B-side operation strategy and growth model!

B-end operation is an unfamiliar field for many people. Compared with C-end operation, it is like the Yangtze River and the Yellow River. They are similar in nature, attributes and purposes, but there is a feeling of being separated and unrelated.

It may be easier to understand if I give an example:

We all have a feeling about the concept of sales (at least we can simply understand it as selling things *^▽^*). Sales are also divided into B-end and C-end. IBM's servers sold to enterprises are B-end sales, insurance agents sell insurance services to individuals, which is C-end sales, and supermarkets or store clerks sell things to individuals, which is also C-end sales (but supermarkets refer to sales to individuals or enterprises as retail).

With this said, do you think the concepts of B-end and C-end are very clear?

The above part of the content is to set the tone for this article. In view of the relative distance of B-end operations, in order to make things easier for everyone to understand, today Uncle Dao will talk to you about B-end operations by comparing them with C-end.

1. Operational Strategy

The operation strategy is both an operation management and operation system and a set of goal-oriented methodologies. Therefore, the formulation of the operation strategy must have a holistic mindset and must have clear operation goals. In operations, we will focus more on how to make AAARR more benign, that is, to maintain and increase the continuity and growth from customer acquisition to conversion. What we are going to talk about next are the five key points in formulating operational strategies: goal setting, team collaboration, program planning, process adjustment, and results acceptance.

Let’s take the operation of 3C vertical e-commerce as an example:

Xiao D took over the operation of an online store specializing in mobile phone accessories. He hopes to make the store a leading brand in the industry. At this time, it is necessary to formulate an effective operation strategy. We will sort it out according to 5 key points:

1. Goal setting: What kind of thing do you want to do?

Xiao D hopes that the store will become a leading brand. It should be noted here that we cannot set becoming a leading brand as a goal. The goals must be clear and quantifiable (derivable and verifiable). We can investigate what the current top brands are, what the standards for top brands are, and then set our own operational goals.

For example: After investigation, it was found that according to comprehensive data, there are currently 5 stores belonging to the top brands, and Xiao D’s own store ranks after 200. Then our goal can be set to enter the top three in the comprehensive ranking within 2 years (within a reasonable range, appropriately raising the goal is also an operational strategy).

2. Teamwork: What kind of team is needed?

Let’s first assume that Xiao D’s store has become one of the top three in the industry through continuous operation. What kind of team should this be, what are the roles, what is the ability range of each person, and what is the team culture like? Then we can benchmark the current team and design the personnel configuration.

For example: In the default setting, community operation will be the key role of Xiao D's team, but there is no one specifically responsible for the community in the current team. In this case, we can find out among the existing members. For example, Xiao Q has the ability and willingness to take on this role, but his ability is not enough now. Then he has the time and opportunity to improve with the progress of the store. In addition, backup personnel also need to be considered.

3. Program planning: What path will be used to achieve the goal?

Now is the starting point, the goal is the end point, there are many paths from the starting point to the end point, and program planning is to choose and design the path that suits you best. There are many models for the detailed operations of this part, and there are also many sharing articles on the Internet, so I won’t expand on them here. Let’s focus on the path strategy, which determines what you will be in the future.

Take the relationship between communities and stores as an example:

If Xiao D's design is to drive the growth of the store with the growth of the community, then the operation planning should be centered around the community. The focus of the operation is on the community, and the growth of the store will depend on the growth of the community. This can only be achieved if the growth rate of the community far exceeds the expected growth rate of the store (see Xiaohongshu). Of course, relying on the community is not only about e-commerce;

If Xiao D designs to use the community as a store's marketing channel, then the operation planning must be centered around the store, with the focus of the operation on the store, and the community is only a tool for the store to reach users and complete conversions (see JD.com's discount group). This path is too popular and needs to be redesigned by integrating resource advantages, such as making some long-tail categories the store's advantage;

If Xiao D designs the store and the community to grow together and promote each other during the operation, then the community is relatively independent but strongly related to the store, and the operation path is community e-commerce (see Pinduoduo), which is different from other existing stores and has the opportunity to overtake others through community e-commerce;

4. Process Control: What if deviations or anomalies occur?

A plan without problems is not a good plan. No matter how good a plan is, it must match the external environment. If it does not match, deviations will occur. No matter what kind of plan or strategy is formulated, it needs to be adjusted during the implementation process. As long as the goal remains unchanged and the path is effective, everything else can and needs to be continuously optimized. Optimization allows healthy growth.

One day, Xiao D discovered that some users in the community tended to become freeloaders (perhaps they had sneaked in). They would not buy anything without a discount, and would not buy anything unless the discount was very generous. Once a small number of users interfered with a good activity, the expected effect was often not achieved. At this time, it was necessary to adjust the community operation process. There were several directions that could be tried: Can the positioning of the community be optimized? Does the structure of the community need to be adjusted? Can the role of the community be further explored?

The original community was positioned to attract customers through preferential information interaction. Then Xiao D could consider stratifying the community, screening high-net-worth users through activities, and establishing a new community positioned as quality life, thereby virtually raising the identity value of community users. He could also use the fission method of old users bringing in new ones, so that users can obtain preferential benefits that are directly related to each person's contribution.

