Three thoughts on live streaming operations

1. What does live broadcast operation do?

Recently I want to recruit a position online: short video live broadcast operation.

Many people think that anchors may be the scarcest, but in fact, live broadcast operations are the core operators behind an IP.

A few years ago, I attended a training in Guangzhou. Someone said that anchors can only be screened but not trained. It requires some "talent". In other words, whether this person is suitable for the job of anchor has actually been determined by certain factors. The role of operation can be trained and is more important than the anchor.

The creation of an IP is a team effort. In the early days, many people who are just starting out may do everything by themselves and take on multiple roles. However, as time goes on, the anchor plays the role of an actor. In addition to selecting products, managing the supply chain, and controlling product quality, the live broadcast operation team also needs to plan content and scripts, connect with business communications, promote traffic, and decide what products to sell and when. What kind of words to use to guide? What is the purpose? What is the final result, etc.? These are the main tasks of live broadcast operations.

During the holidays, I took some time to watch several live broadcasts, from Taobao to Douyin, Kuaishou to WeChat Live, which made me feel the importance of live broadcast operations.

For example, we often see people selling goods in a live broadcast, using a low-priced product to attract traffic, also known as pampering fans. I have bought a lot of such products, such as hand cream for 19.8 yuan. The purpose is to experience the whole process. Such products can attract users to stay in the live broadcast room, increase the number of online users, gain attention, enter the circle first, and then slowly convert to high-profit products with higher customer unit prices, and continuously optimize data and operate. The whole process, what words to use, what the script is, what props are needed, and what type of activities to do, are of course all prepared in advance and are planned by the operations staff.

The term "live streaming sales conversion rate" just fits the description of a book I'm reading, "Super Conversion Rate", which summarizes many practical formulas that can effectively improve the conversion rate of advertising. I also try to read more, summarize more, and even practice a set of such formulas. Maybe I can improve the sales conversion rate in live streaming in the future.

A master of live broadcast operation must also be an expert in live broadcast sales conversion.

2. Analysis of the four major live streaming platforms

The short video live streaming industry is about to usher in a big explosion. Taobao, Douyin and Kuaishou are relatively mature platforms. Tencent Live has also launched e-commerce functions. WeChat official accounts will soon make efforts. The decentralized traffic is also very huge. This does not include Mogujie, JD.com, Yunji, Pinduoduo, Xiaohongshu and other platforms that have already launched live streaming or are about to launch live streaming sections.

According to statistics, there are about 50 million people watching live broadcasts every day, which is not an exaggeration at all. Taobao Live accounts for about 15-20 million people every day, and Douyin and Kuaishou together account for 15 million people per day. There is a jade live broadcast base in Ruili, Yunnan, and there is also a live broadcast base in Linyi, Shandong, and both are doing very well.

2016 was the first year of live streaming. Taobao Live was popular at that time. Those who did Taobao Live streaming at that time are making money now. By 2018, Taobao Live streaming was positioned at the first screen of Taobao. The traffic also increased from millions to tens of millions. I remember my cousin told me at that time that she watched live streaming on Taobao for several nights in a row and spent more than 100,000 yuan on jade. She said I should learn about it and become a Taobao Live streaming MCN agency. The Taobao platform was relatively friendly at that time and it was easy to apply for it. In 2018, Taobao Live streaming guided 100 billion transactions on the Taobao site.

In addition to jade, there are also clothing and beauty products. Beauty products are large categories, and there is also room for home furnishing products. Medical beauty live streaming is beginning to emerge. Clothing is mainly concentrated in Hangzhou and Guangzhou. Beauty products are relatively easy to do, with a small number of views, but a high profit margin, which is easier to do than clothing.

After looking at some data analysis, the main audience of Taobao Live is a group of mothers, students and women in third- and fourth-tier cities.

People really started to pay attention to Kuaishou live streaming in 2018. Everyone knows that Kuaishou's users are in the sinking market. In fact, many people sold goods on Kuaishou live streaming in 2017, but the ones who did well were only a few top ones who were officially supported.

When it comes to Douyin live streaming, everyone thinks of Li Jiaqi. Douyin is a combination of short video + live streaming, with integrated operations, a large long-tail effect, and a focus on interaction with users. There is still an opportunity now, and there are anchors who are suitable for building IPs.

Recently I have been paying attention to the Tencent+ official account live broadcast. This is an opportunity for the WeChat ecosystem. For our official account self-media, we have accumulated fans, and live broadcast can activate fans. It has a natural decentralized advantage, and we can also attract new fans through Moments and WeChat groups, and increase the interaction rate.

3. The nature of the short video live streaming industry

The sources of live streaming traffic and traffic operation methods of each platform are slightly different, but the overall live streaming e-commerce operation methodology is the same, from planning to operation to data analysis, to product selection and optimization, all of which are applicable to all four platforms.

I often think about the essence of this industry. Due to the impact of the epidemic, the live broadcast of the construction of Wuhan Vulcan Mountain Hospital has millions of online views every day. During the holidays, everyone is very idle and needs to kill time, so they have to have fun, or participate in various online trainings and paid communities. The essence of these things is to compete for users' time. The same is true for live broadcasting. Its essence is a "companionship" business.

If you really like a host, you will watch his live broadcast every day like following a TV series to see what he does every day. If you like someone, you will naturally buy whatever he recommends. All live broadcast content is about "cultivating trust."

With the transformation of traditional offline stores, a mobile phone will become a store in the future, and people can sell goods without spending so much money to open an offline store. The market demand is huge, and they also need professional live broadcast operation and planning services.

The talent gap in live broadcast operations in the next three years will definitely be in the millions. You may not want to be on camera, be a host, or be an internet celebrity, but you can be the operator behind the internet celebrity.

Author: Tang Xiaohan

Source: Tang Xiaohan