Micro-short dramas are heading towards mini programs. How will the traffic business start the second half?

The form of micro-short dramas fits the trend of fragmented entertainment time of users to a certain extent. Now, in addition to short video platforms, micro-short dramas are also available on mini programs, and watching micro-short dramas on mini programs is no longer a new thing. So, why do micro-short dramas choose to go to mini programs? What are the reasons behind this?

Speaking of short plays, I believe everyone is familiar with them.

Compared with the lengthy plots of traditional web dramas, the biggest attraction of micro-short dramas is their short duration and high concentration, which conforms to the current trend of fragmented entertainment time for users. The themes of their stories are mostly about son-in-law, overbearing CEOs, time travel, rebirth, and other seemingly exaggerated and nonsensical, but very "addictive" fictional content.

Precisely because this type of micro-short drama does not pay attention to plot logic, does not pay attention to shooting techniques, and the props are crudely made, it is even called "electronic pickled mustard" - lacking in nutrition, but can make many netizens unable to stop.

The Economic Daily reported that the number of views of a single short drama on Mango TV this year has exceeded 600 million, and the number of daily active users of short dramas on the Kuaishou platform has also increased to 260 million. It can be seen that short dramas have experienced a blowout development, and at the same time, a new entrepreneurial outlet has emerged - mini program short dramas.

As the name suggests, mini program short dramas refer to short dramas that should have been broadcast on short video platforms, which are moved to independent mini programs for users to watch. In addition to paid on-demand viewing, they also derive multiple monetization methods such as advertising and agency sharing.

An entertainment critic tried to enter the word "short drama" in the search box of the mini program and found more than 200 mini programs that provide viewing services for short dramas.

So, what kind of sparks will be created when the "electronic mustard tuber" short play meets the "use it now and go" mini-program? Why do the short play creation team and operators have to "start from scratch" instead of using the short video platform with hundreds of millions of users?

1. Are the monetization methods more “flexible”?

Anyone who knows a little about mini programs knows that what they accumulate is a private traffic pool. It is not an easy task to operate a mini program from scratch. So, after moving the short drama to the mini program, how can the operating organization obtain traffic?

The answer is naturally to draw traffic from the public domain traffic pool.

Zhang Xu (pseudonym) is a member of a startup team that operates a short drama mini program. According to Zhang Xu, at present, the traffic generation method of almost all short drama mini programs is the same, that is, to place short drama clips on mainstream short video platforms.

Once users are attracted by the clips, they will click on the relevant link and jump to the independent mini program to watch more episodes. In other words, it is to spend a promotion fee to "steal" traffic from the short video platform with hundreds of millions of users.

Since short dramas are popular, short video platforms have huge traffic and a mature pay-per-view mechanism, why do organizations still have to go to great lengths to develop and operate an independent WeChat applet that can broadcast short dramas? Zhang Xu’s answer to this is: freedom.

By operating an independent mini program, whether it is the sharing of on-demand revenue, the operation of user traffic, or the creation and delivery of micro-short drama content, it can be freed from the restrictions of the short video platform and controlled by the operating organization behind the mini program.

"Like the short dramas on short video platforms, the bulk of the revenue for mini-program short dramas also comes from paid on-demand viewing. Most mini-program short dramas charge 1 yuan per episode, and usually the first few episodes are free. To watch the entire drama, users often have to spend dozens or hundreds of yuan."

Zhang Xu admitted that although the platform micro-short dramas and mini-program short dramas are priced similarly, when short dramas are released on the platform, the revenue must be shared with the platform. If users are directed to the mini-program for on-demand viewing, the revenue does not need to be shared and all goes into the pocket of the operating organization.

In addition, after breaking away from the platform's paid on-demand rules, mini-program short dramas have more on-demand payment methods, such as paying for each episode on-demand, or buying out the entire series at a preferential price. You can even subscribe to unlimited on-demand monthly subscriptions, and operators can even formulate packages based on actual delivery conditions to boost users' desire to consume.

