In the first half of this year, the video number handed over a decent answer.
Looking back at the past two years, the changes in WeChat Channels can be described as earth-shaking.
From the opening of products of the same system such as Channels and Look, WeChat and Sou, to the launch of Channels native advertisements, from the internal testing of live streaming credits to the launch of the "Cold Start Incentive Plan for Live Streaming Influencers with Goods on Channels", the product functions, standardized policies and ecological environment of WeChat Channels are improving at a speed visible to the naked eye.
So what features have been updated by WeChat Channels in recent years? How is the WeChat Channels ecosystem developing? What factors have driven the rapid development of WeChat Channels? In the future, where will WeChat Channels develop?
Following the release of the "2021 WeChat Channels Mid-Year Development Report" in mid-2021, today, Xinbang Research Institute once again released the "2023 WeChat Channels Mid-year Development Report", with continuous data monitoring and industry observation, the report will analyze the new changes of Channels from the perspectives of product functions, content ecology, commercialization, etc., gain insight into future development trends, and provide reference for practitioners.
The full report will be collected in the background of the official account "New List" and reply to the keyword "2023 video number".
WeChat Channels products ushered in new changes
1. WeChat Channels product update is accelerated
The product features of WeChat Channels are increasing at a rate visible to the naked eye. According to incomplete statistics from the New List Research Institute, as of August 2023, WeChat Channels has updated functions and issued 60 policies in 2023.
From the perspective of WeChat Channels update function, it mainly presents the following characteristics:
● Accelerated feature updates. By August 2023, WeChat Channels had updated 60 product features, compared to 49 in 2022. The number and frequency of WeChat Channels updates have increased significantly.
● In-depth ecological integration. The deep integration of WeChat Channels product functions and WeChat ecology, from the opening of WeChat Channels and enterprise micro to the support of inserting product cards of Channels stores in official account articles, the chimerism between WeChat Channels and WeChat ecology continues to improve.
● Tilt to the commercial side. From the perspective of update functions, commercialization-related functions are the focus of the update, including the creation and sharing plan of Channels account, short video promotion live broadcast room, Channels bidding ads and other functions have been launched successively, paving the way for the commercialization of creators, merchants, and brands.
● Perfect ecological governance. Since 2023, WeChat Channels has become increasingly active in ecological governance. A number of terms and regulations, including the Implementation Rules for Channels Showcase [Improper Marketing], the Rules for Access and Withdrawal of Preferred Alliances, and the Rules for the Management of WeChat Channels Service Providers, have been added or revised one after another, and the boundaries of ecological operations have become increasingly clear.
2. WeChat Channels has enhanced its ecological operation initiative
In addition to product updates, we also found that WeChat Channels has changed the "no desire, no want" in the era of public accounts in terms of event planning and operation support, and has increased its actions and significantly improved its overall operational initiative. From the C end to the B side, ecological operations have become more proactive. Including the "Intangible Cultural Heritage" series of live broadcasts for C-end users, WeChat Green Seedling Program, etc.; The chaos rectification and incentive plan on the B side was launched. The overall operation of WeChat Channels has become more proactive.
3. The value of WeChat Channels content has been upgraded, and more high-quality content has begun to break the circle
The increasing frequency of operations is also promoting the upgrade of the content ecology of Channels and generating more high-quality content. From Channels concerts, Spring Festival Gala to high-quality original content emerges on Channels.
The WeChat Channels ecosystem has ushered in new changes
1. The scale of creators continues to grow, and Channels is becoming a betting position for top creators
WeChat Channels has also seen significant growth in the scale of creators. According to Xinshi Data, a Channels data tool under the new list, the scale of WeChat Channels head creators has also increased by more than 20% year-on-year, and the content ecology of WeChat Channels is thriving.
At the same time, the improvement of the ecological environment of WeChat Channels has also led to the improvement of the willingness of more head creators to create. The number of monthly works of WeChat Channels head creators increased by nearly 90% year-on-year, and more creators are optimistic about the WeChat Channels ecology and are willing to bet on the WeChat Channels platform.
At the same time, the quality content produced by creators has also led to an increase in user interaction.
2. Local media participate in the construction of communication positions and broaden the breadth of content
We have noticed that a considerable number of WeChat Channels 500 influential creators are corporate/institution-verified accounts. Among them, there are mostly people's livelihood accounts represented by local and regional media. According to the statistics of New Vision, the average monthly number of posts of people's livelihood accounts is 30% higher than the average of the top 500. The productivity advantages of media will help expand the content boundaries of WeChat Channels and effectively improve the content richness of WeChat Channels.
3. Young people are pouring into Channels, and subdivided categories are beginning to emerge on WeChat Channels
With the launch of concerts and entertainment live broadcasts on WeChat Channels and the release of high-quality content, WeChat Channels is becoming increasingly attractive to young users. Taking the game and animation category that young people pay more attention to as an example, in July 2023, the average number of content recommendations increased by 23.5% year-on-year, which was higher than the overall average increase.
While more young people are pouring into Channels, they are also substituting their hobbies into the Channels ecology, which provides a user base for the development of niche and subdivided vertical categories, and deepens the category of WeChat Channels.
4. With increasingly rich content forms, PGC/UGC+ original IP builds a high-quality content pool
At the same time, from UGC to PGC, from user content sharing to pendant product content output, to the emergence of brand professional content and original IP columns, more professional and interesting content began to emerge in WeChat Channels. Such as: @易车 "Easy Car Horizontal Review-Real 100,000 km Long Test"; @意公子 "Rereading Chinese Textbooks" series IP, etc.
5. Corporate/institutional accounts participate in ecological construction, and WeChat Channels is becoming a new front for enterprise communication
Among the participants in the WeChat Channels content ecosystem, there are many enterprise/institution verified accounts. From the perspective of the champions of various lists in July, many enterprises/institutions verified accounts, including @NetEase Music Channel, @QQ Music, and @易车, were on the list and ranked TOP 1 in category influence. For example, the main account of Easy Car Matrix @Easy Car not only ranked first, but also ranked first for a long time in the past two years, and has a certain influence advantage over the second place.
6. The ecological pattern of WeChat Channels has not yet stabilized, and there are no permanent strong
However, at the same time, according to the ranking of the list, the overall creator pattern of WeChat Channels has not yet stabilized, and the account liquidity is large, and only the small half of the categories have won the championship for two consecutive months. The overall ecological environment of WeChat Channels is not yet stable, and there are still opportunities for development when entering the market.
The future of WeChat Channels has arrived
In recent years, we can see that the ecological infrastructure of WeChat Channels has been gradually improved, commercialization actions have gradually accelerated, and the difficulty of commercial monetization is decreasing. At the same time, Tencent and WeChat Channels have successively released positive signals, whether it is from development confidence, infrastructure and online operation investment are increasing.
But just recently, WeChat Channels issued an announcement that it would suspend the delivery of goods in the tourism and leisure category. In the future, the access system may be implemented like health care products, and this is not the first time that WeChat Channels has made category restrictions. This represents that the policy of WeChat Channels is tightening and the operational boundaries are tightening. At the same time, the number of players following Channels is also increasing, and the "blue ocean" advantage is slowly fading.
The best time to enter the video number was three years ago, followed by now.
*The full report will be collected in the background of the official account "New List", reply to the keyword "2023 video number".