Since all the big Vs are crossing circles, is there still a chance to "win" professional automotive vertical accounts?

1. Take content as the starting point and create a highly professional automotive account

The hardcore professional evaluation system, the imaginative evaluation ideas, and the visually impactful picture texture may be the most intuitive feelings that @玩车报导report brings to users.

According to Kas Observation, the video works released by @玩车报导 on Douyin include multiple sections such as "Extreme Evaluation", "Major Events", "Original Test Drive", "Nostalgia for Old Cars", etc. Among them, the two content series of "Extreme Evaluation" and "Major Events" are the most prominent.

Specifically, extreme tests and major events will be filmed by a professional team at airport tracks or professional off-road venues. Through the car-playing report technology + hardcore evaluation system, different extreme test contents will be conducted for each car model, thereby accurately and clearly presenting the unique performance of each car , such as extreme fuel consumption testing, burning the car if it does not meet the standards, using rear-end impact tests to verify the severity of high-speed rear-end collisions, and doing crash evaluations to see which Japanese or German cars are more durable, etc.; creating creative major events that have both exposure and topicality, and ultimately achieving wide dissemination and in-depth promotion.

@玩车报导TikTok video screenshot

A series of works released under different content sections all emphasize professionalism and authenticity, and can provide users with reliable and meaningful references . At the same time, in the videos it released, we can see two fixed IP characters with distinct images. One is the mysterious man "Car Play Brother" who wears a white racing suit, a dark mask racing helmet, has excellent driving skills, and has rich automotive professional knowledge. The other is "Car Play Sister" Xiaocheng, who is lively and beautiful, good at setting the atmosphere, and has the courage to participate in various extreme tests with Car Play Brother. The two people, one cold and one hot, work closely together and lead users to witness every extreme test together. In addition to professionalism, they also make up for the fun of the video and deepen the user's memory.

@玩车报导TikTok video screenshot

Huang Haihan knew that he would focus on automotive vertical content when he switched to the automotive industry in 2019. "Automotive vertical accounts should not only be judged by the number of fans, but also by how long they can survive. Therefore, I had a very clear positioning for the entire team from the beginning, which was to focus on automotive verticals, not be completely business-oriented, build a team with content as the core gene, and then produce professional and high-quality automotive content ." @玩车报导 was born under such a plan. Due to the scarcity and professionalism of the content, the account soon saw rapid growth on Douyin and gained recognition from many parties.

On the one hand, the number of fans of the account continues to grow, and according to Huang Haihan, the main force of fans of @玩车报导 is mainly male, accounting for 95.36%. Young people with the greatest potential for car purchases ( 18-30 years old) account for as high as 71.36%. Guangdong, Beijing, and Shanghai are the core gathering places for fans. At the same time, the fan coverage rate in economically developed areas with large populations such as Shandong, Jiangsu, Henan, and Zhejiang is also relatively higher. Overall, due to the professionalism of the content, the account attracts more accurate fans and has more commercial value.

Correspondingly, the performance of various data of the works is also very impressive, and "sensational" videos are often born. For example, on November 28, 2022, @玩车报导 released the Volvo XC90 "Car Accident Reproduction" action, which deeply restored the two serious accident scenes of train roof cutting + serial rear-end collision and rollover through real-life shooting. The tense atmosphere and real pictures not only make users feel immersive, but also the performance of the car has been verified in such a "death" test. The cumulative number of views of this video has reached 55 million +, of which the drill card roof cutting collision test has been played more than 12.5 million times on Douyin, and the number of likes has reached 370,000.

@玩车报导TikTok video screenshot

As a professional account that focuses on the automotive vertical, @玩车报导 has also gained more recognition outside of Douyin. For example, in 2021, @玩车报导 ranked No. 1 on the annual comprehensive influence list of DoCar.com and became one of the top 100 popular authors on Toutiao. It also won the highest honor in the short video field, the Golden Second Award. In 2022, @玩车报导 once again ranked No. 2 on the annual comprehensive influence list of DoCar.com and became the top author of the year on Toutiao. On the road of professional-oriented creation, @玩车报导 has been recognized by users and platforms.

2. “Content iteration is a problem that every account has to face”

Although @玩车报导, which has entered its fifth year, has gradually taken root in the fiercely competitive content ecosystem with its professional advantages, it has inevitably encountered bottlenecks in its growth process.

"The current content industry is becoming more and more competitive. If you want to survive longer in it, you must undergo transformation and iteration . The reason why those top automotive accounts have transformed and crossed circles to create a lot of content that is not related to cars is actually to get more market share and dividends in the entire ecosystem."

In Huang Haihan's view, the iteration and update of content is something that almost every account has to face, and @玩车报导 is no exception. But from a practical point of view, based on the special content form of extreme evaluation with very high hard costs, the difficulty of iteration is undoubtedly relatively greater.

Taking the big event series as an example, Huang Haihan told us that it takes a month from planning to final launch of a big event content. Before shooting, it is necessary to simulate the scene through 3D modeling, and then conduct a lot of tests. The content cost of the whole process is very high. "The iteration of the evaluation project is very complicated. The venue, personnel safety, cost, and vehicle damage are all issues that need to be considered. To iterate a better-looking project means higher execution difficulty and vehicle damage risk, and there are more irresistible accidents and risks ."

Although it is difficult and costly, for Huang Haihan, this is a problem that he has to overcome in the process of account growth. Previously, when he encountered a bottleneck in increasing fans, @玩车报导 had also "overcome" the risk and upgraded the account several times to make the content more watchable.

@玩车报导TikTok video screenshot

Huang Haihan has also made new plans for the account. "First, I plan to refer to the gameplay of other accounts, elevate the two characters of "Play Car Brother" and "Play Car Sister", and make the fans of @玩车报导 more sticky; second, I hope to go abroad and combine it with China's human geography to do some professional evaluations with stronger visual impact, and then do some cross-circle linkage within the framework of the evaluation content to broaden the boundaries of fans."

The importance of timely account iteration and transformation is self-evident. At the same time, Huang Haihan emphasized to us that all iterations of @玩车报导 will be centered around the initial positioning of the account, which is to ensure professionalism. "Vertical media must be professional. If the content related to the professional level is not tenable, the IP will be useless."

3. Being an MCN is not as good as being a high-quality account

In addition to @玩车报导, Huang Haihan's team also launched a new automotive vertical account last year - @零炭计划. This account focuses on the endurance test of new energy vehicles, with a more precise and detailed positioning.

@零炭计划TikTok video screenshot

Huang Haihan told us that @零炭计划 prefers to create a personal account . The protagonist Zhuzhu is youthful and energetic, and her expression in the video is more active and her presence is stronger. Compared with @玩车报导, this account is more inclined to lightweight operation, focusing on using interesting and useful "range measurement" content to create its own professional influence in the new energy field . In the year the account was created, it became one of the top ten new energy creators of 2022 by Dongchedi. At present, @零炭计划 has published a total of 167 works on Douyin, and the number of fans has steadily increased to 745,000.

@零炭计划TikTok video screenshot

@玩车报导 and @零炭计划 are both self-operated accounts of Huang Haihan's company. 50% of their team is responsible for content, in order to ensure the quality of the content of the account. In Huang Haihan's conception, what they need to do is to operate their own accounts rather than MCN agencies. "It is healthier and more controllable for us to operate our own accounts. The efficiency that a good IP can bring to the company is far better than 100 ordinary IPs."

@玩车报导's growth over the past five years has allowed us to see the infinite vitality released by the automotive vertical accounts that are both professional and content-rich. Looking at the entire content track, Kas has reason to believe that accounts that persist in producing good content will not have too bad luck.