5 tips for running promotional events!

Usually when it comes to operational activities, the psychological activities are as follows:

• My product has very few users. Is it suitable for operational activities? What if no one comes?
• How should I plan operational activities? What should I do if I have no idea?
• Why do we have to carry out operational activities? Can’t we just launch product features directly?
• Why don't operations personnel do the operational activities? I am a product manager and I am responsible for requirements and functions. I don't do this kind of work.

If your little head is nodding non-stop now, then just give your little hands to auntie, and let’s discuss together the correct posture for operating activities, okay? Before shaking hands, please let Auntie’s bone-touching hand check your operational thinking:

An operational activity that was originally planned to be launched tomorrow, due to some minor bugs, the technical manager said it would take a day to deal with before it could be launched. What would you do at this time?

• A. In order to be responsible to users, let’s delay it for one day.
• B. Bugs in operational activities will not have a big impact. The most important thing is to launch on time and make adjustments after launch.

The answer you choose to this question directly reflects your current thinking perspective on operational activities.

First of all, let us understand what operational activities are? It refers to an operational approach that quickly improves product indicators within a certain period of time by planning and executing short-term activities based on established goals. Therefore, compared with product functions, operational activities pay more attention to user behavior in a short period of time. The keywords of operational activities are: short-term and fast .

After understanding these, when you look back at this issue, what choice will you make? After reaching a happy agreement, let's follow Aunt Lisa to carry out the operation activities~

Step 1: Find out what is the purpose of your operation?

Many product managers wonder, when should I carry out operational activities? What is the relationship between operational activities and product features? My product has very few users, can I still carry out operational activities?

One-sentence explanation: Operational activities are the process of delivering the core value of a product to users through operational means. It is a link that connects users and products . Therefore, whether or not to carry out operational activities and how to carry them out have almost nothing to do with the number of users, but only with the goals of your activities.

Aunt Lisa summarizes the value of operational activities into the following three points:

1. Attract users' attention
2. Encourage users to participate
3. Strengthen user awareness

It can be seen that from attention to contribution and then to cognition, this is the process of users' acceptance of the product from shallow to deep. Therefore, the objectives of operational activities at different stages of the product are as follows:

• Newbie stage (retention) : quickly verify the MVP version, the acceptance of new features, and the user's willingness to pay, etc.
• High-speed development stage (new) : various customer acquisition methods and user growth channel activities, user acceptance of various functions, increase payment conversion rate, and strengthen the core function experience of the product
• Stable growth stage (activation and conversion) : Strengthen the recognition of product value among users of different levels, maintain core users, increase product popularity, and increase revenue
• Long tail stage (reduce churn) : give new products enough time to incubate.

Think clearly about the current stage of your product before planning operational activities. For example: A product in its infancy should never invest a lot of energy in user growth operations from the beginning.

In the future, please constantly ask yourself before starting any operation: Why am I doing this operation?

Step 2: How to plan your operations

Many children would say that planning and operating activities is too difficult and they don’t have many good ideas in their minds. What should they do? In fact, the essence of planning and operating activities is to find the best combination of activity goals, user needs and product forms. The idea is not about being new but about being appropriate .

Whether you find inspiration from other people's operations, or come up with a good idea on a whim, or refurbish and iterate a previously proven successful operation and continue to launch it online, it's all OK.

But there are several principles that must be followed:

• It is fun and easy, allowing users to achieve operational goals while playing. The game elements, relaxing sound effects, timely feedback and sense of accomplishment are all great.
• The operation should be convenient, and the operation steps should be reduced as much as possible. Do not let users jump around in non-process pages. Many product managers think that the more users know, the more willing they will be. This is not true! ! The less he pays, the higher his willingness is.
• The rules are easy to understand, and users do not need to think. They can understand at a glance "what to do and what to get", ensuring that users can quickly understand the key links and operate without obstacles. Therefore, the core rules of the activity should be placed in a prominent position at the top of the page; detailed rules and disclaimer information should be placed at the bottom of the page so that users can participate in the activity even if they do not read them.
• It is OK to highlight the benefits to users, whether they are material or spiritual benefits, the key is whether it is appropriate.
• Visual progress indicators. User participation in activities generally requires multiple consecutive steps, so a feedback should be designed after each step, such as an incremental number or a progress bar moving forward. Informing users that their operations are successful and have been recorded can also be considered a form of spiritual motivation.

