What do WeChat mini programs want?

Today, January 9, mini programs are officially released. Users can experience a variety of mini programs. Since writing "Stop Developing Apps" in mid-August, I have not observed mini programs and WeChat. Over time, through external observation and communication with some friends in the industry, I gradually deduced clearly what WeChat wants to use mini programs for, and what possible entrepreneurial scenarios we can see from mini programs. (Zhang Xiaolong’s definition of mini programs is summarized in one sentence: mini programs hope to activate offline weak connection scenarios in a ready-to-use way.)

1. Is the positioning of mini programs changing?

In the WeChat open class 1 year ago, Zhang Xiaolong proposed to create an application account. After 8 months of research and development, the mini program (application account) began internal testing. If you observe the changes in the APIs, background functions, etc. provided by WeChat mini programs from the internal beta to the present, you will find that it seems that the WeChat team has done more in the past 2 months than in the previous 8 months.

The WeChat team has more than 1,000 people, and there are at least twenty or thirty people involved in the mini program project. If this is a project of a startup company, obviously the one-year development cycle is too long. Moreover, the WeChat team has several years of experience in building public platforms. Such a platform, if purely developed, may be completed in one or two months.

What is the reason why the app number that was so anticipated by the outside world was released one year later?

My understanding is that the WeChat team is also deducing the positioning of the mini program. In the past year, especially the 8 months before the internal test, they may have overturned multiple versions.

1.1. Mini program to take over the service account

Although excellent service accounts such as China Merchants Bank, Day and Night Calendar, Assistant Laiye, and Yoli Spoken Language were born on the service account, it is undeniable that Yes, the service account ecosystem is far less prosperous than the subscription account.

We can easily find that companies such as Yiyiyi, Ergeng, and Xinshixiang have obtained generous financing by operating subscription accounts. There are also many peripheral services in the field of subscription accounts, such as WeMedia, which is Companies that provide subscription account services have been listed on the New Third Board; for example, Xinbang, this company has gathered a lot of subscription account data.

For the three subscription accounts mentioned earlier, they only made subscription accounts in the early days and received investment. However, you rarely hear of many companies that "only" made service accounts and then did well and received investment. invest.

Although we cannot judge whether a platform is prosperous enough based on the financing obtained by only a small part of its products, there is no doubt that the entire subscription account ecology has been exposed and the total amount of investment is larger than that of service accounts. several orders of magnitude.

If the subscription account is WeChat’s unintentional creation of a new entrepreneurial ecosystem, then the service account is obviously WeChat’s attempt to follow the route of the subscription account and connect things other than content to WeChat. Among these contents The other thing is service.


It is a pity that the development of service accounts is far less than that of subscription accounts. However, from a strategic level, WeChat hopes to connect everything. If the service account does not solve the problem of "WeChat connects everything" well, purpose, should there be new products to accomplish this mission?

I believe that this is one of the backgrounds for the birth of mini programs (application accounts). It will take over the service account and connect more services and scenarios.

1.2
Mini program that connects to new scenarios

Using the framework and API provided by the mini program, the program experience developed is better than HTML5, so internal testing started at the end of September At that time, there were many debates in the industry, including whether mini programs would replace HTML5 and whether they would replace apps. These discussions are out of context.

If App will be replaced, it will definitely not be replaced by mini programs, but by WeChat, because we can already find more than 90% of commonly used services in WeChat, and there is no need to download an app at all.

Not long ago, Zhang Xiaolong posted this photo on his circle of friends:


As you can see in the photo, in the Android system, small programs can be "pinned" directly to the desktop. Like an app. If you look carefully at this picture, you will find that most of them are products of medium and large companies, such as Qunar, Maoyan, Ctrip, HNA, etc.

If we agree that the photos shared by Zhang Xiaolong represent WeChat’s expectations for mini programs at that time, then the positioning of mini programs at that time was to replace the native app, allowing users to instantly obtain services in WeChat.

