---
title: "Not Treating People as People, \"Private Domain Traffic\" Is Destined to Be a Self-Deceiving Illusion"
description: "To manage users, one must first treat them as people, not as traffic. The concept of \"private domain traffic\" is a self-deceiving illusion that violates the basic logic of free commerce, where customers always hold the dominant position in the relationship."
author: "响马老苗"
publisher: "New Distribution"
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published: "2020-12-01"
language: "en"
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# Not Treating People as People, "Private Domain Traffic" Is Destined to Be a Self-Deceiving Illusion

> To manage users, one must first treat them as people, not as traffic. The concept of "private domain traffic" is a self-deceiving illusion that violates the basic logic of free commerce, where customers always hold the dominant position in the relationship.

****Click "Read the original text" for details****
To manage users, first treat them as people, not as traffic.
**-01-**
We are very prone to illusions, always treating what we hope will happen as what will definitely happen.
A small trigger can make us feel that we have gained powerful strength and resources we never had.
When a big shot pats you on the shoulder and calls you "brother," you immediately feel your network has expanded.
When a customer casually asks you a few business questions, you immediately think a big order is coming.
When subordinates all pat their chests and guarantee to overfulfill tasks, you may appear calm, but inside you are overjoyed.
Hearing about a good book, you can't wait to buy it, creating the illusion of mastering that knowledge, even though you may never finish reading it.
......
This is human nature; no one is immune.
Back then, Empress Dowager Cixi, after watching the Boxers' "sword-proof and bulletproof" performance in the Forbidden City, immediately developed the ambition to expel the foreigners and issued the "Declaration of War" against eleven countries.
They rely on deceit; we rely on justice. They rely on brute force; we rely on the people's hearts. With our loyal soldiers and righteous etiquette, everyone is willing to die. With our vast territory of over twenty provinces and a population of over four hundred million, how can we not quell their arrogance and display our national might?
Sounds righteous and awe-inspiring, doesn't it?
(Cixi fleeing Beijing in Han Chinese clothing)
But as soon as the gunfire sounded, the Old Buddha fled in panic from Beijing to Hebei, then from Hebei to Shanxi, and feeling Shanxi unsafe, fled to Xi'an, and if that wasn't enough, would have gone south to Chengdu.
In the end, it was naturally "to use China's resources to curry favor with the foreign powers."
**-02-**
As early as two years ago, traffic thinking had already hit a dead end. At that time, people in the industry were constantly shouting **"traffic exhaustion" and "traffic peak"** .
Just as everyone came to their senses and understood the essence of so-called "traffic thinking," abandoning this outdated concept of being harvested by platforms, a new marketing term emerged: "private domain traffic."
They claim: **As long as you bring users who follow you into your official account, mini-program, community, website, or other closed network spaces, forming your private domain.** Then you can use them repeatedly at zero cost.
Doesn't that sound exciting and tempting?
Here, users are fish raised in their pond, leeks planted in their vegetable patch, to be caught or cut whenever they want.
To be honest, the last time I heard such an arrogant concept was when hackers called the compromised computers they controlled "meat chickens."
Unfortunately, these marketers have only the arrogance of hackers, not their skills. They don't even understand common sense, or pretend not to.
This violates the basic logic of free commerce: in the relationship between a business and its customers, the customer always holds the dominant position.
Positioning theory puts it this way: **What determines a company's survival is not whether customers enter your private domain, but whether you enter the customer's mind.**
In plain language: To win customers, at the very least, treat them as people, not as traffic.
One would think that such low-level "word-making marketing" wouldn't be believed by smart business owners and marketers.
But human nature is like this: once the temptation is great enough, illusions arise, and everyone's IQ gets ground into the dirt.
Look at zero cost, repeated use, diverse play, and full control; customers are not only stable but can also continuously fission.
Such an enticing prospect makes your mouth water just thinking about it, so it must be true.
As for whether users will obediently "come into the bowl," many companies are also mysteriously confident.
Many people think that once a customer uses their product, they have some "destiny" with them, and from then on, they are "their people."
They probably think they are not selling products but a spell, a talisman, and once customers encounter it, they are enchanted and can't forget them.
When these two illusions collide, the wonderful "private domain traffic" is born.
The term "private domain traffic" is very clever, clever in that it gives companies a sense of gain and control:
**"Managing users" sounds like you have to "manage" and work, and it's uncertain whether you can do it well.**
"Private domain traffic" sounds like "my turf, my rules," and just the name makes people feel they've gained a lot.
So many people like it. Since we like it so much, it must exist. If it doesn't exist, experts will come to tell you it must exist.
**-03-**
The idea that customers who have bought your product or joined your community become your controllable private domain is a delusion.
**Users never have an identity called "consumer"; "consumer" is a one-sided term we use for internal communication convenience.** They won't become your private domain just because they bought your product once or joined your community, for you to continuously harass.
Those who let you continuously harass them may not necessarily be valuable; some even want to take advantage of you.
And those who keep their distance and don't want to enter your "private domain" may not necessarily not be your customers, and might even be high-value customers.
They just bought your product; they don't necessarily want to have more relationship with you, unless you can provide enough compelling benefits.
If you try to force your way or use some self-righteous tricks, you're more likely to drive them away.
Users can be managed, but they cannot be "privated."
**Managing users and doing private domain traffic are completely different things**, even though they look so similar.
One is a radish, the other a ginseng; one is Feng Jing, the other Ma Liang.
**Managing users is user thinking, providing value to users, and taking the brand owner's stance.**
**The usual traffic thinking (so-called public domain traffic) takes the stance of transaction and information platforms, while private domain traffic takes the stance of social platforms.**
So those who tout private domain traffic to the skies ultimately tell you to do "WeChat official accounts," "communities," "mini-programs," and various other apps.
