Douyin's seven traffic-generating products and core strategies

In recent years, the traffic of Douyin has grown rapidly, and many emerging brands have also taken advantage of the opportunity to explode. I have also been fortunate to have invested in hundreds of Douyin full-case projects in the past three years, serving various consumer brands including international, local, and emerging brands. I have used many traffic tools: Dou+, content services (hot push), expert bidding, information flow AD, Alibaba UD, JD Co-Ads, Juliang Qianchuan, etc., and have managed a large number of Douyin full-link launches.

Today I would like to share with you my experience in investment and flow in the past few years, the operating experience behind a budget of hundreds of millions, the high tuition fees paid by major brands, as well as our blood and tears history and what we have learned.

This article is the third article of Sanbanfu "Investment", and suggestions are: follow first, then read, and finally forward, all three in one click.

Tik Tok Three Axe Part 1: KOL Account Selection Strategy (Account Selection Part)

Tik Tok’s Three Axe Part 2: Content Co-creation Strategy (Content Part)

Tik Tok's Three Axes Part 3: Effect Flow Strategy (Flow Flow Part)

01Three major attributes of Douyin traffic

According to the official data released by Douyin, the DAU has exceeded 600 million, accounting for nearly half of China's population base. If the elderly and children are excluded, the penetration rate of effective consumer population is very high.

The rise in traffic on the TikTok platform is accompanied by another phenomenon, which is the slowdown in the platform's e-commerce traffic. The difficulty and cost for brands to acquire new customers are increasing. Since the end of the mobile demographic dividend, consumers in the existing market have limited time and spend a lot of time using a certain application. The usage time of other products will naturally be taken up, even for those big platforms. To study Douyin’s traffic, we must first have a clear understanding of Douyin’s traffic attributes.

The first attribute of Douyin traffic: asset attribute

Almost all new brands that have emerged in the past few years have chosen TikTok as their main marketing battlefield. In my opinion, this is helpless. Without brand power, not only is the cost of acquiring customers on the site very high, the traffic efficiency is also very low, and it is almost impossible to educate and cultivate new customers.

Douyin is just the opposite. Douyin's product form is one of the best bridges between the new generation of consumers and the next generation of consumers. Every five years, a new generation of consumers is born, and their consumption habits and mentality are completely different from those of the previous generation. Users' time migration and habit changes are the best opportunities for the new brand education market.

When it comes to brand marketing, the brand should go wherever the consumers are. Not only do you have to go to Douyin, you also have to deeply understand the crowd asset logic of Douyin.

In the past few years, I have summarized the "AIDP" crowd asset model from Douyin (the main battlefield for marketing) to Tmall (the main battlefield for sales). Although the platforms are separated, from the perspective of the brand, the consumer link cannot be separated.

The "AIDP" crowd asset model, from consumer awareness (exposure, display), to interest (likes, comments, shares, clicks), Interest can also be divided into shallow I and deep I crowds, and then to Desire (collection, add to cart), which is already the data in the site, and finally to Purchase, entering the store to complete the purchase, Purchase can be divided into shallow P (first purchase) and deep P (multiple purchases).

What TikTok brings to brands is not just traffic and sales, but most importantly, crowd assets. In the process from A cognition to P purchase, the algorithm is constantly filtering out invalid people and ultimately achieving the acquisition of effective people.

AIDP crowd assets, from cognition to purchase, effective "filtering" and efficient "attracting new customers"

The second attribute of Douyin traffic: content attribute

Today, every bit of traffic that a brand obtains is carried by a short video content on the front end. Every time a consumer visits a store or makes a purchase, it is definitely because she was inspired by the video content.

No one will pay for "advertisements". Users are attracted by the "content" and pay for a "heart-thrill".

So is content more important or traffic more important? I think the answer is self-evident.

Only if the "one" content is good enough, can you add countless "zero" traffic behind it. If there is no "one", the "zeros" behind it are wasted.

We have also devoted a lot of research on traffic investment, but judging from a large amount of case data, the quality of content has an impact on the results of traffic investment, and I think it may account for more than 50%. The other 50% of the influencing factors are the combined application of flow-investing products.