However, in the WeChat open class, he gave the following two examples of small programs:

At the bus stop, you can scan the QR code on the bus stop sign to understand The time when the next bus will arrive

At the bus station, you can buy a ticket by scanning the QR code at the bus station without queuing up.

If we agree, Zhang Xiaolong’s The speech represented WeChat’s expectations for mini programs at that time. So, at this time, the positioning of mini programs was actually to connect more offline scenes.

I believe that in the past year, both Zhang Xiaolong himself and the mini program team have been constantly thinking and deducing what needs the mini program should solve and what scenarios should be met. Judging from the latest information seen outside, it seems that mini programs hope to connect more offline.

1.3

Mini programs that both replace service accounts and connect new scenarios

In fact, from a functional perspective, it is reasonable for mini programs to replace some low-frequency apps and service accounts with poor experience. No matter from which perspective, it is It’s good for developers and it’s good for WeChat.

On the other hand, there are still many unconnected scenarios offline. WeChat hopes to use mini programs to connect these scenarios. Strategically, it is also logical.

The outside world’s expectations for mini programs are constantly changing, and WeChat’s positioning of mini programs is also constantly being deduced. Judging from the information seen externally, WeChat seems to be more inclined to connect offline.

Why?

2

Mini programs want to connect everything

In November 2014, Ma Huateng proposed at the "World Internet Conference" that Tencent should "connect everything" and become the Internet connection device.

There is no doubt that the important task of connecting everything falls on WeChat.

What is connecting everything?

Connecting people

Connecting people and services

Connecting people and business

Connecting people and things

Between people The first version of WeChat has been implemented to connect people. Currently, WeChat has more than 800 million daily active users. Almost every Chinese with a mobile phone has been connected to WeChat.

The connection between people and services is basically connected through service accounts and WeChat’s built-in services. The services mentioned here include content. We can complete reading, shopping, entertainment, etc. in WeChat.

The connection between people and business is based on services on one level and payment methods on the other. From this perspective, WeChat has also connected businesses.

However, the item is still not connected.

A table, a pen, an air conditioner, a bus, a dog... none of them are connected to people through WeChat.

The ambition of WeChat and Tencent is to connect everything, but there are still many items in the world that have not been electronicized. Failure to be electronic means that they cannot be connected.

what to do?

In the past few years, we have seen the emergence of many "smart devices". Many startups have forced chips into real-world items such as watches, air conditioners, bicycles, water cups, desk lamps, etc., and then communicated with them through mobile phone apps. These items create connections.

It seems that this is a good way to connect people and objects. However, it is impossible for us to put a chip in all real-world objects. So, how should these objects be connected?

One idea that is easy to think of is to use image recognition and AR technology to identify objects in the real world one by one through cameras, just like the following "sci-fi" picture:


However, if you have played the AR red envelope recently launched by Alipay, you will find that computers are far from being able to accurately identify objects in the physical world. Changing the angle and changing the light will cause recognition errors, and we cannot Take the time to let the machine scan all items 360°.

So, under the current technical conditions, what might be the "compromise" solution to connect people and objects?

QR code


Imagine a table, a pen, an air conditioner, a bus, a dog... there is a QR code on it. By scanning the code, we can access the corresponding services. For example, the QR code on the table tells you the place of origin of the table, the QR code on the bus tells you when the next bus will arrive so you don’t have to rush to get on, and the QR code on the dog records The memories between you and it...

It seems that through a simple black and white QR code, we can easily "pull" items from the real world into the electronic world. QR codes become a hyperlink between the real world and the electronic world.

You may ask, isn’t AR a better solution? The QR code is so ugly. However, as mentioned earlier, image recognition technology is not mature yet; wouldn’t using NFC chips be a better solution? Wouldn’t it be more convenient to attach an NFC chip to every item? Besides, the cost of NFC is so low. However, the cost of QR codes is lower, and not every mobile phone can recognize NFC, but probably every mobile phone in China has a program that can recognize QR codes - whether it is WeChat or Alipay.

So QR code has become the most likely "technical" means to connect people and objects under the current technical conditions. Behind the QR code, it can be information or services. WeChat hopes to use mini programs to carry these information and services.

