Analysis of Xigua Video Product Promotion

From the perspective of a new product developer, the author of this article briefly analyzes and looks forward to the Xigua Video APP from the dimensions of market analysis, user analysis, product analysis, and user feedback.

1. Product experience information

1.1 Product Information

Product name: Watermelon Video

Product Type: Short Video Platform

Supported platforms: IOS/Android/PC (Android and PC are not included in the discussion)

Product slogan: Give you fresh and beautiful

Product LOGO:

Product Introduction: Xigua Video is an application software that recommends short video content to users based on artificial intelligence algorithms, allowing users to discover fresh, good-looking short video content that suits their tastes every time they refresh the application.

1.2 Experience Information

Experience model: iPhone 6s

System version: IOS 13.3.1

APP version number: 4.3.4

Experience time: January 2019-March 2020 (the author has been using Xigua Video since 2018)

1.3 Purpose of analysis

1. Analyze Xigua Video’s product strategy, product features, product performance and other characteristics;
2. Analyze the competitive situation and development direction of the short video market
3. Analyze the reasons for the success of Xigua Video and its corresponding strategies
4. Familiar with the writing methods of product analysis reports

2. APP information map, functional framework and usage process

2.1 APP Information Map

Figure 1 Watermelon Video APP information map

As can be seen from the mind map, the function distribution of Xigua Video is very clear and specific, with short videos, long videos, live broadcasts and personal functions set up separately. The interface settings are also very friendly to new users, and it is simple and easy to get started.

2.2 Flowchart of core functions

Xigua Video users can be divided into two main categories: one is the content demander, and the other is the content creator . The author provides here the flow charts for searching and publishing videos as shown in Figures 2 and 3.

Figure 2 Flowchart for searching videos Figure 3 Flowchart for publishing videos

3. Introduction to the short video market and market analysis of Xigua Video

3.1 Introduction to the Short Video Market

Here, the author quoted questionnaire reports and survey reports published by Analysys, iMedia Research, iResearch, and Bytedance to analyze the current macro market size and development trend of short videos.

3.1.1 Market Definition

The "2016 Short Video Market Research Report" released by iResearch defines short video as "a general term for short videos with a length of no more than 20 minutes, which are shot, edited, uploaded, played, shared, and interacted through short video platforms, and whose video formats include documentary shorts, DV shorts, video clips, micro-movies, advertising clips, etc."

Short videos have emerged and developed based on social networking platforms. With their concise and short features and low production threshold, they have to a certain extent met the audience's needs for reading and sharing information.

3.1.2 Market size of short videos

The popularity of smart phones has accelerated the explosive development of the short video industry, and it is expected that with the popularization of 5G, the online audio-visual industry will once again usher in a breakthrough development. Among them, short videos have the fastest development momentum, surpassing comprehensive videos to become the second most used application, subverting the overall pattern of audio-visual communication.

According to the data from iiMedia Research, the scale of short video users in China reached 501 million in 2018, with a growth rate of 107.0%. It is expected to reach 722 million in 2020. With the further implementation of 5G commercialization and the application of high technology, the short video industry will usher in a new round of innovative competition.

Figure 4: China’s short video user scale and forecast from 2016 to 2020

iiMedia Research pointed out in the "2019 China Short Video Enterprise Marketing Strategy White Paper" that as short videos gradually become an indispensable way for users to entertain themselves online, short video platforms still have a lot of room for development in advertising monetization and other monetization methods, and it is expected to reach a market size of 200 billion by 2021.

Figure 5 Market size and forecast of China’s short video industry from 2016 to 2020

3.1.3 Market development trend of short videos

iiMedia Research pointed out in the "2019 China Short Video Enterprise Marketing Strategy White Paper" that the total monthly number of independent devices of short video products achieved rapid growth in 2018, from 570 million to 730 million, and the user penetration rate increased from 46.9% to 54.4%, and the growth rate reached a relatively rapid development stage. In 2019, the monthly growth in the number of independent devices slowed down, increasing from 760 million in January 2019 to 850 million in October 2019, with the growth rate stabilizing at around 1%, and user growth was weak. The current Internet dividend period is gradually fading, and the short video industry needs more precise marketing and markets that extend beyond core areas to introduce fresh blood.