If you can combine it with hot events, the chances of success will be very high~

Once all five elements are met, the operation activity will become an emotionless execution machine. Just like doing a chemical experiment, you can adjust the parameters, copywriting, and time. With your diligence, you will definitely be able to find the best solution!

Step 3: Awesome people never postpone their activities

As the saying goes, creativity is fun for a while, but execution is a disaster. How to avoid getting lost during the execution process? When you are a guy who pats his chest and tells the world that he is an awesome guy who can launch events on time?

We can divide the execution process into two parts: task decomposition and execution follow-up:

• Task decomposition: Like peeling an onion, break the project into subtasks, and assign a person in charge to each subtask. Note: Remember that each task has a unique person in charge. Aunt Lisa, the cunning one, will tell you that this can cut off the possibility of blaming each other at the source.
• Execution follow-up: The best way is to develop a project execution schedule, listing the broken down tasks in chronological order. Each task includes specific operations, output materials, responsible persons and completion time to ensure accurate execution of the project.

If the project is more complicated, you can use a Gantt chart to display it. It will help you have a clear idea of ​​the time consumed by each link, so that when you do similar activities in the future, you can evaluate the time cost of the activities in advance.

If you strictly follow the above steps, it will be difficult to postpone the deadline.

Step 4: Elegant risk monitoring and mid-term adjustments

As the saying goes, if the launch is done well, the activity will be effective. The process of going online is also a technical job, which can be divided into the following three stages:

• Xiaohuifa stage: distribute activities within the company, let everyone participate in the activities, see if Xiaobai encounters any obstacles in participating in the activities, and ensure the smooth closing of the process .
• Small-scale testing: Control the flow rate and focus on whether the established leading indicators meet expectations . If not, rapid adjustments and optimizations are required. If the UV is very low and the number of participants is small, you need to consider whether there is a problem with the resource position or the activity is not attractive enough? If the activity bounce rate is high, you need to consider whether the page is not attractive enough? Are there any problems with the activity process?
• Expand the delivery: After all the traffic has been delivered, you should pay attention to whether the fission is too successful and will attract the attention of WeChat, which may lead to WeChat being blocked. There may be too many participants and the server may not be able to handle it, the link may not be opened, there may be too many user complaints and the customer service may not respond in time, or the prizes may be too tempting and attract wool party, etc.

At this stage, you have to transform yourself into a caring old mother and a sensitive woman in first love, not missing any details and seizing all opportunities.

Step 5: Accurate review and move towards higher goals!

In operational activities, there is no absolute best, only things that can always be better.

The review can be conducted from three dimensions: project overview, data analysis and activity summary.

• The project overview mainly explains what was done and how the goals were achieved;
• Data analysis needs to start from the core goal, find objective data in as many dimensions as possible, analyze the reasons for good or bad data, and further put forward optimization suggestions;
• Activity summary , combining the activity process and results to point out the highlights and areas for improvement, and summarize the parts that can be learned and replicated for the next activity.

Thinking is not omnipotent; execution and implementation are the only way out for product science. Study hard and do more homework, OK?

In conclusion:

Aunt Lisa never advises product managers to spend a lot of time making thorough preparations in the hope of making a final push. Because from the beginning, you don't know whether this is a fantasy or a hope. Everyone in the team follows you and uses their own time, opportunities and resources to do something. If the starting point is a fantasy, it is better to let the fantasy be shattered as soon as possible. This is a responsible behavior. Therefore, "objective verification" should be introduced at the earliest possible stage. Open the door and let your users tell you directly whether this thing you are passionate about doing is a fantasy or a hope.

Operational activities are the key to opening the door to objective verification, and they must be fast and lightweight. Learn this skill and you won’t get lost on the road to becoming a product manager.

Author: Lisa Deng

Source: Lisa D's Product Notes

Related reading:

1. Event operation from entry to advanced: review

2. Activity operation review data indicators!

3. Event operation from entry to advanced: program design

4. A complete method for event operation!

5. The most comprehensive guide to event operations from entry level to advanced level!