The owner of a clothing store used Toutiao to promote her store. Within less than three months of opening her new store, 70% of her customers came from Toutiao fans.

One time, a short video she posted went viral overnight, with nearly 100,000 views and nearly 2,000 followers. She also attracted more than 500 followers to her WeChat account, most of whom were local fans.

The effect shocked her and made her feel that it was worthwhile to continue using Toutiao to attract traffic.

We all know that Toutiao is the big brother of self-media. As of this year, its user base has exceeded 650 million, which means that one out of every two people has registered for Toutiao , and the average daily usage time per person is 89.2 minutes .

(All information is covered in one app)

In addition, Toutiao has a massive amount of content, coupled with an artificial intelligence algorithm mechanism that is not based on the number of fans. Even an account with 0 fans can easily attract traffic through content. No matter what industry you are in (e-commerce, education, workplace, clothing, beauty, fitness, etc.), you can get a piece of the pie in the huge traffic pool of Toutiao.

But many friends who have tried it will say: "I did it too, but the effect was not great. The lowest number of reads was only a few dozen, and no one sent me private messages."

Why is this happening? It is very likely that you have not mastered the correct, practical and effective method.

At the beginning, we did not focus too much on the layout and operation of the Toutiao platform. It was just a platform for distributing articles.

After we operated it for a while, the results really surprised me:

From more than 7,000 fans, with a normal reading volume rarely exceeding 3,000, to nearly 50,000 fans in May this year, with a single article reading volume of more than 300,000, and many articles reading more than 100,000, in just 4 months, and ≈2,400 fans were added on WeChat, without spending a penny!

So, I spent nearly a week summarizing my practical experience in operating Toutiao for the past six months, so that you can understand Toutiao’s latest gameplay and secrets to increasing followers.

This article will explain in detail the four major traffic channels of Toutiao. The following figure is the directory of this article: (You can jump directly to the part where Toutiao’s operation is currently stuck, maybe there will be new inspiration~)

01. The first traffic entrance: long pictures and texts

3 topic sources, 4 headline techniques, 3 article frameworks

This is the first traffic entrance for Toutiao. Compared with Weitao, although the output here is more text, the fans attracted here are more sticky and accurate , and they can be posted at any time via mobile phone!

If you want your pictures and texts to get higher readership, you must first "please" the platform and get the first wave of traffic. The first recommendation volume and reading volume are related to these four factors: topic selection, title, content, and cover.

1. About the topic selection——Hot topics/related to me

As a news and information platform, Toutiao users are more interested in hot news/topics or information related to me. Regardless of whether it is a hot topic or a regular topic, there are three main sources:

①Search within Toutiao

The Toutiao platform itself "hides" a lot of content. We can find a lot of content in the background's creative hotspots, Toutiao hot lists, Toutiao searches, Xigua Video, Douyin, and Wukong Q&A.

When taking advantage of hot topics, you must pay attention to timeliness. Choose a hot topic related to your field that users care about. At the same time, you should express your own opinions, and it is best to have a unique and distinctive angle.

If you don’t know how many people have written about this topic, you can search for this keyword on Toutiao to see what they have written about and from what angles, and then choose to write about the one with less content.

The way I think about things is: what-why-how. For example, regarding the street stall economy that was popular some time ago, what writing angles do we have? Here are a few examples for your reference.

②Off-site: 5118 and Yizhuan

These two websites can be said to be material libraries for self-media people . They bring together hot topics from almost all mainstream platforms and can help you get all the materials for article creation in one stop. (including articles, pictures, data analysis)

③Self-selected question bank

If you want to have a steady supply of creative materials and topics and solve the problem of rapid content production from the root, a topic bank is a must. So where do the best topics come from?

One is obtained through communication with users.

For example, professionals on Toutiao like to read topical content, such as articles related to WeChat work groups, salaries, getting along with colleagues, upward management, self-discipline, etc. If you write a topic like this, more people will be recommended by the system.

The second is competitive product analysis.

Pay attention to several top competitors, or accounts with similar styles to your own field, to see what content they are writing, what writing angles they have, and what the article data feedback is. Then you can optimize and improve according to your own situation and build your own IP.

