More than 8,000 words! An article to understand the marketing on "brand hot search"

Preface:

I originally wanted to write a series on brand hot searches, starting from brand hot search content and observing how major brands use off-site communication and promotion strategies during major e-commerce nodes. As a result, news of a penalty from the Ministry of Cyberspace Affairs suddenly came, and the Weibo hot search list was temporarily removed for a week, with the topic on the list frozen at 3 pm on June 10. I have slightly adjusted the first article in the series I wrote before and put it out for further discussion. I hope it will be helpful to everyone.

In the era of information explosion, most people will not explore the source of hot searches. They are more concerned about what "hot searches" are and use hot search topics as topics of conversation. "XXX is on the hot search", "XXX is on the hot search again", "XXX has dominated the hot search list for XX days" ... we hear it incessantly, during afternoon tea in the office, weekend gatherings with girlfriends, brief chats in the elevator... and the top topics on the hot search list are almost all dominated by entertainment star news.

1. One company dominates the screen, and hundreds of hot searches contend

In the era of social media, to describe the popularity of something, the circle of friends is called "screen swiping", and decentralized social media such as Weibo is called "hot search". Hot topics, like headlines in the print media era, deliver social currency to the public quickly and accurately.

Xiaomi mobile phone’s daily searches, Baidu’s search rankings, Taobao’s hot search function launched in September 2019... Hot searches are the product of a platform gathering massive users and huge traffic. Each platform is working hard to set discussion topics for the public and use algorithms to build its own hot search mechanism, but the influence varies.

Why pay attention to trending searches?

From the perspective of brand investment, a Weibo hot search advertisement accounts for a large part of the brand's quarterly or annual budget. Not only does it have to pay the platform media fees (targeted national recommendation of hot topics, the publication rate is about 800,000. In the past few years, 5 rounds of broadcasting were more common, with only one brand appearing in one round, and one round is a single brush. Now during major e-commerce festivals, the number of hot search brands can be as high as 12+, and at most 2 brands will appear in each round); at the same time, it also has to invest a considerable amount of content production fees. For small and medium-sized brands, it is often the top event of the year. For large brands, hot searches have become commonplace and are an ordinary item in their huge media distribution matrix.

Weibo, the pioneer of social media in China, has more than 200 million daily active users and is a battleground for brand promotion . The Double 11 Shopping Festival is the most intense battlefield for e-commerce departments, and it is also a communication node that makes brands or marketing departments rack their brains.

In summary, Ran Xiaobo (official account: xiaobobrand) observed and recorded 209 brand Weibo hot searches during the 2019 "Double Eleven" period, and combined with practical experience, explored the experience and techniques of brands in playing with this advertising form.

List of hot search topics for brands during Double 11 Shopping Festival 2019

A complete Weibo hot search topic is composed of ① topic words (with a blue "recommended" at the end, usually ranked 3rd or 6th on the hot search list), ② topic page or list page, and ③ core materials. The card image on the topic page can directly jump to the landing page of activities such as e-commerce and official websites.

Examples of topic words and hot search rankings

Examples of ranking pages and topic pages

2. First impression of hot searches: Stars and luxury makeup

Some data

The brand hot search content from 2019.10.29 to 2019.11.14 was manually counted, with a total of 209 times .

The number of times in the fast-moving consumer goods industry accounted for about 1/3, including cosmetics and skin care, food and beverages, tobacco, alcohol, daily chemicals, etc. Among them, the cosmetics and skin care sub-industry ranked first, reaching 46 times.

Secondly, topics related to e-commerce platforms appeared about 45 times, with Tmall accounting for about 2/3. The third is the automotive industry, which appeared 14 times. In the cosmetics and skincare industry, the number of hot searches for major brands and the number of celebrity mentions are: Lancome 12 times (3 times, including 1 time by Wei Ya), Olay 8 times (4 times), Pechoin 6 times (2 times), Chando 4 times (3 times, Wei Ya), L'Oreal 3 times (2 times by male stars), and Estee Lauder 3 times (2 times by male stars).