Figure 6: China’s monthly total number of independent short video devices and short video penetration rate from January 2018 to October 2019

3.2 The Development History of Xigua Video

In May 2016, Toutiao Video, the predecessor of Xigua Video, was officially launched.

In June 2017, the number of users exceeded 100 million and the DAU exceeded 10 million.

On June 8, 2017, Toutiao Video was officially upgraded to Xigua Video.

At the end of November 2017, Xigua Video held the first "Xigua PLAY Video Carnival"

On November 25, 2017, the 3+X monetization plan was launched and a 2 billion joint production fund was established. Zhang Nan, head of Xigua Video, also announced the launch of the "3+X" video monetization plan on the spot, including platform sharing, buying while playing, live broadcast function, Xigua products and many other contents, which have been launched one after another.

In January 2018, the first season of the large-scale live knowledge quiz show “Millionaire Heroes” was launched, with a total of 278 online quiz sessions covering 16 knowledge areas. The cumulative number of participants is nearly 300 million.

On April 15, 2019, Xigua Video launched the Advanced Classroom to support platform creators and help build IP. Xigua Vlog Academy, Attack Classroom, Vlog is included in the Kaleidoscope Project...

On December 14, 2019, Xigua Video launched the live quiz event "No. 1 Hero".

3.3 Advantages and Challenges of Xigua Video

According to the query of relevant information, the author uses the SWOT analysis method to analyze the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of Xigua Video. The SWOT analysis is shown in Figure 17:

Figure 7 SWOT analysis of Xigua Video

3.3.1 Advantages of Xigua Video

1. Xigua relies on a powerful recommendation system to collect data such as the frequency of users watching short videos, likes, comments, etc., analyze users' interests and preferences, and use algorithm technology to recommend relevant short videos to users, directly targeting users' preferences.

2. Recently, Xigua launched the screening room function, which complements the previous short video service to form long and short video services. The free broadcast of "Lost in Russia" on Xigua at the beginning of the year greatly increased the brand awareness of Xigua Video. From January 25th, it ranked first on the iOS popular free list for 6 consecutive days.

3. Although Xigua Video has only been online for less than four years, as one of ByteDance's products, it not only has a separate viewing entrance on the Toutiao app, but also has strong advertising on Douyin, and its popularity continues to increase.

4. In recent years, Xigua has continuously launched popular activities such as "Xigua University" and "No. 1 Hero", which not only enable full interaction with users, but also increase the stickiness between users and the platform.

3.3.2 Disadvantages of Xigua Video

1. As users watch more and more similar short videos, the content becomes more homogeneous, causing the information surface to shrink. Algorithm technology seems to provide considerate services, but it also prevents users from being exposed to new things to a certain extent. In addition, algorithm technology can only be used as a screening technology for short videos. It does not have human value thinking, cannot judge the expression of values ​​in the video, and has no standards for program judgment execution.

2. Xigua Video's algorithm makes recommendations based on the number of clicks on the video and the number of times the video itself hits user behavior. Clickbait and cover videos will undoubtedly help increase the number of clicks, which will result in the videos of clickbait and cover videos being promoted better and better, but the audience's viewing experience will become worse and worse, which is not conducive to increasing user stickiness and long-term retention.

3. Since the operation of high-quality original accounts requires a lot of time, energy and even money, unlike the porting accounts that produce vulgar and clickbait content without any bottom line, this makes the original content less attractive than the ported content, and to a certain extent, the exposure will be robbed by pirated content. Over time, the original author's enthusiasm for content production will be hit, and the stickiness and trust in the product and platform will be reduced, and eventually they may no longer update and upload.

4. There is still room for improvement in the user experience and service module design of Xigua Video. For example, the video playback interface function is not perfect. For details, please see the five function analysis and optimization suggestions.

