3 experiences I have to share after 1 month of new media internship

Before joining the company, I was unprepared, so I encountered many difficulties during the initial period. After a month of trial and error, my work is finally on the right track. I can finally share some of my experiences as a new media intern with new media newbies like me, and give some advice on how to prepare for the job and how to quickly integrate into the work.

What do I do after joining the company?

Becoming a new media operations intern actually means entering the world of new media operations , so the first thing you need to understand is: what is the core of new media operations work?

The overall process of new media operation is: attract new customers - promote activation - retention - recommendation - conversion . All links point to the ultimate goal of conversion, but there are two core elements in this process: acquisition and revenue . Attracting new customers means obtaining traffic , that is, allowing users to see and come into contact with your brand; conversion means encouraging users to complete the final purchase through a variety of marketing methods. For example, we are engaged in online new media education. We mainly obtain traffic through content marketing , and then retain and activate users through community operations and other means, and finally promote user conversion. The main work I do is content marketing and community operation.

What content marketing work have I done to attract new customers?

We will participate in all aspects of team work to gain all-round capacity improvement . The main purpose of our team is to acquire traffic, so our main job is content marketing. Content marketing refers to the continuous delivery of valuable, brand-related content to target users in order to attract and retain users and ultimately encourage them to make purchases . So, what kind of content marketing work have I done here to attract new customers? The most important content marketing task is writing articles.

For the production of content marketing articles, our team has a standardized workflow and collaborates primarily on this Trello open source board.

This is how the workflow is implemented:

1. Select topics based on data

Each of us has a monthly KPI of 5 articles, and I need to select the topic for this month at the beginning of the month. The topic selection is based on the data. I will take this month's topic selection as an example to introduce my topic selection workflow:

• Search on Zhihu based on the keywords WeChat , new media, self-media , marketing, training and their extensions.
• From the relevant questions on Zhihu, we select 10 questions with 5,000+ followers, 20,000+ views, and less than 100 likes except the top 2 in the comprehensive ranking as the monthly topics.
• Use Distill Web Monitor to track the views of these 10 questions simultaneously between 09:00 and 12:00, and select the top 5 questions with more than 1,000 views per day as the topics.
• Add your topic to the Content Ideas list in your Trello board and get ready to create.

2. Conduct structured writing

Writing is done collaboratively on Trello, and we also have a standardized workflow for writing:

• What: Define the object of writing
• Why: Explain why you are doing this
• How: Give an example of what should be done

3. Multi- channel operation

After the article is completed, it will be published on channels such as Zhihu, Jianshu , and the official website blog. Publishing an article does not mean the end of the creation process . I also need to track data, such as recording Zhihu rankings, campaign conversion rates , etc., and take measures to improve the data to achieve the target KPI.

For example, if an answer I posted on Zhihu is ranked 10+, then I need to consider: should I push it precisely via email? Should we use channels such as QQ groups to share articles to improve rankings? After such attempts, 2 of my articles have risen to the top 3 in the ranking of this Zhihu question, and have a good traffic-generating effect.

The production of an article should not only focus on the writing stage. From the early topic selection to the later data update and content iteration, every link should be carefully considered to maximize the marketing effect.

What kind of “conversion” social operations work have I done?

The ultimate goal of every content marketing article I create is to assist the team in promoting user conversions. Once we have acquired traffic through content marketing, we need to use community operations to make users active and gradually familiarize them with our brand and products . We provide our free courses to users every month, attract readers by placing a registration link at the end of the article, and then serve students through the community, with the goal of converting as many potential users as possible into paying users . So what did I do in this process of "transformation"?

During this month's work, my colleagues and I jointly established a standard manual for community operations. For new media marketers, a lot of work is repetitive, so we need to standardize repetitive work and sort out a set of standard workflows. Subsequent repetitive work can be carried out according to the same model, which can greatly improve work efficiency.

In addition to organizing standardization work, I also need to carry out the daily management of the community, including:

• Dealing with Violations
• Answer questions
• Facilitate discussion
• Release Notice

We need to be clear about the purpose of building a community. The ultimate goal of the community is to encourage users to purchase products, so all actions taken in the community serve this goal.

What pitfalls did I encounter after joining the company?

