The survival rule of mobile internet platform

The key to the realization of the business model of mobile Internet platform is to realize the long-term, high loyalty and large-scale adhesion of the users, and turn this kind of adhesion into the traffic of scale, on the basis of which all kinds of business models can be established. In other words, the platform only to the user's firm lock, in order to build a follow-up business model, which is related to the platform for survival and development of the foundation.

Rule one: No scale, no talk

From an economic point of view, only a sufficient number of users, the mobile Internet application of economies of scale can be reflected, the marginal cost can be reduced. From the platform business model point of view, the platform needs to achieve user-scale positive feedback development, that is, users use more than enough time, will continue to attract more people to join. For example, when a large number of people use a search engine such as Google or Baidu, it will attract more and more users to use the search engine as a standard. Another example is the browser, when enough users use a certain browser, through Word-of-mouth can attract more users to use the browser. Therefore, no matter what kind of business and application a mobile internet platform merchant launches, it must have the basic features that can be spread, spread and easily chosen by more users.

Rule two: let users build "systematic dependencies"

It should be noted that the scale effect is often a result, from the user's microscopic use behavior, the scale effect relies on the user long-term, maintain the high frequency of the application of mobile Internet. Only one user deep immersion into a mobile internet application, he would be interested in exploring the fun that the app would bring to him in order to get the business back through the app with either advertising, e-commerce, or digital consumption, That is, the mobile internet manufacturers can bring the corresponding commercial returns.

Why do we emphasize system adhesion? As you can see, a single mobile internet application often has its own lifecycle. A truly able to cling to the platform of customers business model, need to integrate relevant business, application or resources, forming the overall adherence to customers, and constantly improve the user's transfer barriers. The subtext here is that if a user refuses to use this mobile internet application one day, he is not only abandoning the mobile Internet app, he will actually lose a lot of the resources around the mobile Internet, which will greatly increase the user's transfer barriers. System adhesion is to through the enrichment of their own system, and constantly increase the user's conversion costs, making it difficult to transfer users.

The most typical example of system adhesion is Microsoft. From the DOS era to the Windows age, why is it that a large number of users around the world remain loyal to Microsoft's operating system? This is because, not only users to continue to use this operating system, in fact there are many alternative operating systems. But the problem is that Microsoft, through its own platform strategy, is constantly refining its architecture, making it more than just an operating system for a user, but a large number of applications based on the operating system, including document processing, gaming, networking, communications, and so on. And in a variety of applications, the user gradually developed their own consumption habits, when this habit once cured, means that users choose a new operating system operation cost is actually very high. Not only does it mean that he has to adapt to the new operating system, but more importantly, he needs to adapt to other applications that are associated with the operating system.

Rule three: Set up a firewall or value added point from the core

A prominent feature of the mobile internet era is that there is no clear division of business areas, the phenomenon of mutual involvement and competition is everywhere. A mobile Internet application, in fact, competes not only with similar products, but also with a large number of adjacent alternative applications in terms of customer needs. If the user's behavior is replaced by another alternative platform, this means that the user will discard the existing mobile Internet application and turn to it. For example, mail is not only competing with other messaging platforms, but in fact competing with instant messaging, microblogging, and SNS, as the following applications can also meet the need for online communication between people. A game is the same, in fact, the game's competitors not only include the same category of games, but also include other types of games. In this sense, a role-playing game is in fact competing with other chess games and social games.

This engagement, competing characteristics, to almost all mobile internet platform merchants put forward the request, that is, if you want to firmly lock customers, not only to do their own core business and application, more importantly, around the user's related behavior, rapid conduct share of the cutting and value development, To form the protection of their core applications, and even explore their future major business direction.

For example, developers of almost all browser platforms are sparing no effort to actively explore the combination of applications such as electrical quotient and community. Because they realize that in the mobile internet age they will no longer compete simply with other browser vendors, but with other portals that users can choose from. Even a giant like Baidu and Google has spared no effort to search engine-centric, and has developed a number of other social, gaming, lbs and community applications. In fact, it is also recognized that other Internet business models may have a subversive alternative to their own role.