4 stages and 8 methods to attract new members and retain new members in WeChat groups

The community is the most effective and convenient carrier for collecting UGC .

The prerequisite for all communities to generate effective UGC is to have "people", commonly known as "popularity". A popular community often has a minimum number of members. So the question is, where can we find this group of active and accurate seed users in the early stage of group building? And how to motivate group members to naturally attract new members ?

Today, I will use 8 small methods to talk about my own views on attracting new members and retaining new members in WeChat groups at different stages.

1. The stage where the number of WeChat group members is less than 60

Only when the number of people is greater than 50 can UGC be generated from time to time under the guidance of the group owner. If the number of people is less than this, the group owner will often be trapped in the awkward situation of "singing to himself", so 50 people is the minimum base number for establishing a group.

At this stage, the activity of WeChat groups is the lowest, so it is not advisable to add the brand's previous users into the WeChat groups , so as not to lower users' psychological expectations.

When attracting new members to the group, we don’t need to be too concerned about whether the new members are accurate. In other words, we can first recruit a group of group members, and then cultivate conversions through some operational means in the later stage.

At this stage, I have summarized the following two tips for your reference:

1. First, invite a group of friends who match the group positioning to join the group

Before creating a group, you must think about the purpose of creating the group and don't create it blindly. Only when the purpose is clear can you avoid confusion.

Then, based on the purpose of creating the group, set up itemized group rules. There shouldn’t be too many group rules; generally 5 or fewer are enough. Here, it is recommended that the group rules be as formal as possible, and try to use more written language and less spoken language. The purpose is to cultivate the professionalism of the group from the beginning.

In the initial stage of a WeChat group, in order to gather the number of members, you can first invite colleagues from the company . After my colleague joined the group, the number of people in the group basically reached 20.

Next, we need to start with WeChat friends. Compared with colleagues, they are outsiders. At this time, we need to screen WeChat friends based on their tone, age, gender, and hobbies . In other words, the WeChat friends you attract must be consistent with the tone of the group so that they can be cultivated and converted later.

For example: In 2016, I set up a blind date group in Xi'an. According to the positioning of the group, the friends I needed to attract should have the following labels: Xi'an, 22 to 35 years old, single. If I force a married pregnant mother to join the group just to make up the number of people, it would obviously be inappropriate.

After colleagues and some specific friends join the group, the next step is to make good use of the circle of friends .

2. Post the group QR code in your Moments and let interested friends scan the code to join the group.

After inviting colleagues and friends, the group size has approached 50. At this time, we can find our second batch of precise target users by posting text and QR codes on WeChat Moments.

First, put the group QR code in your circle of friends, and then add one or two sentences of copy.

The copy should be concise and precise, explaining the purpose and characteristics of the group in one or two sentences, so that people can understand it within 2 seconds. Because people scroll through their Moments feed very quickly, long paragraphs of text would seem out of place here.

Everyone has different friends circles. In order to increase the diversity of group members at the beginning, it is recommended that those who are doing community operations should give full play to their strong social skills and entice three or five colleagues to join this work .

If three or five colleagues forward your message, then other colleagues will follow suit, because of the herd mentality.

If you follow the above method, it is guaranteed that after one night, the number of people in the WeChat group will increase to more than 60.

In the early stages of creating a group, I would like to emphasize again that you must clearly define the positioning and functions of your group. It is better to have a small group than a large and comprehensive one.

2. 80~100 people: Chat communication, customer service to attract new customers

When the number of members in a WeChat group reaches more than 60, group members can no longer join the group directly using the group QR code . At this time, it is necessary to arrange special customer service to communicate and attract new members to join the group.

At this stage, we have the following experiences.

1. Create celebrity group leaders

It is not recommended to use personal WeChat accounts here. The company can apply for separate WeChat accounts for students who operate the community . This WeChat account needs to be personalized and packaged based on product positioning, brand logo, etc.

There are two benefits to doing this: First, it empowers the brand with personality and individuality, making the brand full of life and personality, thereby narrowing the distance between the brand and the users. The second one is actually a very practical function: when the person in charge of this area resigns, he will not take away a group of users.

After the group owner has completed the packaging, the next thing to do is to operate the group owner’s own WeChat account. The group owner needs to post 1-2 pieces of content to Moments every day to create his or her own personalized image. Of course, the content, character’s personality and tone, including gender, must be consistent with the product brand positioning. I will focus on this part of the content in the future brand personalization building. Those who are interested can continue to pay attention.

In addition to creating a circle of friends for the celebrity group leader, what is more important is to "chat" with group members .

The group leader should promptly approve new people who have added you, and greet them warmly immediately after adding them, even if they add you at 12 o'clock in the evening. After that, try to direct them into the WeChat group.

In addition to the group owner’s personal channels to attract initial users, third-party channels should not be ignored.

