How to operate new media in the medical and health field?

The essence of creating a doctor's IP is to try to increase the doctor's personal influence, making people willing to watch you, listen to you, and pay attention to you, thereby gaining the attention of a large number of users. To become a great doctor, producing medical and health content through self-media platforms is the way to get the highest return on investment*.

I have always believed in the professionalism of doctors and have never denied their ability to write. However, the popular science content on medical and health care produced by self-media is different from the traditional writing of doctors. It requires subverting inherent cognition and using product operation thinking to do a good job in popular science on medical and health care.

As the text carrier changes, reading habits also change. With the popularity of smart phones, we have entered the era of screen reading. Reading articles has evolved from word by word to line by line, and now to screen reading. The reading unit has become "one screen" , and the reading dissemination path has also become title + picture to attract clicks → read article content (first screen, second screen...) → reading to complete interaction (comment, forward, like, reward).

Read the transmission path

Therefore, we need to regard articles as knowledge products and understand user interests and needs to decide what topics to write about. Utilize the operating rules of various self-media platforms, polish the details of article titles, content, illustrations, layout, etc., choose the release time, guide users to forward, comment, like/read, and interact with users to increase article reading volume and dissemination.

1. Topic: What to write about

Series of Feature Articles

It can not only greatly enhance the professionalism of doctors, but also output professional knowledge in a systematic way. In the initial stage, the entry point should be small. When it comes to health issues in a certain vertical segment, we see what others cannot see, write what others cannot write, and explain the issues clearly and thoroughly. This is the only way to quickly find the target audience and gain user trust. If the article is well-written and valuable, it can keep users engaged.

Combined with current events

Be one step ahead, focus on timeliness, combine with the health field, and output personalized opinions from a unique perspective. It is best to follow a hot topic within 7 hours, followed by 24 hours, and it will be meaningless after 72 hours. In addition, do not blindly follow hot topics, pay attention to the degree of integration with the medical and health field, and express your attitude from the perspective of a doctor, a professional or industry practitioner, or a stakeholder. At the same time, we must also adhere to the bottom line and not take advantage of others' misfortune.

Attention Writing

It means to gain the user's attention. How to gain the user's attention? Write targeted health content that users are interested in. You can search for keywords through Baidu Index* to learn about the keyword's search popularity, related word popularity, and population portrait. You can also use the respective media management backends such as Toutiao's creation guidance, hot word analysis, Baijiahao's popular tasks, keyword index and other functions to guide content creation.

Baidu Index | Diabetic Foot | Demand Map

2. Title: A slogan that shouts out loud

Attention is scarce, and to stand out, we only have 1 sentence (title) + 1 picture (cover). The title determines how many people will click on it and open the article to read the content. A qualified title arouses the curiosity of readers. A good title should not only arouse the curiosity of readers, but also bring up topics that prompt readers to forward it.

How to choose a good title for medical and health articles * ?

1. Be down-to-earth, use less professional terms and more plain language to convey information in an easy-to-understand manner;

2. Use authoritative experts or your own endorsement to enhance the credibility and persuasiveness of the content;

3. Challenge stereotypes, be unexpected, and stimulate readers' desire to explore;

4. Concluding remarks: Make the content useful and relevant to the readers, refer to the FAB rule;

5. Avoid using clickbait titles, irrelevant content, or shocking writing.

FAB Rule

3. Content: How to write

Readers choose to click and read articles often because they want to gain something, whether it is new and interesting knowledge or emotional satisfaction or catharsis. We don't need writing to convey a message, but at least it should be of some benefit. So avoid using clickbait titles, otherwise readers will speak ill of you.

Screen reading not only makes readers' attention scarce, but also easily distracted. Therefore, the first screen of the article should provide enough stimulation to motivate readers to read the full text. The first 200 words and pictures of the article on the first screen should be able to catch the user's attention immediately. The traditional article writing structure of Phoenix Head, Pig Belly and Leopard Tail is still applicable. The article should not be too long. Medical and health science articles should be 600 to 800 words long . If it is too short, the problem cannot be explained clearly, and if it is too long, readers will not be impatient to finish reading it.

The problem of literary talent. Good literary talent requires not only long-term reading accumulation, but also the natural talent to come up with it effortlessly. Don't set such high requirements for now. A good article is one that explains the problem clearly, expresses the content clearly, and makes it easy for readers to understand. This requires hard work on the structure of the article and the choice of words and sentences.

Article Structure

In fact, it is the overall logic of the article that allows the author to express his or her views clearly and allows readers to accept them happily. The commonly used structures are:

1. Parallel style. There is no distinction between the main and secondary contents of the article.

2. Total score type. First give a general overview, then discuss the details. And the evolving "part-whole" or "whole-part-whole" structural methods.

3. Contrast type. The two parts of the article are either contrasted or one part is used to highlight the other part.

4. Progressive. The contents of the article are gradually deepened in several parts.

5.SCQA structure. It starts with a familiar situation (Situation), which then brings about conflicts (Complication), leading to the question of what we should do (Question), and provides a feasible solution (Answer).

