Marketing Channel Transformation: From Terminal Supremacy to Traffic Supremacy

Overall, whether for baijiu or beer, the current performance situation is not optimistic; baijiu is only rebounding from a low point. To rescue performance, they need to inject strong vitality into marketing channels. The previous channel promotion strategies relying on terminal interception and store breakthroughs are no longer sustainable. In the new normal, a key point in 2015 is that most liquor companies are consciously embracing 'Internet+' and have made many explorations. Data shows that mobile consumption nationwide has risen from 35% in 2014 to 65% in 2015. All industries are actively embracing 'Internet+', competing for e-commerce channel consumers on PC and mobile, which is also evident in the beverage industry.

According to a survey report, among the 18 listed baijiu companies and 5 beer companies (Tsingtao Brewery, China Resources Snow, Yanjing Beer, Chongqing Beer, Zhujiang Beer) surveyed, 12 baijiu companies have publicly stated that they will or have already embraced the Internet, with Moutai, Luzhou Laojiao, and Yanghe making significant moves; all 5 beer companies are trying or planning to enter online sales channels, accelerating the introduction and practice of O2O channels.

Traffic is King: The Unspoken Rule of the Internet Era

From the 'Tsingtao Express Purchase' APP to Moutai Cloud Mall and Cloud Distribution, it is clear that physical stores are gradually declining, and terminals are no longer king. Instead, traffic marketing, marked by online browsing, clicks, and transactions, has risen as a powerful new channel, showing its dominance and gaining favor from more traditional liquor companies.

In the Internet era, the rule 'traffic is king' is well known, roughly meaning that traffic is the foundation of everything. What is traffic? Traffic is both attention and a series of behaviors, such as opening web pages, browsing websites, clicking on products, adding to cart, and making online transactions.

From another perspective, traffic is users. When we talk about PV, we mean the number of user views; when we talk about UV, we mean the number of users; when we talk about installations, we mean users installing; when we talk about sales, we mean users purchasing. Doing traffic is about winning users; traffic is users. This is often overlooked by traditional liquor companies.

But Internet practitioners have not hidden their crazy pursuit of traffic for many years. Many big players first use free services to generate traffic, then find ways to monetize, and finally grow big, such as Tencent, Taobao, JD.com, 360, and Baidu.

Now, both online-only brands and traditional brands have joined the network traffic war, as if only with 'continuous flow' can they 'not cease', also declaring the full arrival of the traffic-is-king era.

Traffic is a prerequisite for e-commerce transactions, just like in traditional channels, a store without customers cannot do business. So manufacturers use various tricks to grab traffic: some spend big money to buy it, some use traditional media to divert it, some cleverly use PR to attract it, and some even use online trolls to inflate traffic.

Traffic is king has now penetrated the minds of every Internet and traditional enterprise practitioner. Many liquor companies are now learning from Internet companies, trying every means to attract and expand traffic, seeking various network entrances to create new channels for product display and trading.

Traffic is not everything, but without traffic, nothing is possible. A successful e-commerce website or APP, to form an e-commerce brand distinct from traditional channels, must start from attracting traffic to gradually increasing awareness and reputation, and finally be able to automatically generate traffic on its own. That is the key to success.

How to Go from Terminal Supremacy to Traffic Supremacy?

So in the 'Internet+' era, how can traditional liquor companies attract and expand traffic, become an overnight hit, automatically generate traffic, and achieve a magnificent transformation from channel supremacy to traffic supremacy?

Be a pioneer as much as possible to obtain low-cost traffic People are keen on viral spread, and the core is the cost of traffic. The opportunity to obtain a large amount of low-cost traffic is the key to the success of many websites and APPs, but the key is to move first; being half a beat slow means following in others' footsteps. The great advantage of pioneers is that competitors have not yet appeared, so the cost of acquiring traffic is lower, making it easier to start leading. For example, in 2013, Yanghe took the lead in building its own platform, launching the 'Yanghe No.1' mobile APP, leading the industry. In the first year, membership grew by tens of thousands daily, and the industry estimated that 'Yanghe No.1' sales would reach 500 million yuan in 2015. 'Yanghe No.1' was selected as one of the 'Top 10 Marketing Cases in China's Liquor Industry in 2013', and then was included in the first batch of '2014 Internet and Industrial Integration Innovation Pilot Projects' by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

How can liquor companies successfully operate liquor products with O2O? This requires traditional liquor companies to have a very clear product portfolio strategy. They can set up some special-priced products specifically to attract traffic and cultivate users, set up some high-end products to achieve profitability, and set up some specialty products to meet specific consumer needs and attract traffic. To avoid homogeneity conflicts and collisions between new and old channels, differentiated marketing is an important means for the success of O2O models. Reposition online and offline products so that the two channels sell different items, thereby differentiating services and brands.