Among the hot search topics, celebrity mention rates were quite high, with celebrity names appearing 40 times, supermodels once, well-known entrepreneurs once, and internet celebrities (bloggers or anchors) three times. From the industry perspective, cosmetics accounted for 21 times, fast-moving consumer goods 7 times, and household durable goods 6 times. Looking at individual celebrities, the top three mentioned times are: Xiao Zhan 5 times, Wang Yibo 5 times, Hua Chenyu 3 times, and Ma Sichun 3 times.

To sum up, first impression: there are too many stars.

The cosmetics are too expensive.

3. Content deconstruction: focus on the bright spots and then magnify them

Some media forms, such as giant outdoor advertising spaces, are easy to stand out once they are injected with creativity. They have visual impact and are topical, and are easy to cause spontaneous dissemination, such as the giant outdoor advertisement of Airpods:

But it’s obviously not a hot search. There are generally two levels of jumps from the topic word to the landing page. Whether it is user cultivation, attracting new traffic, or for brand exposure, image and recognition enhancement, the focus is always on the core materials - pictures or videos. It may be a set of tonal graphics, a celebrity video that awakens the desire to buy, a tense offline flash review short film, or a brand crossover that makes people feel interesting and cool.

In a word, aim at or create a "bright spot", pick it out and then magnify it.

The sources of brand hot search content can be roughly classified into the following categories or their combinations:

1. Star-oriented

In an era of scarce attention, top traffic stars who bring their own topics are like a magic bullet, easily breaking through consumers' psychological defenses while demonstrating their impressive ability to bring goods. They are often used in official announcements of new endorsements, warm-up of celebrity events, etc.

In mature industries, the use of celebrity resources helps differentiate the brand image from competing products, and celebrity products are more like a catalyst, the final push that facilitates consumer decisions. For brands in the start-up phase, it can quickly narrow the distance between the brand and consumers and build trust.

Reference topics: Xiao Zhan's lipstick micro-movie, meeting Li Xian by chance on the subway, grabbing Xiao Zhan's foundation, grabbing Ma Sichun's cream for staying up late, Luo Zhixiang makes you happy, Zhou Dongyu has great skin, Guan Xiaotong endorses SDEER, Reba falls in love with Swisse Xiao Q, chief night owl Hua Chenyu, Hua Chenyu is waiting for you to go home, Zhao Jinmai's raw photos, Yang Mi stocked up a car full of clothes and perfumes, eating hot pot with JJ Lin in the mountain city, etc.

2. Cross-border orientation

Good cross-border cooperation allows both parties to complement each other's resources and achieve a win-win situation. Cross-border cooperation has three functions: one is to provide high-quality content materials, two is to attract fans of the other party, and three is to use the other party’s IP to enrich the brand connotation, enhance the brand appeal, resonate with consumers, and influence consumers’ perception: this is an interesting/warm/attitude brand .

In 2019, various cross-border joint hit products emerged one after another. The cross-border joint model between Uniqlo and the trendy IP Kaws has set off a wave of rush to buy. "National tide" consumption is on the rise, the cultural IP of the Forbidden City is popular, and cross-border actions are frequent; time-honored domestic brands such as White Rabbit, Wangzai, and Lao Gan Ma have all crossed borders to create momentum and re-enter the vision of young people with a new and vibrant attitude.

Among the hot topics on Double Eleven 2019, cross-border content was also a major source of content. What impressed me most was that the crossover between Dongfeng Nissan and M&Ms was more novel and interesting, and easier to stand out, compared to the didactic way other car brands convey their brand values.

Reference topics: Cute and heartwarming Sydney’s arrival (Uni-President×Linefriends), M&M’s secret travel photos revealed (Dongfeng Nissan×M&M), Wear a MOSCHINOxBudweiser, Nezha’s glorious return (Glory×Nezha), Treasure milk tea with super filling (Nayuki’s Tea×Karl Lafayette), etc.

3. Product orientation

If you want to break out of the homogeneity dilemma, you must rely on differentiating your brand image, which requires long-term and continuous investment. The second is product differentiation .

As a single breakthrough point, it is relatively easy to operate and easy for consumers to remember; at the same time, it can also be used as a major bargaining chip to gain resources within the e-commerce site. This can be seen from the traffic support provided by major e-commerce platforms to new or featured products, such as Tmall Little Black Box, U-You Trial, Alibaba Auction Calendar (celebrity version), etc.