Many who do "private domain traffic" use the guise of "managing users," but both in name and practice, the two are completely opposite.
**In terms of naming, managing users puts users at the core and respects user values.**
Private domain traffic doesn't treat users as people at all, but as traffic, as leeks to be cut, leeks that they can cut but others can't. This is ignorance plus arrogance, full of offense to users.
If the name is not right, the words won't be smooth. It's hard to imagine a customer-value-oriented company calling its users "traffic."
**In terms of practice, managing users is user-led. High-level user management is driven by values, encouraging user participation, allowing them to gain a sense of value and even belonging through interaction. Examples include Harley-Davidson clubs and Xiaomi community.**
Private domain traffic, on the other hand, is promotion-led, with a pyramid scheme style, encouraging repeat purchases, sharing on Moments, and bringing in new people. Examples include many low-end WeChat businesses and the "Shanghai socialite group" that costs 500 yuan to join.
**-04-**
The concept of "private domain traffic" is so hot, but there has never been a case to show for it.
This is not as good as its sibling "live-streaming e-commerce," which, you see, can't even greet people without selling hundreds of millions.
They talk a good game, but their hands-on skills are disappointing.
Luckin Coffee once proposed a "traffic pool" concept, which seems similar to this "private domain." In the early years, advocates of private domain traffic liked to use "Luckin Coffee" as an example. Now that Luckin has had its scandal, everyone has flocked to "Perfect Diary."
Almost every promoter of private domain traffic is tirelessly recommending Perfect Diary, showing how revolutionary their private domain operations are and how great "Xiao Wanzi" is.
Is Perfect Diary really built on so-called private domain traffic?
Haven't they seen how much promotion they've invested in the "public domain"? From Juhuasuan to Xiaohongshu to live-streaming e-commerce, everywhere is bustling with activity.
Haven't they seen how many brand collaborations they've done, how many celebrities they've signed, how many event promotions they've run, and how much advertising money they've spent?
This doesn't even include the key parts we can't see: **product development, experience design, user insight, and channel driving systems. These are the key elements. If these are done well, the brand can thrive; if not, it will at most be a flash in the pan.**
The so-called "private domain traffic" part, including the highly praised "Xiao Wanzi," mainly plays a role in enhancing customer stickiness.
More importantly, Perfect Diary's official stance has never said they were "built on private domain traffic."
The various "Perfect Diary Private Domain Operation Manual," "Perfect Diary Private Domain Traffic Matrix," and "Perfect Diary High Conversion Techniques" online are all written by experts who advocate private domain traffic.
Coincidentally, Alibaba is also promoting Perfect Diary's success. But in stark contrast, Alibaba attributes Perfect Diary's success to:
**Using consumer data analysis on the platform to make data-driven decisions, thereby producing products that perfectly match consumers.**
Isn't this the "new manufacturing" that Ma Yun has always advocated?
It's still "the butt decides the head," and success cases are just little girls anyone can dress up.
On social platforms, it's "private domain traffic"; on transaction platforms, it's "new manufacturing."
In the end, apart from WeChat businesses, these hyped-up private domain traffic cases have no successful practice. They can only use companies like Perfect Diary, which do customer relationship management well, to fool people.
**-05-**
New technologies should be learned, but new concepts must be guarded against.
Technology is neutral; anyone can use it. But concepts have stances; learning concepts that don't align with your position only benefits others.
Ducks yearn for Quanjude thinking; leeks praise the sharpness of the sickle.
**Summary:**
1\. Abandon delusions and fantasies, otherwise you'll take many detours, and in severe cases, be directly crushed. Learn new technologies, but be wary of new concepts.
2\. The so-called private domain traffic is still a form of traffic thinking advocated by platforms. The stance is with the platform; the difference is that before it was the stance of transaction and information platforms, this time it's the stance of social platforms.
3\. The reason private domain traffic can confuse many people is that they have stolen the concept of "managing users." Apart from a few similar operational techniques, the two are fundamentally different in basic cognition, operational methods, and development direction.
4\. The user management techniques in private domain traffic do have some value and shouldn't be completely dismissed. But these techniques are only suitable for products with high customer attention and participation, and many products are not suitable. For example, if I sell ordinary soy sauce, asking me to invest marketing resources in "private domain" is nonsense.
5\. The methods in private domain traffic that tout low or even zero cost, such as content marketing and user participation, may seem low-cost at first glance, but if done well, the costs are alarmingly high, and results are hard to control.
6\. Managing users doesn't necessarily mean putting users in your own pool. Your product and brand are the best carriers for connecting with users; any sales channel and information channel are connection points with users. The world's best community is the "Apple fans" community, but that community is not operated by the company; it's spontaneously organized by Apple fans.
7\. The most critical point is to respect users and treat them as living people, not as traffic: users have no identity called "consumer," let alone an identity as your private domain traffic. To manage users, you need to enter their lives, let them experience, enter their minds, and let them feel.
8\. Communities, official accounts, and other so-called private domain operations can be used as auxiliary means for managing users, but first, they must be placed in the correct position, and you should learn more professional operations. You should also look at Kotler's methods for building "brand communities" and mastering "customer journeys."
Many concepts that people think are innovative and disruptive, as long as they have merit, will find that Kotler's "Marketing Management" system has already been waiting ahead. Moreover, in his classic system, we can find more essential understanding and more practical application methods.
So Uncle Benshan says, "Your uncle is always your uncle."
Source: Lao Miao Tears Marketing (ID: yiheyingxiao) Author: Xiangma Lao Miao


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