“WeChat ban” is an obstacle that Chinese Internet companies cannot avoid

In the past two days, Wang Xin, Luo Yonghao and Toutiao jointly released three social products. One of the products released by Wang Xin, "Matou", was banned by WeChat just over a day after it was launched. This matter has become a hot topic and has also aroused heated discussions among everyone. Some support WeChat, some support Matou. In short, both the pros and cons have their own opinions.

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Well, I also want to talk about my opinion. Someone said that the reason why the toilet was banned was because it was too high-profile. The product was not very good, but it held a high-profile press conference. In contrast, no domestic company is so high-profile. Then he pointed out that Wang Xin was just trying to attract attention. If you really want to do something, you have to be low-key to get things done. Then he said a lot of "chicken soup" and won the support of many people. So let's see if Wang Xin is really high-profile?

Many startups don’t have the money to hold press conferences.

For a newly-started Wang Xin, or a startup company, very few can afford to hold a press conference in the early stage of entrepreneurship. Among many startup companies I have contacted, the first reason is that many companies have no money, especially small and medium-sized startups. Very few can hold press conferences. After all, a simple press conference costs at least tens of thousands, and the better ones cost hundreds of thousands or millions. Another reason why many startup companies do not hold press conferences is that the boss is not professional and does not understand. Many entrepreneurs who start their own businesses are not necessarily very professional. They only start their own businesses when they are very professional in a certain field. For example, I know a doctor who started his own business, and he may not understand what public relations is, or a university professor who started his own business, and he also does not understand. Such non-Internet entrepreneurs who enter the Internet circle to start a business are often confused and have to explore step by step, unless there is a professional public relations person to talk to them. Of course, there are also some startup bosses who may know, but do not approve of this method, feel that public relations is useless, and will not hold press conferences. Therefore, from the perspective of the entire entrepreneurial circle, there are very few people who are really willing to spend money on press conferences. The companies that actually hold press conferences are the big companies, even the wealthy ones.

So is it necessary to hold a press conference? Is it useful?

As a person who has worked in multiple positions such as operations and marketing, it is very necessary. For any startup company, in the early stage of its establishment, in addition to solving the problems of team and funds, the most important issue is users. If there are no users, you will face buying users from the market, or let users know you to use them. These are two channels for obtaining users. The first channel is how you spend money to buy users. According to the current market price, the cost of a high-quality natural user, or a real user, is about 50 yuan. The user cost of some vertical industries such as finance and e-commerce is more than 200 yuan. If you follow the standard of a startup company promoting 100,000 users, the price to obtain 100,000 users is about 5 million, which is the price you pay. Even if you have money to buy, you can't buy 100,000 users in one day. In order to buy these 100,000 users, you may have to do a good job of background monitoring and user analysis. You also have to recruit channel managers, connect channels, communicate positions, etc., because if you do not do enough in one aspect, your 5 million may be wasted, because the users you bought may be very watery. Overall, buying users from channels requires huge manpower, financial resources, material resources, and even time.

Of course, if you can hold a press conference and expand the popularity of the product, these 100,000 users may come in one day, because users know your product through the media and spread it to other users, and users will automatically download your product. I remember that I once broke a fake news to a media company during promotion and obtained media coverage. As a result, we had 4,000 to 5,000 new users a day. For a startup company, 4,000 to 5,000 high-quality natural users are of extraordinary value. But if we have to push it hard, according to our usual dozens or hundreds of new users a day, it is estimated to take half a month or even a month. After this time, according to the boss's cost, the cost of a company with 20 people a week is more than 200,000, and this month it is 400,000 to 500,000. Of course, if you are the boss, are you willing to spend 5 million to buy 100,000 users or spend several months of time, manpower and other costs to "work out" 100,000 users?

From this point of view, Wang Xin is obviously a professional startup boss. At least through his popularity and media publicity, MaChong has gained at least hundreds of thousands of users. After all, I have registered and been tricked. Through media publicity, not only can users download and spread, but also investors' attention can be obtained. Why not do this kind of thing that kills two birds with one stone? Therefore, for a startup company, if it has money, it still has to hold a press conference.

