The “traffic code” of brand self-broadcasting

Nowadays, short videos and live broadcasts are very popular in the market, and short video platforms have also started to sell goods, such as short videos with links and inserted advertisements, live broadcasts with goods , etc., which can achieve good results on platforms with large traffic such as Douyin and Kuaishou. The author of this article shares the "traffic code" about Douyin and Kuaishou, let us learn about it together.

If the main theme of live streaming e-commerce in 2020 still remains on "individual" anchors represented by stars/celebrity/experts, then 2021 will be a new year for "brands" to enter the market and fight a decisive battle in live streaming e-commerce.

This situation is mainly caused by three reasons:

1. Platform promotion

Whether it is Taobao, Douyin or Kuaishou, they all believe that brand/merchant self-broadcasting is the direction, but there are differences in the development stages.

Taking Taobao Live as an example, although the sales myths created by Li Jiaqi, Wei Ya and others are still the focus of everyone's talk, what cannot be ignored is that the first batch of "live brands" have grown up on Taobao; among them, there are mature brands as well as cutting-edge brands. According to the "Tmall Double 11 Taobao Live Merchant Data Report" released by Taobao last year, in the past 12 months, the number of merchants participating in live broadcasts has increased by more than 220%. 33 merchant live broadcast rooms had transaction volumes of over 100 million during the Double 11 period, and nearly 500 live broadcast rooms had transaction volumes of over 10 million.

▲Tmall Double 11 Taobao Live Merchant Data Report▲

Let’s look at Douyin again. Although the volume of Douyin’s self-broadcasting and sales data are far less than those of Taobao Live, Douyin’s vigorous development of the DP business and the cancellation of Luban’s agent rebate have forced it to transform into a full-effect service provider, providing services such as broadcasting, operation, and delivery on behalf of others show its determination and ambition in self-broadcasting.

In addition to cultivating a sufficient number of DPs to provide merchants with a ready-to-move-in experience, Douyin E-commerce has also launched systematic training such as E-commerce University; for self-broadcasting brands, according to relevant information, in addition to the performance rebates stipulated in the contract, an additional 20% rebate will be given. Top brands are expected to be exempted from platform service fees through rebates. As for the specific performance of merchants’ self-broadcasting, we may have to wait until this year’s Douyin 618 battle report to see it.

2. There are inherent flaws in celebrity/famous person/KOL promotion

Although finding top anchors who match the brand's target user profile can accelerate the brand's sales and out-of-stock performance on new traffic platforms, finding influencers to promote products will always be difficult to solve two other issues that brands are concerned about: one is the impact on users' minds, so that they don't just pay for "low prices"; the other is the issue of repeat purchases.

Generally speaking, when users try out a product, they are often attracted by the host’s strong recommendation and the temptation of high cost-performance. However, when they really agree with the product and have a desire to repurchase, they often don’t know where to buy another product with the same high cost-performance. At this time, brand self-broadcasting can well meet the purchasing needs of this part of users.

Compared with inviting anchors to promote products, the advantages of brand self-promotion are very obvious. First, there is no need to pay the high slot fees/commissions of cooperating anchors, and the cost is more controllable. Secondly, through product combinations and professional sales skills, some loyal users can be retained to serve their long-term purchases/repeat purchases. Finally, compared with Taobao live broadcast, which mainly serves existing users, brands have the value of acquiring incremental markets/users on Douyin and Kuaishou. They can fully leverage the "algorithm recommendation + Dou+/Feed delivery" model to leverage more paid/free traffic, which has the value of combining brand and effect.

3. Some brands have found the "feeling" and "benefits" in their self-broadcasting attempts.

Among them, there are not only the platform e-commerce, brand e-commerce, and second-hand luxury e-commerce that we are familiar with, such as: Suning.com, Xiaomi Live Room, Fat Tiger, etc., but also a large number of representatives from the clothing, food, and beauty industries, such as: Three Squirrels, Peacebird, Huaxizi, etc. - these industry benchmarks will to some extent "attract" more brands to follow suit, and the mature DPKP cultivated by the platform can lower the threshold for merchants to broadcast themselves and increase their determination to settle in.

Therefore, the author believes that 2021 will be the "first year" for brands to broadcast and sell goods through self-broadcasting. More "broadcast brands" will appear on major platforms. For mature brands, it will have the significance of building new sales channels. For new brands, it will have the value of integrating product quality, effect and sales.

Not only that, the size and self-broadcasting contribution of active brand merchants will also affect the GMV scale and future development potential of the platform's live e-commerce to some extent.

