Rethinking private domain traffic in the post-WeChat era

There are some new concepts in the marketing industry almost every year. The hottest marketing concept this year is of course live streaming with goods. Another concept that has been widely discussed since 2019 is private domain traffic . This concept was not overwhelmed by live streaming with goods in 2020. On the contrary, it still maintains huge attention due to its strong vitality.

The main reasons are as follows:

The first is that the benefits of the Internet are coming to an end.

The fact that the Internet dividend will end has been mentioned repeatedly since about 2018, when the rapid growth trend of the Internet population gradually ended. At this time, it became increasingly difficult to take advantage of the Internet dividend and obtain traffic in the public domain in a low-cost manner.

The second is that companies are increasingly paying attention to the input-output ratio of marketing.

This has gradually become a trend since the birth of mobile Internet. In the special year of 2020, the marketing budgets of many companies have been greatly reduced, which has accelerated their process of expanding private domain traffic.

In the marketing industry, some concepts are only popular for a short time, but the concept of private domain traffic is likely to continue. Because every brand wants to take control of its own destiny rather than the platform.

The ultimate goal of a brand must be to maximize its own private domain traffic. Only in this way can it achieve high profits while achieving high sales.

Judging from the development process of brands in the Internet environment, it will become the norm for brands to build private domain traffic in the future. However, in the current Chinese market, there is not much real corporate private domain traffic.

1. 90% of private domain traffic in China is fake private domain traffic

Real private traffic exists independently without relying on any platform. No matter you are using Weibo, a public account, or Douyin, or opening a store on Taobao or JD.com, it is not 100% private traffic. Because your fate is ultimately in the hands of the platform.

In recent years, a popular concept has been introduced from abroad, D2C - Direct-to-Consumer, which means brands that directly face consumers in Chinese. Their characteristic is that after developing their own products, they sell them to consumers directly through their own official channels (mostly websites or apps) without going through dealers or intermediary platforms.

For these foreign D2C brands, they deal with 100% private domain traffic. For example, Brandless (now bankrupt), one of the pioneers of D2C brands, sells products directly through its official website. Because it does not use middlemen, the sales price is also very low, so the so-called profit is passed on to consumers.

Former Brandless official website

D2C has emerged on a large scale abroad. One reason is that the development of mobile Internet has lowered the threshold for website building and promotion. Another reason is that the commission rate of foreign e-commerce is generally too high. The commission rate of e-commerce platforms such as Amazon and eBay is more than 10% (compared with domestic e-commerce commission rates of less than 5%, and Pinduoduo's commission rate is even less than 3%).

Therefore, in the long run, it will be more beneficial for brands to develop the D2C model.

Are there any D2C brands in China? Yes, yes.

The reason why Xiaomi was able to sell its phone for 1999 yuan when most Android phones were selling for more than 3000 yuan was largely because it was a D2C brand. At that time, most mobile phones were still sold through channels such as Suning, Gome, and D.Phone, while Xiaomi's mobile phones were sold directly through Xiaomi's official website, thus eliminating the link of "middlemen making a profit from the price difference."

From this perspective, Xiaomi can be said to be one of the founders of domestic D2C brands.

In recent years, the concept of D2C has also become popular in China. Some people regard Perfect Diary, Zhong Xue Gao and other brands as D2C brands. In fact, most of their sales come from e-commerce platforms or offline stores, which cannot be regarded as true D2C.

Most brands that truly engage in private domain traffic adopt the D2C model. But in China, most brands generate so-called private domain traffic by opening an official account or store on major platforms such as BAT, and then generate traffic on this basis.

When generating private domain traffic on these platforms, brands do not always have complete control over the traffic. Even if it is the most controllable WeChat public account, if its rules change one day, you may lose contact with your fans forever.

Therefore, compared with foreign D2C brands, most of the private domain traffic in China is pseudo private domain traffic.

2. Problems with private domain traffic in the post-WeChat era

The initial typical representatives of private domain traffic were based on the WeChat ecosystem, such as official accounts, personal WeChat accounts and WeChat groups, which are still the mainstream channels for private domain traffic today.

The strategy of many companies to build private domain traffic is to add WeChat friends as much as possible, to recruit people to form groups, and to increase the fans of public accounts through various fission methods.

In the early days of private domain traffic, these methods were very effective and also allowed the individuals and brands that first engaged in private domain traffic to reap huge dividends.

But things are different in 2020.

Here I want to say a word - "post-WeChat era", which is different from the pre-WeChat era.

The pre-WeChat era lasted from the launch of official accounts in 2013 to 2018. At that time, the number of WeChat users increased significantly, the dividends were sufficient, and marketing on the WeChat platform could generate huge profits.

After 2018, WeChat's growth basically came to an end, and with the rise of ByteDance's TikTok, some users' attention was diverted away from WeChat. At this time, the related activity of WeChat products began to decline. The role of private domain traffic here is gradually weakening. WeChat has entered the post-WeChat era.

