Some traffic operation insider information you must know

Nowadays, the traffic distribution mechanism has changed. Let's learn some internal information about traffic operations~

From the perspective of the public domain, we have to admit that traffic has become increasingly rare on public domain platforms. It is said that video accounts have traffic dividends, but do other platforms have none? In fact, there are. Even e-commerce platforms that have been around for many years still have traffic dividends worth studying.

In a live broadcast a few days ago, Jianshi and Ark AI founder Zhou Jian discussed the topic of "traffic insider information". Among them, Zhou Jian discussed multiple platforms, including new platforms and the old Taobao e-commerce.

For example: What content can Xiaohongshu, which has not yet completed its commercial closed loop, still have? Is there really no dividend left from Taobao? What loyal users are there that other platforms cannot separate from Taobao?

Despite the current grim environment, Zhou Jian still maintains an optimistic attitude towards this stage, "Just like Starbucks opened in Seattle when the economy was the worst and achieved huge success, even in a difficult environment, as long as there is innovation and a unique perspective, opportunities for success can be found."

Next, let's go back to the live broadcast with Jianshi and listen to Zhou Jian's understanding of each platform. In addition, you can watch the live broadcast replay of this game in the background of Jianshi Video Account to learn more details. We have also sorted out some of the content of the sharing and shared it with you.

1. Tik Tok is an unavoidable super platform

When it comes to choosing where to place ads, there are indeed two mainstream views. One is to choose the most popular platforms, while the other believes that as long as there are users, you can consider placing ads. Although popular platforms have large traffic, the cost of acquiring each user may also be relatively high. Relatively less popular platforms may be able to acquire target users at a lower cost.

Before placing an advertisement, you must first clarify who your target user group is. Since almost all platforms in the current Chinese market are comprehensive, there are potential target users on each platform. Therefore, choosing which platform to place an advertisement is not the only issue. What is more important is how to evaluate which platform can acquire more target users at a lower cost.

In order to better choose the delivery platform, we can consider some specific evaluation indicators. First, it is very important to understand the average age of the core users of each platform. Although each platform has a large user base, the age distribution of core users of different platforms may vary greatly.

A simple method is to roughly estimate the average age of its core users by adding 20 to the platform’s establishment time (core users here refer to those users who are particularly active and can directly bring in transactions).

This method is applicable to similar platforms such as Xiaohongshu, Weibo, and Bilibili, but not to Douyin because it connects almost all users in China.

Douyin not only produces content but also facilitates transactions, and there is a large amount of user interaction. It is indeed a super platform in China. It has formed a complete closed loop in many categories and applications, whether it is e-commerce or local life.

On the one hand, Douyin is a platform for creating, producing and distributing content. On the other hand, it also has its own commercialization part, which is what most brands are more concerned about, such as how to place advertisements, acquire users, and obtain traffic at low cost. But these two aspects are separate to a certain extent.

Let’s first talk about the commercialization part that everyone is more familiar with. Since Douyin has about 800 million to 900 million user visits every day, Douyin can help brands reach almost all the users they want.

However, there is one question that brands need to think about seriously when advertising on Douyin: What is the user profile of those who place orders on Douyin?

Users may watch videos, search for information, or use local life services on Douyin, but the behavior of different types of users on Douyin has a lot to do with whether businesses can obtain traffic at a low cost.

Most businesses on Douyin may be more suitable for products with low to medium customer orders. It is not impossible to obtain high-customer-order products from the Douyin platform or through advertising. However, it may be more difficult than other platforms. Because when acquiring traffic, if three to five platforms can reach the same users, you need to compare which platform has the lower acquisition cost.

For the average user, the acquisition cost of Douyin may be lower than some platforms. But for users with high purchasing power or experience, who may not make many purchases on Douyin, the cost of acquiring such users may be very high.

This is from the perspective of commercialization. Analyzing from the internal structure of Douyin, large platforms such as Douyin, Taobao and Facebook usually have two core teams in their structure: content team and commercialization team. The goals and focuses of these two teams are fundamentally different.

When it comes to TikTok, the short videos that users watch every day are the intersection of the work of these two teams. The commercialization team hopes to insert as many ads as possible in these short videos to achieve business goals. The content team is more concerned with improving user experience, such as increasing user visits and average stay time, and they usually hope to reduce advertising interference.