The third attribute of Douyin traffic: traffic attribute

Regarding the traffic and traffic attributes of Douyin, I have several judgments:

First of all, Tik Tok has the concept of "traffic pool". Different traffic sources or divisions are different traffic pools. For example, short videos and Dou+ are classified as content traffic pools, Topview and OCPM are commercial traffic pools, the closed loop of small stores is the Qianchuan traffic pool, the traffic pool that Alibaba bought on Douyin is called UD, and JD’s latest is Co-ads.

Secondly, the ROI of traffic investment is related to the degree of competition in the traffic pool. When there is less market competition and the ROI performance is good, it is generally the "traffic dividend period". If the competition in the traffic pool intensifies or the traffic decreases, then the ROI will inevitably go down. For example, 2019 is a bonus period for content traffic pool, and KOLs have the opportunity to explode data by posting short videos. 2019 to 2020 are both OCPM's bonus periods, and many brands can thrive by relying on amateur materials. In the first half of 2021, there will be UD, and in the second half, there will be Qianchuan and Co-ads.

Third, a combination of traffic products is very important, because a single traffic pool will sooner or later be saturated with competition. In a content-driven strategy, content is leverage. According to the logic of "TikTok's Seven-Section Theory", the traffic multiplier can be magnified by 5-10 times, or even 100 times.

Fourth, phased and local dividends often appear, and we must seize them, but no brand can rely on dividends to move into the future. If a brand falls behind at one stage, it may fall.

In recent years, we have invested in a large number of Douyin full-link projects. We think from the overall perspective of the brand and summarize the full-link traffic investment methodology of "Douyin Content Traffic Seven-Section Theory". What I will share below is the full-link traffic investment product tools.

02One of the investment products: Dou+

The second part of Douyin’s Three Axe is about content, so I will not elaborate on the content seeding and KOL aspects. You can refer to the previous part. Let’s go straight to the topic of traffic investment.

Dou+'s "distribution logic":

Dou+ is a Look-like extension of the fan circle with "people as the core" based on KOL personality labels and fan portraits. The higher the KOL account weight and the more fans it has, the more accurate the Dou+ traffic distribution effect will be.

Dou+'s "traffic attributes":

First of all, Dou+ is content traffic. KOL is a content traffic pool, and the distribution logic of Dou+ is also content traffic. It has no advertising labels and has a deep grass-planting effect. Content traffic is the highest quality traffic for the grass-planting effect. When the competition for overall traffic is insufficient, Dou+’s delivery effect is better than OCPM’s.

Secondly, Dou+ is also residual traffic. After Topview and OCPM are consumed, the remaining traffic of Dou+ will be the Dou+ traffic pool. When the market competition is saturated, especially during big promotions, brands bid 2-3 times the usual amount in OCPM, but still cannot get enough traffic. At this time, Dou+ can hardly be deployed, and if it can be deployed, the effect is also poor.

Dou+'s ROI model:

The basis for Dou+ delivery is the "Dou+ model", that is, the Dou+ ROI model. The Dou+ model is about the ROI relationship between "traffic cost" and "transaction", not the KOL cost relationship. We use the delivery system to automatically calculate.

Dou+ model formula: Dou+ model = (sales/play volume) * 30.

For example: After a KOL releases a short video, it gets 300,000 views through natural traffic, bringing in sales of 15,000 yuan. If 10,000 yuan is invested in Dou+, it will get about 300,000 views, so the "Dou+ ROI model" is 1.5.

The actual operation during the delivery will set a ROI bottom line, such as 0.8 or 1.2. Dou+ models that are higher than this standard will be delivered through Dou+. Generally, models with higher ROI will consume a lot of Dou+ traffic.

Dou+'s "delivery model":

Dou+ delivery is divided into two types: intelligent delivery and targeted delivery. Based on the distribution logic of Dou+, intelligent delivery must be given priority.

Smart delivery conditions:

1. If the number of fans is more than 500,000+, the account will have weight, which is conducive to the expansion of the fan circle.

2. Content is time-sensitive and must be within 15 days of publication.

Targeted delivery conditions:

1. The number of fans is less than 50w+, the account weight is low, and there is no fan circle.

2. ROI may decline significantly 15 days after the release date, the fan circle has been exhausted, and precise targeting of the audience is needed.

