Online marketing promotion: How to use H5 activities for brand promotion!

An H5 product needs to be carefully polished, but most of the failed producers have high expectations, little investment, are pressed for time, and don’t use their brains, hoping to detonate their circle of friends with a rough H5 product. This kind of thinking is totally unacceptable in the current H5 product competition. Only by truly starting from the perspectives of both products and users can we avoid product failure as much as possible.

1. Is H5 dead?

After several years of H5 melee, people have become more and more accustomed to H5, and the once popular routines are difficult to repeat nowadays. As a result, the argument that "H5 is dead" became popular for a while.

Now it is 2017, is H5 dead or alive? Here I would like to share with you the “2016 H5 Data Report” released by the H5 online creation platform MAKA in early 2017 [1].

The report points out that in 2016, the proportion of H5 with commercial conversion functions climbed from about 15% in 2015 to 45.5%, which has tripled; in 2015, H5 was mainly pure content display, and brought brand exposure through the interesting communication of H5, while in 2016, H5 is transforming from a single display communication to more practical commercial use.

In terms of H5 commercial conversion, the most commonly used functions are registration form (15.6%), map function (4.3%), relay function (2.7%), voting function (1.1%), and lottery function (0.6%).

At the same time, on MAKA, the average H5 page views were 1,208, higher than last year’s 954, a year-on-year increase of 26.6%. This data is similar to the 30% monthly active user growth rate of WeChat.

Judging from the above data, it may be too early to say that “H5 is dead”.

2. 2016: How to use H5

Since H5 is not dead yet, what is the current H5 communication data? Let’s continue to look at this report from MAKA.

1- Geographical distribution of audience

Judging from the data, most of the audiences come from first-tier cities, and Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen are the main sources of H5 visits, which is consistent with the target group that H5 wants to reach. Among them, Beijing is far ahead, followed by Chongqing and Chengdu.

2- H5 access time

The peak user access times are concentrated during lunch break from 11:00 to 14:00 and at night from 20:00 to 23:00, which is similar to the reading time distribution curve of WeChat public accounts. The specific promotion time needs to be combined with the specific scenario, and the best time to release H5 can be seen from this.

3- H5 channel ranking

Analyzing the reading sources of H5 on the MAKA platform, 59.6% of users accessed H5 through Moments, which was 6 percentage points lower than in 2015. This change may be related to WeChat's restrictions on induced sharing. As one thing grows, another shrinks. The number of views of WeChat public accounts increased by 7.9%, and public accounts have gradually become the main battlefield for communication.

4- H5 reading page analysis

Through the analysis of the 1,000 most visited H5s, it was found that the number of H5 pages with high traffic is mostly concentrated in pages 6-10, of which 9 pages are the largest, accounting for as high as 21.0%. Users have always been very picky, and overly complicated or abnormal operations will lead to user loss. As early as 2015, an analysis pointed out [2] that the deeper the H5 level, the greater the churn rate. In order to ensure the content of the dissemination and reduce user loss, an H5 of 6-10 pages is more appropriate.

5- The most popular H5 format

H5 mini games were once all the rage in WeChat Moments. However, there were not so many H5 games that dominated the screen in 2016, which is directly related to WeChat’s strict control over inducing sharing of H5. Among the 1,000 most visited H5s, H5 works with the theme of story marketing are the most popular among users, including brand stories, life philosophy and other chicken soup soft articles. Content is still king, and good content is more easily accepted by users.

3. Operational objectives and audience needs

Before designing an H5, we must first clarify our operational goals and audience needs. Operational objectives will vary depending on the ultimate purpose, and the target audience may also change due to different operational objectives. Successful operations should ultimately achieve operational goals by satisfying certain needs of the audience. Focusing too much on users will result in an increase in PV and a decrease in CV; focusing too much on operations and promotion while ignoring audience needs will result in a loss of traffic and ultimately failure to achieve the goal.

To give a counterexample, the famous H5 "Kris Wu is going to join the army" that once swept the circle of friends was very creative in its video presentation method, and Kris Wu's handsome image also won the hearts of many fans. However, is this really a successful H5? If you don't pay special attention, it's easy to mistakenly think that this H5 is mainly for Tencent News promotion. Because apart from the title of Tencent News, the name of the game "National Assault" that was the promotional target of H5 only appeared in the upper left corner of the end page and in the verbal description of Wu Yifan's video. Although the needs of the audience (fans) to appreciate idols were met, the operational needs of promoting the "National Assault" were not truly met.