3.3.3 Opportunities of Xigua Video

1. The number of short video users in China reached 501 million in 2018, and is expected to reach 722 million in 2020. This huge audience group with growth potential makes short videos one of the most far-reaching media forms in the mobile Internet era.

2. The application of 5G will bring the advantages of large bandwidth, large connection, low latency and high transmission rate. The people and scenarios that short videos can serve will become more extensive and more in-depth, and short videos will usher in a new round of development wave.

3.3.4 Threats from Xigua Video

1. Kuaishou and Douyin, which are also short video giants, are developing very rapidly, with active users of around 200 million. Following closely behind are other equally excellent short video platforms such as Volcano and Meipai, which also reflects the huge competition in the second-hand trading market.

2. Xigua Video is a new platform that was born less than 4 years ago. Unlike platforms such as iQiyi, Tencent Video, and Bilibili, its user base is not large enough and user loyalty is not high enough.

3. With the further development of mobile Internet and the explosive growth of self-media platforms, the entry threshold of the content industry is getting lower and lower. Coupled with the inadequate supervision of online content, the network environment is in chaos. In 2017, my country implemented the new "Cybersecurity Law of the People's Republic of China" and "Internet News Information Service Management Regulations", indicating that the constraints of relevant policies and regulations have been further strengthened, and content distribution platforms will inevitably face more stringent supervision and governance.

4. Due to the explosive growth in the number of creators joining Xigua Video, copyright review of uploaded content has become an issue that needs to be addressed urgently.

4. User portrait

In order to strengthen the description of user portraits in this report, the author gives the overall user portrait of the short video platform here, and separately gives the user portrait of the Xigua Video APP.

4.1 Overall User Profile of Short Video Platforms

4.1.1 Short video products are penetrating into the middle-aged and young population, with obvious male characteristics

iResearch Consulting gave an overall user portrait of short videos in the "2019 China Short Video Enterprise Marketing Strategy White Paper", as shown in Figure 8.

Figure 8 Demographic attributes of Chinese short video users in 2019

The report shows that in 2019, the proportion of male users of short video apps in China was 54%, slightly higher than that of female users. The TGI index for male users is 101.7, and the TGI index for female users is 98.6. Compared with all netizens, the characteristics of the male group of short video product users are more obvious.

In terms of age distribution, people aged 25-35 account for as high as 51.3%. Short videos are gradually penetrating from young people under 24 years old to the middle-aged and young user group aged 25-35.

From the perspective of educational level distribution, people with low education level of high school or below are prominent, accounting for as high as 80%, and the TGI index is 104.2. The proportion of undergraduate and junior college students is relatively low, accounting for 20% of the total population.

4.1.2 The market is sinking significantly, with third-, fourth- and fifth-tier cities accounting for nearly half of the total

Figure 9: Distribution of short video users in China by city in 2019

The report shows that in terms of urban distribution, short video users are gradually penetrating from first- and second-tier cities to third- and fourth-tier cities. Among them, users in second-tier cities account for as much as 22.37% of the total users, and the TGI index is 99.1. As the internet dividend has faded in recent years, the sinking market has become a new battlefield for giants to compete and seize the user market. In contrast to the trend of gradually decreasing user share, the TGI index of third-tier, fourth-tier and fifth-tier cities has soared to 102.5, 106.3 and 107.5 respectively, with significant user characteristics in the sinking market.

4.1.3 Short video users use short videos more frequently before bedtime, during commuting, and during breaks

Figure 10 Analysis of short video user scenarios and time periods in China in 2019

The report shows that short video users use short videos more frequently before bedtime, during commuting, and during breaks, which basically overlap with the time periods when users prefer advertising.

Excluding commuting hours, users’ acceptance of advertising decreases. Before going to bed and during breaks, users have a strong demand for the fragmented entertainment functions of short video products. The release of short video products at this time will increase users' attention to short video products, prompting them to further obtain advertising content and realize user demand supply.

4.2 User Profile of Xigua Video APP

In July 2019, Bytedance provided a user portrait of Xigua Video.

