How to operate a WeChat public account from scratch?

Why does this happen?

The author summarizes the following situations:

1. User attributes are completely irrelevant and are followed by chance , such as users who follow prize-giving activities

2. Users no longer need the content you provide . For example, users no longer need the public account that provides public recruitment examination materials after the examination.

3. The content can no longer meet the current requirements of users . Party A’s needs are far greater than Party B’s creative capabilities.

4. There are better channels to obtain better content . There are better channels, and users will definitely choose the best.

Among them, the first two categories have little meaning because users really have no demand.

However, the latter two types of users still have demand for content and need to be retained.

Next, let’s analyze the reasons for losing fans and their countermeasures in depth.

01. Positioning and content

▍Is the positioning of the official account clear?

The author has always emphasized that the positioning of the official account and the selection of articles are the two souls of the official account operation and determine the direction of the official account.

The positioning of the official account should be determined before creating the account. To put it more directly, it is what the official account pushes every day, what content it provides to users, and what users can obtain.

Unclear positioning is common among newly opened personal subscription accounts

All 15 sub-menus in the menu bar are set up, and 8 articles are pushed every day, including finance, military, sports, emotions, videos, and everything else. It's a hodgepodge.

The most taboo thing in operating a public account is unclear positioning

Push games today, push shopping tomorrow, push emotional chicken soup the day after tomorrow

Users don’t understand what they can expect from you (even if your content is high quality)

The ultimate outcome of confusing users is being unfollowed and losing followers

▍Is the content provided valuable?

What makes content valuable?

That is, whether the content you push to users can help them gain new knowledge.

The reason why users keep following you is that they hope to continue to obtain unknown content from you and constantly enrich themselves.

If the content you push is always the information that users already know, then users really can’t find a reason to continue paying attention.

Cases around us:

A friend of mine runs a WeChat public account that mainly shares some hot news (an alternative way to take advantage of hot topics)

All his content comes from other content platforms (Weibo, Toutiao, Baidu, and even other public accounts)

The reality is: users have already grasped these hot news in advance through more timely platforms such as Weibo. What is the point of pushing the same content to them again?

▍Is the article’s point of view clear? Are the key points highlighted?

In this era of knowledge overload, readers no longer have enough time to savor every article carefully. What they pursue is to obtain the content they need in the shortest time and in the most convenient way.

“Good wine needs no bush” is a thing of the past. If you want to attract users and retain them, your articles must have clear opinions and highlight key points.

To allow users to understand the main idea of ​​the article by just reading the key sentences in bold even if they don’t have time to read the entire article.

If you write a 10,000-word article with long-winded sentences that take the readers on a roundabout way, then please just keep it to yourself and enjoy it.

It is no exaggeration to say that if Mr. Lu Xun's articles were published today, it would be difficult to exceed 100,000

Is the content continuously improving?

Let’s take an example:

The author has been following a PPT public account before, which mainly provides basic content such as graphic typesetting and image editing, and its quality is pretty good.

After a period of study, the author's PPT design has reached a certain level and needs to learn higher-level content, but the official account still maintains the push of basic tutorials

The author believes that no valuable information can be obtained from here, so it is natural to unfollow and choose to follow public accounts such as Ruipu and Qiuye

When operating a public account, it is forbidden to be self-satisfied, and don’t assume that users will remain unchanged.

Users will continue to improve in the process of continuous learning , and their needs will definitely continue to increase as they grow.

Therefore, you must promptly meet the needs of users and continuously upgrade the content , so that you can continue to retain users and attract more new users.

Everyone is making progress, if you don't you will be eliminated

02. User Experience

▍Is the design and layout of the article appropriate?

This is an era where appearance matters, and this applies to both people and public accounts.

As mentioned earlier, users seek to obtain the required content in the shortest possible time and in the most convenient way.

The opening rate of public accounts is low at present (average 3%). After finally opening your article, your passionate and densely packed article with no layout rules will make them fall into trypophobia.

If the layout is messy and users can't continue reading, then it doesn't matter how many articles you write or how well you write them.

Therefore, the layout design of the article is particularly important. The layout design of the article must pay attention to the user's reading experience and leave enough breathing space for the readers.

You can learn from excellent typography, but you can’t just pursue fancy and cool

▍Are there too many advertisements on public accounts?

Inserting advertisements into public accounts is a very contradictory thing for operators .

On the one hand, inserting advertisements means that the operator can get a certain degree of economic return for their efforts; on the other hand, advertisements will obviously affect the user experience.

The author believes that:

When inserting advertisements into public accounts, it is necessary to ensure the quality of the advertisement content and control the number of advertisements.

Please don’t forget the fundamental purpose of public accounts. What users need is continuous access to high-quality content . Occasional high-quality advertisements may be acceptable and may even have unexpected effects.