From a certain perspective, mini programs are WeChat’s experimental field for trying to connect to the physical world through QR codes.

This can explain why the two examples Zhang Xiaolong gave are both offline scenes.

In fact, this bias can also be seen from the functional limitations of the mini program.

3

Artificial online traffic diversion restrictions

The WeChat applet cannot be shared to Moments, or even entered by long pressing the QR code. That is to say, even if If you put the QR code of the mini program on a web page or an article in a subscription account, users still cannot long press to open the mini program.

Users can only pass:

offline scan code

Search

用户 Share

to open the small program.

WeChat artificially limits the online diversion of mini programs. If you enter through active search, the volume will obviously not be particularly large. The speed of sharing among friends is also limited. It can be said that WeChat is forcing development Investors are trying offline diversion channels.

This is consistent with WeChat’s strategy of connecting to the real world through QR codes.

4
Why offline?

If the previous discussion is correct, then the emergence of small programs is not to solve the experience problem of HTML5. Yes, it improves the experience of web applications, but more importantly, it is To solve business problems.

In the past year, many of my friends in the entrepreneurial circle have lamented that five or six years ago, developing a purely online product might be able to support a company or even go public, but now, developing a purely online product , such as communities, such as tools, such as content, there is not much living space anymore.

The world of Apps has become saturated. We can almost find a variety of apps that meet different needs in the App Store. Each app is competing with each other for users’ time. The online competition is so fierce. A new website or app may only get 10 seconds of usage time from one user a year.

Faced with this situation, as an entrepreneur, how can we get more user time?

Imagine a scenario where your entrepreneurial project is a book, and your biggest expectation is that users will finish reading the book. However, while reading, the user may be reading WeChat, watching a variety show, or eating potato chips. A WeChat notification may cause the user to leave the reading state and "concentrate" on replying to WeChat. You of users’ time was “stolen” by WeChat.

So, if you have the power, you can lock the users in a small, airtight room, take away all the electronic devices and snacks around them, and only give them a book, which will last them a day or two. You can finish reading a book. In this small room, the user's time is yours.

Or, your book is attractive enough to continue to occupy users’ attention, and users may finish reading the book quickly.

Or, you can prove that after reading your book, users can immediately embark on the road to financial freedom, and users may also finish the book quickly.

In this picture, the book is your product, the small room is the scene, and the attraction is the exquisite service you provide.


Online, it has been difficult for us to put users into a "small room" and let them only read books, because users have too many choices when facing the screen.

But offline, the user's time can be monopolized by a certain offline scene, such as when waiting for the bus, monopolizing by the bus station, when eating, monopolizing by the restaurant, then, if the user's time is monopolized in these Provide the most suitable service for this scenario. Is it easier for users to leave WeChat and mobile games to use this service?

In other words, it is possible to share the user time it occupies with offline scenes.

As Zhang Xiaolong mentioned in his speech, if you go to a long-distance bus station and you happen to see a QR code that you can scan to buy a ticket, obviously in this scenario, you scan the code The possibility will be higher than online. In this way, it is equivalent to your time being exclusively occupied by the passenger terminal. This ticket purchase product, in this scenario, shares your time with the passenger terminal.

Is such a scenario-based promotion method easier to acquire users than placing an advertisement online? In fact, the cost of online promotion is extremely high, and many promotions often bring only one-time users. Many entrepreneurs are already thinking about how to acquire customers at a lower cost through offline scenario-based methods.

Mini programs mainly promote offline scenarios. In addition to serving Tencent’s purpose of “connecting everything”, they also cater to the trend of tapping offline traffic.

5
The mini program wants the shortest service path

WeChat tries to use the mini program to redefine the length of the service path.

In the past few months, the industry has been discussing WeChat’s definition of mini programs: ready to use and at your fingertips. This once made developers confused, because if WeChat expects the products I make to be ready-to-use, then why should I develop small programs? Shouldn’t products find ways to stick with users?

