In 2024, traffic will coexist, the public domain will build scale, and the private domain will seek compound interest!

The author of this article focuses on the view that "to achieve both the "scale" and "compound interest" of traffic, the management capabilities of the public domain and the long-term private domain should be considered", points out the value of full-domain management, analyzes the characteristics and strategies of public and private domain traffic classification, and emphasizes the three core elements of traffic operation. I hope it will be helpful to you.

The public domain and the private domain are in a symbiotic relationship. When discussing one side alone, one always unconsciously thinks about the relationship and linkage with the other side.

Many companies will focus on one of the two. For example, they focus on public domain sales, and the investment-production ratio will continue to increase once it is running smoothly. They don’t have to consider the private domain. After all, the private domain has a slow start and relies more on manpower operations. Of course, there are also companies that focus on private domain traffic. The front end uses delivery, matrix, buying fans or commissions, and the back end makes high-order private domain transactions.

Nowadays, more and more companies are walking on two legs, public domain + private domain, and attacking in all domains. Especially under the operating trend from private domain to all domain in 2024, to achieve the double harvest of traffic "scale" and "compound interest", what is considered is the operating capabilities of the obvious public domain and the long-term private domain.

1. From simple interest to compound interest, from flow to retention

The public domain focuses on customer acquisition capabilities, control of single customer acquisition costs, and single-time ROI>1, which is a simple profit;

Private domains value the ability to undertake conversions, the ability to retain trust, repurchase rates and user lifetime LTV, which is compound interest.

Public domain operations measure ROI, private domain operations consider LTV, and global domain operations control the overall situation, looking at ROI+LTV, that is, Total ROI.

But it does not mean that the public domain or the private domain is more important, but that they complement each other to form the combined force of traffic scale and compound interest.

However, the private domain can play a bottoming role and profit value in long-term operation, which is why it is said that "the end point of traffic is the private domain". From traffic to retention, the private domain plays a cornerstone role in the overall operation.

The value of full-domain operations lies in effectively accumulating public domain traffic, expanding from focusing only on the ROI of one-time traffic trading to sustainable private domain user operations, focusing on user LTV, and then considering the global Total ROI.

Taking the private domain of the expert anchor as an example, the traffic of the expert anchor is huge, especially in the public domain, which is actually relatively simple. And during the traffic bonus period, most anchors will not choose to do private domain. Because it is very tiring to do private domain, and compared with the public domain, the volume is not large enough.

However, as the cost of public domain traffic is getting higher and higher, many anchors have begun to consider operating their own private domains. Especially small and medium-sized anchors, who are the first to try, but they don’t know much about private domains, so they will choose to outsource private domain traffic to private domain traffic companies to operate, and then get sales commissions themselves.

For top celebrities, such as Xiao Yangge, Simba, Jia Nailiang, and Jiao Ge Pengyou, even though they are so strong in public domain live streaming, they all layout their own private domain businesses through different intervention methods.

For example, Simba's Xinxuan Group has deployed private domain communities + mini programs to facilitate the return of live broadcast traffic to its influencers, and has become a transit station for live broadcast traffic; for example, Jia Nailiang and Jiao Ge Pengyou, in addition to supporting live broadcast traffic, also use private domains to build mini program membership centers, connect order points on all ends, and allow users from all channels to strengthen consumption stickiness.

Xiao Yangge combined his own supply chain advantages and effectively connected private domain users through WeChat Mall + distribution market + group purchase + new retail online, building a closed loop of community group purchase business. From the perspective of product selection, all products have been verified and have been brought to the live broadcast room, with very high cost performance, forming an integrated operation of live broadcast + retail + mall.

The public domain can help you grow, and the paid cost of advertising is always cheaper now than in the future, but in the long run, the ROI tends to be less than 1;

Private domain can help you last for a long time because the user's life cycle and value creation in the private domain depend on your operation methods, not from the platform algorithm.

So how do we do it specifically?

I think we need to do a good job in content flow, payment flow, and private flow in the public and private domains:

2. Characteristics and strategies of public and private domain traffic classification

From the perspective of value, we understand that the public domain and the private domain are the relationship between simple interest and compound interest, traffic and retention. So how can we link the public domain and the private domain and maximize their value?

