In the past year, through communication with numerous brand merchants, the creation of brand communities has become the most mentioned demand. Centered around user-centric thinking, the question of how to build a more sticky and active brand community has become a new proposition.
Against this backdrop, on February 28, 2024, Tencent Smart Retail, Zero One Digital, and curated operations jointly hosted the 5th Brand Community Case Exhibition, which ended successfully. In the context of omnichannel digitalization, diverse scenes, and the accelerating trend of channel integration, within the WeChat ecosystem, the private domain centered around Mini Programs has evolved into a brand private domain with "Mini Program + Video Account" as the "dual core." Leading brands have begun to explore the new mode of holistic operation 3.0 in the private domain, achieving deep integration of online and offline, brand and channels, through deepening public domain and private domain symbiosis and traction.
During the conference, Mr. Jiàn Fēng, CEO of Zero One Digital, as well as industry experts and lecturers from various industry lines, shared in-depth insights into the case details, experiences, and industry methodologies developed through deep industry cultivation. This covered industries such as beauty, fashion, restaurant chains, beauty and wellness, FMCG, durable goods, finance, and even B2B. From the FOCUS model of Video Accounts to the O+O growth system of cross-linkage in various industry lines, and the future of community-oriented content marketing. The high-density information increment showcased to the audience the value, expansiveness, and infinite possibilities of business scenarios within the WeChat ecosystem.
We have also summarized the essence of the content, hoping to provide brands with certainty for business growth at the critical juncture of the 2024 opening year. Below is the essence of the content shared by Jiàn Fēng, CEO of Zero One Digital:
For different industries and brands, regardless of the products being operated or internal management of the company, is there a unified model?
In the thematic sharing on "How to Operate C Brands in the WeChat Ecosystem," Jianfeng believes that whether it's operating WeChat for enterprises, managing private domains, or engaging in video live streaming via the Video Account feature, all strategies and activities can be summarized into three key elements: social, content, and commercialization. This framework is also mentioned by WeChat's founder, Zhang Xiaolong, in his "WeChat Product Perspective."
"My understanding of this triangular framework can be summed up in one sentence: to make deals, either make your content highly professional or cultivate deep user relationships."
Social, content, and commercialization are the three key elements of brand community operation. By toggling this button, you can achieve user acquisition, conversion, retention, and virality.
For example, in offline stores, it used to be just about displaying products on shelves and selling them to customers. Later, it became necessary to decorate the store as a "hot spot" for social media check-ins, attract users to the store with content, and even now, it's essential to implement "membership systems" and build "customer relationships" like Sam's Club or Hema in order to retain users.
Enterprise WeChat private domain operation follows a similar trajectory. Initially, it was just about creating a group to distribute coupons and sell products. As it evolved to 2.0, it became necessary to provide users with product tutorials and engaging content. Now, it has evolved to 3.0, where the private domain needs to offer exclusive membership services to users.
Drawing parallels to video streaming room operations, version 1.0 involved selling products during live streams (mostly focusing on discounts), 2.0 involved selling content during live streams (like storytelling or cultural insights), and now, in 3.0, live streams are emulating the membership services offered by Sam's Club, Hema, or Pangdongyang.
The brand community operation triangular model can also be applied to mini-program operations: version 1.0 of mini-program operation focused on e-commerce, primarily through promotional activities; version 2.0 focused on membership marketing to enhance user stickiness, while version 3.0 focuses on gamification to stimulate social sharing.
Understanding this model, taking WeChat's ecosystem as an example, chatting with friends, Moments, and shaking belong to "social," while Official Accounts, video streaming platforms, and search belong to "content," and mini-programs, Enterprise WeChat, mini-games, and advertisements belong to the "commercialization" segment of products/services. WeChat initially focused on social features like chatting, then introduced content features like Official Accounts and video streaming, and finally rolled out commercialization products and services.
The biggest difference between WeChat's ecosystem and other platforms is that it employs a combination strategy. Video streaming platforms, mini-programs, Enterprise WeChat, Tencent advertisements form a systematically operated matrix. Among these, video streaming platforms act as the "public domain platform" within the WeChat ecosystem, gaining massive public domain traffic but also facing increasing difficulty in content exposure. Therefore, it's necessary to integrate and deepen user operations into the private domain such as Enterprise WeChat and mini-programs.
The brand community operation model, as a universal underlying model, is applicable to various industries. In the upcoming theme sharing sessions, lecturers from different industries at Zero One Data Science will elaborate on industry-specific strategies based on this model.
This concludes the latest practical model sharing on how To-C brands operate in the WeChat ecosystem at the 5th WeChat Ecosystem Case Exhibition in 2024.
It's only after practicing thousands of tunes that one can master a melody; it's only after observing thousands of swords that one can recognize a good blade. We hope that through the sharing of experienced guests who have been deeply involved in their industries for many years, the insights, strategies, and models presented can inspire your work in your respective fields. We also look forward to meeting again with more in-depth industry content at the next conference!
The PPT presentations and mind maps of all the speakers at the conference have been compiled. You can follow the official account of "Zero One Data Science" to obtain the full set of materials for the 5th WeChat Ecosystem Case Exhibition. Additionally, you can follow the video streaming platform of "Zero One Data Science" where we will be broadcasting the conference content replay. If this article is helpful to you, feel free to share it with others. Thank you for your support!
Finally, we would like to express our gratitude to all the participating guests for their support of this conference, to the industry lecturers for their wonderful sharing, and to the sponsors of this event: China's emerging tea brand "Yinian Caomuzhong," Jinghen Yufuzhimei's "Lanzhi," and the valuable support from "Everyday Operations Case Library for Operators."