Generally speaking, an H5 product needs to be carefully polished, but most of the failed producers have high expectations, little investment, are pressed for time, and don’t use their brains, hoping to rely on a rough H5 product to explode their circle of friends. This kind of thinking is totally unacceptable in the current H5 product competition. Only by truly starting from the perspectives of both products and users can we avoid product failure as much as possible.

4. How to design a good H5?

Taking into account the operational goals and audience goals, and combining the previous data, if you want to design a good H5, you need to consider the following three aspects:

Content creativity + induced dissemination + high-quality channels

1- Content Creativity

Creativity. Still creative. A good idea can combine operational needs and audience pain points very well, promoting its own activities, products or brands while comforting or motivating users.

Case: Next Idea x Forbidden City-Tencent

This H5 is the registration notice for the Tencent Innovation Competition. Zhu Di, the Yongle Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, traveled through time from a painting in the Forbidden City to the present day, wearing sunglasses, singing rap, dancing on horseback, taking selfies, and posting on WeChat Moments... The idea is very innovative and caters to the theme of the innovation competition.

2- Induced transmission

The trigger point of H5 content must also be the point that attracts users. It is important to lure users to click at the first time, otherwise no matter how good the H5 is, it will not be converted into traffic. The trigger point should be tempting and provide users with a reason to click. This incentive can be a reward, copywriting that touches on pain points, delicious food and beautiful women, or the following methods: eye-catching title - taking advantage of people's curiosity; suspense marketing - creating suspense and arousing speculation; red envelope inducement - "give, give, give", "give, give, give", the audience will never refuse this. At the same time, in order to obtain the desired publicity effect or brand influence, it is necessary to choose a suitable communication mechanism. For example, by collecting likes or relaying a post, one person’s post can lead to sustainable viral spread and create a viral impact in a short period of time.

Case: On Chinese Valentine’s Day, the most beautiful brides compete with each other. Who will you support, Baby or Ni Ni?

This H5 was made to promote the movie "Bride Wars". As the protagonists of the drama, Baby and Ni Ni are hostile to each other. So who will win the final victory? The voting right is in the hands of the users. Click on the bouquet and throw it to the two goddesses. They will compete for the bouquet. Whoever grabs the bouquet will increase his or her chance of winning by one vote. Want to add more bouquets for your goddess? Then forward this to your friends and save bouquets for your beloved goddess.

3- High-quality channels

Once the above three points are established, what is needed is a suitable distribution channel. Do your best to utilize all channels that can promote H5. Currently, the more commonly used methods include: promotion through group text and picture sending on official accounts, WeChat group promotion, offline QR code promotion, and the KOL forwarding and submission mentioned above. The promotion of APP and its own public account is a relatively conservative form, provided that the APP itself has a large enough user base or the public account itself has a large enough active audience. Otherwise, KOL marketing, or finding seed users who are keen on creating and forwarding content, is the most effective way.

5. H5 interactive form example

At present, in terms of interaction forms, the interaction forms of H5 on mobile terminals are nothing more than the common ones: click, slide, erase, long press, etc. There are also some products that are made with H5 themselves, which will not be discussed here. According to the degree of interaction, H5 promotion can be divided into the following three categories:

1 – Display Interaction

2 – Guided Interaction

3 – Game-like interaction

1 – Display

The definition of display type is very simple. It starts displaying content by opening the H5 page or a few simple slides or clicks. It requires the least interaction and the highest content. This type of H5 is usually a short H5 video or animation, which is required to grab the audience's attention at the moment it starts to be displayed.

Pros and Cons

Advantages: It is easy to smoothly present a complete brand story or brand image; the technical difficulty is relatively low and there are fewer levels of interaction.

Disadvantages: The content requirements are very high, and the entire display must be watched in full to achieve the dissemination effect. The interactive form is simple and boring, which can easily cause audience loss.

The common forms of display interaction are as follows.

1-1 Video

Video-style H5 is the simplest. When you open the H5, the video will start playing until the end of the H5. This type of H5 has extremely high requirements for video content. Whether it can achieve its operational purpose depends on whether the video is powerful enough.

