Private domain traffic diversion methods and logic!

Private domain traffic is very popular, do you also want to do private domain operations? But don’t know how to acquire users? It’s okay to place advertisements and distribute flyers, it’s okay to write soft articles for new media, and it’s okay to hold events and give out benefits. They are all for the purpose of gaining traffic, and it’s fine as long as it’s effective.

Due to the peak of user traffic growth and competition among companies for traffic, traffic is becoming more and more expensive. However, traffic is actually everywhere and can be directed to your private traffic pool in a low-cost manner.

Private domain traffic diversion is the first step in private domain traffic operation. Let’s talk about it today.

1. Private Domain Traffic Logic

1. The value of private domain traffic generation

The private domain operation goal of most companies is transaction sales, which can be broken down into:

Private domain sales = traffic * conversion rate * average order value * repurchase rate

The scale of traffic in the private domain directly affects the scale of revenue in the private domain, and is also the goal that many companies pay the most attention to and pursue when they start to do private domain business.

Traffic generation and customer acquisition is the first step in private domain traffic operations. In addition to being the premise of the total value of private domain users, its value can also reduce user acquisition costs through various traffic generation methods. The large-scale users brought by the traffic generation can make full use of private domain operation resources and provide effective feedback to improve private domain operation efficiency.

In the private domain, there are two main ways to acquire new users and increase traffic scale: drainage and fission:

Traffic diversion mainly refers to acquiring new users from public domain traffic and settling them in the private domain traffic pool. Generally speaking, the new users diverted are more proactive, more accurate, and of relatively better quality.

Fission refers to guiding and stimulating sharing based on existing private domain users, acquiring new users in the user social relationship chain. The cost of acquiring new users is lower, and the user scale can be increased more quickly.

Both drainage and fission are important. This article will focus on drainage first, and fission will be shared with you in detail in the private domain series of articles.

2. Three steps to attract private domain traffic

Private domain traffic can be divided into three parts: open source, traffic diversion, and water storage.

Open source means finding the source of traffic and solving the problem of where to direct traffic: where is the traffic? Is the quality of the traffic good? How difficult is it to divert traffic? Is the cost of drainage high?

Traffic diversion refers to directing the source of traffic to the private domain to solve the problem of how to attract users: how to effectively reach target users? How to attract and drain users? How to design the drainage path process?

Water storage refers to how to effectively accept users after diverting traffic to the private domain, and solve the problem of how to activate and retain users: where to accept new users? How to activate users effectively? How to reduce user churn.

If you understand and do a good job of opening up new sources, diverting traffic and storing water, there will be hope for the growth of your private domain traffic.

2. Private Domain Traffic Draining Methods

When it comes to the specific methods and gameplay of private domain drainage, it is still necessary to answer the three major questions of open source, drainage and water storage.

1. Open Source: Where is the Traffic?

To divert private traffic, first clarify where the traffic is:

Let’s talk about online traffic first.

Search engines refer to search traffic represented by Baidu, Sogou, and 360 Search. Similar ones include app store searches. The main search engine traffic diversion methods include SEO (search engine optimization, a low-cost/free method) and SEM (search engine marketing, a paid advertising method), which are more suitable for companies with high customer unit prices and more professional products to divert traffic.

E-commerce platforms refer to e-commerce traffic represented by Taobao, JD.com, Pinduoduo, etc. The limitations of the platforms result in longer traffic paths. Directing traffic from e-commerce platforms is suitable for daily consumer products with medium to low customer unit prices and medium to high frequency. At the same time, the e-commerce platform itself also has private domain positions such as stores and fan groups. Brand companies can also try to conduct user operations based on the e-commerce platform and supplement it with WeChat private domain traffic operations.

Social platforms refer to social communities represented by WeChat, Weibo, and Tieba, which have a large user scale and low accuracy. Obtaining traffic from social platforms is widely applicable, and target users can be screened based on advertising/content/activities.