As shown in Figure 11, it can be seen that the overall user trend of short videos in 7.1 is the same. Most of Xigua’s users are male, and people aged 25-35 account for a large proportion. The market has obvious characteristics of sinking, with third-, fourth- and fifth-tier cities accounting for more than half, and the TGI index continues to increase, reaching the maximum value of 115 in fifth-tier and below cities.

Figure 11 Overall user distribution of Xigua Video

As shown in Figure 12, the active hours of Xigua users are similar to the overall short video market, reaching the midday peak and evening peak at 12 noon and 8 pm respectively.

Figure 12 Distribution of active penetration rate of Xigua Video users by time period from March to June 2019

According to the author's record of using Xigua, as shown in Figure 13, Xigua's news push time is generally 10 a.m., 12 noon and 4 p.m., with fewer pushes in the evening. According to Figure 12, Xigua users' active time periods, Xigua can make appropriate pushes at 6 a.m. and 8 p.m.

Figure 13 Xigua Video push list on a certain day

V. Functional Analysis and Optimization Suggestions

5.1 Add "Special Attention" function

5.1.1 Follow the top

Creators followed by users will be pinned to the top of the homepage in the form of small icons, and when creators publish new content, an "update" sign will be displayed below the icon.

Users can swipe left and right on the small icons to find creators they are following and see if they have published any new content. Xigua makes it easy for users to track the status of creators in this intuitive way, which is a very special innovation.

On the homepage, if users want to view related videos of the creators they follow, they only need to select the top label.

Sign in to the follow page and click "Home", the software will automatically push related videos, which is convenient and quick to use.

5.1.2 Weaknesses of the Follow Page

As users spend more time on Xigua, the number of creators they follow will also increase, and frequent swiping left and right will become less convenient.

Since Xigua will move the icons of creators with updated content forward, this may make it easier for users to pay attention to creators who update frequently, ignore creators with longer update cycles, and miss some content that they may be interested in.

Users may not pay the same attention to different creators. For some creators' videos, users may hope to watch their every update in a timely manner, but for some creators' videos, users may not be so interested and may watch them or not. If the updates to the follow page are targeted at all the creators followed, it will increase the user's selection cost.

5.1.3 Optimization Suggestions

As shown in the figure below, add a drop-down box on the follow page where you can select "My Follow" or "Special Follow".

When the user does not click the drop-down box and directly clicks the "Home" button after entering the homepage, the homepage will update the videos of the creators in the "All Following" list.

When the user clicks the drop-down box and selects "My Follow" , the page will jump to the "My Follow" page, which is divided into "My Follow" and "Special Follow". "My Follow" includes all creators the user follows, and "Special Follow" can be set by the user and includes the creators that the user is most interested in. Users can search for creators in the search box.

When the user clicks the drop-down box and selects "Special Focus" , the user only needs to click the "Home" button, and the videos of the creators in "Special Focus" will be updated on the homepage, without the user having to specifically look for the creator they want to watch.

Figure 14 Optimization suggestions for the “Follow” page of Xigua Video

5.2 Updating user positioning through the "Not Interested" feature

5.2.1 Current “Not Interested” Functionality

Xigua stands out among many video apps with its powerful recommendation algorithm. It can accurately locate users based on their behavior, and thus give reasonable push notifications, allowing users to experience the videos they are most interested in at the first time. It fully fits the fragmented reading habits in the context of today's popular culture era and has become one of the most popular short video software among the public.

When users encounter a video they are not interested in, they can click the "Not Interested" label and submit the reasons why they are not interested in the video based on the multiple choices provided by Xigua. Xigua's recommendation mechanism for users will be continuously improved, making Xigua more accurate in identifying user interests and improving the user experience.

You can select the "Not Interested" function on the videos pushed on the Xigua homepage and after entering the video homepage to provide feedback on the video.

5.2.2 Current weaknesses

Although Xigua provides a "not interested" function that allows users to provide timely feedback on video content they are not interested in, Xigua has great limitations on the content of feedback. Users can only choose three or four reasons provided by it for feedback. However, different users may have different opinions on the same video, which cannot be summarized by three or four reasons. Users cannot edit according to their actual feelings, and the feedback is not comprehensive enough.