First, we divide the traffic types into three categories: business domain-paid traffic, public domain-content traffic, and private domain-operation traffic.

Among them, "commercial domain-paid flow" and "public domain-content flow" are essentially public domain scene traffic, but the paid flow acquires users and conversions through paid delivery, while the content flow attracts users through public domain content and acquires natural traffic.

1. Public domain - content flow, content is king, algorithm is the limit

Public domain-content flow, as the name suggests, relies on high-quality content. On the platform, it relies on users' likes, collections, comments and reposts to vote for your content layer by layer, reach the platform's scoring algorithm, and give you more traffic exposure.

For content platforms such as Xiaohongshu that have equal traffic rights, the notes you produce are placed in a primary traffic pool for exposure. Whether they can enter the next traffic pool depends largely on your note score, and high-quality content will thus gain greater traffic exposure and interaction opportunities.

As for content flow, in its operational essence, it actually runs through both payment flow and operational flow. Content is king and is still the most important medium in public domain operations and even in global operations. However, content competition is also fierce, so the stability of pure content natural flow tends to show peaks.

Therefore, the use of matrix accounts and content racing mechanisms will increase the probability of producing explosive content, thereby increasing the scale of content acquisition.

When the content race produces high-quality hit content, one reason to continue using the content account matrix is ​​that the content is on the edge and cannot be amplified through commercial domain payment flows. Another reason is to control the cost of delivery. But no matter which one, the platform guidance will allow you to deliver it later. Unless your content purpose and operational actions are non-commercial, there will inevitably be problems such as content flow restrictions and account bans.

2. Business Domain - Payment Flow, Four-Dimensional Thinking, Scientific Operation

Simply relying on public domain content to acquire customers has risks in terms of stability, platform compliance, etc. However, the commercial domain-payment flow is essentially a scientific operation calculation problem. If the ROI is greater than the business goal, continuous investment can be made to expand it and form a more stable commercial domain payment flow.

So what are the important factors that generally affect the payment flow in the commercial domain?

Four dimensions: materials, tools, models, and data

1) The material determines life or death

The core variables of paid delivery are materials and models. The importance of content materials is self-evident. Taking Xiaohongshu as an example, if the natural content flow fails to detect explosive notes, the paid traffic in the commercial domain will also be wasted.

Polishing and screening high-quality delivery materials is the core first link of the business domain payment flow, and your materials are not just note titles and pictures, you also have to consider details such as keyword placement, comment interaction, etc.

2) Choose the right tools

Taking Xiaohongshu as an example, Xiaohongshu's advertising is divided into two tool platforms: French Fries and Spotlight. However, the positioning of the two tool platforms is definitely different. French Fries is an entry-level tool for content heating, while Spotlight is an amplifier of natural flow content.

For example, French fries are suitable for accounts in the early stages of their creation. To increase the number of followers, you can first use a French fries heating note with a minimum threshold of 75 yuan to detect the number of fans brought by the heated note. If the cost per fan is less than 1 yuan, you can continue to heat it up. If it is greater than 1 yuan, give up.

Focusing on this, you can set your delivery vocabulary and delivery plan through "information flow" or "search" to obtain accurate customer information.

3) The delivery model needs to be iterated

Why is the paid flow in the commercial domain a calculation problem of scientific operation? Because the delivery techniques and rules are traceable, and the accuracy of the delivery model can be improved through continuous review and optimization of the data.

For example, in Xiaohongshu's focus delivery strategy, when building a delivery plan model, you can use a low-to-high approach by communicating the platform's base price, testing based on the base price, and raising the price slightly each time until you reach your target expected value.

4) Keep an eye on key data indicators

Tracking and reviewing data, and then continuously optimizing the plan are the core of delivery. For example, Xiaohongshu focuses on the core delivery indicators: click-through rate, cost efficiency of each link, judging the entire funnel data, display data, click data, visit data, consultation data to transactions.

Moreover, different types and stages focus on different indicators. During the note testing period, the focus is on click-related indicators: CPC and CTR, while during the product details page testing period, the focus is on: product details page visit rate and purchase conversion rate.

