The brand is the ultimate private traffic!
The process of developing private traffic is essentially the process of cultivating user brand loyalty. ``
When users are loyal, the brand thrives; when users are disloyal, the brand falls.
--Webpower
In 2021, after an initial phase of rapid growth, private traffic, like other marketing concepts, faced developmental bottlenecks. As the competition for private traffic became increasingly fierce, breaking through these challenges became a common difficulty for enterprises. Brand private traffic marketing might be the key to winning the second half of the game. Everyone working in private traffic knows that the essence of private traffic is customer relationship management, but what is the purpose of private traffic? Some broadly interpret it as selling goods, conversion, and generating revenue. If we assume these to be the goals, our relationship with the customer should end at this point, but in reality, we engage in private traffic to maintain contact with users, dilute traffic costs, and encourage repeat purchases.
Users must trust us to achieve these goals, and based on this, it becomes clear: The process of developing private traffic is essentially the process of cultivating user brand loyalty—when users are loyal, the brand thrives; when users are disloyal, the brand falls. Elevating this to a strategic level, private traffic must focus on building the brand—the brand forms the most stable customer relationships; the brand is the ultimate private traffic.
The brand forms the most stable customer relationships.
The brand is the ultimate private traffic.
01 Why Engage in Brand Private Traffic Marketing
Many companies understand private traffic as simply directing users from public traffic domains into private traffic pools for further management. Firstly, how to attract this traffic is a challenging task. Secondly, consider the private traffic pools painstakingly built, such as WeChat groups, personal accounts, websites, and mini-programs… Ultimately, they still rely on specific platforms or technologies. Once detached from the platform or technological support, the connection with users can be lost. Moreover, during the private traffic operation process, it becomes clear that the users brought in with great effort are often passive—if we stimulate them, they convert; if we don't stimulate them, they don’t convert.
Faced with these pain points in private traffic operations, integrating brand operation thinking makes it much simpler. Users are more willing to actively join our private traffic pool and even complete conversions, repeat purchases, and referrals on their own. This is not difficult to understand: the cost for users to follow, add accounts, or join groups is significantly different between an unknown brand and a well-known brand. The more established the brand, the easier it is to attract traffic. The same logic applies to conversion and referrals. Even if one day, the platform and technology are no longer available, where the brand is, the users will be. Therefore, brand-centric private traffic marketing is the true essence of private traffic marketing. If you're doing private traffic, you must build a brand!
Only brand-centric private traffic marketing is genuine private traffic marketing.
To manage private traffic effectively, building a brand is essential.
02 Building a Brand-Centric Private Traffic Marketing Framework
(1) Building the Brand Operations Team
A good operations team is naturally key to success. Typically, the team is divided into smaller squads, each focused on specific areas such as audience acquisition, content creation, and sales.
Audience Acquisition Specialist: Primarily responsible for attracting and directing traffic, this role focuses on front-end tasks. The key performance metric for this position is the growth rate of followers.
Content Specialist: The phrase "content is king" holds true even in the operation of private traffic.
Sales and Conversion Specialist: Responsible for closing deals, combining the roles of customer service and sales. Performance metrics include conversion rates, order volume, and sales revenue. All sales personnel must undergo relevant private traffic training before starting their roles.
Audience Acquisition — Content — Conversion
(2) Key Tasks in Brand Private Traffic Promotion
First Point: Establish Brand Positioning and Persona
Brand positioning and persona are especially important in private traffic marketing. Positioning should be based on a thorough understanding of the market and users. Technical means, such as leveraging big data to tag users and relying on statistical analysis, can be used to establish this positioning.
Additionally, the persona should not only reflect the brand's tone and characteristics but also align with the product's attributes. It must be systematically connected and not just randomly conceived.
Take Webpower's client, Chaling, a brand focused on natural skincare, as an example. Detailed settings were created for its persona, including avatar, background images, interests, and hobbies. This persona not only closely aligns with the product (tea-based skincare) and brand culture (premium and natural) but also imparts a genuine and relatable feel, greatly benefiting subsequent marketing efforts.
Second Point: Audience Acquisition
Where do followers come from, how do they arrive, and where do they land?
Generally speaking, private traffic followers originate from public domains. There are various ways to direct this traffic. Online, you can collaborate with KOLs/KOCs, create eye-catching content, or run activities to attract followers. Offline, a membership system can be used to guide followers online. You can even use certain software or systems like "Baofentong" (Rapid Followers) to aid in follower growth.
Inman, a Taobao clothing store, initially used leaflet advertisements to attract followers, achieving an addition rate of only about 12%. Later, by adopting a multi-channel strategy to gain followers, this rate increased to over 50%, demonstrating a significant improvement.
Followers can be directed to WeChat, mini-programs, and online communities — platforms that are relatively private. However, it's crucial to also build your own fully private platforms, such as a website or app, to minimize the risks of losing contact with followers due to changes in platforms or technologies. Third Point: Content Marketing How important is good content in marketing conversion? Studies have shown that during big promotions, WeChat Moments content can contribute to one-third of total sales! Thus, content marketing plays a pivotal role in brand private traffic marketing. How should you approach content marketing? Using Chaling as an example once more, the brand created a detailed content output framework based on its persona and presented this content through multiple formats and channels.
Fourth Point: Establish Multiple Touchpoints
Building a brand's private traffic should not rely solely on a single touchpoint like communities or private messaging; multiple touchpoints should be utilized. Many brands are reluctant to build communities for fear of users spreading negative feedback about the brand. In reality, this mindset is limiting. Whether users post negative or positive comments in the community, these are valuable feedbacks for the brand. Leveraging this feedback can help optimize products and services on a smaller scale and promote brand upgrades on a larger scale. However, to maintain control, it's essential to have some "insiders" within these communities who can steer conversations and guide users to make purchases at critical moments.
(3) Brand Promotion and Private Traffic Operation Complement Each Other
The relationship between brand and private traffic should be complementary. On one hand, brand influence reduces the cost of private traffic marketing and increases marketing efficiency; on the other hand, private traffic should contribute to enhancing brand influence. Cultivating User Brand Loyalty is key to boosting brand influence, which revolves around establishing trust and an emotional connection with users, ultimately improving brand loyalty. High-quality products and services are the foundation for this. Transitioning from a "quick profit" mindset to an "asset" mindset is essential for guiding users to remain loyal to the brand.
Transitioning from a "quick profit" mindset to an "asset" mindset is essential for guiding users to remain loyal to the brand. Content marketing remains critically important. The earlier example of WeChat Moments demonstrates the influence of content in private traffic, which is also applicable to brand promotion. Good content always possesses vitality, which is why many international brands invest heavily in creating brand stories and crafting compelling copy.
Conclusion: As the competition for private traffic intensifies, the concept of brand-centric private traffic marketing is quietly emerging. Only by effectively building a brand can enterprises remain invincible in future competitions. Webpower will be closely monitoring the direction of private traffic marketing alongside you.
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