Being an Internet celebrity and entrepreneur, one has their own traffic code. | Paying to Win · Major Events

Author | Wang Hanyu

Editor | Zheng Huaizhou

On December 23, Zhang Chaoyang posted a total of 64 updates on his account on Sohu Video. The day before, the 2024 Sohu Fashion Festival had just ended, and most of the posts Zhang Chaoyang shared were interviews from the event site or interactions with celebrity guests the previous day. During non-event promotion periods, Zhang Chaoyang usually updates around 30 - 40 posts a day.

According to 36Kr, Zhang Chaoyang's account on Sohu Video is not operated by employees on his behalf, and the dozens of updates a day are all posted by himself. He also mentioned in his profile that "All updates and interactions are done by myself, without an assistant."

Zhang Chaoyang has a clear attitude towards his identity as an internet celebrity. He has mentioned on multiple public occasions that being an internet celebrity is part of the entrepreneurial spirit. In the era of short videos and self-media, entrepreneurs must follow the trend.

In fact, in the past two years, in addition to the founders of companies like Sohu whose products have the inherent attribute of social media, many founders of technology and consumer companies have also become internet celebrities.

Earlier in response to the "Double Reduction" policy, Yu Minhong led a group of teachers from New Oriental to transform into live-streaming sales; then this year, Zhou Hongyi, who was still self-mocking as an "outdated older-generation entrepreneur" at the beginning of the year, successfully became popular again by updating several short videos a day and frequently trending on search engines; Similarly, Lei Jun, who has made a breakthrough in the new energy vehicle business this year, has now become a new "top streamer" with nearly 36 million fans on Douyin.

And for how to be a good internet celebrity and maintain a long-term popularity, each entrepreneur has their own traffic code.

Be Unpretentious, Unassuming, Authentic, and Natural

In a media interview in November this year, when Zhang Chaoyang was asked how to maintain his internet celebrity popularity for many years, he told 36Kr that one should be unpretentious, unassuming, remain interesting and authentic, and be able to bring real value to the audience.

Zhou Hongyi's personal profile on Sina Weibo is also "Be unpretentious, unassuming, and a bit silly."

Similarly, Lei Jun also appears in self-media with a similar image and is well-received for his friendly and simple characteristics. Even the teasing like "It is suggested to go solo" has become an internal joke among Xiaomi fans - to a certain extent, this has increased the number of comments and interactions on Lei Jun's account.

And upon further observation, many entrepreneurs have formed their own styles under this general standard. Although Lei Jun's short-video accounts on multiple platforms have not achieved daily updates, almost every video is a "delicately decorated" version. Only Lei Jun himself appears friendly, and the video content includes products, perspectives, camera movements, and jokes, naturally resulting in a not short production cycle.

Zhou Hongyi's video style is more primitive, mostly in the form of one person, one camera, selfies with the face close-up, following hot topics and outputting comments. But such a "rough style" has still received excellent traffic feedback thanks to Zhou Hongyi's sensitivity to hot topics. In the past year, for many topic events such as "The Black Myth: Wukong Game Goes Live", "WeChat Adds Function to Delete Friends Individually", Zhou Hongyi often followed up and commented on them in the first time.

In April this year, the "Car Sale Solicitation Order" he planned - replacing the Maybach with a domestic new energy vehicle - even fermented into a small-scale event for domestic car companies within one day. The next day, Zhou Hongyi specifically released a video, saying that his mood at that time "was like a mouse falling into a rice vat, not knowing which one to eat."

Unlike other entrepreneurs who are active and update daily on Douyin, Xiaohongshu and Sina Weibo, Zhang Chaoyang's main platform to be an internet celebrity is Sohu Video. But in addition to the starting point of promoting the company's business, he seems to enjoy it more.

Many years ago, for a series of actions such as climbing snow-capped mountains and running marathons, Zhang Chaoyang also bluntly said that it was to promote Sohu's business. For example, in 2003, to promote Sohu's SMS customer service number 6666, Zhang Chaoyang climbed to an altitude of 6666 meters on Mount Everest, but also said directly, "I won't climb one more step upwards."

In recent years, through his statements about starting a physics class, planning "Dialogue Under the Stars" and other activities, it seems that Zhang Chaoyang's path to being an internet celebrity is also driven by his interest, willingness to challenge, and the life philosophy of "Life is about tossing and turning."