Dou+’s “delivery strategy”:

1. Standard betting method:

After the KOL’s natural traffic is consumed in 3 days, based on the Dou+ model, the campaign is launched for 24 hours, and the daily ROI is monitored to optimize the next day’s launch.

2. Real-time betting method:

Standard 24-hour delivery, based on the real-time ROI of Taobao Alliance, increases delivery during peak order or ROI periods, with an additional delivery of 2 or 6 hours, and optimizes delivery based on real-time order and ROI conditions.

3. Explosive single investment method:

The KOL has a relatively high number of fans. Monitor the transaction data within 2 hours of releasing the video and calculate the Dou+ model. Generally, the Dou+ model is high, and Dou+ delivery is carried out. If the explosive order status is maintained, real-time optimization is carried out, and Dou+ is continuously increased. The daily target of the explosive order mode is 10w+.

Share a case study of Dou+’s “explosive order investment method” (a certain brand of sunscreen)

Hot-selling stage: observe the data 2 hours after the video is released, calculate the "real-time ROI model" (1:3+) in the Taobao Alliance backend, and observe the "like rate index" (10%+), that is, the content quality. For smart delivery, choose 24 hours, multiple orders, and test order amount starting from 1,000 yuan to leverage traffic and push the video to the next level traffic pool. Based on the conversion rate, we increased our investment. On the day of release, Dou+ invested over 100,000 yuan and achieved ROI 2.X.

Large-volume stage: Continuous 24-hour delivery. According to the distribution of order periods on the first day, try "multi-period delivery", mainly 2 hours and 6 hours. On the second day, release Dou+ 20w. Starting from the third day, large orders were placed stably, with two large-amount Dou+ deliveries during the peak hours at noon and in the evening. From the 2nd to the 6th day, Dou+ invested more than 500,000 yuan and achieved ROI 1.X, which was a 28% drop from the peak stage.

Stable stage: 24-hour continuous delivery, including continuous delivery at noon and in the evening, ROI declines, and the volume of Dou+ decreases. From the 7th to the 15th day, Dou+ invested more than 400,000 yuan and achieved ROI 1.X, a 17% decrease from the large-scale stage.

For this single video, Dou+ invested a total of over 1 million yuan, with an ROI of 1.X.

03 Investment product 2: content service

The content service was previously called content hot push, the official version of Dou+, which places orders in the form of media scheduling and supports the OCPM model's crowd selection strategy, but does not support brand independent selection. The logic of crowd selection can only be provided to the official in the form of an EXCEL table, and Douyin official will complete the crowd selection, media scheduling, and release.

Content services and Dou+ are mutually exclusive and cannot be launched at the same time. Generally, Dou+ is launched on a small scale. The Dou+ model is excellent, and content services can be arranged for large-scale release in the future.

The benefit of content services is that when a big sale is approaching or during a big sale, content services can lock in volume in advance according to media schedules to avoid the embarrassing situation of having a budget during the big sale but not being able to invest even if the price is raised. After locking the volume, it can be guaranteed that there will be 100% traffic on the launch day, so content services are often used by some brands as a killer weapon to grab traffic during big promotions.

Disadvantages of content services: It is a one-time all-in. If the effect of the delivery is not good, it cannot be optimized midway. If the effect is good, increasing the delivery requires rescheduling the media plan.

In short, content services have relatively high requirements for content, and it is still an all-in model. If you want to invest, you must focus on two indicators in advance: the first is the "Dou+ model", which is related to ROI. The other is the likes rate, which is related to content indicators. The level of the indicator represents the capacity to carry traffic to a certain extent.

04Flow Product 3: Talent Bidding

OCPM delivery is divided into two forms. One is information flow, which is the most familiar to everyone. The other is expert bidding, which is native information flow. This product will be launched in the first half of 2020. After the expert authorizes the video, OCPM can be directly delivered in the native video.

As for influencer bidding, the native information flow industry rarely invests in it, because you first invest in KOLs and then in information flow, in order to create a closed loop of content and traffic. However, most agents do not invest in KOLs and do not create content. We do the opposite, in order to bring more traffic to the content.

