2019 Mainstream fission gameplay and future trends!

If "WeChat" and "fission" are compared to two boxers, then the former dealt a heavy blow to the latter.

WeChat issued an announcement, focusing on dealing with the behavior of inducing people to share check-ins in Moments, and criticized many paid reading check-in products by name, such as the once popular xx reading, causing these products to issue announcements to cancel the behavior of check-ins in Moments.

This behavior of WeChat not only shocked the fission circle, operation circle, and marketing circle, but also caused panic in industries such as knowledge payment and education and training.

Many people lament that "fission is dead".

Public accounts in various vertical fields and various big Vs are also issuing various interpretations and predictions, all warning that the customer acquisition model based mainly on fission is about to end, and they advise everyone to focus more on products, services, and word of mouth.

They are all right. The large-scale popularity of fission gameplay has allowed some people to make quick money and gain traffic, but it has also destroyed the original healthy ecology of WeChat and violated the laws of business development.

Therefore, when everyone is anxious that "fission may disappear from the stage of history", it becomes meaningful to review and summarize the fission methods we have used.

The meaning of fission is actually very easy to understand, and it can even be elevated to a philosophical level. People often use the saying in the Tao Te Ching, "One begets two, two begets three, and three begets all things" to explain the essence of fission.

When used in operations, fission is a commonly used customer acquisition tool and a common part of the operation process.

To put it bluntly, it means old users bring new users, abbreviated as "old brings new"; to put it more grandiosely, it is "viral spread" and "exponential growth."

However, in the two or three years when fission was popular, the ways of playing fission were indeed endless and dazzling. Every time a new way of playing appeared, there were a large number of followers. Now that WeChat has dealt such a heavy blow, players will of course be anxious.

So, what are the fission gameplays? Let’s first make a broad classification and then interpret them one by one.

I personally divide the gameplay of fission into two categories, and the classification standard is based on the "node judgment of sharing behavior", namely recommendation-based fission and invitation-based fission.

• Recommended fission

Simply put, it allows users to share something, and once completed, they can receive material or spiritual incentives, without using "whether sharing can bring in new users" as an assessment criterion. (For example, XX Reading asks you to share a link to your Moments, take a screenshot and send it to customer service, and you can read the book for free without attracting new users to the reading app)

• Invitational fission

This is easier to understand, that is, when users share something, they must also attract new users, otherwise they will not get any motivation. (For example, XX Reading not only asks you to share the link to your circle of friends, but also requires 5 new users to register the software with your invitation code. After all of them are completed, you can read for free)

Therefore, there is a very simple way to determine whether a certain gameplay is a recommendation-based fission or an invitation-based fission. It depends on which link its incentive node is set at, whether it is set after "simple sharing" or after "sharing and bringing in new users."

Of course, referral fission and invitation fission are only the primary classifications of fission. The two categories have more detailed divisions. Next, we will analyze referral fission and invitation fission separately.

There are two main ways to play recommendation-based fission: one is forced forwarding, and the other is active propagation.

1. Force forwarding

The basic routine of the forced forwarding fission gameplay is: using demand or benefits as bait to force users to share passively, and they can get rewards after successful sharing. The more mature specific ways of playing include community fission, check-in sharing, single-share fission and resurrection.

Community fission: users are forced to share after joining the group, and they have to take screenshots and send them to the group for review. A typical example is the book reading platform that has gained tens of millions of users through this gameplay.

Check-in and sharing: Check-in is counted as sharing to Moments every day. Tuition fees will be refunded or rewards will be given if you persist for a certain number of days. Typical cases are XX reading and XX vocabulary, which have now been rectified by WeChat.

Single-share fission: After sharing, you can get a specific product or part of the products for free, such as WeChat Reading’s “Share to get 12-day unlimited card”.

Resurrection and level-breaking: Common in level-breaking game mini-programs, such as Marble King. As long as you share the mini-program to the WeChat group, you can get a chance to revive and continue the game.

2. Active communication

Active dissemination is a fission gameplay driven by user emotions, which is often called social fission. For example, by sharing a certain H5 test result, users can get spiritual rewards such as "satisfying the desire to show off."

Common ways of actively spreading information can be divided into the following five categories:

Test type: It is very similar to the challenge type, but only requires some questions that are not very difficult. The results are often an interpretation of the user's behavior, personality, etc. It uses psychological hints and is a form of self-promotion. It is a more common way of playing in H5 applications.

Personality: Users can adjust their personal portraits, clothing, sleeping positions, etc. to meet their needs for self-realization. For example, NetEase’s “Sleeping Position Competition” and “My New Year Flag” H5 are personality-based.

Public welfare: using people’s love and compassion as the driving force for communication. A typical example is the “Protect Chinese Native Dogs” mini program that once went viral.

Inventory type: Summary product gameplay generated by using big data of user behavior on a certain product, which is also honor-driven, such as Alipay’s “Annual Bill”.

Challenge type: users need to complete a specific challenge, such as drawing a picture. The more they complete, the higher their ranking and the more virtual rewards they will get. A poster showing their results will be generated for them to forward. This is an honor-driven game. A typical example is guessing the song and drawing.

The above is a summary of the main ways of playing recommendation-based fission. There are a large number of cases for each sub-game, and readers can search and compare them by themselves.

There are many classification standards for invitation-based fission gameplay, which can be divided according to modes or scenarios. In order to make the classification more convincing, the classification method proposed by Yang Fei, the author of "Traffic Pool" is adopted here: compound interest, crowdfunding, and sharing.