Content platforms refer to new media content platforms represented by Zhihu, Xiaohongshu, Douyin, Kuaishou, and Douban. Obtaining traffic from content platforms is diverse in form and at a lower cost, while also having a brand building and communication effect.

Vertical products refer to traffic platforms that have a smaller user base than the leading platforms, but a large scale of segmented users and high activity. Vertical products have less competition for customer acquisition and lower user screening costs, so they can acquire target users more efficiently. For example, Hupu and Dongqiudi have gathered a large number of sports users, Soul and Zuoyebang have many post-00s student users, and Meipian and Tangdou are the strongholds of middle-aged and elderly users.

The owned platform refers to the company’s own independent APP, shopping mall, community, etc., which is private domain traffic in itself. The user reach and visit frequency of many App/mall/community operations are relatively weak. The effect will be better when combined with WeChat private domain operations, realizing multi-carrier user retention operations.

Let’s look at offline traffic.

The offline public domain covers a wide range, mainly places with large crowds and high mobility, such as shopping malls, stations, etc. There are more diverse forms of offline public domain traffic diversion, which can be one-on-one to users (ground promotion) or scatter-net promotion (advertising).

Physical stores refer to physical stores of offline retail and catering brands, which are an excellent scenario for attracting traffic. The store traffic is composed of precise interested users, but they leave after shopping/buying, and are prone to churn due to one-time contact or high consumption, which makes it very suitable for attracting private domain operations.

Product touchpoints refer to the node scenarios where physical products come into contact with users, such as product packaging and gifts. For offline businesses, stores are an excellent platform for attracting traffic, while product touch points have wider applicability and can also be used in online stores.

Global traffic includes online traffic and offline traffic. If you look for it from a broader perspective, open source will be achieved.

2. Water storage: where is the flow stored?

Let’s not talk about how to attract traffic first, but first prepare the carrier to receive user traffic. Mainly talk about WeChat private domain.

WeChat private domain ecosystem has multiple operating carriers: WeChat, enterprise WeChat, WeChat groups, public accounts, mini programs, video accounts...

Mini programs and video accounts have weak user retention and reach capabilities and are generally used as tools for private domain systems rather than central carriers of operations. Mainly look at WeChat, enterprise WeChat, WeChat groups and public accounts.

WeChat and Enterprise WeChat refer to establishing a one-to-one direct friendship with users, which increases user trust and improves reach. However, it also leads to higher expectations among users and higher requirements for operations. It is more suitable for brand companies that have sufficient private domain operation personnel and provide personalized/highly professional products. As for how to choose between WeChat and Enterprise WeChat? In terms of large-scale private domain user operations, Qihoo.com has left WeChat far behind. Looking at the operations of various companies will make you more determined to choose Qihoo.

WeChat groups are one-to-many social relationships with good reach and high operational efficiency, which has also led to WeChat groups becoming an indispensable main carrier for private domain operations. WeChat groups also have the added bonus of interactive relationships between users, but the relationship between users is a double-edged sword that requires continuous attention and timely guidance of the community atmosphere and topics. WeChat group operations are more suitable for brand companies that provide homogeneous/interest-oriented products.

Official accounts are content carriers that can carry and convey more brand information. At the same time, users have lower expectations for official accounts, and the operational requirements are much lower, so the service pressure is also less. However, relying solely on content to operate a public account cannot effectively realize its value in the private domain. It needs to be combined with a functional menu to achieve effective user reach and behavior guidance. The operation of public accounts is more suitable for brand companies that have fewer private domain operation resources but strong content and product power.

Each private domain operation carrier has its own characteristics. If operating resources permit, most of them will still take one carrier as the core, while operating multiple other carriers to achieve multi-carrier user retention and then multi-touchpoint operation.

3. Traffic generation: how does traffic come from?

After clarifying where the traffic comes from and preparing the carrier to receive the traffic, the last and most critical question is, how does user traffic come from? There is a water source and a pond, so let's dig a canal to divert water.

