Analysis of the online education APP promotion process

Online education has been a very hot field in recent years. There are many articles analyzing its growth model online, but I found an interesting phenomenon, that is, few people talk about the growth method of online education apps.

Perhaps for most Internet apps, the usage frequency of online education apps is relatively low, and a large proportion of online education users (such as K12 users) exist on the PC side, which means that many people will focus on the growth of online education by acquiring registered users and paying users.

In fact, online education users cannot do without APPs, especially tool APPs. For example, Zuoyebang and Xiaoyuansouti have tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of users, and many online education companies increasingly emphasize that users use APPs to sign up for courses.

Under this trend, it is necessary to systematically sort out the operational growth of online education apps (including knowledge payment), especially the fission growth.

This article will use the classic pirate model to interpret it.

1. Online Education APP Fission Pirate Model

I believe readers are very familiar with the Pirate Model, also known as the "AARRR" model , which stands for the five user operation links of acquisition, activation, retention, conversion and recommendation . For Internet products, this is a very basic growth model.

However, these five links are not fixed. The growth operation links of products in different Internet fields and different companies are different. For example, many products emphasize that growth must start from user retention and propose the "RARRA" model , namely retention-activation-recommendation-conversion-acquisition.

For online education apps, any growth model can explain it, but it depends on the state of the growth.

If it is channel-based growth, it makes sense to take user acquisition as the primary link, because from acquisition to recommendation, the number of users is lost layer by layer, and ensuring that there are continuous new users downloading the APP is the primary goal.

If it is fission growth, user retention should be a more important link. This is because the essence of fission is to use old users to bring in new users, forming a similar exponential growth, and how to retain and activate old users as much as possible is the core issue.

However, I have a different opinion on the pirate model of fission growth. For APP, such an operation process may be more logical, that is, "RARAR", which I drew as follows:

Next, I will disassemble them one by one.

2. Analysis of the online education APP fission process

1. User retention and activation

What is APP retention and activation?

Let’s talk about activation first. As long as most of the new APP users use the core functions, it can be considered as initial activation. If the core functions are used frequently within a certain period of time and the new user retention rate is at a certain stable level, it can be considered as complete activation.

For online education apps, whether they are auxiliary learning tool apps such as question search and mental arithmetic, or knowledge payment and live course apps, they rely on novice guidance, task system, high-frequency recall, new user benefits and other means to allow new users to use functions such as taking photos to search for questions, oral arithmetic, and purchasing courses to complete activation.

In order to allow new users to use core functions for a long time, retention is necessary, that is, the operation of old users. This is a very complex task with a long cycle and large changes. Although we see that the retention curves of many apps first drop steeply, then flatten out, and finally become parallel lines over time, retention can be increased or decreased in any period of time.

In fact, in essence, activation is "new user retention." In terms of operational methods, except that novice guidance uses functional guidance to reduce cognitive costs, it is no different from long-term retention, except that the observation period is shorter.

Currently, there are three main means of retention and activation for online education apps: high-quality content, task system, and recall activities.

(1) High-quality content

Most online education apps use high-quality content as the core retention factor, which is also the basic way to maintain user stickiness.

For example, a certain online education APP has many columns, including family education articles, free subject lectures, etc., which increases the frequency and duration of user usage by meeting various content consumption needs. Otherwise, for users, the APP is just a tool for paying fees and enrolling in classes.

In addition, high-quality content can satisfy a certain sharing desire of old users, such as forwarding lectures to their friends circle. New users browse the content shared by old users and can choose to download the APP to continue learning or browse more, indirectly driving the growth of the APP.

(2) Task system

The task system is also critical to improving user retention, because tasks must be matched with certain incentives, and users will complete various tasks in the APP in order to get incentives. The so-called tasks refer to the use of various functions in the APP, including inviting new users.

Many online education apps attach importance to the construction of the task system. Users can obtain points and medals by consuming content and recommending users. The former can be exchanged for rewards and discounts on courses, while the latter can satisfy spiritual needs and help show off.

(3) Recall activities

An important way to improve the retention of new and old users is to recall lost users, that is, to push information through channels such as SMS, APP push, public account template messages, etc., and use attractive rewards and expressive copy to help new and old users return.

