Short-term and long-term operation of online activities

The COVID-19 epidemic has completely stopped offline activities, and the market communication is facing great challenges. Major brands have turned online-in the past two months, brands such as Samsung Mobile, Huawei Terminal, Huawei BG, Alibaba Cloud, Xiaomi and VIVO have held at least one online activity or conference, with the average number of participants ranging from one million to ten million, which has won great exposure and sales for brands. Even the 127 Canton Fair will open in the cloud for the first time in June this year. Although virtual activities are nothing new, it is not easy to make a wonderful and effective online activity. Similar to offline activities, online activities must also go through classic links such as planning, execution/delivery, evaluation and summary. At the same time, because online activities have different media, different forms of interaction and more detailed data tracking, we need to rely on unique skills to create online activities with excellent experience and excellent ROI. In addition, for brands that want to hold online activities continuously, the increasing content actually contains huge long-tail value, and good long-term planning can also greatly reduce the cost of participants. Therefore, a good online activity planning should take into account both short-term goals and long-term value. The above picture describes the complete delivery link of an online activity, specifically 6+ 1 step. Among them, the first six steps are suitable for single (short-term) online activities, that is, pre-planning. Specifically, it includes budget setting, communication target setting, content setting, strategy and so on. Promotion invitation. Attract the target audience to sign up for the event through various means. Activity preparation. It involves the choice of specific activity platform, the form of speech/exhibition and the production of content. On the day of the event. Start activities at the scheduled time and interact with the audience. Follow up. After the activity is completed, push the information/content with the participants or preview the follow-up activities. Diagnostic optimization. Analyze the content, interaction and links of the activity to understand the outstanding performance or areas to be improved. For brands that want to participate in online activities for a long time, we can also consider how to enhance the enthusiasm of the audience for long-term high-frequency participation, and establish and continuously operate an online content collection platform similar to the participant community. That is, step 7 "long-term operation" in the above picture. 7. Long-term operation. Accumulate and classify the content in each activity, so as to gradually establish a systematic and platform-based content system. The following will be divided into two parts, describing each node and its important steps. Single shipment 1. Pre-planning comprehensive and rigorous planning is the premise and guarantee of success. The important principle of pre-planning is that the target/budget is realistic and the audience and theme are clear and definite. Among them, the more important steps include "determining the activity target", "determining the theme and content" and "determining the data strategy". The most important thing is to determine the active object. 1. 1 Determine the activity objectives. The "activity goal" here refers to the business goal to be achieved by the activity. Generally speaking, online activity goals are one of the following three types of goals. The core of acquiring new customers (enhancing awareness) is to attract the attention of new customers and retain capital. Under this goal, the core of the activity content is to combine the current market hotspots and explain new or better solutions to the core problems or pain points that customers are currently encountering. Of course, these solutions are based on the specific products or services of this brand. Promote the transformation of business opportunities (promote subscription) to help potential customers better understand the specific products/services of this brand, thus promoting the subscription of potential customers. Under this goal, the core of the content is to elaborate on specific issues more deeply, and better show the core competitive advantages of their products/services relative to competitors, such as cost advantages, service advantages, quality advantages and so on. Under this goal, specific problems, pain points and advantages need to be clarified. The core of maintaining customer relationship (promoting identity) is to help existing customers improve their return on investment and make better use of their products or services, thus improving their satisfaction (or identity). The core of the content will be to show products/services aimed at specific scenarios or needs, and help customers improve their proficiency and effectiveness in using products/services. The customer groups targeted by the above different goals are very different, so the content to be produced is also very different. In the past planning, the target demand was often vague, which led to the vague definition of the target customer group and the loss of focus in content production, which is also the most common reason for the failure of online activities. 1.2 after setting KPI to determine any of the above objectives, you can set specific objectives according to the existing budget, or infer specific budgets according to the established objectives. The KPI under each goal is different, and different industries also have different KPI tendencies. The offline activities of this brand are a good reference for KPI setting. The following is a typical activity KPI setting process to promote business opportunity transformation. In the specific operation, according to the target of transaction amount, the specific target of each step can be regressed forward until the number of registered people in the front end. 1.3 determine the data strategy. The "data strategy" here refers to the channel for completing the KPI setting of the registration number. When specifying data policies, it is necessary to balance the quality and quantity of data. Paying too much attention to quantity and ignoring data quality will seriously reduce the conversion rate of subsequent steps. At the same time, establish a long-term tracking mechanism for different channels to confirm the average conversion rate of each channel, so as to eliminate inferior channels and improve the accuracy and conversion rate of data. 2. Promotion/invitation Promotion invitation refers to inviting participants through various channels, and tracking the implementation effect of each channel in time, and then making targeted adjustments. The premise of promoting the invitation is to complete the registration page and registration form. 2. 