The directions for creating product differentiation are: one is the upgrading and transformation of existing products and the development of new products, aiming to create phenomenal hits; the other is the development of new product categories . For example, in the mobile phone and cosmetics industries, which have a strong sense of technology and high functional requirements, hard-core black technology patents and exclusive formulas are their unique killer weapons, which are used to create differentiation and break through from competitors.

Of course, this depends on a systematic product strategy layout and a strong R&D team. Whether it is a newly improved and upgraded product or a completely new category, e-commerce festivals such as Double 11 are the times when merchants are keen to launch their products.

Reference topics: Xiaomi mobile phone with 100 million pixels, do celebrities’ makeup come off when exercising, Chanel Imprint Library, Divine Gemstone Lipstick, the must-stock purple bottle for Double 11, the small green bottle family that celebrities love to use, and Yang Mi stockpiles a car full of clothes and perfume.

4. Event-oriented (brand is the main body)

Brands that know how to handle things and create festivals have the power to make them the focus of public opinion.

The hot search topic of Double Eleven 2019: #Dong Mingzhu gives up 3 billion yuan in profits to crack down on counterfeit products#, was launched online the day before Double Eleven, and was also spread on public accounts and news platforms. Quality is an important factor in home appliance consumption decisions. "Ms. Dong" has become Gree's living signboard, representing Gree's high quality. Behind her tough and high-profile attitude is Gree's confidence in its own products, which is used to win consumers' trust in the brand.

Being fearless of controversy and daring to take a high profile must be backed by strong strength.

The other type is brand PR events, such as various press conferences, celebrity meet-and-greets, etc., which aim to create momentum and seize the right to speak , such as #Bosideng Dengfeng Series Press Conference#, which uses topical products to showcase the brand's high-end and high-tech feel. The Dengfeng series, a topical product, is very topical just for its price of 11,800 yuan, apart from its style design and warmth retention performance. As for the publicity and promotion, more than 50 KOLs spoke out on Weibo alone, covering authoritative media such as newspapers and magazines, major fashion and entertainment information bloggers, fashion and travel bloggers, etc., all of whom shared the same view: Bosideng = high-end, high-tech.

Reference topics: China UnionPay Poetry POS Machine Tour (from a public welfare perspective), Vatti’s “Refund if France wins the World Cup”, Double Eleven GXG’s “Free bill if it rains”, etc.

5. Sponsorship orientation

Product placement and sponsorship in TV dramas, variety shows, concerts, sports events, etc. is very expensive, and is more favored by industries such as mobile phones, fast-moving consumer goods, and automobiles.

The investment for a complete sponsorship and communication project includes: licensing fee + content production fee + media promotion fee. For deep product placement in TV dramas, the basic quote is 1 million for one plot. If it is a shallow product placement, the materials obtained are limited and there are many restrictions on use. It is basically impossible to increase brand awareness by relying solely on the popularity of the drama/program without promotion.

Similar topics: Oreo's sponsorship of "Who's the Detective", Safeguard's sponsorship of "Growing Up", Cadillac's sponsorship of JJ Lin's concert, were all further spread through hot search resources or fan UGC content.

6. Others

The basic idea is to hype up the topic of "harmless" to trigger resonance and discussion, "plant grass" for a certain product in the discussion, softly convey a certain brand point of view, or guide consumers to have a certain impression of the brand to influence the target group . Although it may seem like "unproductive", it may have touched your heart. For example, Bosideng’s #Bosideng is windproof and rainproof but not bulletproof# was on the hot search list twice. The topic is a bit nonsensical, but when you click on it, you will see some promotional articles from many top KOLs. Perhaps because there are too many of them, the execution is not in place, the content is a bit stiff and the persuasiveness is limited.

For example, Kotex sanitary napkin #It's too hard to be single# had an exposure of nearly 100 million and nearly 10,000 discussions. "Single" easily resonates with people, especially young girls, which is also consistent with Kotex's consumer group. The brand lowers its status to chat with netizens, then uses big Vs to grab the front row, increase its presence to gain favor, and reach the target group in a tactful way. But please note that the brand must plan the connection points and exposure forms in advance, otherwise the presence will be too weak and the funds will be wasted .