1. Compound interest

The so-called compound interest refers to the mutual benefit between both parties involved in the fission. For example, if you invite friends to buy something, both of you will benefit. Based on the logic of reciprocity, you can come up with the following ways to play:

Give one, get one: Invite your friends to buy or give it to your friends directly, and you will get the same benefits as your friends, such as Luckin Coffee's "Send them coffee", Qutoutiao's "Recruitment of disciples" and VIPKID's "Gifts for referrals".

Mutual fission: Establish a binding relationship with the invited friends. As long as the friends consume, both parties will gain benefits. A typical case is the "U+ Driver" recruitment activity of Shenzhou Special Car, which recruited more than 60,000 drivers through this gameplay.

Individual benefits: Users can get benefits for free after sharing, and friends can also get them for free through sharing channels such as invitation codes. Reference cases are Himalaya's "Share and Listen for Free", "Million Heroes" and other live quiz resurrection card games.

Group welfare: An upgraded version of individual welfare gameplay, it imitates WeChat red envelopes and is one of the main ways for APP fission, such as the fission red envelopes of food delivery platforms such as Ele.me, Luckin Coffee’s gamified coupon issuance, and WeChat Pay’s social instant discounts.

2. Crowdfunding

The so-called crowdfunding means that users need the help of friends to obtain rewards, and the invitation fission is completed in the process of friends' help, that is, "everyone helps me." Most paid fissions use this gameplay, such as group buying, distribution, unlocking, bargaining, etc.

Group buying: A certain number of friends must pay or participate in order to obtain products (it can also be an opportunity, such as team lottery). This is currently the most suitable model for Chinese-style social relationships among acquaintances. A typical example is Pinduoduo. Of course, it is also gradually being used in other industries, such as the online education platform ahaschool.

Distribution: This is the most basic and most commonly used method for knowledge payment projects and social e-commerce. Users only need to invite friends to buy products to earn income, with a maximum of level two (level three and above are illegal and will be banned). A typical case is the marketing class of Xin Shixiang.

Unlock: Also known as the task treasure gameplay, the basic logic is that users have to invite a certain number of friends to complete a certain behavior (such as following a public account, adding a personal account, paying, etc.) to get rewards. It is one of the basic means for public accounts to increase fans. Other names are often used, such as support, likes, voting, etc.

Bargaining: A fission gameplay with a strong marketing nature. Like group welfare, it uses the logic of a lottery. It requires inviting friends to reveal the bargained price in the form of "bargaining". Its essence is "everyone helps me". It is another common means used by major fission players such as Pinduoduo and Taojiji.

Collecting cards: This can be seen as a variation of the bargaining game, except that it changes from "cutting the price once" to "turning the price over". You can either invite friends to turn the price over for you, or invite friends to participate and then turn the price over for you yourself. It also requires help from others, such as collecting cards to receive red envelopes and inviting people to open red envelopes on various APPs during the Spring Festival.

Crowdfunding fission includes the relatively mainstream gameplay of fission at present. It has a relatively large creative space, and the subdivided gameplay can be combined with each other. It is the preferred direction for most fission players.

3. Shared

Crowdfunding is “everyone helps me”, while sharing is “I help everyone”. This type of fission takes advantage of the user's "altruistic psychology" and rarely emphasizes sharing of profits (but it will be more motivating if it is added). Common shared gameplay includes the following:

Active recommendation: After purchasing a product, users will receive some rights and benefits that can be shared with friends. Users themselves do not have these rights and benefits, but if their friends claim them, they can get other incentives, such as Chaos University’s “Friends Free Courses”. Different numbers of friends who claim the courses will receive different amounts of research value rewards.

Rights sharing: means that users’ rights can be directly shared with relatives and friends, such as the “family account” of Shenzhou Special Car, and they can also actively share the virtual products they have purchased and stored with friends, such as Luckin Coffee’s coffee red envelopes.

Buy for friends: Users take the initiative to buy products and give them to friends. This is the most basic "altruistic psychology" gameplay. Typical examples include Starbucks' "Say with Stars" and Fan Deng Reading Club's "Send Gift Cards".

At this point, the current mainstream gameplay has been basically reviewed. It can be seen that although fission is simple, it is rich in creativity and is indeed a customer acquisition method worth investing in. However, some gameplays will also sacrifice user experience and reduce product value, such as distribution and price bargaining.

Therefore, when we choose the fission method, we need to consider whether the product and users can withstand some of the negative effects brought about by fission. If not, we have to abandon this method.

Regarding the development trend of fission, in addition to the above emphasis on "users need to control it within a reasonable range", WeChat's attitude is also very critical, especially this time's centralized handling of check-ins in Moments, which prevents fission from being too "rampant" in the short term.

Regarding the future development of fission, I personally have a few small insights:

(1) Fission will continue to exist and will continue to be a standard means, but it is not the only means. It will form a corporate marketing tool together with other customer acquisition methods.

(2) From the perspective of fission classification, recommendation-based fission will gradually decrease (this trend has already appeared), invitation-based fission will become more and more , and some innovative gameplay will emerge. Of course, product models based on WeChat will also be scrutinized more and more strictly.

(3) The community-based fission model will rise again , but the bonus period will be shorter; it will become more difficult to obtain traffic from the circle of friends, and the role of personal accounts as fission carriers will continue to be amplified , which is in line with the trend of private domain traffic.

(4) Word-of-mouth fission based on product quality and service will be valued again or more , especially in the education industry. How to better motivate old users to bring in new users will become the focus of customer acquisition research.

(5) On the basis of ensuring product quality and good service, the refined operation of communities and personal accounts will empower fission.

Whether it is WeChat or media professionals who use WeChat's dividends to develop, they should put user experience and value first. This is the essence of business and the prerequisite for growth.

In this case, the rest depends on whether you can do it. Let us encourage each other.

Author: Lonely Hurt

Source: NetEase H5