For brand sellers, close cooperation with both teams is crucial. When placing ads on Qianchuan or Doujia, they should work closely with the commercialization team to help them achieve their sales targets. When brands produce and publish interesting short videos or product introduction videos, they are actually contributing to the content team, increasing their content diversity and potentially increasing user usage time. This kind of cooperation has a positive impact on the algorithm and user value of the entire platform.

But it is worth noting that the difference in goals between the two teams may make it challenging for brand sellers to seek cooperation. The commercialization team is clearly pursuing sales, so it is not easy to gain benefits from the advertising department. As Douyin gradually turns to automated delivery, brand sellers may also be limited in their choice of advertising.

In this case, it may be more important to focus on the needs of the content team. Investing more time in content creation, especially content that is interesting, authentic, and useful to users, may bring more long-term benefits.

For example, a repair shop live-streams its car repair process. Although it may not seem professional at first, its authenticity and intimacy attract users who are interested in modified cars, thereby increasing their stay time.

This type of content not only improves the user experience, but also helps the algorithm direct more relevant users to the content, thereby increasing free traffic.

On platforms like Douyin, in addition to pursuing short-term traffic dividends and platform support, brand sellers should pay more attention to content creation, a long-term and sustainable strategy. By creating valuable content, regardless of background, it is possible to achieve long-term brand growth and increase user loyalty.

2. Finding dividends in Xiaohongshu, which has not yet completed the business closed loop

As a popular platform this year, Xiaohongshu is actively carrying out commercial reforms and strengthening its closed-loop transaction capabilities, and has therefore attracted much attention from traffic circles and e-commerce groups.

This platform attracts female users of almost all ages, from young students to retired aunts, who can all find suitable content in it.

However, the most active user group is still concentrated in women aged 28 or 29 who are in the early stages of their careers. The income of this group of users is relatively limited, and their purchasing power is mainly concentrated on beauty products, toiletries, face washes, beauty products, and other items that make them more beautiful, as well as some consumer goods that can bring pleasure.

Although Xiaohongshu’s user base is becoming more and more extensive, in order to achieve a certain sales scale, brands need to be aware that users’ purchasing power is not unlimited. For example, a user with a monthly income of 5,000 yuan may only buy some necessary and moderately priced goods after paying rent and daily expenses.

Of course, this does not mean that Xiaohongshu is limited to specific types of goods. As long as there is creativity and marketing strategy, as long as the positioning and target users are accurately identified, all types of goods may find a market here.

In fact, when brands place ads on Xiaohongshu, measuring the effect is a key issue. Many times, the operators who do the placement may face questions from their bosses: they are asked to clarify the effect of the placement.

I often hear people complaining that it is difficult to see the effect of Xiaohongshu’s advertising. In fact, if you place ads on Xiaohongshu with the right strategy, you should be able to see some clear data feedback. These feedbacks may not necessarily be directly reflected in transaction volume, but other changes can be observed, such as an increase in the number of visits to Tmall stores, an increase in the number of store visits, or an increase in the search volume of a certain keyword.

If you do not see any feedback after the launch, it is recommended that sellers suspend the launch and re-examine whether the launch strategy matches the target audience. Sometimes, poor launch results may be due to the wrong selection of influencers or KOLs, or the launch content does not resonate with the target audience.

For good products, the placement on Xiaohongshu should be directly reflected in sales. If you do not see an increase in sales after the placement, it may be because you are facing homogeneous competition. In this case, you can first observe the increase in store visits. If the number of visits increases but does not convert into purchases, then you need to consider how to differentiate your products and prices to attract users to place orders.

As for the consumption habits of users, despite the current economic downturn, the consumption concepts of Chinese users have changed significantly. Compared with 20 or 30 years ago, they now have stronger purchasing power and seek more diversified ways of satisfaction, including the pursuit of higher quality of life, pleasure and personal image. In particular, the younger generation of users have shown a more positive attitude towards the consumption of both physical and spiritual products.

In the past, Chinese users were good at purchasing physical products, but relatively conservative about virtual products. However, after years of online shopping experience, including purchasing physical and virtual products, users' consumption concepts have changed. Now, whether it is a virtual product or a physical product, as long as it can bring pleasure, users are willing to pay for it.