Among the top ten trending searches on Weibo, more than half are related to celebrities. Among the 209 hot searches counted this time, celebrity-related searches accounted for 1/6 . But celebrities are just a direction. If there are no celebrity resources available, the core content should be planned according to the brand’s stage goals and existing resources, which requires higher creativity . For example, Dongfeng Nissan and M&M's cross-border cooperation, and GISAIDAI's nine boyfriend-prediction gels. For details, please refer to the core content analysis section above.

4. Effect evaluation: Reality > Data itself

Hot searches act as a medium, and their status and role are different in different brands and projects. When talking about the effect of hot searches, "brand and effect integration" must be mentioned again, and the ideal result is to achieve both volume and sales .

For small and medium-sized brands, they may pursue short-term results and hope to see immediate results.

During the observation, it was found that in the ranking of users participating in a certain topic, a certain ordinary Weibo account directly occupied the top position on its own. The number was too eye-catching and the water content was also obvious. In a sense, truth is far more important than the data itself. To evaluate the effect of hot searches, the following dimensions are provided for reference:

1. Exposure and interaction

Both are still the main reference values, provided that the data are true and valid! Now at work, when dealing with bloggers, MCNs, and advertising companies, they always emphasize the authenticity of the data, and even write data falsification into the breach of contract liability clauses in the contract.

The "View Data Details" function has been launched on the Weibo mobile app, which allows users to view real-time popularity, including data on reading, discussion, number of original posts, and other data. However, this is the result of the comprehensive use of various advertising types on the Weibo platform, including search rankings, startup pages, KOLs, Fans Channel, etc., which must be excluded from the calculation.

2. Traffic diversion, Card jump PV and UV

The topic page Card can be directed to e-commerce or other landing pages. In previous operations, it was found that the traffic data displayed on the Weibo backend did not match the data collected on the e-commerce site.

If it leads to a Taobao page, considering that the accuracy of Taobao and Tmall's monitoring of off-site traffic needs to be evaluated, a separate detection link can be generated for the landing page to facilitate statistics. In the Weibo Fans Channel campaign, if the budget exceeds RMB 300,000, you can choose the U-micro plan jointly launched by Sina and Alibaba, so that the e-commerce interactive behaviors of Weibo users can be deposited in the brand Tmall data bank, making the marketing effects traceable. At the same time, you can conduct secondary marketing on these deposited users.

3. Actual sales conversion

There are many factors that require comprehensive analysis and will not be expanded upon.

5. Operational experience: from cognition to skills

1. Foundation and Prerequisites: Determine the Target and Core Communication Group

For all communication campaigns, no matter how big or small the project is, please first identify the core communication group and target, and then consider the implementation form, theme, core materials, and whether the appeal method is direct or indirect, emotional or rational. On this premise, evaluating whether the hot search resources are suitable will help achieve the goal.

2. Hot searches are results and phenomena, and are a competition of pre-buried topics

On the surface, it seems that the good-looking data was obtained because it was on the hot search; on a deeper level, it is a game between pre-buried topics.

The attractiveness of the topic itself basically determines the scope of the communication effect - whether it can be clicked, discussed, and searched, and fermented into a "phenomenal" hot search, allowing users to truly remember and be interested in the brand, and then search for you, pay attention to you, think about you, and want to own you.

Hot searches are special media resources that attract a lot of attention. Being on the trending search list is itself a topic and an event, and can be used for secondary dissemination. However, if the content is too stiff or has little topicality, it is not recommended to blindly choose hot search resources, as it is easy to get too carried away and waste your funds.

3. Reality and accumulated value are more important than the data itself

The effect data in each final report is remarkable. But looking good is not necessarily real, and being popular may just be an illusion. Data falsification and the covert creation of a "Truman Show" version of advertising have caused participants in the entire chain to speculate on each other and judge the truth and falsehood, resulting in a loss of trust. The focus on data only is one of the incentives for data falsification.

Compared with the data itself, I personally think that it is more important whether the content sedimentation formed by hot searches can reach and touch a certain group of people and increase their brand impression points. If you just want exposure, boot screen ads, information flow ads and other forms can be used as alternatives.

