Making Money With Your Phone: The Mobile Internet Marketing Revolution

Chapter 10 Popularity Strategy: Popularity is the foundation of performance (1)
4.1 Make users scream and exceed expectations to have high popularity
The basis of popularity is topics, and a topic that can attract attention can bring a lot of popularity.Of course, whether the topic itself attracts attention depends on whether it really exceeds people's psychological expectations.

Let's look at a case first.

On August 2010, 8, the State Sports General Administration announced that Dongfeng Citroen will become a senior sponsor of the Chinese badminton team and the Chinese Badminton Association in the next three years.At the signing ceremony with the cooperation concept of "Innovation to Drive the Future", Mr. Cai Zhenhua, deputy director of the State Sports General Administration, said with satisfaction: "My team members will all have cars in the future."

Immediately afterwards, Dongfeng Citroen made a fuss with Lin Dan, the "first brother" of Chinese badminton.Lin Dan, an all-too-familiar name, can you imagine challenging him?Can you think of a direct dialogue with him? At the Chengdu Auto Show on September 9, Dongfeng Citroen won a high degree of attention by carrying out the topic activity of "challenging Lin Dan" on Tencent Weibo.

"Challenge Lin Dan" at the auto show was very popular on the Weibo wall
"Being able to fight Dan, even if you are beaten, you will stand up bravely" "Sega! Sega! Give me a kiss!"... Netizens at the auto show and all over the country expressed their blessings through the topic "Challenge Lin Dan" on Tencent Weibo and moved.And Dongfeng Citroen successfully introduced the concept of "on the wall" into the auto show, opening the first Weibo marketing in the domestic auto industry.

With the continuous deepening of the activities, the number of listeners of Dongfeng Citroen Tencent's official Weibo has also increased significantly, and the timely interaction with netizens has enhanced the brand's reputation.

Having the opportunity to "challenge Lin Dan" is obviously a scene beyond people's psychological expectations and dreams, so it immediately grabbed a lot of public attention and helped Dongfeng Citroen accumulate super popularity.Then in the process of mobile Internet marketing, how to learn from this model to accumulate the popularity of enterprises?
4.1.1 Propaganda services should "show weakness"

In 2009, Amazon spent $8.47 million to acquire Zappos, a shoe-selling website in the United States. Why is this website worth so much money?It turns out that its biggest marketing weapon is that it is very good at adjusting users' expectations, so that users can continue to marvel.For example, they promise users that after the transaction is successful, the shoes will be delivered within 4 days, and in fact users can receive the shoes the next day.Moreover, users who buy shoes on this website can also enjoy a privilege: buy a pair of shoes to try 3 pairs of shoes, and then send back the unsuitable ones-of course, this is free.And these are unprecedented.

The clever thing about this website is that instead of directly advertising its ability to deliver shoes within two days, users are told to wait four days, so users who receive their shoes "early" also receive a A surprise beyond expectations.

Indeed, whether word-of-mouth is good or not does not depend solely on the quality of the place or the product, but on how high the user's expectations are—the true meaning of word-of-mouth and popularity is to exceed the expectations of users.

An example of this is the Burj Al Arab in Dubai.Everyone knows that the Burj Al Arab in Dubai is the best and most luxurious hotel in the world, but some people are disappointed after staying in the Burj Al Arab.They had a big question mark in their hearts: Is this the legendary best hotel in the world?This is one of the best hotels in the world?Why does going to the Burj Al Arab feel even worse than going to the Haidilao Hot Pot Restaurant?However, is Haidilao really better than Burj Al Arab?This is actually because people have different expectations for Burj Al Arab and Haidilao.Because the geographical location of Haidilao is very ordinary, people will not have too much hope for it, but the Burj Al Arab is one of the best hotels in the world, and it should give people an extraordinary experience.It is precisely because of such expectations that it is difficult to meet them.This may be what people often say that the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment.