"As long as the content of the short drama is exciting enough, the traffic that the company gets from the short video platform will inevitably be converted into private traffic for the mini program, which can be monetized continuously. At the same time, it is not restricted by the platform, which means it is a one-time investment with long-term benefits."

Zhang Xu explained that taking CPC billing as an example, the fee for one click of short video ads ranges from 0.2 to 1 yuan. As long as users are attracted by the plot of the free short drama and pay to watch one episode, the operating organization of the mini program can make a profit.

In addition, since the ownership of the mini program belongs to the operator, commercial advertising content can also be placed, and even open to agents to earn agency fees and secondary on-demand revenue sharing, thereby increasing the monetization forms of micro-short dramas and improving overall revenue.

Research data from the China Research Institute shows that 73.3% of domestic online video users approve of the "free content + commercial advertising" consumption model; at the same time, half of the users said they are willing to pay for high-quality video content.

In other words, once users come to the mini program, whether it is pay-per-view or commercial advertising, there is always a way to monetize it that allows the operating organization to make a profit.

It is not difficult to see that mini-program short dramas are the best weapon for short dramas to get rid of the platform payment rules and accumulate traffic. With the rise of mini-program short dramas, a large number of contestants have poured into the track, and a battle for revenue is quietly unfolding.

2. Get rid of the “middlemen” and make a profit from the price difference?

After two or three years of development, the micro-short drama industry has now formed a relatively mature industrial chain: the content team is responsible for creating and delivering short dramas; the operating organization with short video platform resources is responsible for the operation of the series and the purchase of traffic.

The final profits will be shared by the content team and the operating organization in a 4:6:5:5 ratio.

However, as short dramas focus more on plot and less on shooting techniques, and with the birth of short dramas on mini-programs, operations have been freed from the various restrictions of short video platforms. The operating organizations and content teams, which were once close partners, began to develop rifts and each carried out their own operations in secret.

"Excluding the costs required for promotion, a short drama with 100,000 on-demand views usually generates revenue of 300,000 to 400,000 yuan. Even if the revenue is split in a 40:60 ratio, the content team will take at least 120,000 to 160,000 yuan, which is not a small amount." However, according to Lu Ying (pseudonym), the head of a micro-short drama operating organization in Guangzhou, the production cost of short dramas is extremely low.

The shooting and editing cycle of a short drama with 100 episodes, each less than 10 minutes, is roughly within one month. Since the shooting and set design requirements of short dramas are not high, the main investment cost is almost the salary of the director, actors, cameraman, and post-production staff, and 40,000 to 50,000 yuan is the maximum.

By this calculation, the production cost of each episode of a short drama is only 400-500 yuan, which is quite cheap. The most attractive thing about a short drama is often the plot advancement. If the operating organization recruits excellent editing and directing talents, it can also take care of the short drama content creation link and increase profits.

"Nowadays, many operations (agencies) are focusing on short dramas on mini-programs. While cooperating with existing content creation teams, they are also quietly beginning to discover and reserve excellent short video directors and editors. Companies have also been recruiting directors and editors with high salaries recently." Lu Ying said that short dramas can be shot with a mobile phone, and as long as the director is in place, the agency can take charge of the creation and operation work.

With the popularity of short dramas and mini-program short dramas, operating organizations are recruiting talents, and the salary and benefits of talents with short drama writing and directing experience are naturally rising. At present, on mainstream recruitment platforms, the monthly salary for short drama writing and directing positions is as high as 20~30K.

Similarly, content creation teams that lack the resources and operational capabilities of mainstream video platforms are unwilling to let operating organizations that only know how to invest in traffic take away the bulk of the revenue from micro-short dramas. Instead, they have begun to think about short dramas on mini-programs, trying to get rid of the current situation where "middlemen" make a profit from the "price difference."

"The way mini-program short dramas attract traffic is quite transparent. They are all promoted on short video platforms to attract traffic." Xiaosong, a short video screenwriter, admitted that it is just a simple promotion and does not require much operational skills. The threshold is not high and the content team can easily do it.

