Wen/Zencan
Online live streaming is nothing new. 2016 is already the “first year of online live streaming”; online live streaming sales is nothing new either. 2019 is already the “first year of live streaming e-commerce”. However, this basically has nothing to do with the construction and ceramics industry, which has always been late to e-commerce.
It was not until 2020, under the impact of the new coronavirus pneumonia epidemic, faced with the severe situation that although work had resumed but still unable to operate normally, and the huge temptation of other industries to live broadcast beautiful sales data online, that a number of ceramic companies and dealers took the "leapfrog" approach. Entering the "first year of online live broadcast selling bricks" in the form of development". Suddenly, these ceramic companies and dealers received frequent good news and good news. On the one hand, they attracted countless ceramic companies and dealers to join the camp of selling bricks through online live streaming. On the other hand, it also triggered heated discussions among many people in the industry.
Regarding the online live broadcast of selling bricks, the saliva of industry insiders is enough to drown a cow. Brother Chan has expressed his views in his articles many times and did not want to say anything more. However, just now, Brother Chan received several online live broadcast messages about selling bricks from several people in the industry he knew or did not know on WeChat - the reason why I say "again" is because almost all of them have been selling bricks since the beginning of the new year. I receive similar messages from WeChat friends every day - and they are sent almost at the same time. Without exception, the content is asking Brother Chan to help him, or he just needs to open the link, or he wants to like, forward, or even... Pretend to sign up.
This situation is a bit serious. Some people who want to talk about the misunderstandings about online live broadcast selling bricks cannot hold back their thoughts and have to express them quickly.
■Misunderstanding 1: Blindly following the trend
We do what others do. If our bosses and leaders tell us to do it, we do it. The logic of many ceramic companies and dealers selling bricks through online live streaming is so simple and crude. Otherwise, you will miss a good opportunity, lose at the starting line, and lose face; and you will not consider whether the brand is sufficiently precipitated, whether dealer awareness and operations can keep up, and other actual conditions. This is how the current trend of selling bricks in online live broadcasts is, and this is also how the past products and marketing were done.
Not long ago, several heads of marketing departments from different ceramic companies said privately that they were not optimistic about online live broadcast brick sales at all. They frankly said,Due to the semi-finished products and low-attention attributes of ceramic tiles, selling bricks through live broadcasts must be more self-interest than actual results, and publicity is greater than sales; but the boss and leaders demand that it must be done, so they have no choice but to bite the bullet and follow the trend.
Brother Chan believes that there must be many people in the industry who hold this idea, but they only dare to complain in private or comment anonymously on other people's articles. When making public remarks, they can only smile and say "the effect is really good". kind of public relations rhetoric.
■Misunderstanding 2: Pursuing superficiality
Excessive pursuit of the beauty of superficial data is the underlying reason why Brother Chan received several online live broadcast information about selling bricks as soon as he went to work.
Why have ceramic companies and dealers who sell bricks through online live streaming achieved such excellent results? Is it because only those who have done well are willing to publicize it, while those who have done poorly have long been hiding? And behind the false prosperity of online live broadcast selling bricks, how much price has been paid, how much sadness and helplessness is hidden? Which traffic is obtained by paying third parties? Which traffic is obtained by forcing internal employees to perform tasks and asking relatives, friends and even ordinary WeChat friends for help with shame? How much traffic do industry professionals contribute? How much traffic does the consumer provide? Heaven knows and earth knows that you know and I don’t know.
Misunderstanding 3: Copying offline
I don’t know if you have noticed that the online live brick selling plans of many ceramic companies and dealers are not much different from the previous offline promotion activities. They are simply a copy of the latter: in the past, the hot products were as low as How much does one piece cost? It still is; it used to be that you get free/rebate/rebate when you buy more, and it still is now; it used to be that you drew red envelopes offline, but now it has become online red envelopes... Just move offline promotions online. However, there is no attractive content set according to the characteristics of online live broadcast.
Brother Chan thinks it is worth pondering how to innovate the plan and execution of such an online live broadcast of selling bricks, and how effective it is.