This kind of confusion is because many people focus on "just go". In fact, users of a good product will naturally come back to use it, and there is no need to use tricks to retain users. Just like Google, you won’t “use it and go” because it provides you with accurate search results and never use it again. On the contrary, , you will still open Google the next time you want to search. So the question becomes, how do we get users to judge that our product is a good product?

Users' time is precious. To make users like our products after using them for the first time, we obviously need to let users feel the core of the product in the shortest possible time and judge whether it is what they want, rather than:

Open the app and watch ads for a few seconds by default. Without judging the value of the article within a short period of time, he may stop reading.

So, if the product we make is indeed a good product, the question comes back to "ready-to-use". How to make users feel how good the product is right away?

The answer is - establish the shortest path.


If we agree that a product that helps users save time is a good product, then a service account is not a good product.

I obviously just want to buy a bus ticket. I need to scan the QR code to follow a ticket-buying service account. After following it, I need to spend time looking for the ticket-buying menu, and then I may need to register to complete the payment. Why can’t I scan the QR code and buy directly? Why should you pay attention first? Why can't I scan the QR code in Wuhan to select the ticket departing from Wuhan by default, and scan the QR code at Beijing South Railway Station to select Beijing South Railway Station by default?

The mini program does not have a follow function. What it expects is for users to receive services immediately after scanning the QR code. Just like the example given by Zhang Xiaolong in his speech, you can buy tickets immediately after scanning the QR code without paying attention or spending time. Find the purchase button, and even automatically log in with your WeChat account after scanning the QR code, saving even registration time.

In contrast, mini programs save users time more than service accounts and shorten the path for users to obtain services. The user is happy and happy during the whole process. When he needs service next time, he will naturally think of the "ready-to-use" product.

From this perspective, we can infer that the reason why WeChat gradually replaces service accounts with mini programs is because service accounts do not establish a faster service path for users than apps and do not save users time.

6
Scenario-based shortest path

It is a rogue way to shorten the path without leaving the scene. Let’s give a few examples.

6.1

Offline scenario

A small program can generate 10,000 QR codes with parameters. Users can enter the same small program through different QR codes. page.

Take the previous bus example as an example. Assume that in a certain city, a different QR code is posted on the stop sign of each bus at every bus station. Passengers waiting for the bus can scan the QR code of a certain bus to know the location and estimated time of the bus. Time of arrival.

If you use the service account, you can also generate a QR code with parameters, but the user still needs to click on the corresponding link to enter the bus page. If we use the app, in addition to downloading it, we also need to enter the bus number we want to find.

Obviously, the mini program shortens the path for users to obtain information in the scene of waiting for the bus. Users will like it more.

You may say, what is mentioned above, can’t it also be achieved using HTML5? Isn’t each link a different URL? Yes, but in this scenario, the experience of HTML is far less excellent than that of mini programs.

So, mini programs can shorten the service path in offline scenarios.

6.2
Community Scenario

In the article "Imagination of Mini Programs", I once said that WeChat mini programs are suitable for vertical social products.

You will find that no matter which product, whenever we establish contact with other people, we will almost always exchange WeChat IDs, and then continue chatting in WeChat, and rarely return to the original product.

Because our social relationships have been firmly held by WeChat. However, everyone has vertical social needs. For example, I like watching racing, so I want to communicate with other people who like watching racing; he likes traveling and wants to exchange experiences with other travel friends; A and B are both fans of Feng Dahui. I want to communicate with other Dahui fans...

In the past half year, you will find that Dahui often promotes his gossip reader group on the official account. Initially, this reader group was based on another app, and later , this app has a WeChat web version.

You can easily imagine that it is not easy to divert traffic from a public account to an app. Moreover, it is still diverting traffic to a non-essential vertical social circle.

The path is too long and users can easily lose.


Imagine that the Grapevine reader group, or the possible "Maybe Reader Group" is a WeChat applet, and users can use it directly in WeChat. Will the conversion rate be much higher?