4. Maintain the bottom line, respect consumers, and avoid overturning

Indifference is not the worst outcome; disgust is what makes a brand lose the most points. When the hot search content causes general discomfort among netizens, they directly criticize the brand in the comments, causing a crash. The main sources of the crash are:

(1) Forced bragging, causing ridicule

So beautiful, so good, so popular, etc., with the intention of brainwashing the audience.

(2) Biased views

For example, a certain medical beauty platform launched a "become beautiful" discount on Double 11. The related materials were in disguise "encouraging" girls to do photorejuvenation and whitening, and inject hyaluronic acid to make their faces three-dimensional, thus standardizing the standard of beauty and causing netizens to complain.

(3) Excessive cleverness

Blindly pursuing eyeballs will lead to disgust, such as L'Oreal's recent #官鸿退圈今晚#. The circle here refers to dark circles under the eyes, not the entertainment circle. However, it is ambiguous in itself and collides with the real topic of a certain artist's retirement from the circle on that day. It was boycotted by fans as soon as it went online. However, it was removed by the brand before the situation could escalate further, and the celebrity materials that had been released were also deleted.

(4) Negative brand chain reaction

On the day of Double 11 in 2019, the incident of Pechoin “breaking an appointment” with Li Jiaqi fermented and directly rushed into the hot search list, dwarfing the paid hot search of the day #Pechoin sold out# Another major trigger is the bad experience consumers have due to the service attitude of the staff and bugs in the activity design, which is also a major fuse.

In short, be less tricky and more sincere, start from the audience's perspective, respect consumers, and maintain the bottom line and public acceptance.

5. Systematic thinking, looking at the entire communication matrix and rhythm

From the composition of the hot search itself, the topic word is the main title, the core material is the main text, and the topic word position is the resource, which is the unity of the three.

From a horizontal perspective, it is only one link in communication and must take into account the entire media ecological layout. It could be the voice of different advertising forms on a single Weibo platform, in which KOLs play a major role; it could be the joint efforts of Weibo and other platforms. For example, Dongfeng Nissan and M&Ms’ cross-border advertising has been launched on platforms such as Weibo, WeChat Moments, and Douyin. Therefore, within the budget framework, how to optimize the matching of content and resources is the key to maximizing the effect.

From a vertical perspective, hot searches usually go online after the brand has laid the groundwork and accumulated momentum, playing a detonating role. Therefore, it is very important to control the rhythm, although there is the possibility of being intercepted by new hot spots.

Double 11 is the hot-selling season for down jackets. Bosideng has made continuous efforts and used 5 hot search resources. The content ranges from new product launches to cross-border joint models. It has used the combination of hot search + KOL to promote and disseminate in a very planned way.

Volkswagen arranged two waves of hot searches to talk about the renewal of its logo, and used newcomers from online variety shows in the past two years to shoot advertising videos to express its youthfulness. At present, you can still see Volkswagen’s new “youth-oriented” advertisements on multiple platforms such as Douyin. This is an ongoing communication campaign.

6. Skillfully pass the first level of "topic words"

Whether hot search content can reach target users and achieve the goal of communicating with consumers, it must first pass the first hurdle: topic words . The click-through rate of topic words directly affects the exposure effect of hot searches. The topic word copywriting techniques are summarized as follows:

(1) With celebrity names

Xiao Zhan: #Xiao Zhan lipstick micro-movie#, #Grab the peeled foundation#, #Yuanyuan Sichun Xiao Zhan OLAY#, #Xiao Zhan live broadcast of the little white bottle#; Wang Yibo: #Wang Yibo is proud of his strength#, #Wang Yibo can't let it go#, #Wang Yibo's shining moment#, #Wang Yibo beauty blogger#, #Wang Yibo guards you#

(2) Questions

#Do celebrities lose their makeup when exercising#, #Have you got lucky today#, #Should we take a holiday on Double 11#, #Why do you keep playing the same song on repeat#, #How many faces do women have#

(3) Suspense

#mdou travel secret photos revealed#

(4) Subversion

#Xiaomi mobile phone 100 million pixels#

(5) Repetition

#It’s so hard to be single# (resonance), #Bosidengdengdengdengdeng Everest# (nonsense, leading to the post-launch and topical products)

(6) Numbers

#Other people's 9 boyfriends#

(7) Lenovo (hotspot)

#OMG the final payment is here#, #let's have a Koala DISCO#

The above techniques are all based on common consumer psychological behaviors, such as curiosity and herd mentality. Or it could be the addition of several psychological or technical methods. To a certain extent, except for the first main psychological method, the more points, jokes and techniques there are, the better the overall effect will be.