Case: Xue Zhiqian's craziest advertisement in history - Tencent Animation

1-2 Slideshow

Traditional slideshow playback also belongs to display interaction. By triggering the switching of different pages of content, you can watch them one by one and tell stories using pictures, texts and music. A more recent example is NetEase Cloud Music’s 2016 annual summary, which records your experience with NetEase Cloud Music in 2016 by presenting a few simple data sets. It is both sensational and interesting.

Application scenarios - Due to its simple production and short cycle, this H5 presentation format is suitable for frequent and small needs. If you use the online editor, you don’t need any development, you just need a designer and a copywriter. Therefore, the slideshow format is particularly suitable for regular releases or marketing combined with hot spots.

The common ways to play the slideshow can be listed as follows:

Topic method: follow hot events and express opinions that are extremely positive or reflective;

Data method, using data to tell stories, such as what Alipay and WeChat do at the end of each year;

Popular science method, introduce interesting, useful or extremely important but little-known knowledge (remember our parents’ circle of friends???);

The warmth method, a holiday greeting, a blessing to the alma mater, deceived millions of reposts;

Product introduction method. Several slides switch to introduce a wonderful new product.

Case: How to spend the 2017 Spring Festival with your family? - Airbnb

1-3 Space Display

Spatial display means treating the mobile screen as a display window. After opening it, you can see a lot of information through simple interaction (movement or touch). Common forms include panoramic interaction and one-shot.

The concept of "one-shot" has been a hot topic in the second half of 2016, but not many films adopt this format because it usually requires a lot of content to be loaded and the technology to implement is complex. But if used well, the effect will be cool, the display content will be rich, and the spread will be powerful. The 2016 Tmall Double 11 One-Shot H5 was also a playback-style H5. With just one step, you can see a universe, which is amazing. Similarly, other manufacturers have also done cool one-shot demonstrations.

Case: A one-shot, uncut drama released - Youku

This is a one-shot + kaleidoscope design. When you enter the page, the animation will play automatically, and the camera will slowly zoom in from far away, showing all kinds of TV series, variety shows and other programs included in the Youku website in a one-shot format. When you hold down the screen without sliding it, the display will become a kaleidoscope, and it will return to normal when you release it. The last page reaches the YOUKU membership promotion page. Click "Invite friends to be cool together" to share it with your friends, or click "Join membership" to jump to the external link.

The overall design of this H5 is rich and gorgeous, and with dynamic music, the effect is cool and shocking.

2 – Guided

In fact, the guiding type is very similar to the display type, and both focus on content. The reason for separating them is that we need to emphasize the importance of interaction in H5. After all, it is difficult for most audiences to sit still and watch a video or animation to the end (otherwise the existence of Youku, Tudou and Bilibili would be meaningless). What is relatively different between H5 and video is that it can be interactive. When we tell a story, allowing the audience to interact with the story a little bit through guided interactions will enhance the audience's sense of participation and motivate them to continue reading. Therefore guided interaction is more suitable for storytelling. It should be emphasized that in the promotional H5, the default interface and story are new to users, so all interactions must have a certain degree of guidance, otherwise users will accidentally get lost in the interface.

Pros and Cons:

Advantages: It enriches the interaction between users and H5, allowing users to always stay immersed in the story during the reading process. At the same time, well-placed interactive touchpoints can enhance the promotional effect.

Disadvantages: Users are still passively accepting stories while watching, and their sense of participation is not substantially improved.

According to different content forms, guided interactive H5 can be divided into the following interactive methods:

2-1 Interactive video

Demonstration videos that lack interactivity are unlikely to attract attention for a long time. Videos that have a certain degree of interactivity will be much more interesting. This type of case requires careful selection of the triggering timing, coordinating with the structure of the story, and setting off the atmosphere of the entire story.

Case: The first mobile drama troupe opened – Tmall

This H5 is very popular recently. On the one hand, its drama part is very magical, the actors are very expressive, and the visual impact is very strong. On the other hand, it is combined with just the right interactive touch points to control the audience's viewing rhythm and firmly imprint the words "Tmall Worry-Free Shopping" in people's minds.

2-2 Small scene

Users cannot persist for more than a few pages in a dull and boring interaction such as slide switching, so the current switching often adopts a small scene method. Each page is a scene, and an interesting hotspot is created in the current scene, allowing users to trigger the hotspot to switch to the next scene; or there are multiple scenes to choose from, and each scene will have an interactive little story.