But the ads are too frequent and the content is poorly made. Can you bear it?

▍Are the frequency and time of article push stable?

According to experiments, if you stick to the same behavior for 21 consecutive days, it will become a habit.

The same is true for public account tweets (but it does not mean tweeting for 21 consecutive days). Each public account should have its own fixed tweet frequency and tweet time.

Only when the frequency and timing of your tweets are fixed, will users continue to read them until they develop a habit.

Therefore, do not post for a week in a row, then not post for a few weeks in a row, or completely decide the time of posting based on your mood.

If you don't take users seriously, why should users take you seriously?

Of course, the premise of ensuring the frequency and timing of push notifications is to ensure the quality of the articles.

▍Does clickbait exist for a long time?

Now more and more operation courses are emphasizing the importance of titles, which is absolutely correct.

But many people misinterpret the meaning of this sentence, thinking that it is enough to just make a good title, while ignoring the core of the content.

This has led to more and more clickbait headlines, which do not care about the quality of the content at all and make sure to make the headlines attractive, such as "Shocking...", "100%..."

In the short term, users may click on an article to read because of a shocking title, but what will happen over time and if the number of times increases? Users are not fools. They want content, not titles.

Once users give up on your title article, is there any need for them to continue paying attention?

▍Is there too much reprinted content?

I mentioned before that if your originality is not that strong, I encourage you to search and repost some excellent articles related to your property.

But there must be a limit to reposting . If you publish 30 articles in a month, and 29 of them are reposted, why don’t users just follow the original author’s official account?

In addition, it is recommended to reprint through as many channels as possible, but with as little content as possible in each channel . If you move dozens of original articles from a public account, please, that is not reprinting, that is nature's porter.

03. Interact with fans

▍Are the communication channels with users smooth?

The official account is not just a message push platform, nor is it a stage for operators to perform a one-man show. Maintaining communication with users is an essential skill for operating an official account.

Common communication channels with users include: leaving messages at the bottom of articles, leaving messages in the background of public accounts, electronic questionnaires, user groups, etc.

Regarding communication channels: 1. Make sure you have these channels; 2. Make sure you respond in a timely manner

If users can communicate with you in time when they need it, they will think that you care about them. Who would be willing to unfollow a public account that focuses on user experience?

▍Can user needs be met in a timely manner?

Following the previous point, when users have needs, they contact you in a timely manner through smooth communication channels and also put forward their own needs.

However, can you meet the needs of users in a timely manner?

Generally speaking, if it is related to the content of the official account and within your ability, please try your best to meet it and do it in a timely manner.

If it is unrelated to the content of the official account or if you are not capable enough, reply according to the actual situation. Don't try to be stubborn if you can't do it.

For example:

Some students often seek new media operation learning materials in the background. I usually respond to their needs in a timely manner after seeing them.

But some students also asked me how to quickly increase to 5,000 followers to open a traffic master, and I really can't satisfy you on this.

▍Do you often plan activities?

Encouraging user participation is an essential skill for operating an excellent public account

What the public account operators fear is silence. Every day, the operators push content without changing anything, and users just passively accept it. Over time, everyone becomes numb.

Therefore, it is necessary to properly plan some activities to alleviate the boring atmosphere and mobilize the enthusiasm of users. Even planning an effective activity can increase a lot of fans.

General fan activities in public accounts include: lucky draws, likes and comments, voting, forwarding and sharing gifts, etc.

04. Keep learning

▍Learn from your peers?

Public account operation is a process of continuous learning and continuous improvement, and the best learning objects come from your peers.

"When three people walk together, there must be one person who can teach me something." Your peers always have areas where they are better than you. Are you learning from their strengths?

For example, if you are running an emotional public account, you can learn the topic selection and layout of "Mimeng"; if you are running a film and television public account, you can learn the layout and illustration of "Poisonous Tongue Movie"

Learn more from your peers. When one day you are at the forefront of a certain field, you may gain followers instead of losing them.

▍How much have you paid and how much are you willing to pay?

This question is raised at the end in the hope that all students can think about it seriously.

How much time, energy, and even material costs have you put into operating a public account? How much time, energy, and even material costs are you willing to spend on operating a public account?

What you gain is often proportional to what you put in.

This is a question of attitude. If you just want to have fun and just take some time to copy some content to get by, then why should fans spend time playing with you?

Take this year’s revision of the official account cover as an example

Some students may think that redesigning the cover image is too troublesome, and changing the size of the cover image will not have much impact, so they can just move the content to the center of the image.

But attentive students will carefully study the official size requirements, title masking area, sharing image area, etc., and redesign a delicate and reasonable cover image.

There is no need to explain the specific effects of the two situations.

Attitude determines everything. If you want your fans to love you, you have to give them a reason to love you.