Operational methodology: To quickly get started with operations, you need this "five-step method"

The essence of operation is actually very simple. It is to encourage users to perform a series of desired behaviors, such as downloading, activity, retention, and payment .

But in practice, the operation is very complicated. Due to differences in industry, product forms and positions, operations can be divided into many categories: you may be a new media operator in the sports industry, or you may be engaged in channel promotion on a social APP.

Although the content of each job is different, is it possible to find a common idea and method to complete the work more efficiently? I think so. Next, I will introduce to you a method - the " Five-Step Method ", which is summarized from my own work experience and a large number of actual operations.

Let us use a specific case to introduce it.

Character: Xiao Qi

Company: A parent-child O2O activity platform

Position: New Media Operations

Event: Recently, Xiaoqi’s company plans to organize a “Parent-Child Winter Camp” event, inviting parents and children to experience various interesting games together, and will also invite famous early childhood education experts to share their experiences; in addition, this winter camp requires users to pay a considerable fee to participate. Before the event, the company needed to preheat online and let users register in advance, so Xiaoqi was assigned to write an article and post it on the company's WeChat official account to attract more users to sign up.

If it were you, what would you do?

I believe that 80% of new media operations will focus on things related to the content of the article, such as "how to arrange the content", "what hot topics can be combined today", "what style to use for the copywriting", "how to make the layout beautiful", "how to make the pictures attractive", and "at the end of the article, it is important to remind everyone to click to read the original text and fill out the registration form", etc. That’s right! I almost forgot, “There must be a title that makes people want to click in.”

This common operational thinking actually has a big problem: Why do you want to write this article? Have you really thought it through?

A common pitfall in operations work is rushing to provide a solution without a deep enough understanding of the problem to be solved . Next, let’s use the five-step method to rethink Xiaoqi’s task.

Step 1: Goal

When we are faced with a specific operational task, we should not rush to think about how to do it specifically. Instead, we should first think deeply about what the goal is. The goal in this case is very clear: the boss wants "more users to sign up". Let's think a little deeper. In order to achieve the result of "getting more users to sign up", the following steps are needed:

1. More people see the article

2. More people click on the article to read it

3. More people click on the "Read More" link at the end of the article

4. More people fill out the form

5. More people share the article and spread it on social networks

Okay, after breaking it down like this, you’ll know that what you actually need to do is to make users perform the above-mentioned behaviors through clever content design. These are the real goals that can guide your actions, not just the phrase “get more users to sign up.”

Step 2: Users

Now that you know that the goal is to "get users to perform the above behaviors", you also have to be clear about "why should users cooperate with you". At this time, studying users comes into play. Only by guiding them to sign up based on their behavioral habits can it be effective.

How to understand users? Many operators will choose to do electronic questionnaires, listing a bunch of questions and sending them to users to fill out. However, this cannot help you make decisions and may even mislead you inadvertently. For example, we always like to ask users about their occupation, age, and hobbies in questionnaires. However, these vague questions cannot provide a basis for your current decision.

Suppose a men's watch is designed for business men around 40 years old. But how much guidance does this information provide for our subsequent work? You might think that a "40-year-old business man" might prefer a more serious and formal style, but this is just your guess. In that case, why don't we just ask the user which style he prefers? What do you care more about: "the brand is prestigious" or "the workmanship is exquisite"?

"Business people around 40 years old" is just describing the users, who can directly help our actions.

Back to the example itself, what we need to do now is to compare the "behavior we want users to have" with the "actual behavior of users":

1. More people see the article → When will users read your official account ? (We need to know the peak period of user access)

2. More people click on the article to read it → What kind of title will attract users to click in? (You can summarize the past title data and take a look)

3. More people click on the "Read More" link at the end of the article → What are the most attractive aspects of this event? (We need to know what he cares most about when it comes to children)

4. More people fill out the form → What concerns would they have if they signed up? (For example, whether the time, price, and safety meet their psychological expectations)

5. More people share the article → What reasons would prompt them to forward this article? (Price discount or group registration)

If you spend enough time with users, the answers will come to you. If all else fails, you can build a group of die-hard fans and talk to them if you’re unsure - talking to users before doing a survey often yields unexpected results.

Step 3: Plan

In this example, the “plan” is how to write this article? When will it be sent? What is the title? How to encourage users to forward, etc. In fact, once we have broken down the goals and users, the design of the plan becomes a natural process.

But what’s interesting is that people particularly like to skip the first two steps and start thinking directly from the plan . As soon as they receive the task, they start thinking about how to write the article specifically and what hot topics can be combined today... This thinking habit has long been deeply rooted in our minds.

Just like when we often hear someone around us talking about his or her entrepreneurial ideas, you can hear him or her describing his or her innovation model, but you rarely hear them mention whether the pain points they want to solve exist or what specific characteristics of the users they are targeting. So, we invented a term called "pseudo-demand".

Step 4: Analyze; Step 5: Iterate

The last two steps can be discussed together. Operation is an ongoing behavior that requires us to constantly improve. Therefore, after the plan is implemented, you will find that the data feedback in some places is not what you expected.

For example, if the article in the case states that “80% of readers are women” or that “the reading volume in Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions has increased sharply”, you can think about whether it is because the main focus of “parent-child activities” is actually mothers rather than fathers? Is it because the event was held in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas that the reading volume in the region increased?

You need to combine the data and user feedback to explain why this situation occurs. The next time you perform other operational work, you will know how to iterate. Only by constantly summarizing and breaking past thinking can you enter a spiral upward track.

Ultimately, the "five-step method" is just a way of thinking about doing things. It is not mysterious or grand. Its greatest role is to improve our deep-rooted thinking habits, help us think more scientifically, and execute more efficiently. Whenever we are performing an operational task, we need to remind ourselves that the problem itself may be more important than the solution.

Mobile application product promotion service: APP promotion service Qinggua Media advertising

The author of this article @南北 is compiled and published by ( Qinggua Media ). Please indicate the author information and source when reprinting!