Many stores have appeared on Xiaohongshu that sell virtual products, such as mobile phone wallpapers, and these products may be doing well. This shows that on platforms like Xiaohongshu, users are willing to pay a wide range of fees for their own pleasure.

3. Taobao still needs to do what it should do

As a platform with a stable ecosystem, Taobao has particularly good sales performance for certain high-value products with specific functions. This is mainly due to the large number of mature purchasing users on Taobao, who are clear about their shopping needs and are willing to pay a corresponding price for quality. For merchants, if their products are high-value or have unique functions, Taobao is undoubtedly the preferred sales platform.

However, Taobao also faces some challenges. As an independent shopping platform, it needs to purchase traffic to attract users, which limits its ability to acquire traffic to a certain extent. In contrast, platforms such as Douyin and Pinduoduo have more advantages in traffic acquisition due to their content attributes or social support. Despite this, Taobao still has a group of loyal users who are rational and clear about their shopping needs and are willing to pay more for quality, which makes Taobao still have a competitive advantage in specific categories.

In terms of product recommendations, Taobao mainly relies on search and advertising. When the same content is displayed on various e-commerce platforms, Taobao's conversion rate is often higher because users usually have clearer shopping intentions when visiting Taobao.

Looking back at users’ shopping behaviors, most purchase decisions are based on clear needs and purposes, rather than occasional impulses. When users feel hungry or bored, they will actively look for products that meet these needs, rather than relying mainly on the anchor’s recommendations.

Therefore, compared with Douyin's live e-commerce model, users who enter Taobao often already have clear shopping goals, while Douyin relies more on passive recommendations. Users may accidentally see a live broadcast room on Douyin and click to enter after they become interested.

Although Douyin is sporadic, it is still limited in meeting the basic needs of users. In addition, Douyin's live e-commerce is similar to TV shopping in the past in some aspects, such as exaggeration and uneven product quality.

As national laws become increasingly stringent, this model may be difficult to sustain. In Western countries, due to the sound legal system, the development of live e-commerce has not been as expected. Even on the overseas version of TikTok, live e-commerce is more concentrated in areas with relatively loose legal supervision.

Under this model, Taobao is still the focus of brand layout. On the Taobao platform, there is also a game between the content and commercialization teams, and Taobao's content is also expanding in full swing, so on Taobao, creating content is equally important.

In addition, some refund policies recently are gradually becoming industry standards, from Pinduoduo to Tmall, Taobao, JD.com and other platforms. This means that merchants need to pay more attention to user experience and service quality when facing refund issues. For merchants, whether to continue to stay on a certain platform ultimately comes back to the basic question of whether the platform can bring profits and core users.

4. Find new opportunities in the face of disadvantages

From a macro perspective, traffic dividends have different impacts on different businesses. This is because each business is in a different industry, market environment, competitive situation, and operating strategy. It is like being in a vast ocean, where each ship has its own route and destination, and encounters different winds, waves, and opportunities.

Although the economic environment may not look optimistic, there are always some businesses that can find new needs and market opportunities. This is because the Chinese market is huge and the needs of consumers are diverse. Just like Starbucks opened in the worst economic period in Seattle and achieved great success, even in a difficult environment, as long as there is innovation and a unique perspective, opportunities for success can be found.

Therefore, when facing economic cycles and market competition, businesses need to cherish their teams and resources more, while actively looking for new opportunities and trends.

For example, going overseas is a trend worth considering, especially for those merchants who are facing fierce competition in the domestic market, the overseas market may be a new growth point. By expanding overseas markets, merchants can find new consumer groups, expand sales channels, and achieve greater growth.

In addition, traffic dividends mainly come from users' good impression and freshness of products. When merchants feel that there is no traffic dividend, they need to examine whether their products are novel and attractive enough. In this rapidly changing era, consumers have higher and higher requirements for products, and they pay more attention to the uniqueness and innovation of products. Therefore, merchants need to constantly innovate products and services to meet user needs.

It should be emphasized that whether it is a new trend or a new opportunity, merchants need to have sufficient strength to grasp it, identify their own strengths and weaknesses, and give full play to their advantages and make up for their weaknesses in their operation strategies. Only in this way can merchants stand out in the fierce market competition and achieve sustainable development.

Author: Xie Meng WeChat public account: Jianshi