As he mentioned many times in public when talking about physics classes, picking up physics research again is being responsible for himself and giving himself an account. Because of his interest, he has carefully studied the four fundamental forces of nature and quantum mechanics, etc. He will also continue to live-stream physics classes, maintain his style, and continue to explore and research.

In addition, when he challenged to swim across Weihai Bay in September this year, he also said that "People should keep tossing and turning while alive", and believes that this is the self-cultivation of an internet celebrity.

Personal IP Endorsement, The Boss Saves the Most Money

It is true that the conditions for combining the company's business with personal hobbies and the boss naturally becoming an internet celebrity are rare, but standing at the vent of short videos and live-streaming, many companies still tasted the sweetness of their boss' IP marketing.

In July this year, the Hurun Research Institute released the "2024 Hurun China New Force of Traffic Top 100 List", and Oriental Selection ranked in the TOP 10 of the new force of traffic. At this time, it has only been three years since New Oriental adjusted its business, entered the field of live-streaming sales, and returned to being a startup. Looking back at that time when the competition in live-streaming sales gradually entered the red ocean, Oriental Selection's ability to break through in a short period of time is also inseparable from the boost of Yu Minhong's personal IP popularity.

In December, "Xiaomi's Top Salesperson" Lei Jun also announced in a short video that the delivery volume of Xiaomi SU7 exceeded 20,000 units again in November this year. Since April this year, within 230 days, the number of Xiaomi SU7 vehicles delivered has exceeded 100,000 units, and it will aim to rush 130,000 units this year.

Not long ago, Zhou Hongyi also handed in a "sales achievement report": In October this year, the user visits of 360 AI Search reached 287 million, which is more than three times that of the globally renowned AI search engine Perplexity AI.

In the short video, he said that the traffic brought by his entrepreneur IP, in addition to being converted into familiarity and trust formed before meeting and negotiating with local governments and enterprises to help 360 reach many strategic cooperations in various places, the public's support for 360 AI Search, AI Office and other products also reflects the huge role of the IP.

Previously, Zhou Hongyi frankly stated on Sina Weibo: "I study the internet celebrity economy because the way users receive information has changed. Only by getting involved can I understand the situation and make better products. Many entrepreneurs have taken the first step. Lei Jun of Xiaomi and Yu Chengdong of Huawei are god-level internet celebrities. I want to learn from them, speak out for 360, and save advertising expenses for the company.

And at the 24th Annual Meeting of the Yabuli China Entrepreneurs Forum in February this year, Zhou Hongyi said, "Now it is the era of internet celebrities. I have now become Yu Minhong's apprentice and am learning how to be an internet celebrity, posting short videos diligently every day."

It is worth noting that Yu Minhong also became the rotating chairman of the Yabuli Forum this year and organized entrepreneurs to have a "big learning" on the internet celebrity economy after that.

Zhang Chaoyang also mentioned when attending this year's Sohu Finance Annual Forum, "Entrepreneurs personally going into live-streaming and building personal IP has become a trend. This is an excellent opportunity given to us in this era, to promote your products with the least cost, and being an internet celebrity is also part of the entrepreneurial spirit."

In addition, in the recent November Entrepreneur IP Douyin Influence Ranking released by Newrank Research Institute, Lei Jun continues to top the list. The statistics of this institution show that Lei Jun posted a total of 25 video contents in November, twice as many as the previous month, with a total of more than 14 million likes. The published works still focus on the publicity of Xiaomi cars and Xiaomi home ecological products.

Zhou Hongyi ranked second with high-frequency output. He posted a total of 66 videos in November, and the number of new fans reached 406,000. The growth of fans mainly comes from the short-video work "The 3 Turning Points for Making Money in the Future, Shared with Those Who Want to Start a Business or Find a Job", which received a total of 1.17 million likes.

Yu Donglai, who ranked third, rose 35 places compared to the previous month. The main reason is that Yu Donglai posted in the same month that "From next year, people getting married in Pangdonglai are not allowed to ask for or pay bride price. The wedding must be simple, and the banquet cannot exceed five tables. Otherwise, all benefits will be cancelled."

This report points out that entrepreneurs are telling products, stories, and viewpoints on social media platforms through their own ways, seeking more exposure for the enterprise from another perspective.

This may indicate that in the coming period of time, more entrepreneurs will still strive to build their personal IP, becoming the most cost-effective spokesperson for the company.

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