5. Stage acceptance: Have the goals of each stage been achieved?

You can't get fat in one bite. We can't wait until two years later to see whether the two-year goal has been achieved. We should make a judgment on the expected results two years later during the process. Setting stage goals during the process is the most common and effective approach. Looking at the overall situation, what needs to be done at each stage is to achieve the stage goals. The realization of the stage goals is the progress towards the final goal, and the final goal can even be driven in reverse through the stage goals.

Xiao D’s store operation goal is to become one of the top 3 in the industry in two years (24 months), and its current ranking is 200+. Then Xiao D can set stage goals based on two dimensions: time and ranking. For example: enter the top 100 in 3 months, enter the top 24 in 6 months, enter the top 10 in 12 months, enter the top 5 in 18 months, and enter the top 3 in 24 months. You can also set stage goals based on monthly sales, number of active users, net profit, etc.

The specific implementation stage goals cannot be set so arbitrarily, but must be verified through regression based on data. Each stage of growth requires a corresponding growth model and implementation plan. Only data feasibility is valuable and meaningful .

The operating strategy for the B-end has no fundamental difference in thinking from that for the C-end . It only requires targeted design adjustments based on product form, user characteristics, channel differences, etc. Ideas are important, but what everyone cares about most and is most important is the strategic design of the path and the growth model that we will discuss next.

2. Growth Model

The importance of a growth model to operations is like the importance of logistics to war, the importance of an engine to a car, and the importance of the quality of building materials to a cross-river bridge. I have said so much just to emphasize that the growth model is very important.

When talking about growth models, many friends will think of the funnel model, but what I want to say here is that the funnel model is an analytical model, which is part of the growth model rather than a complete growth model. The growth model serves the operational strategy. It is a logically self-consistent and adjustable system that is oriented towards operational goals and consists of multiple layers of indicators that are then broken down and indexed. According to common operation categories, growth models can be divided into customer acquisition growth model, conversion growth model, active growth model, and awakening growth model.

Let’s take community growth operations as an example:

The operation of online education (course) products mostly takes the community route. On the other hand, some outdoor leisure and tourism products take community operation as the core. In addition, most of the current blockchain project users (let's call them that) exist in the form of communities. Their community operations are similar, with fission, activities, distribution, and content communities being the main methods used. Let’s talk about them in detail below.

1. Customer acquisition growth model: Fission is popular because everyone wants to get rich overnight.

Every time we talk about customer acquisition, some friends will ask: "Is it possible to achieve viral fission growth like Escape from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, or Community 666?" Here I can only answer you that fission has the opportunity and effect, but it may not be as successful as theirs, because many conditions require quantitative change to qualitative change, and you may not reach the critical value that can be triggered.

Take the example of an online education company acquiring new customers through old customers:

Users will have three behaviors in the whole process: seeing, understanding, and forwarding. This constitutes a simple customer acquisition funnel model, where seeing, being interested, and forwarding correspond to behaviors in the user scenario, and the number of users triggering each behavior is the indicator in this model. Of course, other indicators can also be used or new dimensions can be added, such as increasing the number of users reached and the channel segmentation dimensions.

Based on the above customer acquisition growth model, we can design and optimize customer acquisition plans.

1. You need a course, which can be the entire course or a section of the course, but it must be verified;
2. Find seed users for fission acquisition. This can be done by exploring existing users or through small activities in promotion channels.
3. Determine the theme, analyze the behavior of seed and target users, and design the activity plan. At this time, copywriting, graphics, and interactive logic are all very important;
4. Small-scale trial and error verification to ensure that the process and effect can meet expectations. It is not recommended to go online directly. Trial and error can help us find problems and optimize them.
5. Implement the plan, select channels and monitor the effects. The effects of different channels at different behavior nodes also have their own characteristics.
6. Choose to end or extend the activity based on the actual results and progress, and review and accept the results;

2. Conversion growth model: Content is the key to motivating users to pay

User conversion is a link in the operation, and it is not the final link. However, the position of user conversion in commercial operation is the most important, because the core value of commercial operation is to realize the value of users. The conversion link is usually what we call the transaction link, which can be purchase, recharge, DAU indicator, etc. Among the factors affecting conversion, content quality is particularly critical.

Very similar to the customer acquisition model above, the user's exposure, interest, desire to buy, and immediate purchase are the funnel model of conversion growth. In the funnel path, we still use the number of triggered users as the operational indicator.

Based on the above growth model, we can design solutions or optimize growth from several aspects:

1. The channels that reach users need to be compared with each other in terms of their reach effects. Invest more in channels with good conversion effects, and optimize or abandon channels with poor effects.
2. The content that users come into contact with is text, posters or videos. The copywriting and visual design are based on the user's scenarios and characteristics (very important) ;
3. The conversion page focuses on psychological stress design, such as what will be lost if not buying, what are the benefits of buying now, to promote user conversion;

3. Active growth model: sense of value and value realization are the logic behind user activity

Let’s first think about a question: Why are users so active? Is it their nature?