2. Own channels and third-party self-media channels

Through the previous method, under the guidance of the group owner, the WeChat group can already generate a certain amount of content and has a certain level of activity. But “what to talk about and how to talk about it” is a very tricky question. To address this issue, we should invite some of the platform’s own users to join.

At this time, the students in charge of community operations and content operations should communicate well. When posting tweets on the official website, official double Vs, and third-party self-media platforms ( Toutiao , Yidian Zixun , Sohu self-media, etc.), they should attach the community information and put the customer service WeChat of the community operations staff. Third-party platforms with lax auditing can directly place QR codes to optimize user experience . If the auditing is strict, the WeChat name can be entered manually.

3. Go undercover in a competitor’s WeChat group

Note: this method is dangerous, please use with caution!

Going undercover in a competitor's group and "poaching" from them is a good way to acquire target users, but this method is exciting and dangerous. Generally speaking, it is necessary to pay attention to the dynamics of competitors, even if it is not for the purpose of "poaching". Understand competitor trends in real time to guide your own operations.

So how do you go undercover?

First, you must know where your competitors’ communities are. Regarding this issue, you can study the tweets of competitors on various channels carefully, and generally you will find them. Next, you need to "disguise" to blend in. The "disguise" here is best to apply for a new WeChat account or use your own small account. For safety reasons, never disclose the company 's information. Remember, you cannot use the official customer service number. Once discovered, there will be a bloody storm.

After successfully sneaking in, you need to chat from time to time. The purpose is to get along well with group members and make them treat you as one of their own. Don't be impatient. If you reveal your intentions too early, you will be kicked out.

You don’t have to talk all the time, but when you’re free, you need to pay attention to the chat dynamics in the competitor group. You can join the chat when the time is right, for example, when they are confused about a certain issue, you can take the opportunity to join them in private chat . And tell you the solution you know, and take the opportunity to recommend your group to him and pull him in.

Hehe, users attracted by this method are extremely easy to convert because they already have a certain foundation. However, students who are responsible for community operations need to have strong insight and patience. After all, “poaching” is not a glorious thing. It is better not to do it unless it is absolutely necessary. Instead, focus more on building your own WeChat group and cultivating KOLs in your group.

4. Cultivate and invite KOLs to join the group

KOLs are opinion leaders who have access to more product information and are accepted by the group, while also having their own fan effect. If KOLs have emerged during the product operation , they can be invited in and focused on training. In the later stage, they can be trained to become group managers, or deputy group owners with certain management powers.

If it does not occur during product operation, some of the most active group members can be trained to become KOLs. In short, the purpose of cultivating KOLs is, on the one hand, to attract more users through their influence; on the other hand, to give KOLs certain rights to increase their own sense of participation, allowing them to spontaneously bring more high-quality group members into the community.

3. When there are 100 to 300 people - strict management and group owner review

At this stage, the WeChat group is already active. Group members can already generate a large amount of content spontaneously, and will also spontaneously invite some friends to join.

However, it should be noted that this stage is also the time when micro-businesses and purchasing agents can easily infiltrate. Therefore, what the group leader does is to encourage group members to invite people while doing a good job of screening.

1. The group owner turns on the friend invitation review function

The group leader clearly emphasized in the group rules that micro-businesses and purchasing agents are not allowed to join, and if found, they will be kicked out of the group immediately. Friends invited by group members should be reviewed in a timely manner. Any non-compliance will not be approved. If anyone is found to have deliberately invited such people into the group and sent random advertisements, they need to be kicked out of the group together with the invitees.

Strict group rules also serve as a reminder to other group members. Formal management can also reduce the rate of group members leaving the group.

2. Small welfare quota to attract group members to recruit new members.

Regularly holding small events is an effective way to transform users' "weak relationships" into "strong relationships", and it is also the best form of direct contact with users to collect user information. The number of places for the event is limited, especially for those low-price flash sales/free welfare activities, so users need to take the initiative to complete some tasks, such as inviting 3 friends to join the group.

4. When there are 300 to 500 people - coordinate activities and split into two groups

At this stage, it is necessary to do a good job of group management based on the above techniques. At the same time, we regularly use activities to improve the quality of the group, increase user stickiness and retention, and reduce the rate of leaving the group.

When the number of people reaches 500, it can be divided into two groups , attracting some active members to the second group, and operating the second WeChat group according to the above method.

The above shares 8 small methods to attract new members and retain members in WeChat groups from the four stages of WeChat groups. WeChat groups can provide quick feedback for our products and guide product operations because of their immediacy. WeChat groups are also a very effective way to quickly gather a group of seed users.

When users enter the community, it is equivalent to entering our "bowl", and the next step is comprehensive operation.

Mobile application product promotion service: APP promotion service Qinggua Media advertising

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