5.2.3 Optimization Suggestions

As shown in FIG15 , the original feedback provided to users by Xigua is retained, and an “other questions” option is added to the final feedback interface, allowing users to edit their feedback.

Figure 15 Optimization suggestions for Xigua Video feedback page

5.3 Video Evaluation Mechanism

5.3.1 Current evaluation mechanism

When users come across a video they like, they can click the like, favorite, and forward buttons below the video to acknowledge the creator. The buttons for the three functions are directly set below the video, which is conspicuous and convenient for users to use.

There are specific numbers under the like function, which shows how many users have expressed their love for the video. It not only expresses affirmation to the creator, but also provides motivation for the creator and stimulates their passion for creation.

Likes, favorites, and reposts are still important indicators for Xigua to calculate the video revenue for creators. The greater the quantity, the higher the profit.

5.3.2 Current Problems

When users encounter a video they are not interested in, they can provide feedback by clicking the "Not Interested" button, but this function requires multiple steps and cannot be reflected through specific numbers like likes. Users cannot intuitively see other users' reactions and attitudes towards the video.

For creators, only positive indicators such as video playback volume, likes, comments, favorites, and reposts can be used to get users' evaluation of their videos. Without negative indicators such as "dislikes", it is not conducive for them to improve video quality based on user feedback.

5.3.3 Optimization suggestions

As shown in the figure below, a "dislike" function is added next to the like button. Not only is there a specific number of likes under the "like" function, but there is also a specific number of "dislikes" under the "dislike" function. Both users and creators can use this function to get other users' evaluation or attitude towards the video.

Xigua can also reduce the creator's income by a certain percentage based on the number of "dislikes", so as to urge the creator to continuously improve the video content and improve the quality of the video. At the same time, this can also regulate some false behaviors of "title parties" and "cover parties".

Figure 16 Optimization suggestions for Xigua Video interactive page

5.4 Full-screen playback function

5.4.1 Current full screen usage

For offline cached videos, Xigua currently only supports selecting different playback speeds. However, it is worth praising that Xigua's offline cached videos support one-click saving to the album, making it convenient for users to share.

For collected videos, Xigua currently supports not many functions, the commonly used ones are only selecting speed, clarity, barrage, etc.

5.4.2 Current Problems

For users, whether it is offline cached videos or favorite videos, they will only be saved if they are interested in watching them. However, the playback function of Xigua does not support the selection of playback method. If users want to watch a video repeatedly, they must exit the playback interface and re-select it. This not only increases the user's usage cost and procedures, but in the long run, users are likely to lose patience with the software, thereby losing a large number of users.

At the same time, the drama selection function is also indispensable. When users are watching videos, they will habitually think about the next video they want to watch. If they can select it directly on the playback interface, it will greatly enhance the user's playback experience.

5.4.3 Optimization suggestions

As shown in Figure 17, a selection function is added in the lower right corner of the playback interface. Click to expand the selection list, and swipe up and down to select the episode the user wants to watch.

A list function has been added to the upper right corner of the playback interface. Click it to expand a variety of function options, including playback speed (0.5x, 0.75x, 1x, 1.25x, 1.75x), playback mode (auto play, list loop, single episode loop, pause after playback), screen size (adapt, stretch, fill, 16:9, 4:3) and other common functions.

Figure 17 Optimization suggestions for Xigua Video full-screen playback page

6. Construction of the paying user ecosystem

The internet premiere of Lost in Russia was a bombshell for the entire industry. Statistics show that in just three days, the total playback volume of "Lost in Russia" on the four major APP platforms under Toutiao exceeded 600 million, with a total number of viewers reaching 180 million. Xigua Video has been ranked first on the iOS popular free list for 6 consecutive days since January 25, and its popularity has been greatly improved.

