Why are many non-social apps so keen on social + content?

It is easy to create an APP, with a R&D team or a developer; it is easy to launch an APP, with a group of awesome promoters and the necessary skill of spending money; but it is a difficult problem for an APP to retain users, especially for some tool- type APPs, whose users have low stickiness and will leave after use. They can wave goodbye and the clouds will not take them away. Can social media solve this problem? Recently, I often ask myself why many non-social apps are either obsessed with social networking or obsessed with social networking + content?

First of all, non-social apps that only serve a certain function will find it difficult to avoid the embarrassment of users leaving after using the app. Secondly, products are now highly homogenized. As soon as a new function is released, similar or identical products will appear on the market. Finally, if stickiness is not high, users may be taken away by competitors at any time. Therefore, non-social apps are not necessarily trying to be social, but rather to enrich the entire product ecosystem, meet user needs in an all-round way, and look forward to solving the following problems:

1. User stickiness issue

2. User sharing problem (friend circle)

3. A more comprehensive understanding of user data issues

4. Commercialization issues

"Socialization" is not necessarily a panacea for the above problems. It is feasible to try, but the results depend on the specific product. For example, even if some tool apps have added social functions, users are not used to or unwilling to socialize on such products, so the user stickiness problem is still not solved. But on this basis, what if we add content with the same attributes on a large scale?

The feasibility of social + content in tool applications

"Users, please don't leave" We always shout this most affectionate confession to users, but tool apps always fail to solve the problem of "users leave after using the app". We should always ask ourselves, what is the reason for users to stay? For example, for a fitness app, after users have finished exercising and viewed all kinds of data provided by the app, why would they continue to use it? Will they use it again next time? Master Chan believes that the value of fitness lies in persistence. Maybe after exercising today, you may not be able to persist tomorrow, so you say "goodbye" to fitness and the product.

Introducing social functions allows users to find a partner to work out with. It may not last forever, but at least it will last longer than before. It also allows users to share their fitness experiences in their circle of friends. On this basis, how about creating good content? Let's take a look at how KEPP combines social and content.

The first picture is the circle of friends, where people can exercise together and make offline appointments to exercise. In order to enhance users' social willingness, KEPP also has a local function, which takes social interaction a step further.

The second and third pictures are APP-related content. The APP has fitness courses, various nutritional recipes, and special pages. In short, the content meets users' various fitness needs with only one purpose, which is to make users willing to stay on the product longer after using this tool APP because the product has more content. If users stay on the product for a long time, theoretically it will not only bring us user stickiness, but also increase profit points.

Why do content-based apps need communities ?

Content-based apps have three common problems: Where does the content come from? Where does original content come from? Where does more original and high-quality content come from? By solving these three problems, user needs are solved. The solution to these three problems is for the APP itself to have a group of content creators. Reading apps need content creators, and question-and-answer platforms need answerers.

Because high-quality content itself can bring user stickiness to the product, the idea of ​​a community with social attributes should be to use ordinary users as a supplement and content creators as the main focus. In other words, maintaining this group of 'creators' means maintaining a large number of application users. This improves the stickiness of these "creators", making them willing to create high-quality content for a longer period of time. Similarly, this also results in an increase in the stickiness of ordinary users.

Baidu Knows APP is a content-based question-and-answer platform. In social networking, ordinary users can chat through private messages, and diligent "answerers" can realize instant chat in the APP after joining the relevant team, as shown in the figure:

The purpose of the community chat of Baidu Zhidao APP is to obtain feedback from these "respondents" more conveniently, provide a place for instant communication for team members, and ultimately enable these "respondents" to improve the quality, enthusiasm and fun of their answers.

Most gaming apps cannot do without social networking

Playing a game alone is one thing, playing a game with two people is another thing, and playing a game with a group of people is another story. Therefore, social interaction is an essential function of most gaming apps. The single-player chat function solves the problem that the game is boring when played alone, while the multi-player chat function enhances the user's gaming experience at different levels:

For example, if you are tired of playing games, you can chat with a group of people.

When you encounter difficulties in the game, you don’t need to jump out of the app to solve the problem

Looking for teammates with whom you can cooperate well in the game? Select and meet directly from your friends

As user experience improves, user stickiness will also increase accordingly. Many apps not only have social functions, but also use social networking to make profits, such as launching couple props. Isn’t the emergence of game couples based on social networking? In terms of satisfying user experience, game applications often enhance their own content construction, such as game strategies , game tutorials, etc., as shown in the figure:

Three examples are given above, namely tool apps, content apps, and game apps. What they have in common is that they all have social attributes and have put a lot of effort into the content. Problems that social media cannot solve can be solved with content. At the same time, when content can solve the problem, it may be necessary to use related social functions to assist. With so many complexities, our ultimate vision is nothing more than, "Users, please don't leave!"

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

This article was compiled and published by @Cicada Master ( Qinggua Media ). Please indicate the author information and source when reprinting!