Private domain traffic: How to build a WeChat private domain closed loop?

“In 2019, the national population reached 1.4 billion, and WeChat’s daily active users exceeded 1 billion. WeChat is no longer just a social tool for acquaintances; WeChat is no longer just a traffic tool for others; WeChat connects you, me, him, and business.

Perhaps, you are still missing the days when WeChat only had the shake function. During those years, it gave us countless fantasies and happiness. In 2019, WeChat is no longer just your friend. WeChat hopes to make money from others together with you. ”

WeChat official account-centered content ecosystem

1. The development and evolution of public accounts

A media industry practitioner once said: "1995-2005 was the era when traditional media flourished; 2005-2015 was the era when traditional media and Internet media (including PC and APP) coexisted and prospered together; 2015-2025 was the golden age of new graphic and text media represented by public accounts and new film and television media represented by short videos." In fact, in the four years since the emergence of WeChat public accounts, a new media era has also been witnessed. After 4 years, the original intention has not changed, but there are many more "routines".

Nowadays, WeChat public accounts have added many "weapons". Both the text content and the short video verified the mediator's remarks. After all, WeChat will not be content to be the last one to try something new.

2. How to build three ecosystems for official accounts?

The three common ecosystems of WeChat public accounts are: "traffic, content and products". The three are independent of each other, yet closely connected.

1) Official Account Content Ecosystem

WeChat public accounts create content, which is the earliest ecosystem of WeChat and also the earliest wave of dividends. In 2014, in order to cater to the new media wave, WeChat enabled the "authentication" function for individual users. However, this benefit was no longer available in October 2014. During that period, all public accounts competed on original content and who could resonate with users. At its peak, Mimi Meng and a public account with a sky-high price of 300 million yuan appeared.

In 2019, you may feel that it is a bit outdated to mention the content of WeChat public accounts again. I have to admit that it is indeed difficult to run a WeChat public account relying solely on content. WeChat public accounts are subscription-based, and content reaches users through simple notifications. According to the author’s previous articles, about 20% of people read the articles through public account messages, while the average click-through rate of all public accounts is far lower than this value.

In addition, there are too many WeChat public accounts, the content is highly homogenized, and there are a large number of plagiarism and illegal reprints. In addition, it is difficult to commercialize the content of WeChat public accounts nowadays, and they basically rely on recommending courses or inserting advertisements in articles to generate monetization.

Based on the above, let’s talk about the benefits of creating WeChat public account content in 2019.

• Knowledge accumulation: insist on output, continuous iteration, knowledge accumulation, the official account is the best personal notebook.
• Personal business card: WeChat public account is a good window that allows others to get to know you and can also serve as a "light" at critical moments.
• Personal influence: Continuous knowledge output can continuously accumulate personal influence and sense of accomplishment. Take the author as an example. By writing articles, he has gained recognition from many friends.

If you plan to start from scratch and create WeChat official account content, here are a few suggestions:

• Clear positioning: Any content platform hopes that you are an expert in a certain field. Official accounts are no exception. Before you start creating content, you must choose a good direction. It is recommended to start with your interests or career. In addition, comprehensive positioning should also be carried out based on the composition of WeChat friends. After all, early readers all come from your “circle of friends”.
• Brand building: Brand is IP, and the brand design for the official account includes the official account logo, introduction, welcome message and keyword replies, etc. A good IP is easy to remember and associate with, and users can recognize you when they see this IP. If your personal characteristics are obvious, you can use your own name as your IP. For example: Tencent is accustomed to using English names, while Alibaba often uses nicknames. In addition, you can also consider carefully designing an IP.
• Plan content lines: Plan 1-3 content lines based on the positioning of the official account. For example, the "Product Matangdui" public account has two main lines. One is an in-depth interpretation of Internet topics, including the two latest series ( private domain traffic and business products). Another line is product talk, which mainly talks about product skills and solving problems with product thinking. At the same time, when creating content for public accounts, you must continuously iterate. Taking the author as an example, after an article is written, it will be read N times at different times. While adjusting the article, you can also check for typos. If you are like me and run a purely knowledge-based public account, I recommend focusing on in-depth content.
• Standardized typesetting: The typesetting of public account content is like putting on a nice piece of clothing. Good-looking layout not only makes it easier for readers to read, but also increases the reading rate of the article. After all, accessibility is the best measure of the quality of content.
• Traffic generation and retention: To generate traffic for public accounts, you can consider using Moments, communities, other public accounts, and off-site traffic. Retention is mainly centered on content, assisted by interactive activities. Taking the author as an example, the current reading volume mainly comes from Moments and Kanyikan, and a small part comes from reposts from other public accounts and WeChat searches. Off-site traffic mainly comes from Renrenshishipinmiaoguan and PMcaff. Retention is mainly based on social networking, supplemented by free materials.
• Commercialization: If your purpose is not to improve yourself, you must consider commercialization in advance. For example, food, beauty products, etc., all have good sales capabilities. For pure knowledge output, you can consider creating a paid knowledge community, such as Knowledge Planet.
• Adjust your mindset: When creating WeChat public account content from scratch, do not make profit the only purpose. The key is to keep outputting and stay hungry.