Therefore, from the four dimensions of commercial domain payment flow, namely materials, tools, models and indicators, we can find the rules of stable commercial flow through data testing and practical operation.

3. Private domain - operation flow, planting grass in the whole domain, blooming in the private domain

1. Operational logic: planting grass in the whole area and blooming in the private area

If we compare the public domain to a burst of traffic sources, it is like a series of gorgeous fireworks, which are short, flat, fast, effective, and depend on money to make a living;

Then the private domain is like our back garden, which will continue to bloom with careful cultivation and will bear fruit only if we continue to manage it with care.

The private user back garden "APP/mini program + community + friend 1v1" connects scattered and one-stage operations into a network, implements refined operations in three aspects: content, products, and users, and improves the content quality and user value LTV of the private domain "back garden".

2. Focus on indicators: Pay attention to the long-term value of private domain LTV

The public domain (content flow + payment flow) focuses on the current ROI output, while the private domain operation flow focuses more on the user life cycle LTV operation:

First of all, what exactly is private domain LTV? Three formulas can provide a comprehensive answer:

① User Net Asset Value = User Lifetime Value (LTV) – User Acquisition Cost (CAC)

② Total user LTV = user base x average customer spending x average number of purchases per user

③ Single user LTV = average user life cycle (LT) x average order per user (ARPU)

To determine the core output value of private domain operation flow, we must focus on the decomposition of average single-user LTV. Through formula decomposition + key operation factors, we have sorted out the operation strategy framework based on LTV.

We can design corresponding operational actions around the two key goals of "increasing consumption frequency" and "improving retention":

1) Increased frequency of private consumption

It is about compounding the long-term value of private domain users rather than arbitrage on single users; this can only be implemented through the necessary operational processes of user identification, label stratification, and formulation of frequency-increasing strategies.

The essence of increased consumption is the result of the cultivation and accumulation of strong user relationships, so differentiated operating strategies should be made for users with different life cycles and relationship depths to deepen the relationship between users and brands, thereby increasing user ARPU value.

2) Improve user retention

In improving retention, we should especially solve the new user retention cycle. Although user retention should focus on the retention of new and old users at different stages, we can prioritize the growth of new user retention.

From the figure, especially during the excitement period of new private domain users,

① The retention curve is in an oscillating period with a large slope and a fast user loss rate, which means that the possibility of user loss is the highest at this stage;

② Users have been directed to the private domain for a short time and are in the excitement period of the private domain. They are more interested in the private domain and products. Therefore, we should make good use of this period to cultivate user habits.

Therefore, at this stage, creating a good combination of content + habits + word of mouth is an important operational prerequisite for increasing customer orders. It will be difficult to win back users if they lose their trust and interest.

3. Content flow + paid flow + private domain flow, three flows coexist

In the world of traffic operation, paid traffic, natural traffic and private traffic are the three core elements.

Paid traffic refers to external traffic obtained through advertising, channel cooperation, etc.; natural traffic refers to natural traffic attracted by factors such as content and brand; and user traffic refers to traffic brought by word of mouth and recommendations from existing users.

Different industry characteristics have different traffic strategies. With limited resources, we can use the three-stream symbiosis model to do traffic planning and then find the corresponding implementation strategy. Please refer to the figure below for details.

Paid traffic pursues short-term explosive power and can bring a large number of new users to the platform in a short period of time. However, long-term over-reliance on paid traffic may lead to rising costs and declining user quality. Therefore, it is key to rationally plan paid traffic and combine it with other strategies.

Natural traffic is stable and low-cost. By continuously producing high-quality content and enhancing brand influence, you can gradually accumulate stable natural traffic. However, the growth of natural traffic takes time, so you can't rush for success.

Private domain traffic comes from users' trust purchases after sustainable and refined operations. Providing high-quality products or services, increasing user stickiness, and encouraging users to share are effective ways to increase user traffic. At the same time, we should pay attention to maintaining good relationships with old users and fully tapping their potential value.

In actual operations, it is necessary to formulate appropriate strategies based on comprehensive considerations such as product characteristics and target markets, so as to promote the mutual promotion of the three types of traffic while meeting current output value and long-term value, and find a suitable traffic operation mechanism.

Source: LearningBeta