The advantages of KOL investment are: relatively excellent content and relatively good dissemination. The disadvantages are: high influencer costs and low natural traffic.

The advantages of information flow are: low traffic cost and large traffic scale. The disadvantages are: the material is relatively weak and the brand communication is poor.

Expert bidding and native information flow just combine the advantages of KOL and information flow delivery, avoiding their respective disadvantages. At the same time, they can maximize the release of KOL's high-quality content and achieve the effect of product and effect integration.

The essence of influencer bidding is: "commercialization of content traffic."

Share a case study of a "hot sale" bidding method (a certain brand of underwear)

This logic is similar to the Dou+ explosive order logic mentioned above, but due to the special nature of the underwear category, it cannot be added to the shopping cart, so the explosive order delivery mode is changed to expert bidding.

When the KOL we invested in became popular, we observed the data for 2 hours and found that there was a possibility of "explosive orders", so the influencer bidding began. In the process, the influencer video authorization and platform advertising review were required. It was not until noon the next day that the entire process was completed.

The expert bidding started with almost no cold start, and OCPM quickly increased the volume. The operating logic was still real-time ROI, and the volume was continuously increased based on ROI as the standard for increasing the volume. On the first day, the consumption was 80,000+, on the second day, the consumption was 210,000+, and on the third day, the consumption was 180,000+. The overall ROI was 1+, and then the customer ran out of stock. . .

Although it is a bit regrettable, the potential of expert bidding can be imagined. We have handled quite a few cases this year with a consumption of 500,000+ or ​​even 1,000,000+ in three days.

05Flow Product 4: Information Flow (OCPM)

Information flow is the most familiar and basic traffic delivery tool. The four core delivery strategies of information flow are also crowd strategies, which may not be understood by everyone.

Strategy 1: Cloud Map Strategy

The Yuntu strategy is the Douyin audience package expansion delivery strategy, the Douyin version of DMP. Its core approach is: brand audience expansion strategy, expanding similar audiences (Look like) through the brand’s purchased audience packages (seed packages). This strategy has great advantages for traditional brands. Whether it is the population that has purchased a single product or the population that has purchased a brand, the larger the data package, the higher the accuracy of the Look Like.

The ideas for other expansion strategies are the same as above, such as the converted population package, the converted population with landing page behavior, and the expansion of similar populations (Look like). Brand + converted population package, brand purchased population package (seed package) superimposed on the converted population package.

The official also provides some of its own packages, such as: beauty and skin care packages, high-spending packages, etc.

Strategy 2: Leica Strategy

Leica is the name of the delivery strategy officially given by TikTok, namely TikTok behavioral interest (keyword) delivery strategy. Generally, we will use the Leica strategy to circle keywords from five dimensions: category words, search words, competitor words, efficacy words, and scenario words.

This strategy is very imaginative. It is the content scenario logic of short videos. Through the combination of various keywords (hundreds of words), a quantifiable and precise population package is formed.

The crowd package for the Leica circle word generation plan requires 2000w+, and 5000w+ during the promotion period. The crowd size is neither the larger the better, nor the smaller the better. If the crowd is too large and almost all of them are targeted, there will be problems with the accuracy of the crowd, resulting in poor conversion results. If the population is too small, it will be difficult to plan the volume, the cost will be high, the life cycle will be short, and the purpose of precise delivery will not be achieved.

Strategy 3: Creative Strategy

By selecting high-quality influencer fans and superimposing user interactive behaviors, a strategy is used to improve investment production.

Delivery mode: Douyin account (fan coverage) x user behavior circle selection (already followed, video interaction, product interaction, live interaction, product click, live interaction-product order).

Application scenarios: One is to select multiple KOLs with good conversion performance in a certain category, lock in the fan groups behind them, and then launch advertising. The other is that the brand has invested in the KOL or a similar KOL, and the conversion effect is good, covering their fans and achieving multiple touches.

Strategy 4: Smart Strategy

That is the general investment strategy. Based on the “big funnel” logic of Tik Tok, the algorithm relies on crowd feedback to infer the delivery strategy for the effective crowd.