2) Traffic ecology

The so-called traffic ecology is to build your own traffic pool based on the official account. At its core, it is still platform thinking. In addition to the original content mentioned above, most traffic aggregation platforms mainly reprint original content. For example, 36Kr, Internet Thinking, etc. If you build your own traffic system, it is recommended that you repost content related to your positioning after clarifying the positioning of the official account. WeChat official accounts currently only support two ways of reprinting. The whitelist is the best way to reprint content, but it requires authorization from the original official account. Another way is to reprint on the sharing page. You can directly reprint articles from any public account, but in essence you are just directing traffic to the original public account. Please note that you should not illegally reprint or plagiarize.

Regarding commercialization, purely traffic-based public accounts generally have offline businesses or communities as support. If you want to build your own commercial model, you can become an advertiser or sell traffic to other public accounts.

3) Product Ecosystem

The product ecology is dependent on the content ecology and traffic ecology. Virtual products, such as courses, now rely mainly on scenario-based soft articles to increase sales. In addition to promoting physical products through articles, you can also promote them directly through discounts within the official account, or create a micro mall based on the official account.

3. A new business venture – Good Things Circle

Haowoquan was launched in March 2019. It is a brand-new content e-commerce in the WeChat ecosystem, building a new content community and business model through "good things". Goods Circle can publish products within the WeChat merchant system, including JD.com, Meiriyigou and other platforms. You can also publish content in the form of pictures, videos, etc. Based on the official account, there are two main benefits.

1) WeChat official account publishes products in Haowuquan

According to online reports, in WeChat public account articles, you can add a mini-program appid to promote products in the good thing circle in the form of a mini-program. at present. This function is not available in actual tests. The detailed flow chart is as follows:

2) Publish articles on WeChat public accounts within the Good Things Circle

Updated in August 2019, the creator of the Good Things Circle can push articles from WeChat public accounts to the Good Things Circle. Because the circle has stopped applying, this function has not been verified yet.

In the foreseeable future, the "WeChat official account + good things circle" model will become the only choice for content creators to monetize. Main content and brand marketing of WeChat public accounts, retention of good things circle owners.

WeChat group-centered social gameplay

In the eyes of many people, WeChat group = community, but this is not the case. In my opinion, WeChat group is just a platform or carrier to connect people and achieve decentralization. And community is a way of thinking, or a business model. Communities connect people together through people, interests, or product discounts. For example: knowledge-based communities are communities where the initiators take advantage of information asymmetry to serve "lazy people". Sales communities usually use discounts or endorsements from initiators as a means of attracting customers.