Before diverting traffic to a private domain, you must first clarify the value that the private domain can provide to users. There are many ways to divert traffic, but a private domain without value is like a fish pond without food. The fish fry will starve to death.

The value that private domains can provide to users can include three parts:

• Rewards: intuitive interest incentives, such as preferential benefits, prize cash;
• Service: Continuous service value, such as private domain membership benefits, content knowledge, and priority customer service;
• Relationships: interactions/social relationships between users and brands, friends, and other users.

In traffic diversion, immediate rewards are often used to guide users to join the brand’s private domain. However, you must think about the long-term service and relationship value of the private domain. You can also mention it in traffic diversion and combine it with immediate rewards to increase users’ motivation to join the private domain.

The design and selection of instant rewards for traffic generation need to be related to the brand’s products/services, match the user’s characteristics and preferences, and improve the accuracy of traffic generation. For example, retail brands give out trial packages, coupons, and trial memberships, while paid knowledge brands give out electronic materials, knowledge maps, and trial classes.

Next, let’s take a look at the specific methods and gameplay of private domain traffic diversion.

1) Online traffic generation

The main ways to attract online traffic include advertising, content marketing and own platforms.

First of all, it’s about advertising. Why do we still need to advertise? Shouldn't traffic be free, fast and massive? No, it's not. The cost of advertising to attract traffic to private domains is relatively low, and it can attract traffic faster on a larger scale, making it an important means of attracting traffic to private domains.

WeChat is the preferred advertising platform for private domain traffic diversion, as it has mature traffic diversion capabilities and shorter paths. After diverting traffic to core carriers, it can quickly guide users to retain on multiple carriers and achieve user activation and retention.

Speaking of content marketing, compared with advertising, content marketing has lower costs and is more sustainable, and the user traffic obtained is also more accurate.

On content platforms such as WeChat, Xiaohongshu, Zhihu, Douyin, and Kuaishou, we output value and interact with activities around brand products and services, gather fans to enhance brand influence, and then increase the paths to divert traffic to private domains, converting content audiences into WeChat private domains.

In addition, if the company has an independent APP/website, it can also direct users of its own platform to the WeChat private domain and conduct more frequent and stable reach operations. This type of traffic diversion is more flexible, after all, it is operating on its own territory.

2) Offline traffic diversion

The main ways of offline traffic generation include advertising/marketing, store journey traffic generation and product touchpoint traffic generation.

For offline public domains, outdoor advertising/ground promotion and cross-industry cooperation are conventional but effective ways to attract traffic, and they can be done if the resources and capabilities are available.

If you are a brand company with stores, you need to make full use of the advantages of the stores. Stores are an excellent setting for reaching interested users. You can reach and direct traffic based on the user's journey in the store: from entering the store for consultation → placing an order → checking out. Store materials, product displays, cash registers, packaging bags, and clerk guidance can all be used to direct traffic.

For example, Lancôme has installed sample machines where customers can receive samples of new products by following its official account; Carrefour guides users to join WeChat groups at the checkout counter to receive free shopping bags.

The last step is product contact point drainage. The product can effectively reach users who have already purchased the product, and guide users to join the private domain through product packaging (express box/packaging bag) and product accessories (express DM/good review card/instructions for use), especially DM/good review card, which has basically become a standard feature of e-commerce.

3. Finally

After directing user traffic to the private domain, immediate activation is required to reduce user loss:

• Instant reward redemption : timely distribution of redemption reward baits to reduce user consultation and customer complaints, and meet user immediate expectations;
• Private domain value communication : Introduce the value that can be provided in the private domain, various services, and privileges, and establish long-term user expectations;
• Multi-point retention guidance : Appropriately guide users to other private domain carriers to form multi-point user retention, which is conducive to stable reach and reduce churn.

Traffic generation is the premise and foundation of private domain operations. Establishing continuous and stable traffic generation channels and gameplay can ensure the effective growth and circulation of private domain traffic. Once private domain traffic generation is done well, we will continue to talk about private domain fission next time.