Delivery mode: basic targeting (gender, age, region) + system recommendation

Generally, I do not recommend using smart strategies (general investment strategies) because the cold start cycle is too long, a lot of budget is wasted, and the stability is uncontrollable. But cloud map modeling will be the trend in the future. If the brand’s cloud map modeling is completed and performs well, then smart + cloud map modeling is feasible.

The strategy after cloud map modeling: basic targeting + system recommendation + modeling dynamic bidding.

Attached is an example of a crowd-targeting strategy, you can copy it as your homework.

06 Investment product No. 5: Ali UD

UD is “Uni Desk”, a product of Alimama. Ali UD is an advertising platform jointly built by Ali and Douyin. Advertisements are displayed on Douyin without a landing page, and directly jump to Tmall.

UD is based on the original OCPM and superimposed with the "deep conversion model algorithm", which is a single model to improve optimization efficiency. The front and back link data are visible in one stop, and the data "reflow data bank" is supported for secondary marketing.

I invested in many UD cases this year, and finally summarized a combination investment model:

First, "AD clears the wasteland, UD harvests the harvest." If there is no grass planted by AD, a large number of collections, add-to-cart, and potential purchase behaviors in the store will greatly increase the difficulty of UD modeling. Once there is a sufficient amount of AD, UD can harvest it from the beginning.

Second, the reasonable ratio of AD and UD. Many brands invested in UD and found that the ROI was better, so they immediately reduced or even stopped investing in AD. As a result, there was not enough grass for AD, and UD was unable to harvest it. UD quickly went into a period of low investment and loss of scale. The final reasonable ratio summarized is "2/3 AD, 1/3 UD in the early stage, and half each in the stable period."

Third, if the AD and UD placements are stable, then the ROI of UD is about 1.5 times that of AD.

Fourth, UD has added another crowd filtering based on AD. This part of the purchasing and potential purchasing population is marked in the data bank, and there is an opportunity to make more refined delivery on the site, increase ROI, and achieve efficient harvesting on the site.

07 Investment product 6: JD Co-ads

Many friends have not come across the JD Co-ads tool. This is a new tool launched in the middle of this year. It is a delivery tool for the OCPM to JD link. Here is a summary of its functions and features:

1. JD OCPM account needs to be converted into Co-ads account, "JD version UD".

2. JD Co-ads targets “people who have installed the JD App”.

3. JD.com’s Co-ads data is connected with TikTok, and through the exploration of JD.com’s purchasing population, a transaction conversion model is established (Luban E-commerce).

4. There is a delay in the data transmission of JD.com Co-ads. Some ROI-oriented projects need to test the ROI in a timely manner and infer the effective ROI for large-scale delivery.

5. JD Co-ads is currently in a bonus period. The overall volume of conventional products is relatively small, but there is a preference for "3C and men's categories" with larger volumes.

I will share three cases of JD.com’s Co-ads so that you can feel the characteristics of JD.com.

The first is women's underwear products. The ROI performance is about 1.5 times that of AD, but the consumption has not been able to be increased, hovering at a level of several thousand to ten thousand per day. The scale of JD.com's women's category is not good.

The second is 3C products. AD and JD.com were tested at the same time. Both are of good scale. JD.com's ROI is significantly higher than AD, and JD.com has a clear preference for 3C.

The third one is men's shampoo products, which target the general public and have a ROI of about 2-3 times that of AD. At the same time, the volume is good, and monthly consumption of more than one million is no problem. JD has a clear preference for men's categories.

08 Investment product No. 7: Huliang Qianchuan

Qianchuan has been very popular recently, and live streaming is booming. If I talk about live streaming, I can write an article specifically about live streaming and Qianchuan. Today, I will focus on Qianchuan's short video delivery and summarize Qianchuan's functions and features:

1. Qianchuan’s current crowd strategies only include Leica and Creative, and do not support Cloud Map.

2. Support the expert bidding model, bind the expert's single video, and have an advertising label. Edited videos must be screened with a blue V.