If combined with the features of mini programs that can be pinned to the top of the conversation list, can be saved, and can be searched in depth, will the conversion rate and activity of this kind of vertical social networking be much higher?

So, mini programs can shorten the conversion path of social scenarios.

6.3
Collaboration scenario

is similar to the social scenario. In the past, we had to use tools other than WeChat to communicate or collaborate with colleagues on mobile phones, but with external Communication with partners must return to WeChat. Information cannot be exchanged well between the two tools. In this scenario, the communication path is lengthened.

Imagine that a company uses Alibaba’s DingTalk for internal communication, but still uses WeChat for external communication. Suppose (but it is unlikely) that Alibaba makes a WeChat applet version of DingTalk, and the company’s collaboration and communication can all be done on By using WeChat, both the information transmission path and the employee collaboration path have been greatly shortened.

You may ask, why is the path shortened when making a small program? Because the vast majority of Chinese users’ time is occupied by the “scene” of WeChat, users’ time can be shared with WeChat through mini programs.

So, mini programs can shorten the communication path in collaboration scenarios.

7
3 Stages of Mini Program Ecology

This article is actually quite divergent. If you have read this far, let us go back to the mini program itself.

Because I have written a lot of articles about mini programs, many people have asked me in the past few months what mini programs are suitable for and how they should be done. My understanding is this:

Mini Programs It is an ecology

This ecology hopes to connect more offline scenarios

The products that appear in the ecology will be divided into three stages

These three stages are:

7.1
Exploration and relocation stage

The first stage is mainly about the exploration of developers and the relocation of Internet companies. Developers will try out various gadgets on this platform to see what they can do. Internet companies will copy their existing businesses to mini program platforms, such as Meituan and Ctrip.

In this stage, various products surrounding the mini program ecosystem will appear, such as:

Outsourcing

Services for quickly assembling mini programs

Training ( For example, it may be the academy)

Data statistics (such as Aladdin)

Advertising alliance

Mini program store

At this stage, everyone is exploring.

As a digression, I think the mini program store does not mean much to users, because the acquisition of mini programs should be scenario-based, rather than through exploration in the store. Just imagine how long it has been since we have been in the App Store Explore new apps? But for developers, it is a good tool for researching competitors, and it is also good for providing data services to help advertisers make advertising decisions. The essence is that this is a to B product.

7.2
Tool Stage

Because most of the early adopters are Internet companies, most Internet companies have relatively weak offline capabilities. If you want to make in-depth experiments on WeChat scenarios, From a cost perspective, they will give priority to online scenarios based on WeChat.

Internet entrepreneurs have a very keen sense of smell. They will quickly find users’ needs that are not met in WeChat and can be met with mini programs. The community scenarios and collaboration scenarios mentioned above may be used in the third chapter. The second stage appears.

7.3
Scenario-based stage

With the early adopters of developers and the product relocation of Internet companies, mini programs have gradually become known. The real scenario-based mini programs will be at this stage. appear and be promoted to regular users.

This stage emphasizes sceneization and localization. Offline traffic may only be truly activated and truly connected at this stage.

8
Looking at trends through mini programs

The essence of mini programs is to provide the ability to provide services at your fingertips, and it is recommended that developers try to connect offline scenarios, on the one hand, for development On the other hand, it helps WeChat build a larger empire.

The purpose of this article is not so much to analyze what WeChat wants, but to look at the trend of entrepreneurship through WeChat mini programs, because what mini programs want is actually what entrepreneurs want.

The scenario-based shortest path in the previous example, if Alipay also makes a set of application accounts, I believe they will adopt the same idea.

To give these examples, including the analysis of why WeChat wants small programs to focus on offline first, I am not trying to say how smart WeChat is, but I want to extract some trends through the phenomena I have observed, such as online There is not much traffic space online, but there are still opportunities to connect offline. For example, it may be a product feature that users value more and more, which can help them save time. For example, scenario-based refined operations are more likely to succeed.

Even without mini programs, these conclusions still hold true in 2017, and even in the next few years, you should spend time thinking about and practicing when building products and starting a business.

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