Actively and continuously retain customers Users may really like a website or APP for a period, but after a while, they may be replaced by other products or services, or users no longer have the need, and the novelty fades. So, the issue for e-commerce websites or APPs is not whether they are good, but how to maintain freshness and attractiveness.

If users come but are not well maintained, it is naturally difficult to succeed again, and traffic will naturally be hard to sustain upward. This is the funnel effect. For e-commerce websites or APPs, repeat purchases are crucial, so retaining old customers is very important.

In July last year, Tsingtao Brewery launched the 'Tsingtao Express Purchase' APP, first piloting in Qingdao, with the slogan 'If you want to drink but don't want to go out, just tap the APP at home and beer will be delivered quickly to your door', and it was a great success. To attract new and old customers, downloading the APP gives a 100-yuan voucher that can be used immediately. The APP also offers daily promotions like '1-yuan flash sale for a box of pure draft gift box' and 'half-price original pulp', as well as group purchase discounts, which are favored by new and old customers, leading to a high repeat purchase rate for beer.

Increase browsing frequency and duration Websites or APPs hope users come often and stay long enough, purchasing frequently, like a toothbrush used at least twice a day, becoming a necessity in life. For example, the frequency of WeChat use is probably dozens of times a day for everyone. Therefore, traditional liquor companies, whether building their own e-commerce websites or mobile APPs, should first create products that are 'electric' (i.e., engaging) to put on the market, and also put 'sincere' services on the Internet, which can earn brand exposure and loyalty, increasing visit frequency and duration.

Take WeChat business as an example: how to increase visit frequency and duration? An entertaining, approachable, and interactive platform promotion model can more easily attract fans and increase traffic. The original overly frequent screen-brushing marketing will become less effective. In the future, product promotion on WeChat platforms should shift from graphic to video, with 3-6 minute short videos that analyze fan needs, precisely position, have storytelling, and are creative, which are more easily accepted by WeChat friends, achieving good promotional effects and better traffic, even 'some funny and slightly naughty' content can be mixed in.

Implement C2M to strive for target consumer behavior Builders of e-commerce websites and APPs certainly hope users will generate certain consumption behaviors, and definitely hope users have high purchase frequency and average order value. But achieving high purchase frequency and high average order value is not easy.

To achieve high purchase frequency and high average order value, it is necessary to gradually implement the C2M (Customer-to-Manufacturer) customization model. Whether Industry 4.0 can destroy Taobao is too early to say, but under the C2M model, traditional enterprises entering more personalized intelligent manufacturing models will surely become a trend, and customization will eventually become the mainstream in the 'Internet+' era. Customized products are a new means to overtake on curves and attract traffic.

'If you want to be friends with me, prove your sincerity. Sincerity is specially crafted for you. A bottle of ready-to-drink milk tea TOP1 Uni-President Assam (now renamed Qinglan).' Last year's 'Double 11', Uni-President created a unique Singles' Day bottle, hand-drawn by a famous Malaysian illustrator, with a happy tone and customizable packaging. It was launched on the Tmall Supermarket homepage for a global debut, then promoted on video, Weibo, Renren, Xiaonei, and other self-media channels. Consumers went crazy, setting a record of 1 million bottles sold online on 'Double 11' day. Many people who bought the collector's edition milk tea couldn't bear to drink it. That is the charm of customization.

In the future, a successful Internet platform can use its advantages to first design products or put products that are being produced or about to be produced on the platform, then seek netizens' opinions and ideas, injecting personalized, customized, and diversified characteristics into the brand, which will surely be very popular.

Build a large platform that can aggregate various traffic For websites, APPs, or WeChat businesses, the need for traffic entrances is always the first priority, but after a period of testing, even with a large amount of online traffic, the final conversion rate is not ideal. Therefore, promoting the establishment of multi-dimensional channels for website, APP, or WeChat business communication is a major mission for future platform providers. Being able to aggregate traffic from various social entrances onto one platform, such as QQ Space, Momo, Yixin, Laiwang, Weibo, blogs, etc., will be 'extremely powerful'. Therefore, integrating these scattered traffic and delivering them to merchants, fans, and WeChat friends, although a difficult project, is of great significance to platform WeChat businesses. In the future, the platform WeChat business that can best integrate scattered traffic will be the most attractive for merchants and WeChat friends to join and consume, and will surely stand out and remain unshakable.

Take the Wine Steward platform as an example. Currently, joining Wine Steward is free. It allows offline stores to directly transplant as WeChat stores to the Wine Steward mobile APP and WeChat public account simultaneously, making it convenient for consumers to discover and purchase. Moreover, the Wine Steward backend has a platform for displaying wineries and beverage companies from around the world, providing an integrated supply chain for WeChat stores. Wine Steward even integrates free traffic entrances like designated driving and tasting, bringing more considerable wine consumers to each WeChat store for free.

The traffic-is-king marketing era has fully arrived. Are you ready?

Source: Sales and Market

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