3. Delivery model: the purpose is to close orders (Luban e-commerce).

4. Data closed loop: Douyin store has a closed loop, and real-time data is visible.

5. Qianchuan is currently in its bonus period. Qianchuan’s ROI is higher than AD, and live streaming ROI is higher than short videos.

I have invested in some Qianchuan short video cases, and my biggest feeling is that the closer it is to the second-tier e-commerce model, the higher the ROI can be. Although Luban e-commerce has been removed, Qianchuan short video has continued to a certain extent during the integration period.

A few days ago, a friend who has a good brand relationship asked me whether their brand should follow Qianchuan’s Luban model. I asked in return: Luban in the early days, Taoke in the past, and Qianchuan today. If this model can continue, in the short term you can drive GMV for ROI, then what do you want in the long term? What does your brand convey? This is what your brand should think about before deciding how to choose today.

In the short term, Qianchuan has dividends, self-broadcasting has dividends, and many new brands are gaining momentum quickly, but what I am more concerned about is the second largest e-commerce closed-loop battlefield in the future, the integration of accounts and stores in the Douyin ecosystem, and the content-driven "Douyin brand". In essence, it still returns to content, with traffic blessing content and content supporting brands.

09 Conclusion

Today I shared seven traffic-generating tools related to TikTok. From the perspective of traffic generation itself, there is no problem with various strategies to improve the effect. But the more I invested, the more sophisticated the team became in using investment tools, and the more frightened I became. In fact, today, brands do not necessarily become better because of excellent traffic investment. Instead, many of them fall into new misunderstandings. I have also seen many local and emerging brands chasing various traffic dividends. Talents emerge in every generation, and each of them leads the trend for one or two years.

Traffic is a "technique", traffic delivery tools are a "technique", coming back to the point, what is the "Tao"?

I believe that what can truly influence the consumer's mind and make her make a choice without hesitation is the "Tao".

Let’s make a deduction of a future brand:

If we start to create a brand today, the founders will have a clearer awareness that today is the era of TikTok. Going back to the starting point, starting from track selection, breakthroughs in category innovation, establishment of brand attitude, and starting from super products, category innovation-brand attitude-product efficacy, if we do it again, they should be consistent and mutually reinforcing, rather than separated from each other.

The next step is how our products make consumers perceive us, how do consumers see me, and who am I? What's the difference? How do you know? (Three questions about the brand).

This step is not about how to promote from the brand perspective, but how to understand from the user's perspective.

Going further, from the perspective of user cognition, we begin to build brand awareness. Obviously, we will start with the product and place high hopes on "her". "She" carries the hope of occupying a position in the category, carries the communication of the brand's value proposition, and carries the solution to user pain points. "She" may be the "super product" of the future.

How should we carry out communication, how should we promote categories, brands and products in a coherent manner? Obviously, we only have one way, which is to plant seeds with content.

It just so happens that we were born in the best consumption era and will enjoy the "content dividend" for the next ten years.

Each of us consumers, whether actively or passively, is at the center of the algorithmic age. Each of us is honing our own "consumption algorithm" through "content" and will ultimately make choices that are in line with our "mindset."

If you ask me: "What will determine the driving force for the brand's continued growth in the next ten years?"

My answer is: “Content”.

The era of algorithms has arrived and is unstoppable. Brand long-termism, content-driven.

10 Extra

The articles I wrote recently, "The Six Underlying Logics of Consumer Brand Growth" and "The Three Axes of Tik Tok", received quite a big response from the market, and many fans also asked me whether it was possible to open courses.

First, I started writing the public account by chance, and I didn’t think about how much influence it would have. My original intention was just to share my experience in recent years so that I could help more people.

Second, my personal vision for the next ten years is to "empower brands to grow effectively." I may make many attempts. I believe that what a brand needs is not a third party, but more "outside insiders" who can empower, coach and accompany the brand. They need an "external perspective" who has awe of the market.

Third, my work experience covers a wide range, including products, e-commerce, retail, content, marketing, etc. I have given industry sharing, but I have never given a lecture and have no experience. If writing articles and giving lectures can help more people, I am willing to try it, and I welcome friends with experience and resources to give me more help.

END

Author: Growth on the road

Source: Growth on the way