In the past, brands could succeed simply by advertising and distributing products, so even if they were far from consumers, they could achieve sales of hundreds of millions, billions, or even tens of billions. But now, advertising marketing has entered a period of stock, and the era of spending money to buy traffic is a thing of the past. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, the growth rate of total retail sales of consumer goods from 2019 to 2021 was only 3.9%, significantly lower than the 6.8% annual growth rate of the previous three years (2016-2018); offline retail growth almost stagnated, with a growth rate of only 1% from 2019 to 2021. This also means that the marketing world is now more brutal, and brands must learn to ask existing users for value, and through refined operations, precipitate and mine this gold mine to achieve growth. Currently in the FMCG industry, many categories with high average order value and high-frequency repurchase attributes are actively deploying refined customer operations, such as maternal and infant milk powder, pet food, health products, etc., which are already at the forefront of refined user operations and have achieved very good results. In a recent new product marketing campaign, Yili had celebrity endorsers record voice messages, then used intelligent outbound calls to deliver the messages to consumers, selling 60,000 bottles of the new product on the same day, with an ROI above 4.0. This was unimaginable in the past. With existing customers, efficient contact methods, and tailored content output... With intelligent outbound calls, brands can instantly connect with massive numbers of users, making full-channel, refined user operations completely possible. Of course, this is just the beginning. We found a senior industry practitioner, Zhang Xiaopei from JD YANXI, who was also one of the operators of the above Yili case. He told New Distribution that many FMCG brands have already begun using intelligent outbound calls for member activation and private domain fan acquisition, and the results are very good in terms of both GMV conversion and ROI. But many brands are still in a wait-and-see attitude, mainly due to their lack of understanding of AI outbound calls. 01

Behind the 1600 Yuan Customer Acquisition Cost,

How to Solve the Customer Acquisition Challenge?

Some leading beauty brands currently have a customer acquisition cost as high as about 1600 yuan per person. Astonishing! According to market research data, in 2019, the cost of customer acquisition on the Chinese internet was 486.7 yuan per person, compared to only 37.2 yuan in 2010, an increase of nearly 10 times in 10 years. In an era of high traffic prices, how can brands solve the customer acquisition challenge at low cost? First, activate existing users. Brands have accumulated a large number of members through various channels, but lack effective operational methods. In the past, brands mostly used SMS for batch contact, but the results were poor. Zhang Xiaopei gave us a set of data for reference: SMS contact has a conversion rate of only about 4‰, while AI outbound calls have incomparable advantages in cost and efficiency. According to him, the conversion rate of intelligent outbound calls can now reach 10-20%, or even higher. A customer service representative can make at most a few hundred calls per day, while intelligent outbound calls can easily make 10,000 calls. During this year's 618 promotion, JD YANXI's intelligent outbound calls helped a brand sort out marketing strategies and inquiry scripts, achieving a connection rate of 55% and an ROI of 30. Through intelligent outbound call services, their store browsing rate increased by 40%, and store conversion rate increased by 169%. Second, build brand private domain. The excellent case brands we see in FMCG private domains today, such as Liangpin Shop and Lin Qingxuan, have actively deployed private domains by integrating online and offline channels, achieving growth far exceeding their peers during the pandemic. For FMCG products, what is the value of private domain? Increase channel touchpoints, improve repurchase, increase sales; achieve precise communication with consumers, improve marketing investment efficiency, and feed back into brand building. Zhang Xiaopei believes that the core of building a brand private domain and conducting user operations is actually to create value for users, so it is crucial that the outbound call benefit points highly match the users. The above Yili case is also a practical case of JD YANXI. In cooperation with the largest dairy brand Yili, YANXI conducted preliminary research and finally chose the voice and signed photos of its contracted artist as the benefit point. The celebrity IP effect ignited the fan community, with a fan conversion rate as high as 25%, and fans shared and re-fissioned, finally achieving a group joining rate as high as 113%. Third, establish a multi-scenario, full-channel marketing strategy. The importance of good user operations is self-evident, but the question is how to actively activate members for repurchase conversion? How to identify precise users to complete private domain fan acquisition? According to Zhang Xiaopei, AI outbound calls have very rich applications in consumer communication, which can be roughly divided into the following scenarios. First, online marketing. Through the brand's first-party data and JD store private domain, AI outbound calls combined with strong discount promotions are used for first-order activation, old customer repurchase, and lost customer recall. This is also a rigid need for many brands! Second, offline to store. Through AI outbound calls, coupons are effectively distributed to attract users to the counter to receive gifts and redeem points, driving offline traffic and promoting sales growth. Third, private domain fan acquisition. For users who have recently consumed, design an attractive benefit point as a hook, and through outbound calls, guide them to the brand's enterprise WeChat, allowing the brand to continue operations later and increase the LTV of individual users. Fourth, service care. Choosing the right time to communicate with users is more likely to form conversions. This timing not only brings the value of product discounts to users, but also brings emotional value. Birthday greetings are an important scenario for AI outbound calls, providing personalized services for member operations. Repurchase conversion, lost customer recall, store visit invitations, interactive communication, and guiding to private domain for deep operations, AI outbound calls are a powerful tool to help brands take the initiative and do a good job in user lifecycle operation management. 02

How to Choose the Right Intelligent Outbound Call Service for Yourself?

Currently, providers of intelligent outbound call services on the market include traditional internet giants and vertical service providers. Although they are all intelligent outbound calls, there are significant differences in service. Zhang Xiaopei frankly said, To truly leverage the role of AI outbound calls, it is necessary to use voice technology to continuously optimize the tone and timbre of communication, and also design scripts and benefit points based on specific scenarios, segment and select target groups, and continuously adjust based on data feedback. Technology is the foundation, but it must be combined with operations. Simply providing a set of tools is unlikely to achieve ideal results. In this regard, JD YANXI has unique advantages. After years of accumulation in the retail industry, JD can provide brands with the safest and most reliable services in terms of data, algorithms, and data security. Most critically, JD has rich retail experience and deep insights into brand needs. Therefore, JD YANXI provides not just a set of tools, but also value-added services such as operational accompaniment based on understanding of scenarios and categories, going deep into the industry to serve brands. Currently, JD YANXI's intelligent outbound calls have served more than 300 leading brand manufacturers. FMCG brands mainly include maternal and infant milk powder, pet food, beauty, and health products. Now, some leading beverage and liquor companies have also begun to adopt JD YANXI's AI outbound call services. The rise of private domains reflects the importance brands place on user operations, and the essence is the brand's desire to tap into user value. Zhang Xiaopei said that the application of AI outbound calls is still in its early stages, and brands' understanding of AI outbound call applications still needs a development process. Whether it is repurchase in online stores, traffic guidance in offline terminals, or fan acquisition in private domains, the value of AI outbound calls in helping brands do good user operations will, we believe, be recognized by more and more brands. 03

Summary

In the stock era, brands need to do not only full-channel distribution, but also full-channel operations. The core of full-channel operations is user operations. In the digital era, to do good user operations, brands must rely on digital tools like AI outbound calls. It is precisely because of digital tools that FMCG brands have the possibility and confidence to do user operations with massive numbers of users. This journey has just begun. In the future, brands that fail to do good user operations will find it difficult to survive in competition.