In 2019, community operation is still difficult for most community initiators. Often manifested in:

• Communities that are too purposeful are not active. For example: some live broadcast groups that are set up for knowledge sharing, after the live broadcast is completed, there is no more communication within the group. Some of the open course groups of Qidian Academy that the author joined early on are now basically deserted. The three classes that realized this problem quickly converted the users into paying users after the live broadcast and then closed the WeChat group. It has to be said that Sanjieke is returning to its commercial essence and no longer has the same passion as when Sanjieke was first founded.
• A community that is too casual eventually becomes a chat group. There are generally two types of such groups. One is a group formed purely for interest and hobby, where everyone is usually pimping. People only become serious when someone needs help. Another type of community has relatively better community operations and will post some topics for everyone to discuss from time to time. But few people answered.
• You will find that the communities I mentioned above are either product groups, operation groups, or other interest groups that you join. Going back to the essence, people are selfish and no one wants to give for free. This is also the fundamental reason why modern people are becoming "lazy" and communities are finding it difficult to survive. In 2019, if you plan to build a community, here are some suggestions:
• Clear positioning: What kind of community do you want to create? Sharing knowledge, making friends online, or simply wanting to sell goods. Who is your target user? A mother, a working person, and a digital addict. What services will you provide them? Paid consultation, Recommend products, or just want to buy and sell favors.
• Develop a community framework: formulate a community name, logo, community management norms, and opinion leader mechanism based on the positioning.
• Create content: knowledge-based, you can conduct free or paid courses from time to time. For example, the "Mujian Short Video Operation" community we launched not long ago is mainly aimed at users who are interested in short videos, and provides six series of free and paid courses ranging from topic planning, operation and communication, to commercial monetization. As for communities that promote products, the core is still quality control and discounts. For any product, as long as you can get an absolutely low price, you will have a market. For example, Li Jiaqi and Wei Ya are competing to see who has stronger bargaining power over products.
• Commercialization: Commercialization capability is the foundation for a community to continue moving forward. How can a momentary impulse last forever? I believe that community commercialization is a process of aggregating one’s own advantages or resources for monetization. If you have a large community covering tens of thousands of people, you can consider taking advertising. If your community users have a high willingness to pay, you can do consignment sales or even incubate products yourself. For example: nowadays, people who like health products buy them, while people who don’t like them ignore them.
• Relationship maintenance: Community relationship maintenance is very important. Many community initiators are very active in the early stages and the communities are also very active. Later, I lost my perseverance and the community naturally died out. It is recommended that community initiators support a team of opinion leaders. This team should be flexible and have a certain assessment mechanism. They can be given some appropriate community privileges to encourage them to continue to output and promote activities.
• Professional after-sales service: Many communities that sell goods adopt the consignment sales model, and the after-sales service is handed over to suppliers or manufacturers. It is not recommended for community initiators to do this. If you have the energy, it is recommended that you do the after-sales service yourself. Professional after-sales service creates an immediate word-of-mouth effect. Everyone hopes that the seller is a responsible and responsible person.

IP effect centered on personal accounts

In 2019, personal accounts are no longer just a synonym for micro-business, but have also become the jewel in the crown of major traffic companies. In the past, Wechat business was looked down upon by most of us; now, Wechat business has become our rare masters in running personal accounts. Learning from WeChat businessmen is not about learning premium distribution of goods, nor is it about learning how to “create wealth in an organized way.” Learn from WeChat businessmen the ingenuity and skills of running personal accounts.

1. Personality

The personality of a personal account is mainly about the packaging of a personal brand. This includes nicknames, WeChat IDs, regions and personal signatures, as well as reply words that others add to you. These can all be carefully packaged and designed. For example, we often see some securities market personnel whose WeChat nicknames are: "Name-Company or Name-Financial Direction". In addition, here are a few suggestions: ① Don’t use robots casually. Everyone likes to be respected, and the core of WeChat is to connect people. ② Do not add friends in bulk, especially if you have just applied for a WeChat account, as it may be easily blocked. The number of friends is controlled at around 2,000-3,000, which has been verified by the WeChat business industry. ③ Mark customers, mainly to group customers. Customer remarks can be in the form of: "Name + Source + Intent + Mobile Number". Tags can be used to label your customers based on their willingness to pay, advertising acceptance, etc., making it easier to maintain relationships and send mass advertising later. In the WeChat system, labels are equivalent to groups in QQ. When we used QQ back then, we would divide ourselves into groups, but how many people can take WeChat group labels as seriously as we do micro-business?