7. Unofficial Operation

Difficult to explain, use appropriately. From the experience of participating in topic discussions, apart from the spontaneous spread of hot social topics, most of the ones involving commercial purposes basically have human intervention, using bugs or calculation rules to hype up a topic.

For example, a brand hot search and a social hot search topic, both of which are in the top 10 of the hot search list, are posted on Weibo with the same topic, and the difference in reading volume is obvious, which can indirectly reflect some facts.

In 2019, the hot searches related to products, such as cat claw cup, deer cup, Airpods, etc., are very concealed, and it is difficult to see traces of "manipulation". Even if there are any, few people will go into it deeply, and they are very topical in themselves.

VI. Trend Discussion: Audience, Content, and Platform

Hot searches are a form of brand hype, and were originally intended to convey a feeling to the outside world: the brand/product is very popular. But hot searches are not the only way to prove that a brand is popular. KOL voices, various rankings, advertising, etc. can also serve as substitutes or be used in conjunction with them. What will the future of advertising searches look like? The following viewpoints are for discussion:

1. There are more platforms, and we should seize the bonus period of new platforms

QQ, Weibo, WeChat, Toutiao, Xiaohongshu, Douyin, Kuaishou... appeared one after another. Even if the former has a large market share, new apps still have the opportunity to break through and complete user scale and system business layout and monetization as quickly as possible. It is not difficult to judge that with more and more platforms, consumers' attention is becoming more and more fragmented, and the time spent on each platform is becoming more and more uneven, which will affect the brand's media selection and budget allocation of each platform.

Data source: iResearch APP Index, as of April 2020

However, the iteration of new and old media is not simply the latter replacing the former, but a process of coexistence and deduction. Such as WeChat and QQ, BBS and vertical communities. Portals and forums rose and fell almost together, but the latter split into smaller vertical communities and continue to exist, forming various interest circles, such as photography, animation, pets, etc. The number of users in the circles is relatively small, but the activity level is much higher. Compared with vertical communities, platform apps for the general public have a larger user base and are more suitable for brands to develop or maintain their visibility.

In addition, every phenomenal social media entertainment app has enormous explosive power in its early stages, and there are more opportunities to plan ahead. The new platform needs to find industry benchmarks as successful cases, which means more "priority display" opportunities; the platform needs to be standardized and improved, and the cost-effectiveness may be higher. The disadvantage is that users’ search habits have not yet been formed and the influence is relatively limited.

2. E-commerce is fully involved, the links are shorter and the shopping guide is stronger

Whether it is traditional e-commerce or social e-commerce, after gaining a large number of users, content layout is always put on the agenda. For example, Taobao Tmall, Weitao, brand accounts, the Ali v-task platform that helps content production, hot search functions with stronger product orientation, etc., are all attempts at content layout to increase the platform's visibility and improve user stickiness.

Therefore, Jack Ma once said in an interview, "Every night about 17 million people visit Tmall and Taobao websites, but they don't buy anything; I don't know what these people are doing, they are just wandering around. So your website can't just be used for shopping; experience, fun, communication, sharing , etc. are more important." In life, there are many people browsing Taobao on their mobile phones on buses and subways.

3. Content is getting softer

Hot search resources are a bit like information flow ads. Early information flow ads were also called native ads because they were mixed in with other information, making them more concealed and reducing user resistance. The same was true for paid hot searches, which were mixed in with natural hot search topics. However, once this form of advertising is used in large quantities, users can easily identify it and its effect will become smaller.

If you treat trending searches as hard advertising resources and push rigid advertising content, the effect will be greatly reduced. On the other hand, increasing the topicality and interest of the content and then amplifying it through hot search resources can significantly improve the diffusion effect.

For example, L'Oréal Paris' #王源爱无时间区别# combines the hot topics of celebrities studying abroad with a set of life-like graphics to show the daily life of celebrities, and naturally integrates the products into it, which is friendly and real, and may be more accepted.

