user quality of this type of application is poor and the retention rate is very low, so operations must be carried out with caution. Some apps will deduct settlement fees if the data does not meet the standards.

income

Here comes the point. In channel companies, operations are often based on profit indicators. In order to maximize profits, we will definitely allocate resources to products with the highest returns and the best traffic.

For example, the top resources in the market only have 4 to 8 ICON resource positions. After operation calculation, if the daily revenue of this position is assuming to be 50,000 yuan, we will find products that meet this requirement among the connected products and promote them.

For example, there were two products to promote at the time, one was a camera and the other was a sports product. After running the product, we found that the effect of the camera product was more than 10 times higher than that of the sports product in the same location. So which one should I push? It must be the camera.

There are dozens or even hundreds of products connected to the channel every day, and there are even more packages automatically uploaded by developers without any business follow-up. The operation is to discover tomorrow's rising stars here, in layman's terms, those who can make money, like NetEase's Fantasy Westward Journey and Tencent's Honor of Kings . Even if they don't have big connections, channels will still recommend them. Do you think it's because of sentiment? No, no, it’s all for KPI.

In addition to screening out high-profit products, operations also need to formulate recommendation rules. After all, if a product is promoted for too long, its effectiveness will decline. It is necessary to appropriately adjust the recommended products. This is also the most time-consuming task of operations every day, including launching and adjusting products.

Today I moved Honor of Kings to the fifth place. I heard that there will be a major version update in the next few days, so I will quickly move it back to the first place tomorrow. Going back and forth, all for profit. This is a job that tests an operator's ability to do things meticulously. There are hundreds of paid apps and games, all of which are profit-sharing. It is not an easy job to make reasonable recommendations and obtain the highest profit with limited resources.

The hidden rules of channels

Many people's eyes light up when they hear the words "unspoken rules", but the unspoken rules here refer to some little-known facts about channel operations. As mentioned above, operations are the rule makers for resource recommendations and have the power to decide the life and death of an APP. So what if a developer has evil ideas and gives the operation some delicious treats, wouldn’t that mean he has been bribed? In order to avoid this problem, channels stipulate that operations are not allowed to communicate with the outside world, and all external matters are the responsibility of the business department.

There will be a bridge between developers and channel operators that cannot be crossed, a broken bridge. This kind of conversation often happens in the channel: Channel business: A certain game is very effective, so please allocate some resources to promote it. Channel Operation: Let me take a look. And then there is nothing else. It’s still the same recommendation as before.

The quarterly and year-end bonuses for channel operations are based on the products that you recommend. Something that concerns your personal interests so much will not be adjusted just because of a few words from the business department.

To sum up: In a nutshell, channel operation is as difficult as the operation of other APP companies.