As for mini programs for streaming short dramas, there are already a large number of ready-made solutions in the industry. According to him, the development cost of a mini program that can realize paid on-demand and continuous streaming of short dramas is only 20,000 to 30,000 yuan. "Many mini programs have ready-made codes, so it is not difficult for the development agency to modify them."

Mini-program short dramas are relatively independent, have low development thresholds, and can be used right away. They have attracted many content creation teams, operating organizations, and even startups that were not originally in the content creation field to enter the micro-short drama industry. Will mini-programs replace video platforms and become the mainstream channel for short dramas?

3. A short-lived pseudo-trend?

Some industry insiders said that 2022 will be the year when micro-short dramas will really take off.

According to the "Research Report on the Current Status, Problems and Development Trends of the Short Drama Industry", from January to September 2022, the number of short dramas registered reached 2,792, which is about twice the number of registrations for the whole year of 2021.

However, Lu Ying, who has been deeply involved in the field of content creation, revealed that nowadays, it is not the traffic that limits the development of short dramas, but the plot content. According to the short drama lists released by various video platforms, it is not difficult to find that the popular short drama themes are still "sweet pet" and "cool drama".

Restricted by the content supervision of mainstream video platforms, the stories of both "dominant boss" and "son-in-law" have obviously become highly homogenized, and it is difficult to have new creativity: micro-short dramas with overly exaggerated plots and too big imaginations are destined to not be broadcast on video platforms.

But once the mainstream short video platform becomes a "traffic-generating tool", short dramas launched on independent mini-programs can naturally bypass the platform's content creation restrictions. Even if the story is more imaginative and the plot is more exaggerated, it is obviously not a problem.

In other words, the emergence of mini-program short dramas has untied the "shackles" on the creation of micro-short drama content.

Lu Ying admitted that the number of short dramas in the mini program that are currently being planned and waiting to be produced may be ten times the number of short dramas that have been publicly filed. After all, each short drama mini program needs to have more than 10 short dramas as a reserve before it is put into operation.

"Without restrictions on content creation, big brain holes and large-scale plots are the biggest advantages of mini-program short dramas that can compete with short video platforms. Topics such as materialism and curiosity can also be created with confidence." The basis for the popularity of mini-program short dramas is very similar to the "wild and cool articles" that once appeared on the "street".

However, mini programs are not a place where content creation is not outside the law. Short play creation teams have not yet made any major moves, and the corresponding regulations have been officially issued. At the end of November this year, the official mini program issued the "Announcement on Further Standardizing Mini Program "Micro Short Play" Content".

The announcement shows that the authorities will rectify the promotion of bad values, the publication of content that shows off wealth and worships money, exaggerates the gap between the rich and the poor, advocates violence, attracts attention by playing "edge balls", and publishes content that implicitly shows sexual behavior and is provocative, with false and exaggerated plots, vulgar and bizarre themes, and short plays whose content is completely out of touch with reality.

The announcement also disclosed some short drama mini-programs that violated the regulations and issued targeted reminders. For those that have not made corrections after multiple reminders, the authorities will take tiered measures for the relevant mini-programs based on the degree of violation, including blocking capabilities and removing them from the shelves.

As mini-program short dramas become more popular, more content supervision measures may follow. As of now, typing the word "short drama" in the mini-program search box has shown: No mini-program related results, which obviously means that the authorities have carried out targeted blocking.

IV. Conclusion

Perhaps, in an attempt to circumvent the platform's regulatory rules, the emerging mini-program short dramas are just a short-lived pseudo-trend. Once the exaggerated plots are lost, it will be difficult for mini-program short dramas to maintain a high level of activity and dissemination capabilities. After a short peak, they will inevitably be forgotten by the public.

Author: Kagura, Editor: Qin Yan, WeChat public account: Dongdong Notes (ID: dongdong_note)