Coupon rapid traffic diversion and monetization strategy

“Some leeks get used to it after a while.”

Some time ago, a friend shared a QR code with me and said that before ordering takeout, I can go to this official account to get a coupon, which can save several dollars.

Of course, my intuition tells me that this is either a scam or a new user acquisition activity of the official account.

I was going to ignore it, but curiosity killed the cat and I couldn't help myself. After all, as an operator, I still want to know what their routines are.

I tried it anyway, and it’s true. I can save three to five dollars on a takeout meal. However, as a post-2000s generation, I don’t believe in anything like free, because I know very well that there is no free lunch in the world. If something on the Internet is said to be free, there must be a trick!

Well today, I will talk about the ins and outs of this kind of public account in two parts. In the first part, I will give an objective and independent statement of the entire incident. In the second part, I think some of the tactics they use are worth learning for our product and operations departments.

1. Full of routines

1. Rapid drainage

In fact, I have seen similar soft articles when I was browsing Tik Tok and Huzhi before. They basically appear after I have read three or four of them, and the wording used is extremely simple and crude. "A sophomore female college student's monthly living expenses do not exceed 200 yuan, and each takeout meal does not cost more than 1 yuan, which leaves 100 yuan left each month for buying clothes." They even shouted slogans such as "0 yuan for a free meal, 0 yuan for Haidilao" to attract people to join.

Of course, at the end, this sentence will always be there: follow XX official account, receive a large red envelope and order takeout. They claimed that by using these coupons, they could get takeout meals for only 5 yuan that would normally cost 25 yuan, and that these coupons were for large amounts, had no usage threshold, and could be redeemed at any time.

Since the advertisements are promoting it so vigorously, I must give it a try.

2. Walking into a Trap

Once you follow the official account, a robot will guide you along the way to receive the preferential red envelopes.

The coupons will also be pushed during meal times, such as breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and other fixed time periods. Whenever users are hungry, thirsty and need takeout, the coupons will always appear in time, gradually forming a habit for users to automatically collect coupons for consumption at meal times.

Highly unified traffic-generating soft articles, with the comment section filled with authors screened to ask for membership. After following their official accounts, you can receive red envelopes from a certain takeaway group, a certain hungry group, etc.

Does this scene sound familiar? Does it look like the QQ groups that were everywhere before to get free deals?

Previously, they used terms such as "薅羊毛", "side job" and "part-time job" to deceive people and reap a large number of benefits. However, due to constant ruthless exposure, he gradually disappeared. Now it’s takeaway promoters who are making a comeback and earning commissions.

3. Getting better

Many public accounts will also claim that they have large-value coupons and hidden coupons, and the pictures they post for promotion show coupons of 15 yuan without any threshold, 20 yuan without any threshold, and so on.

After paying attention to four or five coupons and using them for several meals in a row, I found that almost all the coupons have a certain discount threshold, and there are a lot of midnight snack coupons, but the discount is not as big as advertised. I didn't even see any coupons for free shopping or Haidilao for free.

So are their red envelope deductions real? Yes, but you only save three or four dollars on a meal, it is absolutely impossible to get it for free.

In order to attract users to stay for a long time, some will set up a method of giving away monthly cards for signing in. Some account owners, in order to increase the user's repurchase rate, directly direct fans to the corporate WeChat group, and send an "exclusive" link for each fan who joins.

At the same time, some public accounts, in addition to takeaway coupons, also develop derivative businesses, such as Taobao coupons, video memberships, etc.

4. Realize Monetization

Through the above steps, everyone should have understood their monetization methods. As long as you get the red envelope from the official account they provide and use it to complete the payment, you can get a certain percentage of commission after confirming receipt.

As far as I know, Ele.me's profit margin is 6%, while Meituan's profit margin is 6% for enterprises and 4.6% for individuals. So if you place an order for RMB 20, he will make a profit of about 1.2%.

Don’t think it’s too little. The order for one person is about 1.2, and for one thousand people it would be over 1,000. With three meals a day, can you calculate how much it would cost in a month? Of course, after they have accumulated a fan base, they have more than one way to monetize.

2. Learn the routine

Although it is full of routines, I think it is still worth learning from for our product and operation colleagues. We can do this:

1. Good soft copywriting will save you from troubles in attracting traffic

When we do any activity, the first step of attracting traffic is of paramount importance. A good cook cannot cook without rice. Without traffic and users, everything that follows will be in vain.

The most common method of attracting traffic to takeout delivery WeChat public accounts is to publish soft articles of the “revealing” type on high-traffic websites.

