Kuaishou and Douyin operations: Spring Festival offensive and defensive battle!

"WeChat short content has always been the direction we want to focus on. If all goes well, we may see it in the near future."

On January 9, 2020, Zhang Xiaolong "intentionally" missed the open class held by WeChat in Guangzhou. Instead, there was a 12-minute video in which he talked about his seven understandings of "information interconnection". Among them, there is no lack of profound reflection on WeChat and its content ecology.

At the end of the video, Zhang Xiaolong reviewed the development history of WeChat official accounts. A big regret is that "long content" represented by articles has always been the main form of public accounts, but "short content" has no distribution channel for the public. "We are somewhat lacking in short content."

Image source: 2020 WeChat Open Class Pro

"We can't expect everyone to write articles every day." Zhang Xiaolong concluded, "Compared to public accounts, we lack a medium where everyone can create."

Recently, this vector has begun to appear in the public eye. Hedgehog Commune discovered that WeChat has launched an independent "Video Account" entrance on the Discovery page for some users, which is dedicated to the publication of videos and pictures.

In late January 2020, WeChat limited the trial area of ​​the video account to some users in cities such as Guangzhou, Chengdu, and Xi'an. Nowadays, a considerable number of users in Beijing can also access the testing entrance, and the scope of internal testing has been greatly expanded. The short content that Zhang Xiaolong talked about has really arrived this time.

Implant an Instagram in WeChat? !

WeChat’s “video dream” has a long history.

As early as 2018, WeChat developed short video functions such as the "Watch Short Videos" applet and Moment Video; in August 2019, WeChat first joined forces with Kuaishou to launch the "Watch Videos" that can be scrolled up and down infinitely, and then launched the official account video original declaration label, which was once seen as a signal that WeChat was focusing on short video content.

WeChat's related actions in the field of short videos. Map: Hedgehog Commune

Since then, many video entrepreneurs have begun to plan the dissemination and distribution of WeChat. For a time, WeChat became the new outlet for short videos. Zhang Xiaolong’s “preview” of WeChat short content at WeChat Open Class Pro has aroused people’s speculation about the form of WeChat short content.

Now, the video account has started large-scale internal testing. The "short content" mentioned by Zhang Xiaolong has also been determined to be implemented in the form of "video account". Although the video account is named after video, the content is not just video. Users who apply can upload videos of less than 1 minute and 9 pictures. There is almost no threshold for applying for publishing qualifications, and both institutions and individual users can apply.

From the perspective of content display mode, WeChat Video Account is very similar to Instagram and Oasis. Compared with these short content platforms, Video Account uses almost the same content presentation format, and the interactive forms such as likes and comments are also quite similar.

WeChat did not make much innovation in content presentation mode, but instead focused on enhancing interaction. In the video account, users can forward the content directly to their Moments and WeChat chat scenarios, and can also see comments from strangers. A Chinese version of Instagram that takes root in the WeChat ecosystem will also be more interactive than those short content products that are created from scratch and imitate Instagram.

WeChat’s timing and ambition to develop short content

"An unintentional action of ours may cause a change in the direction of the flow of information." At the 2020 WeChat Open Class, Zhang Xiaolong conveyed his understanding and judgment of the "power" of WeChat.

In WeChat’s product methodology, there are rarely any major adjustments to the product. Many of these features were short-lived, precisely because WeChat sensed uneasiness in the huge amount of new product traffic and was willing to cut off new features that were in the limelight. The paid photos in Moments in early 2016 and the emoticon comments in Moments at the end of 2019 are both excellent footnotes to Zhang Xiaolong's judgment.

Short video entrance and user homepage on WeChat Discovery page

Adding a short content entrance to the discovery page is far more important than several functional iterations of Moments. The launch of major functional improvements on WeChat at this time was obviously the result of careful consideration and deployment.

In 2020, WeChat official accounts urgently need to carry out a "transformation from old to new momentum."

In the past one or two years, "declining open rate" has always been a major problem that has plagued public account creators, and the "class solidification" of public accounts has become increasingly prominent - the early big accounts have a stable status, and later public account entrepreneurs can only lament that they missed the content dividend period. Users can also feel that there are only a few WeChat public accounts that have made it through the siege in recent times.

The solidified content ecology is obviously unhealthy. Introducing new "negative entropy" at this time has become an inevitable practice for WeChat to consolidate its content moat.

In addition, "short content" represented by short videos has always been the shortcoming of WeChat and even Tencent in the content platform, and it is also a shortcoming that the WeChat team is obsessed with. WeChat, which once missed out on short content, is now thinking of filling its gaps in this way. From the perspective of internal product iteration, external competitive pressure, and market demand, short content has become the priority direction for WeChat to evolve.