I learned a lot in just one month of work. Although I am still a newbie in new media now, compared to myself a month ago, I have entered the door of new media operations. The price of growth is falling into countless pitfalls. I would like to talk about three major pitfalls I have fallen into, and give you some suggestions on how to avoid falling into these pitfalls if you are about to join the job or have already joined the job.

A novice who can’t use tools is not a good new media person

When I first started working, I had a hard time with two things. One was design. I spent too much time on it and the pictures I produced didn't look good. The other was writing. I could never find authoritative information and what I wrote lacked substance .

Under the guidance of the boss, I slowly got a lot of useful little tools, such as:

• Trello is a very useful task management tool that helps me sort out my thoughts. When used with Pomello, it can effectively manage time.
• Although it is difficult to learn, GitHub is very useful once you learn it. You can see the traces of each iteration and review your work.
• PPT, Chuangketie, and Vas are better drawing tools than PS. They have a large number of templates and materials, so you don’t have to spend a lot of time on PS anymore.
• By using Latern, Buzzsumo and Google to search for information, you can learn the marketing methods and experiences of foreign experts. Here we will focus on how to use Buzzsumo: What are some practical tools and tips for WeChat public account editors? .

The above are just some examples. There are many more useful gadgets that will be used in actual work. Every time I use them, I will marvel at the wisdom of the creators. It feels like I am opening the door to a new world. For those of you who have not yet been exposed to new media operations work, you must have a spirit of tinkering and the ability to get started . You can find out in advance what useful gadgets are available in case you need them in your future work.

This article lists some commonly used tools for new media marketers: How many tools do you know that are used by new media operation experts? , you can use all these tools, then classify and select the ones you think are the best and keep them for future use. I also recommend an article: Recommendations for new media marketing learning websites. You can go to these websites to learn systematic new media knowledge and lay a good knowledge foundation for your work.

Use marketing thinking to proactively plan your work

When I first started working, I didn’t know how to arrange my work. After completing the assigned tasks, I often didn’t know what to do next. As a result, although my work was completed on the surface, it actually had no effect. For example, after I wrote a content marketing article and posted it on Zhihu, although I recorded the data every day, apart from recording it, I did not actively think about how to improve the ranking of this answer and how to make it seen by more people.

During the regular summary, I learned from the boss that there are many ways to improve the ranking, such as using group emails for precision marketing, using social network knowledge sharing to increase readership, etc. Even the most subtle methods can become channels and produce effects. I began to try to use these methods to improve the ranking of my Zhihu answers, and in the process gradually realized that all work revolves around the goal .

For those who are new to new media operations, they often don’t know how to plan their work. I think the most important thing is to develop a marketing mindset that is centered on the goal , and then actively discover work based on the goal.

Do more in the least amount of time

When doing new media operations, it is inevitable to do some design work. For example, when I was in charge of applying to recommend our short video courses on video websites, I needed to make corresponding covers for each video. But since I am not good at design and always change the picture, I spend a lot of time every day making this cover, which affects other work.

I didn't want to waste so much time every day doing this repetitive work, so I asked my boss for advice. The boss told me that for this kind of work that needs to be done every day, the first thing to think about is how to standardize it and form a fixed workflow , so that you can copy this model later. So, I took some time to modify the pictures again and again to determine a fixed pattern. After that, I only needed to change the text and color scheme on the pictures every day, which saved a lot of time.

For this kind of repetitive work, you must be "lazy" enough, so lazy that you don't want to spend more time on it, and force yourself to establish a workflow. For example, most new media operators need to operate WeChat public accounts , so how to quickly typeset and generate cover images?

Finally, what changes have I made?

After working in new media operations for a month, I gradually began to learn to see the world from the perspective of a new media marketer. In the past, like most people, I just knew about hot topics, but now I will think about why this thing has become a "hot topic". For example, for the recently popular "My First Half of Life", I would analyze the reasons why it stood out from the summer season: first, the popularity of IP adaptation, second, the ability of the actors to attract fans, and third, the communication effect brought by the powerful communication matrix.

This is a good change for me. It will not only help me better in my future work, but also verify the learning results of this period of time.

The above is advice from a newcomer to new media to those who are preparing to get started with new media, or to those who are also just getting started. I will work harder in my future work and hope to achieve more growth.