If you analyze this type of soft article in depth, you will find that its content and routine are similar, but its beginning is extremely attractive. In addition to words like "free of charge" and so on, some people will also "cosplay" as delivery boys, delivery merchants, milk tea shop employees' ex-girlfriends and other insider identities to gain your approval.

We all know that the beginning of a hit product is extremely important. Today's users have actually been almost educated by the Internet. At this time, I think there is no need to be secretive. Being frank is the best way, which is direct and effective.

The main points at the beginning can be summarized into the following three points:

1. Put the most interesting points at the beginning
2. The beginning should have a sense of substitution and resonance
3. Clear, concise, attractive

Some common methods include: contradiction collision method, turning point method , etc.

2. Low threshold and high trust, no worries about attracting people

If you want to do a good job of attracting traffic, there are two points worth noting: the threshold cannot be too high, and you must give people a sense of trust.

(1) Let’s talk about the threshold first

We know that for users, every additional step they take increases the risk of loss. What we need to do is to lower the threshold for user operations and reduce the user operation path as much as possible. Things that can be completed in one step should never be divided into two steps. Considering it from another perspective, fewer steps means it will be more direct.

(2) Let’s talk about trust

In my opinion, there are two aspects involved here: one is the channel of dissemination, and the other is the relevant endorsement.

Regarding the communication channels, I think everyone is clear that one acquaintance is worth a hundred strangers, so most of the marketing channels now are related to Moments and WeChat. The same content will give people different feelings when forwarded by friends and seen elsewhere, which will lead to different impulses to click, and the final result is different traffic.

As for relevant endorsements, try to use platforms, brands, and products that are well-known to everyone, which can greatly enhance user trust.
If you use an unknown platform or brand, even if the activity is real, it will make users suspicious. But if you put a platform that everyone knows and trusts, and add a well-known brand, even if the event is a bit fishy, ​​users will still be tempted to participate.

3. Show the benefits to lure customers, and proceed step by step.

Traffic generation is just the most basic operation, and the key is how to operate it next. How to make users get deeper and deeper into the game and become more and more addicted is a real test of the skills of event designers.

Good activities must be carried out step by step and should not be rushed. Take takeout for example, their ultimate goal is to earn commissions through our orders. But they didn't say it clearly right away. They should have known that if they were so direct, few people would be willing.

For users, when participating in any activity, they actually have their own psychological expectations. If you start with steps that are too complicated and too purposeful, it will inevitably affect user retention.

Take it step by step, from easy to difficult, first taste a little sweetness, then develop dependence and trust. Then, when the time is right, achieve your goal.

4. If you want a good rhythm, you need a lot of water army

Controlling the rhythm is also a key point. Through this incident, I found that in the comment sections of these soft articles, there are certain identical comments. In some takeout groups, there are always a few people in the group who create the atmosphere, and then the whole atmosphere follows.

Therefore, when carrying out marketing activities, we need to design the corresponding nodes in advance, and then cooperate with the water army to promote the smooth progress of the activities. Different activities naturally have different nodes.

What we need to prepare in advance is to find out the key nodes of each activity according to the characteristics of each activity, and then control the appropriate rhythm.

5. Choose a good platform and remember the rules

In operational activities, each platform has its own rules and bottom line.

Therefore, we need to be clear about the rules of each platform. Otherwise, no matter how good the activity or how creative the idea is, if it is blocked, all efforts will be wasted.

For example, after shopping on Taobao, everyone has received a card that promises cash back for positive reviews. The card will state that if you receive a certain number of positive reviews + pictures or videos, you will receive a red envelope ranging from 1 to 5 yuan. Of course, they will also specifically remind you not to take pictures of the cards, and not to contact on Wangwang, but to contact directly by adding WeChat friends. This is the rule of Taobao. If merchants want to open a store on Taobao, they must abide by the relevant rules specified by it. Once violated, the product will be removed from the shelves at the least, and the store may be closed at the most serious level.

For each platform, the rules and terms it issues are the best answers after weighing the interests of all parties. Even if there are some things that we think are unreasonable, all we can do is to adapt to them. There is no order without rules. In this world, only the fittest survive.

Conclusion

A seemingly simple customer acquisition activity actually involves many links and many roles. Only when every link is designed reasonably and every role cooperates closely can a successful event be created.

Back to this incident:

For consumers, it is naturally a good thing to get discounts. However, the strength of the coupons is still quite different from what they advertise. There is no free lunch in the world. Don't think about getting any bargains. You can take advantage of some of the bargains, but don't be driven by the bargain hunter and be unable to stop.

Author: Zhuge io

Source: Zhugeio