■Mistake 4: Ignoring the content
Limited by the semi-finished products and low attention attributes of ceramic tiles, the content is not only for ceramic enterprises and distributorsThe shortcomings of the merchant's previous marketing are also the shortcomings of its current online live broadcast selling bricks. If it weren’t for the temptation of low prices, red envelopes, gifts, and prizes, it is estimated that most consumers would have quit after less than three minutes on the boring online live broadcast selling bricks that lacked content. In terms of atmosphere, selling bricks online through live broadcasts is not as exciting as offline promotions: most offline promotions usually include singing and dancing, magic, imitation shows and other performances, and sometimes even invite some outdated celebrities, regardless of their level. At least it can be lively; but many online live broadcasts only have a few fixed people chatting around, which is not only embarrassing, but also awkward. Even if the offline promotions are moved over, there is a lot less screen space. Atmosphere.
Online live broadcast is a marketing method that requires long-term content support, and has high requirements for content planning and anchor level. Li Jiaqi was not made in a day, and the content of online live broadcast selling bricks cannot be achieved overnight. Only by truly in-depth understanding of the market and the real needs of potential audiences, and integrating marketing, sales, product development, design and application, dealers and other parties Only with the wisdom of personnel can we create good content. Otherwise, it will just be a rush to put it on the shelves and live broadcast for the sake of live broadcast. I believe many people will agree with Brother Chan’s point of view.
■Misunderstanding 5: Price war
During the online live broadcast of selling bricks during the epidemic, some ceramic companies and dealers are almost unscrupulous in order to achieve their so-called goals and pursue beautiful data. The most attractive means to consumers are nothing more than price cuts and gifts. However, it is difficult to copy these "memes" that have been played badly in previous offline promotions to online live broadcast rooms to have more room for development. The only way The solution is to lower the price, lower the price, and then lower the price again, such as "one dollar flash sale", "buy one, get N free" and so on. As a result, in order to compete for fans and customers, online live broadcasts of brick sales are surging, and price wars are about to break out. This makes consumers who are already too concerned about the price of ceramic tiles even more entangled in this, further reducing the status of ceramic tiles in their minds and lowering the price. It shows the value of ceramic tiles as the main decoration material and aesthetic object.
Over there, the price of raw materials has risen and the price of ceramic tiles has to rise. Here, they rely on falling prices again and again to attract attention and obtain beautiful data. I wonder if ceramic companies and dealers have thought about it when they sell bricks through live broadcasts online. at this point? Even if ceramic companies (manufacturers) can make money, how much can dealers make? How do consumers react to this?
One is goingA friend who asked Brother Chan to recommend ceramic tiles to him in December said that there is no need to rush to buy bricks during the epidemic. It is the merchants who should be anxious, not the consumers. But since so many ceramic companies are selling bricks live online, the price Each store was cheaper than the other, and each store had more discounts, so I just ignored it and participated in the activities of four ceramic tile brands at once. Anyway, the deposit for each store was less than 10 yuan, so I decided to see which one was cheaper. Where to buy. OMG! It’s really “So easy, I can buy it wherever it’s cheap, and my mother no longer has to worry about me being cheated when buying ceramic tiles”!
Of course, no one can deny that online sales have become a trend. Not all online live broadcast brick sales are watery. There are indeed some down-to-earth ceramic companies that have made certain achievements.
There is nothing wrong with ceramic enterprises and dealers actively embracing online live streaming to sell goods. What is wrong is that they do not consider the problem based on their own actual situation, and follow the herd in a hurry, thus blindly following the trend and pursuing the road of online live broadcast brick selling. The misunderstandings are superficial, copying offline, ignoring content, and engaging in price wars.
Brother Chan believes that instead of blindly following the trend and selling tiles through online live broadcasts that have glamorous data on the surface but are very painful on the inside, it is better to take a long-term and seriously think about how to solve the pain points of consumers and build solutions to solve the last mile of tile sales. A pattern of difficult problems; instead of investing a lot of manpower, material and financial resources to sell bricks through online live broadcasts that appear to be well-received but are actually criticized behind the scenes, it is better to do a good job in brand promotion in a down-to-earth manner, such as investing part of the manpower, material and financial resources until the end. I am reluctant to invest in the operation of self-media, especially Douyin.
Only by carrying out content marketing that is informative, creative and valuable to consumers can we establish a good brand image and strong brand influence in their hearts.