1 Registration page and registration form The basic components of the registration page include: basic introduction to the activities. Namely, theme, core content and activity time. Speech schedule and guest introduction. Registration button and registration form (required for applicants). For brands with complex sales process and long cycle, in order to improve the efficiency of sales follow-up, the registration form needs more complicated information. A relatively complete registration form can include the following fields: name, mobile phone number, attention brand, WeChat company email address, and industry to which the company name belongs. When the registry is long, the registration loss rate may be higher. In this case, the registrant can fill in some confidence when registering; The rest of the information can be filled in when entering the online meeting or downloading the meeting materials. 2.2 Progress tracking and adjustment According to the objectives of each channel defined in the data strategy, progress tracking is conducted daily or weekly. The following figure illustrates the progress of a five-day invitation promotion, in which the progress of "hard and wide" and "media recommendation" channels is obviously backward and needs to be strengthened. 2.3 Data Privacy Protection After many public incidents involving personal data privacy broke out, countries began to formulate stricter data privacy protection laws, such as the GDPR policy in Europe. Therefore, brands need to be more careful when collecting and using the collected personal data, otherwise they will face huge fines and unpredictable legal risks. For example, in the United States and other European and American regions, all options similar to "Do you agree to accept emails from this brand in the future" must be unchecked by default, otherwise it will be considered as a violation of relevant laws. Therefore, when carrying out activities aimed at audiences in other countries and regions, it is necessary to consult local legal persons or adopt local activity platforms to avoid relevant legal risks. 3. Activity preparation Activity preparation includes the selection (or production) of the activity platform, the production of various activity modules (such as the main venue and exhibition area), the production of video content, and the training of support personnel. 3. 1 platform selection (or production) For enterprises with strong technical capabilities, they can customize their own virtual activity platforms. For most brands, there are already rich choices in the market. Among them, domestic platforms include virtual museum, war history interaction, witness live broadcast and Yunxi live broadcast. The functions of these platforms are generally similar. When choosing, it is recommended to communicate with the sales team in depth and make a decision after integrating factors such as price, function and service. It should be noted that if the activity is aimed at foreign audiences, try to choose foreign suppliers. Platforms with a large number of users around the world include INXPO and Unisfair. These platforms are very powerful and can ensure the fluency of foreign audiences. 3.2 Module production is similar to offline meeting. A complete online activity can include the following modules: conference hall. Namely a theme image area and a navigation area. The main venue. Similar to offline meetings. Branch meeting place. Similar to offline meetings. Exhibition area and booth. Similar to offline meetings. Demonstration area. Generally, live broadcast is adopted to introduce the products to the audience in all directions after the main meeting. Each module needs corresponding guiding copy and visual support to ensure that the audience can clearly understand the functions of the current module. Among them, visual production needs to follow unified standards and norms to ensure consistency. 3.3 Content production In terms of content form, compared with live broadcast, we suggest recording the content of the main venue or sub-venue in advance. This is because it is difficult for most speakers to adapt to the empty live broadcast room, which may lead to frequent interruptions during the speech. In the real-time demonstration of products, if real-time live broadcast is really needed, we suggest that professional hosts/anchors fully control the rhythm, and then cooperate with brand guests to complete it. In terms of content composition, it is suggested that people from brands, customers and industry research institutions speak at the same time to ensure the authority, authenticity and credibility of the content and tell or verify the brand information from more angles. In terms of content innovation, with the maturity of technology, more and more live broadcasts begin to adopt augmented reality (AR) technology to create better visual effects. If the budget permits, high-tech brands can try to cooperate with vision and technology companies to explore the application of the latest technology. 3.4 During personnel training activities, brand personnel may need to interact with the audience in real time. For example, in a virtual booth, you need someone who knows the relevant content to answer questions with the audience. Therefore, before the activity begins, it is necessary to train relevant personnel to help them get familiar with the operation console and interface to be used. For others, if it is the first time to adopt a certain platform or launch an online activity in a certain area, it is recommended to conduct a stress test in conjunction with the platform supplier before the activity to ensure sufficient platform bandwidth, smooth playback, available content and good compatibility with the platform. 4. The activity day is on the activity day. In order to let the audience better participate in the event, the event organizers need to make greater efforts. 4. 1 The reminder on the day of the activity can be made by SMS, email, telephone, etc. about one hour before the start of the activity. This can greatly improve the participation of activities. 4.2 Real-time Interaction When playing recorded content or live broadcast, many viewers will ask their own questions. It is suggested that during the activity, relevant brand personnel should always monitor the audience's questions and answer them in time. For questions that cannot be answered in time, it is necessary to record the ID and contact information of the questioner. After the activity, contact the questioner in time and provide authoritative and complete answers, and attach relevant materials. 