Xigua Video attracted a large number of users by offering “free viewing of Xigua movies”. Although this can quickly attract users, it is not conducive to the construction of a future paying user ecosystem. Currently, some Xigua movies require a "Hollywood membership" to watch, which has caused disgust among some users. According to the author’s statistics, more than 40% of the negative reviews of Xigua Video in Apple’s APP STORE are due to “unrealistic ads” and “few movies and not free”. Some of the comments are shown in Figure 18.

Figure 18 One-star feedback on Xigua Video

According to the "2019 China Short Video Innovation Trends Special Research Report" released by iMedia Research Center, more than half of users are willing to pay for short videos. As shown in Figure 19, compared with 2017, users' willingness to pay increased from 31.1% to 54.8% in the first half of 2019, which shows that users are willing to pay for their favorite videos and charging for video software is not unfeasible.

Figure 19 Survey on willingness to pay for Chinese short video platform users in the first half of 2019

The author believes that the reason why Xigua users are so averse to paid movie viewing is mainly because Xigua’s “Massive videos for free” advertisement is too deeply rooted in people’s minds. A large number of users download videos for the “free viewing” reason, and when they encounter paid videos, the gap is too great, which leads to a strong resistance.

The author suggests that Xigua could adopt the method of allowing users to accumulate gold coins to redeem membership or unlock membership movies, so as to gradually cultivate users' awareness of payment.

As shown in Figure 20, users can accumulate gold coins by inviting new users, daily sign-ins, daily tasks, etc. The accumulated gold coins can be used to redeem memberships, merchandise, or unlock membership movie viewing rights. This method can not only cultivate users' membership awareness, but also bring new users to Xigua, increase user stickiness to the product, and even cooperate with companies to conduct advertising.

Figure 20 Suggestions for optimizing Xigua Video’s payment system

VII. Summary and Suggestions

7.1 Optimize video review and provide basic features for algorithm judgment

The diversification of media means and the development of 4G networks have given rise to the rise of social media. The low cost of shooting and uploading short videos has greatly increased the participation of netizens, and the identities of short video creators are extremely diverse. There are tens of thousands of short videos uploaded every day by PGC, PUGC, and UGC. Most self-media may not be able to ensure that every video is high-quality and worthy of recommendation, but the large amount of content awaiting review puts a lot of pressure on the platform's review team, so it is necessary to optimize the video review function.

7.2 Support original content and increase the distribution of new content

How to ensure the output of original content is the key to ensuring the amount of high-quality content on the site. The cost of creating original content is high. If its producers do not receive due feedback, their enthusiasm for publishing videos will be affected. Therefore, supporting original authors will help increase their stickiness to the product, allowing them to update high-quality content on the platform over a long period of time.

The original support strategy can be expressed as: maintaining the exposure of original content. For example, for a new creator, he may join the self-media industry due to the herd mentality, and the data such as the number of views, likes, comments, collections, and reposts of his early videos may not be particularly ideal. This can easily lead to newcomers giving up, resulting in a lack of video updates. If we can provide exposure and quantity support for his old videos, that is, even if the original author has not updated the video within a month, we will still provide exposure and quantity support for his old videos to ensure that his content will be displayed on the front end. In this way, original authors will feel that their content is valued by the platform. Coupled with the distribution strategy's rewards for original content, the stickiness between authors and products will be further strengthened, and the amount of high-quality original content on the platform will be guaranteed.

The short video field is content-oriented. On the premise of ensuring the amount of content, a large amount of manual operation means are needed to cooperate with the algorithm mechanism to push high-quality content to the audience, strengthen the stickiness between users and products, and form a stable ecological platform.

7.3 Manual push operation to awaken users and explore their interests

Push notification is an effective operational method to improve user retention and increase daily activity through strong manual intervention. In addition to personalized push notifications for users, you can also use manual push notifications, where editors carefully select videos that suit the preferences of most users, add interesting titles and covers, and push them to users within a specified time period.

Manual push mainly serves the purpose of improving short-term retention and attracting new users to use the product. Personalized push is to recommend videos by algorithm after obtaining enough user behavior to attract old users and increase long-term retention.

I hope to learn with you all~

Author: Dayi

Source: Dayi