The logic, strategy and methods of user-oriented operations

I often hear terms related to user operations such as user refined operations and user growth, but my understanding of these terms is very vague. Today, let’s talk about what the so-called "user refined operations" are and what related working methods there are.

Understanding of user operations

The key indicators of user operation are: attracting new users, promoting activation, retention, and payment conversion rate.

In a sense, this understanding is not wrong, but this way of understanding actually encompasses all operations. In fact, the core indicators of all operations are attracting new customers, promoting activation, retention and paid conversion rate.

In fact, there are broad user operations and micro user operations.

User operation in a broad sense refers to the operation indicators mentioned above, that is, user-first, all operation work is thought and planned with the goal as the core, and they are combined together to continuously bring value to users, and users then feed back to the platform, bringing value to the platform.

As for user operations at the micro level, due to the different product forms of various Internet companies, Internet companies with different business types have completely different work divisions. Moreover, these tasks are independent: promotion, activities, and content operations, and are carried out around users. The main reasons are:

First, when a product or a business develops to a certain stage and has a certain number of users, it is necessary to carry out refined management and maintenance of the users in order to maximize user value. It is like an online game. After it develops to a certain stage, if it is left to nature and only depends on the users to recharge voluntarily, it will be difficult to control. At this time, it is necessary to conduct data analysis on users, classify users and operate them, classify free players, petty players, and big players, and defeat them one by one to maximize the profits from users.

Second, provide more refined guidance and management of user behavior. In traditional business, the core goal is often to close transactions. Under this goal, various incentives are used to promote user "purchases" without considering other user behaviors. In today's Internet products, more consideration is given to the relationship between products and users. Maintaining this relationship allows users to continue using the products. However, the process of users using products is diverse and random, which results in some user operations not being able to meet their corresponding needs. Therefore, we need to guide and manage user behavior.

Third, users can influence each other, and we need to carry out our operations by influencing more users through their social relationship chains. In Internet products, we say that user A and user B are linked together through the commonality of their needs, so that they influence each other.

Fourth, user behavior data can be monitored, which can lead to better user management and provide a basis for iterative optimization of products, thereby making the product more diverse and effective.

The above basically explains the functions of user operations, as well as the understanding of user operations in a broad sense and in a micro sense . However, in specific work, due to the different sizes of user groups, the work content is also different. Generally speaking, it can be divided into two types:

Large user groups, through the design and optimization of strategies and mechanisms, carry out overall operations, and ultimately achieve the improvement of a specific data

Operate with a small batch of specific users, and enhance product value by having these users contribute value to the product ecosystem

Operation of large number of users

1. Establish a high-quality growth path

Establish a high-quality growth path for users, reduce the learning and understanding cost of new users (the range of choices should not be too large), and find an efficient path to convert ordinary users into active users

A product often has many functions, and users are faced with multiple choices during use, which can easily make them dizzy. Therefore, a more efficient guidance process is needed to help ordinary users grow into high-quality active users. In this way, more ordinary users can be promoted to high-quality active users, thereby improving the overall user activity.

2. Conduct user segmentation and refine operations for existing users

The second common working method and idea is user classification, that is, when the user scale reaches a certain size, users are divided into several categories based on their age, region, behavioral data and other attributes. The needs of each category of users are different. For example, on e-commerce platforms, the shopping needs of users in the north and south in winter are different due to differences in region and weather.

When it comes to user classification, we need to introduce two terms: user natural attributes and user behavioral attributes.

User natural attributes refer to certain attributes that users naturally possess that are unrelated to the product, such as age, gender, occupation, region, etc.

User behavior attributes refer to the data records of a series of user operations within the product, such as browsing, searching, etc.

Common user classification management methods are:

1) First define the key natural attributes and behavioral attributes of users within the product and extract the corresponding data.

2) Comparative data analysis to find correlations between natural attributes and behavioral attributes. For example, users in the north prefer food with different flavors.

3) Implement operations based on the relationship between natural attributes and behavioral attributes.

A major prerequisite for the above-mentioned refined classification operations is to have a certain scale of users and accumulated user data. Only under this premise can there be sufficient data to support the conclusions drawn from the analysis.

In theory, through refined user classification operations, different services and guidance can be provided to different users, thereby maximizing the retention rate.

3. Design an incentive system for user behavior

Through a series of incentives and product mechanisms, we can better encourage and guide users to perform specific behaviors within the product. It is mainly used to increase user activity when necessary or to guide users to complete certain specific behaviors.

The incentive system usually considers the following aspects:

1) It is necessary to clarify which user behaviors need to be incentivized

2) Build a virtual item or virtual currency system

3) Create a competitive atmosphere for users

4) Strengthen user guidance in each link

Principles to pay attention to when designing an incentive system:

1) Keep it as simple as possible to stimulate the target users

2) Have a clear sense of purpose and control

3) Pay attention to the balance between the issuance and use of points within the product

4. Silent User Recall

Silent users are users who have registered for a product but have not used it for a while. They are called lost users. Simply put, it is to reach and influence those users who no longer log in to access the product in some way, bring them back to the site, and make them active users again.

User recall is generally divided into three steps:

1) Analyze lost users and determine their natural and behavioral attributes;

2) Develop a recall strategy to reach out to users in a certain way, targeting the needs of a certain user group, in a certain scenario, and in a certain way, so that users can return and continue to use the product;

3) Implement recall content according to the recall strategy.

Small batch of specific types of user operations

Generally, there are several situations where small-scale user operations for specific groups are required:

1) For content-based products, operations should be conducted on users who contribute content so that they can continue to produce high-quality content;

2) Trading platforms are oriented towards B-side and C-side users respectively, and need to use some operational means to mobilize their enthusiasm in the product ecosystem;

3) When a product is first launched, it faces a cold start and it is necessary to find seed users and operate for them to help the product establish an initial cold start.

Different types of products have slightly different operating ideas.

Operation of content-based products and transaction platforms

1) Clarify which users you need to focus on. To find such users, you usually need to look for them through data, or make an overall judgment on which resources are scarce.

2) Identify what kind of behaviors a specific user group needs to continuously perform on the site as a benchmark.

3) Identify the means to maintain and motivate user relationships, such as interpersonal relationships, emotional maintenance, value provision, etc.

4) Combine the considerations from 2) and 3) to conduct test operations. If the results are satisfactory, make it a regular practice.

Seed user operations for product cold start

1) Clearly identify who the target users of your product are and find ways to find them.

The most ideal seed users are those with high fault tolerance and built-in propagation properties, because the product will encounter the problem of difficulty in acquiring users during the cold start phase. If the early seed users have built-in propagation properties, it will bring benefits to the later development of the product.

2) Maintain good relationships with seed users.

The product may face problems with imperfect experience in the early stages. We hope to improve the product experience and capabilities with the help of seed users, so we need to maintain a good relationship with seed users.

Author: Vinson Ze

Source: Vinson Ze