SCQA Structure

Wording and Sentences

Reduce readers' reading barriers and comprehension costs as much as possible.

1. The words used in medical and health articles must be rigorous, restrained, and not absolute;

2. Use simple and colloquial language as much as possible, and avoid using long clauses, double negatives, and consecutive adjectives;

3. Use words to create a sense of picture, use more verbs and nouns, less adjectives, and start with details;

4. Make abstract concepts concrete and use metaphors more often;

5. Summarize and accumulate some catchy golden sentences, slogans, proverbs, and two-part allegorical sayings.

3. Illustration: Adding finishing touches to the dragon's whiskers

After all, the text is too boring, and only appropriate pictures can make the article come alive. The illustrations include the article cover and content illustrations, but no matter where they are, they serve the text. Or enhance the appeal of the text, or make the abstract text concrete, or provide a moment of rest in the tense text, or set off the style of the whole text...

Things to note when adding pictures

1. Choose copyright-free images to avoid copyright issues. In addition to searching for images on Baidu, Toutiao and Baijiahao also have picture matching functions. There are also some copyright-free image websites* where you can find images.

2. The picture must be clear. Do not use blurry or low-pixel pictures, or pictures with watermarks or mosaics.

3. Try to choose pictures with bright colors, clear themes, and focused composition, except for special themes;

4. The pictures should serve the text, and the overall picture style should be unified. The cover should pay attention to the size requirements, and the pictures in the text should be of the same width and similar length;

5. Do not add several pictures in a row. You can combine multiple pictures into one. You can make your own pictures for special needs. The easy-to-use and easy-to-use image processing tools include PPT, PS and Meitu XiuXiu web version, and the mobile APP includes Gaoding Design, etc.

4. Typography: Overall sensory presentation

Screen reading is interactive, and we need to take into account the reader's visual experience. A good article should not only have attractive content, but also have a clear and refreshing layout that is not tiring to the eyes, making the reader feel that the entire article was carefully prepared by the author.

Basic typography standards

1. For reference of WeChat public account layout, the text size is 14~16px, the default font, the text is aligned at both ends, the first line indent is unnecessary, the two ends are indented 16~32 to leave blank space on the edge of the screen, the line spacing is 1.75, the character spacing is 1, and rich text editors such as Toutiao do not need to take into account;

2. Divide into multiple paragraphs, and try to keep each paragraph within 5 lines. The longest paragraph should not exceed one screen. It is not recommended to use spacing before and after paragraphs. You can use blank lines between paragraphs instead. Blank lines are required between pictures in the text and the upper and lower paragraphs.

3. Keywords and important contents in the text can be highlighted in bold or italics. It is not recommended to use primary colors for the font. The whole text should not have more than 3 font colors, and bold is counted as one;

4. You can learn to use one or two layout editors* such as 135 Editor, Xiumi Editor, 96 Editor, etc. Common fancy things like guide maps and serial number borders can be easily made with the editor;

5. Practice more and think more, adjust the layout through mobile phone preview, and find a style that suits you.

At this point, the article is basically ready, but it’s not all done yet. It should be noted that good articles are revised, and articles with 100,000+ reads are operated.

5. How to revise a good article:

Article revision points

1. Is what you want to write expressed clearly, is the information complete, and is the logical structure clear?

2. Does the title you originally proposed seem appropriate now?

3. Are the cover and the illustrations in the text exquisite and harmonious?

4. Is the layout comfortable? Do some long paragraphs need to be split? Does the line spacing need to be adjusted?

5. Are the words and sentences in the article difficult to read? They should be fluent. Are there any grammatical errors, typos, or incorrect punctuation?

After revising the article, if you feel that you cannot add, delete or change anything further, you can find someone to proofread it and then push it out for readers to review. However, in order to obtain high readership and make the articles widely spread, you need to understand some operational skills and be proficient in using the operating rules of self-media platforms.

6. Release time: It’s better to be late than late

There are several peak time periods for fragmented reading: 7-9 a.m., 12-14 p.m., 18-20 p.m., and after 10 p.m. It is recommended to publish articles slightly earlier during these peak reading times. You can also do the opposite after accumulating a certain number of fans and users and make appointments with your readers on your own.

7. Commonly used self-media platform operation rules and tips: 100,000+ explosion

Generally, the self-media matrix is ​​played with Toutiao as the main account, which directs traffic to WeChat public accounts + WeChat to accumulate readers and fans, and a series of self-media such as Baijiahao, Sohuhao, NetEasehao, Dayuhao, etc. are used for content distribution and search engine inclusion. Each self-media platform has its own publicly announced operating rules, which must be familiar to you. The following article will introduce the operating logic of important platforms and some rules and tips that need to be paid attention to in operations. In fact, video platforms should also be included in the self-media matrix, but this article does not include them.