For online education apps, there are many types of recalled push information, and they are closely related to the scenario.

For example, in order to ensure learning effectiveness, information such as preview courses and learning reports will be pushed before and after class, so that users can know their learning progress and results in a timely manner; before the renewal date, course payment notifications can be pushed to reduce some communication costs and guide high-intent users to complete renewal in advance.

So, how does the recall of new and old users relate to fission?

First, design exclusive benefits that match different types of users. You can use the RFM model, pyramid model, etc. to stratify them, and then launch fission activities such as invitation gifts, support, group buying, etc. to maximize the growth contribution of different types of users.

The second is targeted recall. It is recommended to give priority to the APP’s own message push function, because it is better than other recall forms in terms of reach effect and user experience. For example, SMS or public account template messages require users to browse the message page before jumping to the APP. Users will find it cumbersome and easily lose.

Finally, whether it is an old user logging in or a new user registering, exclusive benefits will be displayed in the form of pop-up windows, distributing coupons, free courses, etc., and then gradually guiding them to participate in fission activities, or pop-up windows will guide users to participate directly.

For example. A knowledge-based payment APP launched a "Limited-time Free VIP" campaign in order to activate new users who have not logged in for a long time.

First, the APP message push function is used to release activity information to target users, who then enter the APP directly. Then, a pop-up window is displayed with the words "free" to attract users to click on the fission activity page. Finally, under the influence of "send a 7-day VIP+ knowledge calendar to a friend", users enter the login link, obtain the poster, and share it.

It can be found that using the APP push function to reach users is a very effective operational means, especially the message reach mechanism based on user portraits and built around user needs and scenarios, which is of great help to fission growth.

For example, the APP push function supports A/B testing experiments. By dividing user groups and matching different push copy, it can verify the recall effect and subsequent fission effect of different message content, providing data accumulation for the iteration of subsequent fission activities.

Of course, if the APP push function is used improperly, it will also have a negative effect on fission growth.

An online education APP once encountered a problem when pushing a fission activity. Due to a malfunction in the push settings, the messages were pushed abnormally frequently, causing serious interference to users. The incident even became a hot topic, forming a very bad reputation and greatly damaging the user experience.

Therefore, before using APP push to launch fission activities, you can use tools such as Aurora 's "Push Security Package" to detect the push content and push settings in advance to avoid the failure of retention measures due to poor user experience.

For example, JPush supports the withdrawal of a message push to avoid pushing erroneous or duplicate messages to users. It also supports early detection on the push server side to see whether there are multiple messages with the same title and content, thus avoiding the risk of duplicate push in advance and reducing user churn, thereby ensuring the recall fission effect.

2. User recommendation and new user acquisition - invitations are rewarding

For APP fission, the retention and activation of new and old users is to prepare for the next core link of fission, namely user recommendation and new user acquisition, because only when enough active users participate in the recommendation link can new users be brought in (including downloads and registrations), and in most cases, user recommendation and new user acquisition are often linked together.

Why?

The core reason is that user recommendation is a relatively high-frequency behavior, and there must be feedback after the recommendation, such as invitation records, reward distribution, etc. Otherwise, it will significantly affect the effect of the recommendation, so it must be connected with the new user acquisition process.

The author calls the connection between user recommendation and new user acquisition invitation-gift, which is the core of the fission model. The so-called invitation with gifts, as the name suggests, means inviting friends and giving them gifts. The key to analyzing this gameplay is the invitation form and gift form.

The most basic form of invitation gift is to help, and the standard of helping is to receive courses, including receiving free courses (expressed as registration) and purchasing paid courses. Therefore, the key to distinguishing different types of polite invitations is the form of the gift.

Based on this, the author sorted out several common invitation and gift playing methods:

(1) Share gift packages

As mentioned earlier, one of the means for many online education apps to activate new users is new user gift packages, which are the easiest to combine with fission. In most cases, the shared gift packages often include discounted courses, limited-time memberships, free shipping of physical items, etc. Both new and old users can get them (euphemistically called exclusive), but it is only a "qualification" and the prerequisite is to complete the invitation task.