2. Create a WeChat circle of friends

A good micro-businessman will create content for his or her own WeChat circle of friends. Maybe you haven’t realized that they have been promoting something to you while you are scrolling through your Moments again and again. Example: Beauty IP, generally the circle of friends will post luxury consumption, beauty demonstrations and product recommendations. Luxury consumption is mainly about establishing your personal image and triggering your innermost desires through high-end consumption. There are several suggestions for managing your circle of friends: ① Plan the content system for your circle of friends. It is recommended to have two or three main contents, and you can do it based on the positioning of your personal account. The above describes an example of beauty IP. You can add some real transaction content according to your needs to form endorsement. It should be noted that you must not shout slogans in the circle of friends, as it will be counterproductive. ② Set up a strict timeline and plan. It is recommended that you do not post more than three messages a day in the Moments, and arrange the content of the sections from Monday to Sunday. Of course, you can also create your own series of content, and short videos are a good choice. A truly good circle of friends must be managed like a blogger.

3. Customer relationship maintenance

If you don't want to make a one-time deal with a customer, you should visit the customer frequently to comfort him/her. It should be noted that this kind of consolation is not hard advertising, which does not tell users that I have something here today and ask them if they want to buy it. Instead, it focuses on customer needs, supplemented by discounts. The notes and marks mentioned earlier come into play at this time. In addition, you can also set up a WeChat group to make up for the product distribution restrictions caused by the standardized operation of the Moments content. In a WeChat group, you can recommend products to your customers or send them information about product discounts as you please. Even if she is a client who doesn’t like being disturbed, she will just turn on the message “Do Not Disturb” and secretly pay attention to the messages in the group.

Other suggestions

① If you want to create a personal IP, it is recommended not to use your real personal account unless your IP matches the way everyone knows you. Example: A few days ago, a friend of mine started posting health products in the group every day, and I once misunderstood him as a micro-businessman.

② Personal IP should focus on point-to-point connections between people. Because you have provided him good service, everyone who connects with him is your potential customer.

Enterprise account-centric customer management

WeChat Enterprise Account was originally positioned to divide the enterprise collaborative office market and seize the market share of DingTalk. But friends who have used Enterprise WeChat and DingTalk all say that DingTalk is good. In jargon, Tencent does not have the B2B gene. But the real reason has long been known. The reason why we are talking about enterprise accounts is because WeChat hopes to trial and error in the B2B track together with enterprises.

So, what are the advantages and disadvantages of enterprise accounts compared to personal accounts?

• Advantages: Currently, the biggest advantage of enterprise accounts is that they can send group messages once a week. There is no limit to the number of friends you can send group messages to. Isn’t it exciting to think that you can disturb your customers at will in the name of your company? In addition, enterprise accounts can manage WeChat groups to prevent employees from leaving the company and taking away group resources.
• Disadvantages: Enterprise accounts do not currently support posting to Moments, which means that enterprise accounts cannot use Moments to establish their personalities or promote products. But according to reliable sources, Enterprise Account will support the Moments function. By then, maybe the enterprise account will be able to surpass the personal account.

Overall, current corporate accounts cannot replace personal accounts for the time being. It’s not just because personal accounts are more flexible, but also because corporate accounts carry the responsibilities of a business. It is recommended that companies apply for cards in their own names, create personal WeChat accounts, and let employees operate them.

Conclusion

This article analyzes how to build a private domain closed loop within the WeChat system from the perspective of WeChat public accounts, WeChat groups, personal accounts and corporate accounts, combined with Moments. In addition, cases of WeChat mini-programs and corporate private domains not mentioned in this article will be presented in the enterprise section. We look forward to your continued attention.

For now, "Official Account + WeChat Group + Moments + Personal Account" or "Official Account + WeChat Group + Moments + Enterprise Account" are still good WeChat closed-loop combinations. No matter which one you choose, you can achieve good results. Of course, as I said before, tools are only auxiliary, and products and services are the core of business.

WeChat has been commercialized for five years, but I don’t know if you can still catch its tail?

Author: Richard.du

Source: Product Matangdui, focusing on retail, membership, equity e-commerce and career planning, is good at solving problems with product thinking.