4. Which brands are emerging on Douyin?

Similar to Taobao Live, on the Douyin platform, the three categories with the highest live broadcast sales are: clothing, shoes and bags, beauty and skin care, and food and beverages. Among them, in the field of self-broadcasting, the clothing category is represented by @Peace Bird, @tennie wennie, @Qianyu, etc.; the food category is led by @Three Squirrels, @Lindshop, @Baicaowei, etc., and the beauty category is represented by @Perfect Diary, @Hua Xizi, etc.

Let’s review the reasons for the success of leading brands.

First, let’s take a look at @Peacebird. @Peacebird can be said to be a benchmark for Douyin store broadcasts; according to Kas Data statistics, in the whole month of January, the cumulative sales of the Peacebird Women's Wear Flagship Store (Douyin Store) exceeded 110 million yuan, with the average customer spending around 400 yuan. Judging from its associated live broadcast accounts, the Douyin account with the same name @Peacebird Women's Wear Official Flagship Store contributed the most.

Judging from the live broadcast time of @Peacebird Women's Wear Official Flagship Store, it basically maintains a daily broadcast status, and the live broadcast time is relatively fixed, with three sessions in the morning, noon and evening, and the length of a single live broadcast is 4-6 hours; during the entire Spring Festival, Peacebird did not give up the high-frequency broadcast status, and can be called a model worker in the store live broadcast industry.

According to statistics from Kas, during the seven-day Spring Festival holiday, PEACEBIRD conducted a total of 13 live broadcasts, gained 64,000 followers, and accumulated a GMV of over 15 million, ranking second in brand store live broadcast sales. It is worth mentioning that compared to many brand live broadcast rooms whose daily sales are greatly affected by activities and promotions, the sales of PEACEBIRD's live broadcast rooms are very "stable", mostly remaining between 2 million and 4 million.

▲ @Peacebird Women's Wear in live broadcast▲

Analyzing the reasons, Kass believes there are four factors:

• The anchor/assistant system is very mature, and all of them are selected from high-quality anchors with high appearance, professionalism, affinity, fast speaking speed, and who can be called walking "clothes racks" for commentary;
• Through the strategy of multiple anchors taking turns to broadcast, the live broadcast time can be maximized throughout the day, allowing users to enter the live broadcast room to consume at any time (if there is a delivery, it can also take over the traffic at each stage and promote conversion);
• The number of fans in the fan group is large, reaching 43,000+. The fan group can be understood as a small private domain of the store on Douyin. Firstly, it is the basis for the traffic of the live broadcast room. Secondly, as old fans, it is easier to activate and wake up compared to new fans, and continue to place orders;
• The live broadcast room has a good layout and interactive atmosphere. Coupled with product innovation, word-of-mouth, and precise algorithm recommendations, it is easy to attract young users of Douyin to place orders.

Next, let’s take a look at @三只松鼠.

Kas Data first discovered that Three Squirrels had made major moves on Douyin during the epidemic last year, mainly through advertising to attract traffic outside Douyin, and started special/mixed show collaborations with Douyin's top anchors such as @朱瓜瓜, @罗永浩, @陈赫, etc.

However, according to tracking by Kas, the earliest record of the real start of self-live broadcasting to sell goods was in July last year. Before that, Three Squirrels also started live broadcasting, but it was mainly entertainment live broadcast. The goal should be the same as releasing short video content, which is mainly to shorten the distance between the brand and users and increase their love for the brand.

It was not until three months later, in October last year, that Three Squirrels began to engage in regular self-broadcasting and established multiple matrix live broadcast accounts, such as @三只松鼠, @三只松鼠官方旗舰店, @松鼠大掌柜, @小鹿蓝蓝, etc., accumulating 4.71 million fans; and the real surge in sales did not occur until December last year, when the main account of the same name, @三只松鼠, achieved daily sales of over one million for the first time by keeping pace with the Douyin New Year Festival.

In the following January, @三只松鼠 reached its historical sales peak, with store live broadcast sales exceeding 65 million, with the highest sales on January 20. During the 16-hour live broadcast, daily sales exceeded 25 million, with the average customer spending around 100 yuan.

▲@Three Squirrels Matrix Number▲

It is not difficult to see from the above data that it took Three Squirrels more than half a year from the start of live streaming to the real explosion of sales. During this period, Three Squirrels has been continuously optimizing and cultivating anchors, adjusting the live broadcast (from attention - answering questions - placing orders) language, and being good at combining activities/festival promotion hotspots to improve the scene experience of users in the live broadcast room in multiple dimensions such as clothing, lighting, props, music, etc., and increase the length of stay; at the same time, it will continue to explore experience in product combinations, listing strategies, and delivery strategies, which has led to the surge in its sales on Douyin.