“Get VIP for free” is a typical example of sharing gift packages. Of course there are other typical cases.

An online education APP uses "free shipping on physical learning gift packages" as an attraction to guide old users to invite friends to purchase courses. In addition, the physical gift packages are distributed in stages based on the number of invites, with the aim of increasing the sharing rate. The invitation poster for external publicity highlights the "magic course coupon", which is actually a 3 yuan lead-in course that is worth 196 yuan off. It is obvious that the company hopes to use price as a means to increase the purchase rate of new users.

The sharing gift packages of an online parent community APP are mainly free courses, and the invitation mechanism is slightly different. Every time you invite one person to take a course, you get one more chance to get other courses for free, for a total of four times, which is equivalent to one person inviting four people. Because both parties in the fission receive real course benefits, this is a friendly and mutually beneficial growth strategy.

(2) Discounts for old customers bringing in new customers

The discount for bringing in new customers is a very basic way of selling products in the education industry, especially for offline institutions. Coupons of a certain amount can bring in very accurate customers, so it is very suitable for online education.

According to the author's observation, a leading K12 education APP is an absolute expert in the application of "old customers bring in new customers discounts". Because of the strong brand advantage and teaching reputation, and considering the high average order value, the 100 yuan coupon is very attractive to potential users, and the invitation rewards are cumulative, ensuring the frequency of new invitations. However, the threshold for receiving coupons is slightly high, and friends are required to attend courses, which is undoubtedly based on user conversion considerations.

A leading knowledge payment platform APP also adopts the discount strategy of old customers bringing in new customers, but there is no course attendance requirement. Its regulations stipulate that as long as one person is successfully recommended, both parties will each receive a 20 yuan discount (two 10 yuan coupons). The discounts can be accumulated and can be used to purchase any course.

For the discount for bringing in new customers, there is a core threshold for issuing coupons, that is, the invitees must be purely newly registered users. Both Xueersi and Dedao have obvious requirements, which shows that coupons can play a very practical role in converting new users.

(3) Points for referrals

Many Internet apps like to reward users with points and use reward redemption to maintain circulation and reduce customer acquisition costs. Online education is no exception and is often combined with fission.

For example, a certain children's AI course APP has a points system called "Zebra Coin". One Zebra Coin is equivalent to 50 yuan in cash or a coupon. You can get it by inviting one person to buy a trial class. The more you invite, the more you can accumulate. There is also a rich mall to help consume "Zebra Coins", but the inviter can only be a trial class user.

Another example is a certain vocational education APP, which often launches some live broadcast sharing. After users sign up for the live broadcast, they will be provided with recommendation quotas. There will be a tiered invitation reward, which is divided into three levels of 1 person, 3 people, and 5 people. The prize is a certain amount of "research value". The invited users only need to make an appointment for the live broadcast. It is obviously a strategy of bringing in new users with the main purpose of activation.

(4) Group purchase of physical items

A major growth strategy for many public accounts is to give away physical prizes to attract fans, and there are similar strategies for APP growth.

Taking a certain AI course APP as an example, physical books are given away for free through group buying. If the group leader invites 4 people to register for free courses, 5 people can get the books with free shipping at the same time. Therefore, as long as the physical prizes are attractive enough, have a sense of scarcity and value, and reflect a strong desire to own them, they can bring about considerable results in attracting new customers.

However, no matter what kind of invitation-gift gameplay is used, it is based on attractive rewards. It is a double-edged sword. Although it can attract new users, it can also attract a group of "wool-gathering parties". What's more, the fission based on APP will also have some problems with poor experience.

Therefore, in the actual implementation process, from the time new users download the APP to completing registration and activation, we must do our best to do a good job of risk control and optimize the experience.

Let’s talk about user experience first. The more traditional way to log in is to enter your mobile phone number and then wait for the SMS verification code. Only after entering the code can you enter the APP main page. This process requires waiting for a while, and it is easy for recommended new users to be lost, especially in the early stages of APP development. Of course, it has now become a habit.

However, as long as users log in to the APP, there will be security risks, so a more advanced verification method is needed, not just SMS verification codes, but also graphic sliding, voice and even third-party password verification. Although login security is guaranteed, users have to wait longer and are more likely to churn.