4. Media comes second

In most cases, the medium is secondary, a loudspeaker that amplifies the voice. The key premise is: who is saying it and what is being said.

Especially important for new brands, hot searches create an opportunity to directly reach potential customers. Each touchpoint content must be carefully designed to make consumers fall in love at first sight and turn from passers-by into fans, thereby acquiring seed users and accumulating brand popularity.

5. Standardization of Advertising Law

Baidu search bidding ads are marked with the word [Advertisement], self-media KOLs publish brand soft articles with the word [Promotion], and the grass-planting community Xiaohongshu App was removed from the shelves due to fake notes. All of these indicate that laws related to the Advertising Law will only become more standardized and strict, and brands can only adjust and adapt when using them.

It can be predicted that in the future advertising formats will become more transparent and easier to identify, which will place increasingly higher requirements on the content delivered. For example, a hot search topic word may not have the word [推荐] written on it, but directly use the word [推广], which will greatly weaken the effect.

7. Extended thinking: Building a brand [hot search body]

The rise of every phenomenal social app will give rise to new forms of advertising. And these advertising formats rise and fall. It’s about user experience and trust. From natural hot searches to paid hot searches, hot searches have become a common form of media and one of the channels for brands to express their opinions. At the same time, they have also begun to be viewed by users as hard advertisements.

For wealthy brands, being on the trending search list is as easy as taking candy from a baby. For more brands, being on the trending search list is just the icing on the cake. At this stage, there are more worthy areas to invest in and generate greater value.

In comparison, creating a "hot search body" is far more important than "the last hot search".

The former is the source of living water, and the latter is the pipeline. Hot searches are rooted in product strength and brand power. It may come from super products, ultimate service/experience, or unique brand spirit and image. And these are closely related to the spirit of "extreme".

Be persistent in product development, create the ultimate product experience, attract fans and win loyalty, such as Kindle. Being very dedicated to service and treating it as if it were a first date fully demonstrates the brand's sincerity and respect for consumers, such as Haidilao. We are obsessed with content, and every touchpoint content has a tone and resonates with consumers, so we can get into the hearts of consumers little by little, attract fans, and continuously communicate and maintain the brand. Only in this way can the brand be remembered, searched, used, and form a habit.

Hot search resources are a great tonic. Without a good foundation, they will not be able to benefit from the tonic and will damage the brand’s popularity. Therefore, the prerequisite is to first lay a solid foundation and enrich the brand's inner qualities, so that the brand will have greater potential and stamina and a wider range of subsequent choices.

For example, industry-leading brands such as Uniqlo, Miniso, DW watches, etc. are in a leading position in one or more aspects such as supply chain, product research and development, channel layout, etc., have a relatively stable customer base, and the brand itself is well-known and influential. They have the qualifications to be cool about trending searches, but if some brands make big moves, such as upgrading their brand image, or announcing a new spokesperson who will bring in incremental users, the effect can be amplified by combining with trending searches.

On November 11, 2019, Roman electric toothbrush brand Tmall store achieved sales of 10 million in 95 minutes

And some small and beautiful brands, or new dark horse brands that emerged during Double Eleven. They break through by focusing on one or a few dimensions, initially forming memory points and unique auras, gaining a group of early users and converting them into loyal fans. Although the investment in celebrity resources cannot compete with the big names in the industry, they have a certain foundation and a clear brand positioning and development direction. They are more cautious about investment and can only spend money where it counts, with limited budgets.

It is precisely the brands in the middle position that tend to lack a sense of crisis and "feel good about themselves". They are not much different from their peers in all aspects. However, the differences in all aspects actually gradually open up a large gap, which is ultimately reflected in the difference in brand value and market share.

“Being on” the trending search is a form of media placement. Regarding advertising, many people agree with the logic of "build the brand first, then talk about advertising", but it is difficult to implement in reality. Building a brand requires large initial investment and a long payback period. There are many people in the market who are doing well without building a "brand" (in the short term). You have to survive first and then develop. These are all "stumbling blocks". As a result, in reality, it is still not uncommon to see brands that invest just for the sake of investing and pay for bad content.

Finally, I hope that the funds that continue to be spent can be fully utilized in the second half of the year to help the brand break out of the circle or defend the title.

Author: Ran Xiaobo

Source: Ran Xiaobo

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