Data from Xinbang in 2019 showed that the average opening rate of WeChat public accounts was 1.9%, which means that more than 90% of the traffic of most public accounts is almost invalid. Especially for many fans who get them through fission, the efficiency is even higher.

One WeChat account can certainly add up to 5,000 people, but if you use it for advertising purposes and harass your friends, you will end up being deleted or blocked.

The same goes for WeChat groups. It seems that a WeChat group can add 500 people, but the activity level of WeChat groups is even lower. At least in the several WeChat groups I am in, the activity level does not exceed 10%.

Many companies have made their private domain traffic very large, but the quality of private domain traffic is very poor. In this case, the effect of private domain traffic is actually greatly reduced.

However, this is exactly the current situation of many companies dealing with private domain traffic, and it is also a problem that many companies currently face in dealing with private domain traffic.

3. What should we do in China’s private domain traffic ecosystem?

1. Public domain traffic cannot be abandoned

Some time ago, there was an article saying "traffic is shit". It may be tempting to say this, but in China's Internet ecosystem, you cannot exist without public domain traffic. Almost all private domain traffic initially comes from public domain traffic. Even advertising is broadly speaking public domain traffic.

Therefore, almost no brand can completely abandon public domain traffic. The key is what to do on the public domain traffic platform.

As the two platforms with the largest daily active users, today I will mainly analyze the private domain traffic on WeChat and Tik Tok.

2. In the post-WeChat era, build an ecosystem rather than an account

As mentioned above, whether it is WeChat account, WeChat public account or WeChat group, their activity is actually declining.

But there is another data worth noting.

Shi Wenlu of Aladdin revealed a piece of data that the GMV from mini programs has exceeded 1 trillion in 2019, and by the end of 2020, the GMV from mini programs will exceed 3 trillion.

This means that mini program e-commerce has become a force that cannot be ignored in China's e-commerce. What mini program e-commerce represents is actually the comprehensive capabilities of marketing and operation services.

In the "post-WeChat era", generating private domain traffic is not just about public account marketing, but also about considering the mini-programs and their accompanying operations and services.

For example, in the retail industry, some retail brands have built a private traffic pool with the help of the ecosystem of WeChat official accounts + card wallets + Moments advertising + mini-program malls, completing the transformation from pure offline business to online and offline integration.

I talked about the Carrefour case in "Realizing the 4P Digitalization of Marketing in the Post-Pandemic Era". If you follow Carrefour’s official account, you will often be guided to bind your membership card. After binding, the membership card will remain in your card wallet, and then you will be directly directed to the shopping mall’s mini program from the membership card. The three promote and guide each other to form stable private domain traffic.

So far, more and more brands have been engaged in mini-program e-commerce. McDonald's, KFC, Haidilao and others have made corresponding arrangements. Mini-program e-commerce has become a must-have option for brands to obtain WeChat private domain traffic.

Therefore, in the post-WeChat era, the correct way to build WeChat private domain traffic is to create an ecosystem of WeChat + WeChat group + official account + mini program, and do a good job in operation and service.

3. Douyin: Private domain still exists under the algorithm

As a platform with a DAU of over 400 million, Douyin platform must not give up its private domain dividends.

In fact, Douyin is also doing similar things to WeChat mini-programs, such as small stores, mini-programs, and other ecosystems are also constantly improving. In addition, ByteDance’s establishment of an e-commerce department has definitely made preparations to create private domain traffic for merchants. It is recommended to pay long-term attention to this area.

For example, on the IQOO page, the brand page can directly jump to the mini program and complete the purchase on the Douyin page.

I have mentioned the example of IQOO before. IQOO launched the campaign #IQOO3硬核心宅# through hard advertising, calling on experts to participate in national tasks, and finally deposited the task content in its own brand account. Most of the experts and fans who participated in the event were converted into its own fans, which were operated in the long term in the later stage.

Through hard advertising, we can attract influencers and users from public domain traffic to participate in brand activities, and convert public domain traffic into private domain traffic during the participation process. This is a way of sedimentation.

In addition, using content to attract fans, obtaining traffic from influencers, and using Douyin+ to obtain traffic from public domain traffic are all relatively common ways to intercept private domain traffic.

Of course, the most important thing is the subsequent operation and conversion after intercepting private domain traffic from public domain traffic.

After entering Douyin, Make Up For Ever did not rush to sell products, but first helped users learn how to use makeup through live broadcasts of the online makeup academy.

Starting from March, it broadcast makeup tutorials and product reviews for 3-4 hours every day for the first month and a half, and released short videos, accumulating a large number of fans.

Afterwards, she launched the #花式不脱妆# super challenge, during which the title of the live broadcast room echoed the topic of the challenge, which quickly brought a 3-fold increase in fans.

On May 8, the brand conducted an 11-hour long live broadcast by makeup artists and influencers, and the total order amount exceeded 4.3 million, which was 3 times higher than expected. It is worth noting that more than half of the GMV on that day came from fans gained through early operations.