So is there any way to ensure safety and optimize the experience? The author recommends Aurora’s one-click login product, Aurora Authentication.

After the user opens the APP, as long as the local mobile phone number has passed the Aurora authentication, he can log in with one click. The whole process can be completed within 2 seconds, without waiting, which significantly lowers the login threshold and improves the activation conversion rate. The whole process is simplified to: open the APP-click to register/login-log in with the local number.

Another important issue related to APP login is the registration of freeloaders.

We often use physical objects, discounts, money, etc. as bait to attract a large number of new users. Such apps that promote fission activities will naturally be targeted by the wool party who specializes in taking cheap benefits. If the security of the app is not enough, it is easy for the wool party to use equipment and tools to register on a large scale in a short period of time in order to obtain sufficient benefits.

The one-click login function of Aurora Authentication actually effectively solves this problem, because the local mobile phone number can only log in to the APP with one click after passing Aurora Authentication, and the large-scale registration of the freeloaders using devices must be "separated from the machine and the card", which makes it easy to have login failures. These accounts will be marked and monitored, which undoubtedly makes it much more difficult for the freeloaders to register.

In short, using one-click login products such as Aurora Authentication APP can greatly avoid the risk loopholes of fission activities by shortening the login time and preventing freeloaders, which not only ensures the introduction of accurate new users but also improves the overall conversion rate.

3. New user conversion

The last link in the entire APP fission model is the conversion of new users. For online education apps, there are three basic forms of monetization: training courses, paid content, and membership services.

Among the conversion methods that match these monetization forms, one of the more effective ones is coupons. This can be seen from the previous related cases. After all, education is a rigid demand, and spending as little money as possible under the premise of demand is the fastest transaction logic.

Another way of conversion is limited-time experience. Many membership-based knowledge payment apps adopt this method. Similar methods include trial listening, which is also based on giving users the opportunity to experience the product and influencing payment behavior through excellent content or services.

In addition to using the above two methods to guide users to purchase courses, paid content, memberships, etc. to create revenue for the APP, you can also connect to third-party advertising services for monetization, including brand advertising and product traffic advertising, which is especially suitable for tutoring tool apps with relatively large traffic.

Advertising monetization requires appropriate third-party tools. The author recommends Aurora ’s APP traffic monetization product - Aurora Alliance. It can provide various forms of advertising monetization solutions, including light push ads, in-APP ads, short video stream ads, interactive ads, etc. The advertising formats are novel and interesting, and the content is closely aligned with user needs. While improving user experience and stickiness, developers can also achieve rapid monetization.

For example, knowledge-based payment apps can connect to the Aurora Alliance, place interactive ads at event entrances or in some advertising spaces, and use interactive forms such as large turntables, capsule machines, and shake machines to give users shopping coupons, video memberships, phone bills, physical free orders, and other rewards, thereby directing traffic to other receiving apps.

Of course, no matter what type of advertising, it must match the user attributes and demand characteristics of the APP. In the era of big data, personalized marketing that combines user portraits and behavioral habits has become a reality, which will undoubtedly achieve better results in APP traffic monetization.

3. Conclusion

In general, "RARAR" means retaining old users and activating new users first, allowing them to complete the action of recommending the APP, and then activating new users after downloading the APP, and realizing conversion in this process, so that the online education APP can achieve a closed loop of growth.

To be more specific, the recall activities commonly used to retain old users and the new user benefits commonly used to activate new users can be combined into independent old-to-new activities. New users can be acquired through a variety of invitation and gift methods, such as sharing gift packages, old-to-new discounts, points for recommendations, and physical group buying. Then, coupons, limited-time experiences and other means can be used to complete the conversion.

Finally, let’s talk about my understanding of APP fission. Its essence is a set of productized growth processes. The core depends on whether the fission theme and rewards are attractive, and whether the user participation path is smooth. However, to achieve the ideal level, operational assistance is also needed.

Therefore, growth is not entirely driven by products, but the combined effect of various factors. This is the real charm of “1+1>2”.

Author: Wild Solitary Mushroom

Source: Wild Sophora japonica