4.1.2 Low expectations, high surprises

Therefore, enterprises should try to avoid providing users with high expectations when doing marketing, otherwise it is easy to produce the result of "the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment".Or, at least don't show all the cards at once during the promotion, so that it will have a stunning effect when the product is officially released, and quickly accumulate super popularity for the new product.

Of course, the success of the "low expectation, high surprise" strategy is not only the low-key and reserved publicity, but also the high quality of the product itself.Still taking Xiaomi as an example, in terms of product thinking, Lei Jun has always used two extreme standards to measure Xiaomi’s behavior: the first is whether users will scream for Xiaomi’s products; Recommend products to friends.Therefore, in terms of products, Lei Jun, on the one hand, constantly arouses users' screams by striving for excellence and words such as "top configuration", "first release", and "low price", and on the other hand, wins word of mouth through services that exceed user expectations.

Xiaomi has released three generations of mobile phones so far, and each generation has the highest configuration in the industry at that time, that is, the strategy of "grabbing the first launch".Because of the first launch, users will be satisfied with having such a mobile phone, and it can even be used to show off.Mi 3 uses the first dual-core 1G chip in China, priced at a mid-range price of only 1.5 yuan, and the cost performance exceeds consumers' expectations.As a result, Xiaomi mobile phones became an instant hit, creating the effect of "users screaming", and the supply exceeded the demand.

Afterwards, Mi 2 launched an enthusiast-grade quad-core high-performance chip, the first 28-nanometer chip, and when the internal memory of mainstream machines was 1G, Mi 2 raised the memory standard to 2G.As the "highest configuration" at that time, the price was still the mid-range price of 1999 yuan.The "scream" created by Xiaomi gradually formed a kind of inertia, so that new products such as Redmi, Xiaomi 3, Xiaomi set-top boxes, and Xiaomi TVs all formed a hot situation in which demand exceeded supply.

Lei Jun firmly believes that in today's impetuous mobile Internet world, if you want to achieve something, you'd better do it quietly and low-key, and make something that exceeds users' expectations.If you make a lot of advertisements to brag about your product and make users’ appetites high, but the product fails to meet expectations, users will definitely be disappointed in the end.Therefore, when Xiaomi Technology was founded, Lei Jun did a lot of confidentiality work.When Lei Jun first started to form a team, every time Lei Jun saw someone, the last thing he said was: "This matter is kept secret for the time being! Strictly keep it secret!" When dozens of people made the first product, he did not follow the routine. Instead of advertising, he took the lead and led a group of people to post a few posts in several forums.At this time, no one knew that this product was made by a veteran in the software field. For a while, many people thought that this product was really well done, and finally formed a huge team of "rice fans".Relying solely on the power of word of mouth, this product quickly spread all over the world, and even an American blog site nominated Lei Jun's team for the annual product.

What Xiaomi has done far exceeds the expectations of users, and they are happy to share these things with those around them, so that the team of "Mi fans" continues to grow.This kind of promotion method not only saves the cost of Xiaomi mobile phone marketing, but also enables the Xiaomi team to see the real appeal of the product to users. "On the Internet, the most important thing at the beginning is not to advertise on a large scale, but to do a good job in search engine optimization and viral marketing, try to suppress the user's expectations, concentrate on making a good product, and finally let the product speak for itself." Lei Jun So summed it up.

4.2 UC Browser: Combined marketing linkage super popular
When it comes to the mobile Internet, the first thing people think of is the mobile phone browser. Before there were so many mobile phone applications today, the browser was the only port for surfing the Internet through mobile phones. In 2004, two young people invented the UCweb browser, which created a precedent for China's mobile Internet browser. UCweb is the abbreviation of You Can Web, meaning "you can access the Internet anytime, anywhere".Once the public version came out, it was immediately welcomed by users. Without any promotion, there were 5000 registered users in the first month.