There is still a lot of traffic dividends in Douyin's public domain traffic. How to obtain its own private domain traffic from the huge traffic and operate it in the long term in the future is a question worth thinking about.

ByteDance has established an e-commerce department. If Douyin e-commerce becomes successful in the future, it will not need to jump to Taobao, but can directly complete the closed loop within its own ecosystem. Then the value of its private domain traffic will be greater.

4. Other platforms to find your own private domain resources

Of course, in addition to WeChat and Douyin, many other platforms are also building private domain traffic ecosystems.

For example, the content ecosystem that Taobao flagship store is creating includes short videos, live broadcasts, etc. There are also functions such as membership cards and member groups of flagship stores, which are all striving to build the private domain of the flagship store and activate the purchasing users through various means.

For example, Weibo also has functions such as subscriptions and groups to help brands build a private traffic ecosystem.

Many platforms can find ways to tap private domain traffic from public domain traffic. For operators, the key is to think clearly about their purpose. What value do you value in coming to this platform?

For example, for brands whose main goal is brand communication, Weibo’s private domain traffic should focus on brand communication, user interaction and services.

For brands with sales as their goal, the purpose of generating private traffic on Taobao is to expand the reach of consumers through content and operations, and to subsequently increase sales conversion rates.

The key to managing private domain traffic on the platform lies in two aspects: acquiring users through content and ensuring long-term operations through services. The following is the private domain traffic situation of each mainstream platform.

4. Don’t give up on pure private domain traffic

In addition to generating private traffic on large platforms, companies should still generate their own pure private traffic, their own websites, apps, etc., and expand their pure private traffic. Ultimately, their destiny is in their own hands.

Here is an example. If you have been to Japan, you may be impressed by the local tavern culture.

Many taverns in remote locations are very small and may only accommodate no more than 10 guests, but they never have to worry about business. In addition to low rent, the most important thing is that these pubs naturally form their own private traffic pool.

These taverns are basically located in a community. The surrounding residents are very familiar with the taverns and visit them almost every night. The pub does not need to spend any money on promotion. The relationship between the pub owner and the customers is not just that of owner and guest, but actually also that of neighbors. Frequent guests from the surrounding communities actually use the pub as a social gathering place.

If you have seen Japanese movies such as "The Taste of Sanma", "Midnight Diner" or "The Hardships of Family Life", you must be deeply touched. You will wonder why these small pubs and restaurants only have the same few customers every day. If they were in China, how do you think they could survive? In fact, many of these taverns have been around for decades and are still doing well.

From "The Taste of Saury"

Therefore, these small pubs in Japan do not need any public domain traffic promotion, but it is enough to maintain the neighbors in their own community. They have maximized the private domain traffic of the pub.

For a small brand or small merchant, if they can generate pure private traffic, they can survive well to a certain extent even without large-scale promotion.

At the beginning of the article, it is said that due to the differences in the Internet and e-commerce ecosystems between China and the United States, it is difficult for a brand to only focus on private domain traffic and abandon public domain traffic platforms. Even Starbucks, which hardly advertises, now does delivery on Alibaba.

Therefore, the best way is to do a good job of the platform's private domain traffic on the one hand, and on the other hand, gradually build and improve your own pure private domain traffic.

If you are just the platform's private traffic, and there are some policy changes in the future, or the platform's sickle becomes sharper and the commission becomes higher, then your profits will become lower and lower, and it will become increasingly difficult to maintain your business.

For example, Xiaomi has already generated a lot of traffic from its official website mall, while on the other hand, it is still generating private traffic from Taobao and JD.

For example, Luckin Coffee has invested heavily in advertising to arouse users’ curiosity, but users have to download the app to buy coffee. Although the consumer experience is not that good, it has indeed built up its own private domain traffic.

5. Brands are the largest private domain traffic

One thing that can never be ignored when doing pure private domain traffic is to insist on building the brand.

What is the essence of spending money on advertising? It is to create public domain traffic, so that more and more people will pay attention to you, pay attention to you, and be interested in you. But the purpose of advertising is to gather one’s own private domain traffic.

Here I want to say that brand is the largest private domain traffic.

Once you have established your own reputation over the long term through advertising and marketing, and allowed consumers to form awareness, favorability, and trust in your brand, then you have formed your own relatively stable private domain traffic.

Recall the time when you were about to buy a pair of shoes on Taobao or JD.com.

If you search for sneakers, the sneakers that appear below may have advertisements made by Nike, which is public domain traffic. If you search directly for Nike, then you are actually Nike's private traffic, and this private traffic is generated by the brand.

VI. Conclusion

In the second half of 2020, it is time to re-understand private domain traffic.

The barbaric private domain traffic model that relies on the fission of WeChat personal accounts and WeChat groups is difficult to sustain. Today, private domain traffic must build a good operation, service, and e-commerce ecosystem to form the long-term value of the brand to users.

In addition, with the development of the Internet and the increasing uncertainty of platforms, brands should plan their own pure private traffic and take their destiny into their own hands.

Author: Xunkong

Source: Xunkong