WeChat Official Account

As an old self-media platform, the official accounts based on the WeChat social platform are said to have passed their bonus period, but their rich functions such as WeChat social, mini-programs, H5, e-commerce and other functions have provided a basis for retaining users, establishing strong connections with readers and subsequent traffic monetization.

WeChat public accounts are divided into subscription accounts and service accounts. Subscription accounts can post one tweet per article, while service accounts can post four tweets per month, with a maximum of eight tweets per post. Subscription accounts have one more level of reading path than service accounts. Individuals can only register for subscription accounts and cannot be authenticated, which affects the use of many functions. For institutional accounts, I generally recommend using service accounts. Although the number of tweets is less, the gameplay and functions are richer.

The first wave of articles released by a public account is pushed to subscribed users. If the articles are to have high readership and dissemination, it will test the accumulation of previous fans. Secondly, returning to the content itself, users must be willing to forward and share it. The upper limit of a WeChat group is 500 people, and the upper limit of a WeChat account friend is 5050. In order to get a large amount of exposure with one forwarding, the operator needs to pay attention to accumulating WeChat groups and friends, and also guide readers to forward and share in the article.

All of the above are based on social sharing, and you need to establish a connection with the user before you can reach them. WeChat has launched a new "Look" feature, which is a boon to public accounts. We must guide readers to click "Reading" more often. Zaikan has been integrated with WeChat's "Kanyikan" function and has been further integrated with WeChat Reading APP. Article dissemination is no longer based solely on social sharing, but also has information flow push. This means that you can reach new users without having to establish contact with them.

Toutiao

That is, Toutiao APP. To join Toutiao and become an author in the health field, in addition to personal information authentication, you also need qualification certification and submit non-medical qualifications such as health manager and nutrition manager. Doctors, nurses, and pharmacists are especially welcome to submit their professional qualification certificates. At this stage, Toutiao is vigorously creating content in the health field. It not only provides traffic support to medical personnel with high professional qualifications, but also publishes activities with bonuses and prizes from time to time.

The article push mechanism of Toutiao is different from that of WeChat official accounts. It is completely a machine algorithm information flow push. The push process is: the machine captures high-frequency professional vocabulary in the article to generate keywords, matches a group of interested users, pushes the article for exposure, and users are attracted by the title and cover, and click to read, comment, forward, like, etc. The machine decides whether to continue the next wave of push based on these data.

Toutiao previously had the concept of Toutiao Index, but it has now been cancelled due to platform upgrades. However, we understand that the evaluation dimensions of the Toutiao Index and the current account scores will help us better operate Toutiao. The Toutiao Index includes five dimensions: activity, verticality, interactivity, health, and originality.

From this we can understand that the Toutiao platform requires creators to maintain a high frequency of updates, preferably daily. Now, not only can they promote articles, but also post on Wei Toutiao, answer questions on Wukong Q&A, and post videos on Xigua Video.

Verticality is a requirement for creative focus, such as writing a series of special topics on a certain health issue in the health field. The degree of interaction is affected by users’ forwarding, commenting, and likes, and authors are also encouraged to reply to user comments and interact with fans.

Originality encourages authors to create original content. If medical and health articles use a lot of professional terms and cite professional literature, it will be difficult to improve originality. It would be better to convey information in plain language that is easy to understand. There is some overlap between health and account score, which means that you should not violate the platform's requirements such as clickbait, infringement and violation of regulations.

The backend of Toutiao accounts provides content such as creation guidance, Xigua University, and Toutiao open courses* for creators and operation students to learn. The creation rules, skills, and ideas in these courses are not only practical on the Toutiao platform, but also applicable to other self-media platforms.

Other social media platforms

After the article is published on the main operating platform, the content will be distributed on multiple platforms. The operating rules of these platforms are similar to those of Toutiao, but each platform has a large number of users and its own characteristics.

Baijiahao is a self-media platform under Baidu. Its content is displayed in Baidu browser and Baidu APP. It has the highest weight in Baidu search engine and is very suitable for keyword inclusion. NetEase and Sohu are self-media platforms based on the old portal websites NetEase and Sohu. The website weight is very high and it is also very suitable for search engine keyword inclusion. Dayuhao is an entertainment self-media platform under Alibaba, and its content is displayed on platforms such as UC Mobile Browser.

This type of self-media also includes Penguin, Yidian Zixun, Zhihu, Jianshu, etc. It is wonderful to benefit from publishing and disseminating works on multiple platforms once created.

The above is the thinking and cognition that self-media should have when writing popular science articles on medical and health.

Writing and outputting content for self-media is the most important part of building a personal IP plan. It requires long-term and regular content output. Only by writing continuously, like a flowing stream, and persisting day after day can you see initial results and establish a personal brand. Indeed, this goes against human nature, but writing itself is a very good reward and the most cost-effective investment in your life. It allows you to have a deeper understanding of your profession, make higher-level and broader connections, help your career development, and may even save you ten years of hard work.

Accomplish yourself and benefit all living beings.

Author: Jiuzhilan

Source: Jiuzhilan Internet Marketing (jiuzhilan)