Maybe some users do it because of their nature, but it must be only a small part of them. More users are active because they feel valued. Perhaps it is the value that the products and services themselves bring to them, or perhaps it is the value that they feel recognized through active interactions, or perhaps their behavior is to enhance their self-worth according to their own plans. Then active growth operations must be value-oriented, otherwise they will only be short-term effects that cannot be sustained.

Active means that users participate once, participate again, participate continuously, and more users participate continuously. Taking community operation as an example, the model of active growth can be the activity in the dimensions of check-in, response, questioning, and mutual assistance (it can be an absolute number or a proportion).

The core of activity is value and recognition, so to achieve active growth, users must always have a sense of participation, honor, and recognition. Let's sort it out:

1. The act of signing in comes from the underlying needs. People want to be respected and accepted. Signing in is just a form, and the underlying thing is sensibility.
2. The response behavior comes from emotional touch, identity recognition, psychological security, and value drive, so the response is natural;
3. When users start asking questions, it means they have needs and are seeking value. Continuous feeding and satisfaction will inevitably lead to continued activity.
4. When more users participate in mutual assistance, the positive loop in the active growth part will be truly opened, and users themselves will be creating value;

4. Awakening Growth Model: Sometimes I don’t want to be disturbed simply because I don’t like it or it has nothing to do with me

What kind of users need to be awakened? Dormant users.

Why do users go dormant? There are other alternative products, or your needs are not discovered.

Regardless of the type of product, awakening users means getting them to at least enter the conversion process. Let’s take the content community as an example:

User awakening must first notify the user and then provide user behavioral feedback. Therefore, the awakening growth model is to receive notification, open notification, and enter conversion.

1. Notifications can be text messages, emails, event posters, or soft-text push notifications, but preference analysis must be performed based on known user information;
2. The content of the push is very important, and it must be based on marketing thinking. Awakening is to activate users and make them feel touched.
3. The touched users enter the conversion process, which is the conversion model above. Only here is a complete closed link;

Have you now found ideas from the above growth models? Once you have the idea, it won’t be difficult to build a B-side growth model. If you are familiar with B-side business, the difference can be completely ignored; if you don’t understand B-side business, you only need to borrow ideas, and the rest is really the necessary practice to grow your abilities.

3. What are unique to B-side operations?

This article talks about the B-end by comparing it with the C-end operations, so that friends who are not familiar with the B-end operations can understand it more easily and get started. However, there are still some operational methods on the B-side that are different from those on the C-side. Let us briefly introduce them below:

1. Customer acquisition channels (paths)

For large-scale enterprise-level B-ends or government institutions, the customer acquisition channels mainly come from key person recommendations or bidding for investment;

For the B-side of small enterprises or independent individuals, the customer acquisition channels mainly come from channel promotion and industry reputation;

Therefore, the B-end customer acquisition can be driven by the C-end, but the target C-end is independent individual users and key people with the right to speak. The key people may be technical experts, purchasing managers, external liaisons, etc.

2. Customized scenario requirements

The demands of the B-side are mostly differentiated. Even the OA software we are familiar with has different application scenarios in different B-sides. Therefore, the larger the B-side, the more special the customized demands are, which cannot be achieved by simple standardized solutions. However, standardized solutions are necessary for most small B companies and independent individuals.

3. Market operation materials

Most of the materials for C-end operations are soft materials, namely text, images, and videos. Even if there are physical objects, they are mostly small gifts. The operating materials for B-end require more complexity and richness.

For example, PPT is almost a necessity in B-side operations. No matter whether it is a roadshow or an exhibition, no matter it is the first contact or solution docking, PPT is not used as a tool. In addition, there are white papers, trial products, demonstration environments, brochures, exhibition layout materials, etc.

4. Evaluation by authoritative institutions (qualification endorsement)

Authoritative evaluation can also be counted as market materials, but it is singled out here to emphasize its importance. Authoritative certification is often a necessity in B-side operations, and for some large B-side customers it is merely an entry condition. As for other industry reports and third-party evaluations, they are only supplementary and supportive.

5. Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Finally, we come to the part that is the most difficult to explain clearly. Customer relationship management is as important as conversion and transaction for B-side operations, and to some extent, it even exceeds the importance of transaction.

One reason is that the number of B-end users is far less than that of C-end users, so the value of B-end users is much higher than that of C-end users, and B-end customers are always a scarce resource; another reason is that the influence of the B-end is intangible, and there are many factors that affect the B-end operational transaction decisions, among which the value of word-of-mouth and experience is magnified N times; in a benign B-end operational closed loop, customer value is product value.

summary

This article was written with the purpose of explaining B-side operations from the beginning. Most of the content is borrowed from the examples and methodologies of C-side operations. The models are also more common and easy to perceive, and are deliberately not explained in depth. But the essence of the operation is the same, the only differences between the B-end and the C-end are the customer groups and operation tools. From the perspective of marketing, both the B-end and the C-end are branches of the business model, and going deeper in any direction is worthy of our continued investment and research.

Author: Aaron Yan

Source: Daoshunote