According to relevant media reports: Three Squirrels currently has more than 10 full-time anchors, 4-5 operators, and operates about 10 self-broadcasting rooms across the entire network. The anchors are selected through internal selection and external recruitment. The internal selection mainly selects customer service and sales staff who are versatile and eager to perform, while the external recruitment will select from people who have experience in shows, events, weddings, and hosting.

5. Compared to Douyin, what did the brands that performed well on Kuaishou do right?

Compared with the sudden rise of brand-run live broadcasts on Douyin, on Kuaishou, we may still find it difficult to find brand live broadcast rooms with GMV comparable to that of @三只松鼠 and @太平鸟.

But is it true that Kuaishou has no brands that perform well? That’s not the case. It’s just that many brands do not open a Blue V account (merchant account) on Kuaishou, but make a lot of money on Kuaishou by creating personal accounts that are more popular with their fans.

Among them, we have to mention a domestic beauty and personal care brand, which is Dora Dora Shang. In fact, the first time I encountered the brand Dora Dora Shang was in a celebrity video on Douyin. It focused on body care and was competing with the then popular Half Acre Flower Field.

But when it comes to self-broadcasting, Dora Doshang seems to have devoted more energy to Kuaishou. If you search for Dora Doshang on Kuaishou, you can see that the three accounts with the highest number of fans are: @Dora Doshang Li Haizhen, @Dora Doshang Li Haiyan, and @Dora Doshang Mumu, and these three personal accounts have all started regular live broadcasts.

Take @多拉多尚李海珍 as an example. As the founder of a brand, the advantages of live streaming are self-evident. Not only can she explain products and stories more professionally, but she can also better win the trust of old friends. According to the author's observation, in the early stage, Li Haizhen mainly used the form of "ranking (emotional and entertainment anchor live broadcast room) + low-price instant benefits" to attract fans and promote orders. With the official launch of "Small Shop Pass", Li Haizhen also actively attracted a large number of fans through investment and real-time feedback from users in the live broadcast room.

It is worth mentioning that @朵拉朵尚李海珍 also actively participates in official activities and boosts sales by proactively launching various fan benefits. Among them, the 10th anniversary celebration event had the highest sales. Within 20 minutes of the start of the broadcast, the popularity of the live broadcast room exceeded 100,000, and it was close to 50 million on the same day.

▲Dora Doshang 10th Anniversary Event: Li Haizhen is live streaming▲

Of course, in addition to brand accounts like @朵拉朵尚 that broadcast based on their main IP, there are also many brand accounts on Kuaishou that have started regular live broadcasts, such as: Red Earth, Half Acre Flower Field, Watsons, Han Du Yishe, Li Ning, and Bestore, but their overall sales performance and explosiveness may not be as good as those of brand accounts on Douyin.

Analyzing the reasons, Kass believes there are four points:

• Compared with Douyin, brands are still at the beginner stage in marketing and selling on Kuaishou;
• Kuaishou live streaming is extremely dependent on private domains. Compared with self-broadcasting, more brands that lack private domains may tend to choose to cooperate with anchors to increase sales, such as Koushuiwa and Marumi.
• It is an indisputable fact that the purchasing power of a single Kuaishou user is still not as strong as that of a Douyin user;
• The brand self-broadcasting ecosystem on Kuaishou is still relatively lacking.

As we all know, before September last year, Kuaishou did not have an official traffic tool called "Xiaodiantong" to serve e-commerce broadcasts. Brands that lack private domain accumulation find it difficult to adapt to the extensive path of increasing fans through ranking and increasing fans. Compared with Douyin, which has made DP a competitive red ocean in an instant through various policies, Kuaishou's KP service business is extremely lacking. This may also be a shortcoming that Kuaishou should vigorously make up for in 2021.

The author believes that KP on Kuaishou is more difficult to grow than DP on Douyin. The first wave of advantageous KPs should emerge from high-quality MCNs that have been deeply involved in Kuaishou. This is because they understand the content of Kuaishou better and have better grasped the preferences of their friends through multiple live broadcasts. However, even if Kasi does not name them, there are only a handful of such institutions.

2021 will definitely be the first year for brands to broadcast on Douyin and Kuaishou. This trend can also be observed in the live broadcast rooms of the TOP100 Douyin sales collected by Kas Data during the Spring Festival: the proportion of self-broadcasting by stores has increased significantly, accounting for nearly 20%.

Of course, in addition to the well-known mature brands accelerating their layout on Douyin and Kuaishou, in 2021, we are more looking forward to the birth of Douyin brands and Kuaishou brands on these new traffic platforms through live streaming and product promotion. Which brands are taking advantage of live streaming to stand at the forefront? Let’s look forward to it together.

Author: Kas Data

Source: caasdata (ID: caasdata6)