“WeChat ban” is an obstacle that Chinese Internet companies cannot avoid

In China's entrepreneurial environment, whether you are high-profile or low-profile, it has nothing to do with WeChat's ban. NetEase often posts high-profile moments, and WeChat didn't ban it. However, Wang Xin held a press conference and was banned by WeChat. This has nothing to do with being high-profile or low-profile, but it has to do with whether you understand the rules of WeChat. If you want to start a business, in China's Internet companies, "WeChat ban" is an obstacle you can't avoid. Even if you start a business in a low-key manner and do nothing, but you violate the regulations and rules, WeChat will still ban you. I don't think WeChat will spare you just because you are a startup, but will specifically ban you if you are too high-profile.

WeChat doesn’t need a reason to ban you. For example, in this post, WeChat banned you by inducing clicks through explicit or implicit means. After all, there are only two types of advertising copywriting. WeChat has said that if you put an advertisement, you cannot have copywriting or text. Since there is text, you are either explicit or implicit. After all, I don’t believe that it is not easy to say something without explicit or implicit meaning. For example, I have eaten. The explicit meaning is that you have eaten, and the implicit meaning is that you are hungry. You cannot say what WeChat means. If you say it, it will be a violation. Therefore, facing the rules of WeChat, there is no need for a reason to ban you. If you must have a reason, it is a hint: I still want to ban you, and the explicit meaning is: you have violated the rules.

Therefore, if you want to start a business, organize activities, mix in the Chinese Internet circle, and spread information in WeChat social groups, you must consider the factor of "WeChat ban". This has nothing to do with whether you challenge WeChat or not. Even if you challenge it, you can still succeed if you comply with its rules, just like Toutiao. Regardless of whether you are high-profile or not, as long as you violate the rules, WeChat will ban you. This requires that if you want to start a business in the Chinese Internet industry, you must understand the rules of many platforms, WeChat rules, Weibo rules, Cyberspace Administration rules, etc., and you must also prepare emergency plans after being banned, otherwise you are an entrepreneur who does not understand the Chinese Internet.

High-profile PR and press conferences are not an excuse for a company to go bankrupt

When a company goes bankrupt or dies, there are often many media or founders who attribute the reasons for the closure or death to the high profile or even public relations in the early stage. I think it is quite funny. There are many factors for the closure of a company. From the establishment to the development and growth of a company, there are thousands or hundreds of factors that can lead to the death of the company. These factors include external factors, internal factors, etc. For example, is the current situation of 0F0 caused by the early release? Of course not. The core reason has been exposed by Lao Ma.

Of course, some companies went bankrupt because the group company dissolved them. Some companies went bankrupt because they developed tens of millions of users but never found a profit model, and some companies went bankrupt because they had been in business for three or four years, and a group of development teams worked overtime every day to constantly revise the version, and they were exhausted. Some products were not good and did not meet user needs. Whether you hold a press conference or not, your company will go bankrupt. Of course, if you have no money, your company will go bankrupt. When the economy is bad, the bubble will also go bankrupt...

The closure of companies is a normal metabolism of Chinese companies and a normal phenomenon of industry replacement. After all, 90% of companies have closed down, and only 10% or even less of them have succeeded in starting a business. After all, there are only so many people in China and so much GDP. If everyone starts a business and succeeds, it is impossible. Therefore, only those who can calmly face the closure of companies and the ban on WeChat are mature entrepreneurs. Starting a business is not easy. It is a life-and-death battle. After all, there are so many pitfalls in the process of starting a business. It is not easy to wade through hundreds or thousands of pitfalls and achieve success.

In general, when starting a business, you should use all the necessary means to promote your products to users. You may not necessarily fail if you use them, but if you don’t, you won’t have any users and you will definitely die. You have to know that users won’t fall into your product from the sky.