4.3 Rewarding Stay-in Guests Due to the lack of immersive experience in online activities, most organizers will continue to distribute related gifts with the promotion of the activities to encourage the audience to stay in the activities for a longer time. For example, at the 45th minute, 60th minute and 90th minute after the start of the activity, different levels of prizes can be set. Note: As online activities can be cancelled at any time, it is not appropriate to set the activity time too long, which will lead to a large loss of audience in the later stage of the activity. Generally speaking, it is suggested that the speaking time of online activities should be controlled between 90~ 120 minutes. Generally speaking, the peak of the first audience loss is 25-45 minutes, and special content or prizes need to be set during this time period to effectively retain the audience. 4.4 Information Collection Although the basic information of the audience has been collected in the registration stage, we can still add more necessary information for the audience during the activity. Generally speaking, during the activity, the audience will input their satisfaction with the activity through a pop-up window. More importantly, the audience will share their plans for purchasing products/services, such as whether they have a purchase plan in the past three months, if so, which model of products they are more interested in, related application scenarios and specific problems. These questions will help marketers quickly identify high-value potential customers and help salespeople communicate and follow up with the audience more purposefully. 5. Follow-up Tracking For many brands with a long sales cycle, a communication may only be a preliminary contact with the audience. In order to better promote mutual understanding and trust, we need to communicate and interact many times. Therefore, it is suggested to send a thank-you letter to all participants immediately after the event, and you can attach PPT documents of popular speeches, download links of popular content, wonderful review videos and so on. You can also attach the social media accounts of popular speakers in this activity and our company's social media accounts to facilitate future communication. In addition, if you have planned the follow-up activities or content, you can also add a registration link or download address. 6. Diagnostic Optimization At the end of the activity, you can start sorting out and analyzing all kinds of KPI data, which is convenient for summing up experiences and lessons. Overall performance. That is, whether the KPI of registration, participation, business opportunities, billing and transaction has reached the target. (Note: The billing and transaction cycle of some products or services is very long. If it cannot be evaluated immediately, a related database can be established to facilitate long-term tracking. ) content analysis. Most online activity platforms can track the traffic of individual speeches and downloads. Therefore, we can accurately analyze which content is more popular, so as to ensure that the proportion of such content will be increased in the next similar activity. Channel analysis. Track and analyze the audience of different channels, such as which channels have higher participation rate and which channels have higher business opportunity conversion rate. In this way, we can know the specific performance of each channel, which is helpful for medium and long-term selection and optimization. Participants call back. If time and budget permit, you can visit some participants randomly to get specific feedback on the process, experience and content of the activity. These are the six basic steps to plan, prepare and carry out online activities. For some brands, they have been engaged in online activities for a long time and accumulated a large audience. And some viewers may start to lose after attending an activity; At the same time, every activity has accumulated high-quality content, which is considerable in the long run. If these contents can be organized and presented according to certain standards, and then customized to the audience who have participated in some activities before, they can provide better content for these audiences, thus generating stickiness and natural flow. This is the seventh step we suggest _ long-term operation. Long-term content/audience operation 7. Long-term operation The core of long-term operation lies in the operation of content and audience. The core is to constantly push relevant content for a specific audience, thus ensuring the audience's repeated association with the brand. 7. 1 content operation after each activity, the content will be divided and sorted _ it can be sorted according to customer needs or related fields to accumulate an internal data/material library. For example, a cloud computing brand can organize its content according to customers' needs for cloud computing (website development, data analysis, production management, etc.). ) .7.2 Audience Operation In most B2B communication scenarios, it takes a long way and many times to turn an audience into a customer. This requires continuous, repeated and targeted follow-up communication after the communication begins. Therefore, we can confirm an audience's interest points through questionnaire survey during the activity, and continuously supply the corresponding content in the content library to this audience through e-mail, SMS, telephone and other forms. For brands with large investment, a small-scale CRM system can be established based on daily online activities and exchanges. This can facilitate the automatic tracking of customer needs and automatically send relevant content to customers, thus improving the conversion rate. 7.3 Integrated Operation Some companies, such as Dell's B2B department, will set up special content sites. The website will host all online activities, content and audiences. This can help the audience to cultivate user habits and regularly go to the website to get the latest information of Dell enterprise products. At the same time, the powerful operating system (CRM, content database) in the background can ensure that every viewer can get more personalized services and content during the browsing process. In the future, more and more brands will start to adopt online activities. When planning activities, brands should not only pursue short-term benefits, but also take into account long-term results, so as to create greater value for their own enterprises and audiences in a longer time span.