As of December 2012, UC Browser has a total of 12 million users worldwide, including more than 4 million overseas users. UC Youshi has operation centers in Silicon Valley in the United States and New Delhi in India.On the Android platform, UC Browser also has more than 1 million users, making it the third-party browser with the largest number of users on the Android platform. In 1, Baidu intends to bid US$2013 billion to acquire UC Youshi, and Tencent is unwilling to be lonely, expressing its willingness to acquire UC Youshi. Coupled with the previous strategic investment from Alibaba, the ambition of Internet giants to seize the high ground of the mobile Internet is clearly revealed.

4.2.1 UCweb Double Eleven Marketing Combination

From this, we can see that, as one of the strategic strongholds of the mobile Internet, UCweb has become the focus of strategic layout of many large enterprises.We can't help but ask: How did UCweb develop to the scale it is today?Can its successful experience bring us some inspiration?
Take Singles' Day on November 2013, 11 as an example. The most popular topics on Weibo that day were "Taobao Double Eleven" and "Singles' Day". Major browsers are also waiting for an opportunity to join this promotion and marketing war.Among them, UCweb, which has the highest mobile phone market share, also joined in, and carried out a massive combined marketing with popular videos, mobile phone desktops, and Singles Day confession splash screens.

First of all, UCweb catered to the two hot spots of "Singles' Day" and "Double Eleven" shopping, and launched the popular video "Tang Bohu's Stripped Ventilation". , the dubbing is also very vivid, coupled with the strong push of UCweb, it quickly gained an amazing amount of forwarding.

Although everyone knows that these videos are a marketing tool for UCweb to promote its price comparison plug-in, but because it is both creative and interesting, users do not reject it.Of course, in the era of mobile Internet, creativity alone is not enough. Therefore, UCweb held a Weibo activity of "10 people looking for products with low prices with conscience" on Weibo to earn popularity with a lot of money.Stimulated by a bonus of 10 yuan, the event quickly reached more than 600 million impressions.

In addition to promoting on its own platform, this time UCweb also cooperated with Yihaodian, Vipshop, Amazon, JD.com and other e-commerce companies to use their channels to increase the exposure of its price comparison plug-ins.In addition to e-commerce, UCweb also pioneered a cross-border cooperation with Hunan Satellite TV's "Happier Shopping" program, and carried out oral broadcast of UCweb's price comparison plug-in in the program.This cross-border cooperation also allows everyone to see the ambition and strength of mobile Internet companies.The multi-channel promotion brought huge influence, and the UCweb price comparison plug-in became a hit.

4.2.2 Inspiration from UCweb Combined Marketing Cases
Analyzing this marketing campaign of UCweb, we found that it has the following points worth learning.

[-]. Emphasize creativity and highlight fun

The era of mobile Internet is an era of high-quality content, and users will not waste time on boring and uninspiring things.Therefore, any marketing campaign should be based on the most creative and interesting content. The videos and animations launched by UCweb at the beginning of this marketing campaign not only meet the life experience and complaint needs of mobile Internet users in terms of content, but also capture their aesthetic experience and psychological needs in terms of creativity and interest.This accurate positioning and novel and interesting presentation make users willing to spread the advertisement even if they know it is an advertisement made by UCweb.This is an important principle of mobile Internet marketing: give the user the content he needs, and he will give you the effect you want.

The famous burger brand Burger King is a representative of creative marketing. It once carried out an ingenious activity on Facebook: "Delete friends, get King Castle": The activity is very simple. Users only need to install an APP on their Facebook and delete 10 friends. Friends, you can get a free hamburger.And those friends you delete will be published in your Facebook news to let everyone know.So this activity is also called: "The Sacrifice of the Emperor's Castle".Relying on strong creativity and alternative ideas, this event, without any marketing background, easily sent out more than 2 burgers based on the heated discussions among netizens—that is to say, more than 2 people are willing to buy for Burger King. Remove 10 friends for free burgers.While this marketing has accumulated a lot of popularity for Burger King, it has also established such a concept among consumers: Burger King is worth your money!This brand effect is what Burger King really cares about.

