40% Growth: Novels Boost Engagement by "Riding" Short Dramas

DataEye Research Institute found that from mid-August to mid-September, the overall market saw a 40% increase in investment in materials. Over the past 30 days, the intensity of novel promotion has tended to stabilize, with an average daily investment of about 150,000 sets.

Looking specifically at the materials, content homogenization and uniformity are the two major pain points in the novel industry's investment. However, recently, it seems that the key to breaking the deadlock has been found. DataEye Research Institute tries to start from data and materials, hoping to provide some references for everyone.

1. Novel investment flow, short dramas, small animations, and film and television slices have become the three major mainstreams

The ADX industry version shows that in the top 50 high-exposure materials of novel investment flow in the past 30 days, short drama materials account for 32%, small animations account for 30%, and film and television slices account for 24%, becoming the three major mainstreams. Real person explanations and decompression videos account for 8% and 6% respectively.

Looking specifically:

Short drama materials mainly excerpt exciting segments from TV series, using plots to create suspense or resonance, thereby attracting users to complete jumps and conversions.

CG animation materials are adapted from novel content, condensing its outline or exciting segments into animations, which are not short of ghostly segments. This type of material is mainly invested in talent advertisements and is mostly a series of episodes.

Film and television slices mainly excerpt segments from film and television series, accompanied by explanations, and finally connected to the excerpted content of the novel, using text playback, with subtitles rolling at a slower speed.

In terms of material copywriting, it is more "nonsense" and "full of imagination". The ADX industry version shows that the top copywriting of novel investment flow materials in the past 30 days is as follows:

The old ancestor of bitter practice competes with the young man, and after three moves, the old ancestor bows down: Master, is it you? The six realms are shocked.The transaction between the CEO and his ex-wife begins with each taking what they need, with no debts owed! In the end, he regrets it!

If I were to build a star destroyer, how many credits would the school give me?

I violated the rules before, changed the content, and am reposting once. If I accidentally shot down a satellite of the beautiful country, would I be locked up?

II. Novels, short plays, and short videos are merging, competing for viewership.

The short video industry covers more than 1 billion users, with a netizen coverage rate close to 95%, and the market size continues to grow.

Novels can serve as a source of content for short plays and short videos, while short plays and short videos may attract more viewers and promote the spread of novels. The cooperation between long and short video platforms is also becoming more closely knit, which helps to further promote this integration. The three are also competing and vying for viewership in the process of integration.

On the product level: some novel platforms also have short play content, or simply transform into short play/short video platforms. For example, Tomato Free Novels, Egg Flower Free Novels.

Tomato Free Novels has placed 67,000 sets of materials in the past 30 days, with the top 10 exposures all being short play materials, but the copy also includes "short story," "novel," "reading," "book famine," and other keywords related to novel products.

On the one hand, short plays can convey story emotions in a shorter time, attracting the attention of young users. Therefore, novel platforms seize this opportunity to increase short play content to enhance user stickiness and increase the frequency of platform use.

On the other hand, introducing short play content into novel platforms can achieve diversification of resources and enrichment of the ecosystem. After reading a novel, users may hope to see the corresponding short play adaptation, forming a "reading + watching" closed-loop consumption model. This model not only enhances the user experience but also provides authors with more creative dimensions.In terms of materials, the creative ideas for novel traffic materials fully embrace AI (especially AI animation), which are cost-effective and have a short cycle, becoming a major increase in the novel track. For example, Tomato Free Novels, Starry Points, and a large number of Douyin novel mini-programs.

Taking a certain Douyin novel mini-program as an example, it has launched 3,663 sets of materials in the past 30 days, with 70% of the top 10 conversions being animated materials, with a duration of about 3 minutes.

Using AI technology, novel platforms can produce and update materials in a very short time.

Whether it is promoting new books, marketing activities, or content to increase user participation, AI animation can quickly respond to market demands. The ability to iterate quickly allows the platform to adjust strategies more flexibly and adapt to constantly changing user preferences.

III. The diversification of novel materials may give birth to "new" opportunities for volume growth.

From 2015 to 2018, the number of online novel users increased from 260 million to 430 million, with a compound annual growth rate of 18.3%. By 2019, with the emergence of multiple free reading platforms, a large number of users in the sinking market were attracted, further expanding the industry's user base. As of 2022, the industry's user scale has reached 490 million, and the industry has entered a stable development stage.

The DataEye Research Institute believes that in addition to attracting new users, the retention of existing users in the novel industry is also equally important.

Therefore, the diversification of novel traffic materials has become an important trend. This phenomenon not only enriches the expression of novels but also provides readers with a more diverse reading experience.

In terms of materials, some bold attempts can be made: ① Combination of AI and novel content: In addition to AI-generated animations, we have found that many novel platforms have tried to use AI real-person picture materials for launch, but most of the effects are not very good. The DataEye Research Institute speculates that simply using pictures as materials, users cannot obtain emotional value from the pictures, especially when the emotional expression of the characters in the materials is not strong, adding some novel content elements and integrating with them may have a better effect.

② Diversified materials promote cross-industry cooperation: For example, novels can be combined with other art forms such as music and games to create a rich narrative experience. Through short videos and dramas, novels are not limited to text but develop towards multimedia, and this cross-industry integration will make the dissemination of novels more extensive.③ Montage videos as test materials: Generally speaking, real-life drama materials have high shooting costs, long production cycles, and high innovation difficulty. In contrast, montage videos are produced efficiently, cost-effectively, and with relatively low production difficulty. Therefore, when we start testing, we can prioritize montage materials. The main points of montage videos are: video footage, download guidance, BGM, and copywriting.

Typically, within the first 3 seconds of the video, we can use dramatic or impactful shots, combined with a strong rhythm of popular BGM, to instantly capture the user's attention and stimulate their interest in reading. Then, by调动 the user's emotions through subsequent copywriting and accompanying action guidance components, we can enhance the conversion effect.