7 trends in private domain operations in 2022

At a recent dinner, someone asked me: How long do you think the benefits of private domains will last?

I smiled and said, the first wave of private domain has ended, but you can seize the second wave of private domain at the moment.

Hearing this, you may have questions:

Why do you make such a prediction?

Why is it called the second wave of private domain?

So what was that first wave like?

Today’s article is my in-depth thinking on the past, present and future of private domain as a practical participant. I suggest you read it carefully.

1. Let’s talk about the first wave of private domain

The first time I heard the term "private domain traffic" was in 2017. Later, I looked it up and found that there was no comprehensive definition or description of "private domain traffic", and there were very few specialized articles.

So, in early 2018, I wrote an article titled "Why is everyone starting to talk about private domain traffic and what does it mean to the business? ”, in this article I gave the complete concept of “private domain traffic” for the first time.

That year, I also joined Huzan and served as VP of new retail strategy. Huzan pioneered many firsts in the private domain industry and was also a team that received financing very early. We pioneered the private domain consulting service at that time. Our first client was Quanmianshidai, which purchased the Huzan software but did not see much results after promoting it internally for half a year.

The then COO Mr. Zhai invited Tiantian (founder of Huzan) and me to a meeting at their company. At the meeting, Mr. Zhai was very optimistic about private domains and believed that consumer-centric operations were inevitable in the retail industry. This view coincides with mine and we agree very much.

So, I quickly decided to lead a team to help them promote systematic operations in the private domain from within. There were huge resistance and difficulties in the early stages. After half a year of internal promotion, there was no effect. The stores did not understand and were unwilling to support it. When I arrived in Shenzhen, I didn't go to the hotel, but went directly to Shenzhen All Cotton Times for research. I talked to the store manager and the clerks one by one, and had sesame cakes for dinner that day. It was very hard at that time. The project assistant I hired left because he couldn't handle it after only two days.

In the end, it took us only 20 days to pilot 20 stores in Shenzhen, and we quickly achieved the private domain from 0 to 1, generated more than 200,000 in sales, and made the stores truly see money. Looking back, when the first transaction took place on WeChat, we were so excited that we almost cried.

Finally, Mr. Zhai gave our project team a red envelope. I would like to thank Mr. Zhai for his strong support. This project also greatly promoted the upgrade of the operational experience of the Huzan SaaS system. I often went to the open space in the office building to hold conference calls with product technology.

This project is of far-reaching significance. Quanmian had been pushing for it for half a year without any progress, but we succeeded in the pilot project in less than 30 days and made money, which greatly boosted their internal confidence. Of course, our team has also gained experience in promoting the systematic private domain of billions of brands.

After 2018, the private domain began to explode, Huzan also received multiple rounds of financing, and the industry continued to promote it. 2019 is the first year of the private domain. That year, I attended the Jianshi Private Domain Conference in November. From my first public sharing, I evolved from a private domain user to a super user.

Then, faced with the epidemic in 2020, private domains became the life-saving straw for enterprises. As cases of Lin Qingxuan, Xibei and others achieving counter-cyclical growth through private domains were all over the screen, private domains penetrated into large, medium and small enterprises in 2020 and became a must-have artifact.

Therefore, I regard 2018-2021 as the first wave of private domain.

Looking back, the development of the first wave of private domains, the companies involved and the ways of playing have obvious characteristics:

In 2021, after the epidemic eased, I saw that some companies no longer paid attention to it, reduced their investment in private domains, and even some companies’ private domain teams were reduced or cut. The popularity of private domains began to decline, and there were more negative voices.

I know that the private domain has encountered a bottleneck. This bottleneck stems from one’s own cognition. There are very few companies that can truly continue to delve deeply into the private domain, have long-term thinking, strategic layout, and continuous investment.

Therefore, in the first wave of private domain, the biggest beneficiaries are some e-commerce companies, consumer brands, and retail companies. They achieved growth most directly, gained respite through private domains, and survived the epidemic crisis.

2. The second wave of private domains is coming

Originally, I also thought that with the end of the epidemic, the heat wave in the private domain would also pass. I know that private domain is the only way for enterprises, and it is just the beginning. I have mentioned this in my book "Super User Growth".

But unexpectedly, the epidemic is still recurring, and from the beginning of this year to now, it seems to be more serious and frequent. Still, many businesses are unable to open stores and are working from home, which shows that the epidemic is not really over.

Especially the recent lockdown of the entire city of Shenzhen and Shanghai has once again made many companies realize that private domains are still very important. Competition remains fierce and the cost of acquiring customers remains high. In order to increase revenue and reduce costs, companies must establish private domains.

Therefore, some companies have a new understanding: private domain can not only save lives in the short term, but should be a long-term necessity.

From the business needs and market changes I have felt this year. I intuitively judge that the second wave of private domain seems to be coming starting from 2022.

The second wave will have some distinct changes and put forward higher requirements for enterprises. In summary, it will show some trend characteristics:

1. Companies that seize opportunities in the first wave of private domain development will continue to lead and widen the gap with their competitors as long as they persist in iteration.
2.  Companies in low-frequency rigid demand/durable goods and 2B industries will become the new wave of drivers , such as real estate, automobiles, software, home appliances and tiles, etc. Since the beginning of this year, we have received inquiries from several clients in the real estate, automobile, and 2B industries. This means that the private domain will penetrate further downwards.
3.  Industries with high profits and quick money making are joining the private domain involution , such as games, finance, etc. Recently, a gaming company consulted me through an industry insider. In the past, they were all about making quick money and big money, but now they have realized that they need to do the hard and detailed work, and the private domain is a place they must fight for.
4.  Competition in the private domain is no longer limited to piecemeal, single-point operations. Enterprises are proactively planning operations based on customer strategies and systematic thinking. This is also the demand I have received from enterprises recently. It is obvious that they are beginning to have a long-term mindset .
5.  Service providers with private domain strategic consulting, top-level and strategy design will be more favored, and pure private domain agency operations will face a reshuffle.
6.  Private domain SAAS manufacturers with a single technical mindset will be eliminated in large numbers, and those that can transform operational experience into product strength will accelerate their success. It will also drive SaaS vendors to deeply cooperate with strategic operational service providers.
7. In 2022, upgrading from customer privatization to customer digitization will become inevitable . In 2021, we have already provided digital consulting solutions to our customers, including a full range of services ranging from customer strategy, top-level design, organizational structure, strategy formulation and process solution design, to technology needs assessment.

Today, private domains have become as common as air. This does not mean that they are unimportant. On the contrary, they are important.

I talked about this in Super User Growth.

The essence of private domain is to manage customer relationships. Private domain operation does not change the user's position, but changes the user's relationship.

Relationship means trust, and trust means transaction. Building and maintaining consumer relationships is a must for every business.

Of course, private domain is not the end, but a new beginning.

If you missed the first wave of private domain, you must catch the second wave.