Don't worry about Moments, it won't turn into QQ

When it comes to the picture and video functions in WeChat, the first thing users think of is Moments.

The video account is located right next to the Moments, just below the entrance to the Moments. When there are suddenly two entrances on the WeChat discovery page that both serve the functions of short videos and pictures, some functional overlaps are inevitable. The picture function in the video account is exactly the same as that in the Moments. The only difference is that the length of the short videos in the video account reaches 1 minute, breaking the 15-second limit of the Moments video.

The video account does not have any threshold for creators, and its users completely overlap with the Moments; in addition, its content can be forwarded to the Moments, but the Moments content cannot be forwarded to the video account. This raises a question - will Moments be gradually marginalized after the launch of Video Account, just like QQ after the launch of WeChat?

It is foreseeable that the Moments will not be weakened, but in the process of WeChat's evolution, it will be integrated and developed with other products such as Video Account to jointly serve the WeChat content ecosystem. As early as the end of 2019, WeChat began to focus on content channels such as Kanyikan and Soso, opening up new content distribution scenarios outside of the Moments and social systems of acquaintances, helping users open up new horizons with the help of interests, occupations and other elements.

Comparison of the display forms of the pictures (left) and videos (right) of the video account

Video accounts are no exception. WeChat does not want to marginalize the Moments, but rather provide a diversified channel for content entrepreneurs of public accounts. Its "one-way transparency" compared to the official account (videos can only be forwarded to Moments in one direction) also enriches the content of Moments to some extent.

But this does not mean that Video Account has no impact on Moments. WeChat has always regarded Moments as a content channel for "light sharing" and does not encourage the forwarding of too much marketing and commercial content in it. For example, pictures, texts, and videos that are copied and forwarded in Moments will often be detected and folded.

The emergence of video accounts has provided users with marketing and promotion needs with new options.

Taking WeChat merchants and purchasing agents in the circle of friends as an example, they often need to send "short content" such as small videos and pictures, but the sending effect of the circle of friends is often limited by the number of friends and is also affected by factors such as passive folding. More open video accounts will also help Moments to "relieve" the pressure of commercial content and prompt the Moments environment to return to its essence as a light sharing space.

Will we see a second WeChat content explosion?

Official accounts were the first explosion of WeChat’s content ecosystem. It has "created" a large number of "public account internet celebrities". To this day, official accounts remain the cornerstone of WeChat's content ecosystem and an essential tool for brand owners to conduct marketing and promotion. They even support tens or even millions of content creators.

Now, a new channel has emerged that can rival public accounts in size.

The content format of the video account is similar to that of Ins and Oasis. The two short content carriers, short videos and "9 pictures", mean that the functions that WeChat wants to implant are aimed at Douyin and Weibo. With the empowerment of WeChat's social network, the importance of video accounts will soon be recognized by content creators and brand owners.

If you missed the official account in 2012, it’s best not to miss the video account in 2020.

After the dividends of the last round of "long content" have dissipated, "short content", especially "short content" represented by short videos, is still in a period of strategic opportunity. It is not only WeChat that is following this trend. Oasis, which is popular on Weibo, and Xiaohongshu, which continues to be popular, are also trying to accelerate their takeoff by taking advantage of the "short content" trend.

The "treatment" of short content creators has also risen. For short content entrepreneurs, the huge user base makes WeChat Video itself a better platform than other short content products. With the support of WeChat, even if creators cannot become KOLs, can they still become KOCs? One more channel means one more chance of being seen by users.

Tencent's official video account's explanation of the "video account" (no nesting dolls!)

Video accounts will also be a new stage for "mature" public account creators. When posting short content on a video account, creators are allowed to attach a link to a public account, which can help the public account achieve "compliant" traffic diversion within WeChat. How to use short content to better disseminate the advantages of long content in terms of depth, comprehensiveness and other dimensions is also a new topic that "traditional" long content creators need to consider.

“The breadth and quality of information have always been a problem that WeChat wants to solve.”

Zhang Xiaolong said this in his speech at the 2020 WeChat Open Class Pro. When WeChat uses video accounts to implement "short content" and expand the "breadth and quality of information", new opportunities are rising like the sun on WeChat's ever-expanding horizon.

Note: "Hedgehog Video" is a column about the video field. We cannot ignore the impact of "video text" and we conduct in-depth observation and reporting on everything derived from it.

Author: Shi Tianhao

Source public account: shitianhao0