Case: Mom hit me again - JD Mother's Day

It uses the form of going back to the childhood when being beaten by the mother, combined with small games, to evoke memories and bring joy. First choose the reason why your mother hits you, and then act out the scene. Then four ways of hitting will appear randomly: Tathagata Palm, Dog Beating Stick, Shadowless Kick, and Summoning Technique. Each way your mother hits you is accompanied by a funny and exaggerated animation. After hitting you, she will ask you if you feel comfortable and if you admit your mistake. If you admit your mistake, you will enter the theme page. Your mother is old and can no longer hit you. It's Mother's Day. Do you miss your mother? If you don't admit your mistake, you will experience various abuse moves one by one~

2-3 Page Exploration

Design a large scene and achieve operational goals by allowing the audience to actively explore within the scene. During the exploration process, the audience experiences the fun of browsing while accepting the stories or concepts promoted by the H5. At the end of the exploration, the audience will be directed to the relevant app or activity page.

Case: Durex Art Museum-Durex

3 – Game-like interaction

Compared with display-type and guidance-type H5, game-type H5 focuses most on interaction. Design a simple game to attract the audience through interesting game interactions, which can satisfy the audience's purpose of obtaining sensory stimulation, killing boring time or showing off. Back then, games like Nervous Cats suddenly became all the rage, and their spread was so powerful that it was astonishing.

However, the promotional effect of H5 games in the circle of friends is also limited. On the one hand, H5 games were once popular in the circle of friends because of their simple operation and strong competitiveness, but the lack of creativity and homogeneity have caused users to gradually become tired of brainless games. On the other hand, due to the restrictions on H5 games in the WeChat External Link Content Management Specifications[3], mini-games circulated on WeChat can only be pure games and cannot contain misleading promotional content, otherwise they will not survive for long.

However, good ideas still have no shortage of audiences. A well-designed mini-game can also indirectly promote your brand value or event goals to a wide audience. Here are some common types.

3-1 Image synthesis

Case: My elementary school student photos – Tiantian Ptu

Want to show off? Want to experience something new? Give you a chance. Generate pictures with one click and you can turn into a primary school student in seconds.

3-2 Do the test

Generally, it is a simple question-and-answer process that gives an interesting test result. Hard-marketing tests have basically been banned. Currently, there are more tests with predictions, spoofs, popular science or blessing meanings, which are then used to attract attention to public accounts or download APPs.

Case: I didn’t expect you to be such a seat belt – Didi Chuxing

How much do you know about seat belts? "Which country developed the prototype of car seat belts?" "Which car manufacturer was the first to use three-point seat belts?" "What is the nemesis of seat belts?" "What will happen if you don't wear a seat belt in a taxi?" "What are the main components of seat belt webbing?" Do you know these questions? Through a series of tests, the case ultimately conveys Didi’s concept of safe travel to the audience.

3-3 Draw

In 2017, Fish Hunter gives you a reason to show off – Tencent Games

Tencent's Fish Hunter game is launched during the festival. It is played by shaking to draw a lucky lottery ticket, and then interpreting the lucky lottery ticket. You can shake multiple times, and finally jump to the app store to download the game to win red envelopes, which can also be shared.

3-4 Original/Transplanted Mini Games

Case: 2017 Chicken Upward - Sigma

After loading, the homepage will introduce the theme "Chicken Up", followed by the gameplay. Clicking the screen can make the chicken jump, and shaking the phone left and right can control the direction of the chicken's fall. In addition to lanterns, there are various small props inside. Jumping on the small props can make the chicken transform. If you want to keep moving forward, then come and challenge yourself.

There are many new ways to play H5 games nowadays, such as dual-screen interaction, geolocation, voice recognition, and facial recognition, which I will not list in detail one by one. .

The above is some basic knowledge about H5. I have said a lot and missed a lot. Generally speaking, an H5 product needs to be carefully polished, but most of the failed producers have high expectations, low investment, tight time and lack of brains, and want to rely on a rough H5 product to detonate the circle of friends. This kind of thinking is totally unacceptable in the current H5 product competition. Only by truly starting from the perspectives of both products and users can we avoid product failure as much as possible.

Related reading:

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3. A must! 18 hot spot tracking tools for marketing and promotion operators!

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5. With a continuous monthly growth of 50%+, how can brand marketing promotion go from 0 to 1?

6. Marketing promotion planning: 80% of event planners tend to make mistakes!

7. Online marketing promotion: How to spend big money? Fine-tuned operation of large traffic!

Author: Cheng Wangshu

Source: Cheng Wangshu