[-]. Multi-channel alliance and cross-border cooperation

In this marketing campaign, UCweb not only played a set of "combined punches" in content, but also integrated various resources in channels. It combined resources from clients, social media, forums, and cooperative e-commerce channels to carry out integrated marketing.With the help of e-commerce companies such as Amazon and JD.com, the influence of the UCweb price comparison plug-in has suddenly expanded a lot.In addition, UCweb also cooperated with Huihui to launch the Double Eleven shopping report, cooperated with Ruyitao for Weibo activities, and so on.This series of online actions fully shows that UCweb attaches great importance to this marketing campaign.

At the same time, UCweb also focused its marketing on traditional mainstream media this time, cooperating across borders and promoting it in TV programs.Such measures can further strengthen the trust of mobile Internet users in their brands and products.It's like some stars who have been popular for a whole year must go to the Spring Festival Gala at the end of the year to really prove their status and popularity.Although the development of mobile Internet shows the technology and the future, many mobile Internet products are mostly for making money at a loss. For users, although they often use some mobile Internet products, they always think that these are "gadgets" psychologically. Not on the table. UCweb wants to prove to users through this cross-border cooperation that the era of mobile Internet has arrived, and mobile Internet products have the ability to stand on a bigger stage.

[-]. Timely launch and marketing
Every year, "Double Eleven" is a carnival for Internet users, and even many people who don't surf the Internet often will go online on this day to see what affordable promotional products are available.Therefore, although the annual "Double Eleven" e-commerce war will inevitably be complained by everyone, this does not prevent the huge transaction volume of "Double Eleven" every year.Taking 2013 as an example, Tmall alone achieved a transaction volume of more than 350 billion yuan.This shows that the purchasing power of users is acceptable, and their purchasing desire is not yet saturated.Under this premise, UCweb timely launched its own price comparison plug-in to help users choose the most cost-effective promotional products more conveniently and accurately. The negative image of false price cuts on the [-]th highlights the positive image of using price comparison to provide real discounts.This kind of marketing strategy is designed to leverage strength. As long as it is used properly, it is easy to exchange a small investment for a big return. The success of the UCweb price comparison plugin proves this.

4.3 Popular new gameplay: Gold Medal Customer and Expert Mode

Shi Yuzhu, who has a lot of experience in marketing, once said: "I have always believed that the things in marketing books are not credible. Contrary to their ideas, you can try it. Marketing was born in the United States at the beginning of the 20th century. It was developed by several major broadcasting companies in the United States at that time, and the purpose was to allow companies to place advertisements. The best marketing teacher is consumers.” Shi Yuzhu’s success on Melatonin and Giant Network is the result of earnestly practicing this sentence.

Indeed, consumers are the best and most generous teachers in the world.Enterprises that understand the nature of the "teacher" are always treated favorably by the teacher and rewarded with huge profits; otherwise, they can only be rejected by the teacher.So what are the characteristics of "teachers" that are worthy of learning and research by enterprises?

"Advocating authority and believing in experts" is one of them.

4.3.1 New Gameplay of Large Enterprises: Spokespersons Become Customers
Since most customers "advocate authority and believe in experts", using celebrity publicity is a common marketing strategy for companies, but how to maximize the value of a celebrity depends on your positioning of him.In the era of mobile Internet, users prefer celebrities who are friendly and approachable, rather than those who are superior.Therefore, the status of celebrities in advertisements often changes from "spokesperson" to "gold medal client".

In the traditional marketing process, if you want to firmly attract a certain group of people, a typical trick is to catch the golden customers among them.Now, many platforms are beginning to use this strategy, the most typical of which is Lefeng.com.

Within a few days after the release of Lefeng.com's marketing Weibo, more than a hundred celebrities, including Tong Dawei, Yu Quan, Li Chen, Gao Yuanyuan, etc., would forward it, and some would also attach their own product experience.The effect of this spread is astonishing.It is roughly estimated that the number of fans and forwarding volume of these celebrity microblogs exceeds [-] million, which is the power of the new gold medal customers in the mobile Internet era.

(End of this chapter)