PS: There is no limit on the number of times you can post on Toutiao now. If you post 3-5 articles for one post, the chance of it going viral will be greater. I once tried posting 4 articles a day, and they all became popular overnight, bringing me nearly 1,000 new followers.

(PS: Toutiao no longer has the dual title function)

2. About the title: Make a proper title party

On the platform recommended by intelligent algorithms, the title is the booster of the article , accounting for 40% of whether the article can become a hit.

So what kind of headlines are more likely to go viral on Toutiao? I found that there are four main categories: novel content, breaking cognition, simple and practical, and triggering resonance.

(1) Highlights must be placed first, preferably combined with hot topics

People who like to read headlines mainly want to see more new information and opinions, so when writing headlines, not only the angle should be new, but highlights, hot words, important achievements, insightful opinions and other content must be put at the forefront.

(The numbers in brackets represent the number of readings)

Through a lot of tests, I concluded that the headline should have 2-3 sentences, divided into paragraphs with keywords, and 26-30 words, which makes it easier to get recommendations. (But be careful not to make the title inconsistent with the text)

For example, a recent hot event: Haidilao lost nearly 1 billion . When you create a related article, you can "pin" this event and generally get a good number of recommendations.

There are also some topical contents that are very easy to go viral. For example, why can McDonald's and Starbucks operate normally during the epidemic? Should restaurants close their businesses or continue operating? These contents that can arouse discussion have also attracted the attention of many people.

(2) Four elements of an eye-catching title: numbers, contrast, subversion of cognition, and association with authority.

① Numbers

Among a bunch of text, numbers are always the most eye-catching and very attractive. Can be used together with the highlight pre-adjustment. There are two structures for reference.

Numbers + Contrast + Suspense

for example:

(The numbers in brackets represent the number of readings)

Numbers + endorsement + background

For example: With only 2 million RMB, a realistic and tear-jerking Beijing was filmed, and Douban gave it a full score of 81,000.

Do you feel that the title alone tells a story? For example, in the first title, he started out by talking about books in a WeChat group, and then he made a comeback and earned 5 billion in 7 years. What did he do? How awesome is it that 30,000 people gave a video full marks? Once your curiosity is successfully aroused, you will click in to read it.

②Subverting cognition

To subvert cognition, simply put, is that your title expresses counterintuitive and counterintuitive viewpoints. Once people's cognition is subverted, they will become curious and click to browse your article.

③Related authority

Associate authority, that is, establish a relationship with famous people, events, or even companies, and use the celebrity and authority effect to add highlights to the title.

(3) Simple and practical, directly telling users what they can learn

Human nature is lazy. We always want to take shortcuts and hope that the path to get things is as short as possible.

So, if you tell users directly what they can get and make it easy to learn, they will definitely be interested.

(4) Touching people’s hearts and consistent with user values

What kind of content would you actively forward? Is it the one that can stir up your emotions and help you express your opinions? Therefore, when choosing a title, you can express your opinions and emotions in short sentences. For example:

(emotional words that easily resonate with people)

When you see good titles, you can collect them, extract the sentence patterns, and then directly apply them when you come up with titles. For example, "It's the same... Why...", "Just copy it", "A novice can do it too", "XXX says it works well", etc.

3. About the cover and article pictures

The picture and text covers of Toutiao are presented in two forms: one picture and three pictures .

Generally, the three-picture mode is recommended, with beautiful layout and easy access to key information. It is best to include 3-5 high-definition pictures in the article, with clear paragraphs to reduce reading pressure and obtain more recommendations.

4. About the content of the article

Regarding the content of the article, because there are many fields and the industry characteristics are different, you can write according to your own target audience. Try to talk about one thing or one theme in one article. It is best to use a storytelling method, which will make users more interested in reading it.

The article does not need to be too long, about 1000-2000 words will be enough , with subheadings. Each paragraph should not exceed 5 lines. Use more short sentences and speak more "human language". You can leave a small topic at the end of the article to attract user comments and interactions and increase recommendations.

There are 3 article frameworks that you can refer to and see if you can create one based on your own field.

(Focus on vertical field creation. Don’t post workplace articles today and marketing articles tomorrow. This is not conducive to accurate traffic recommendation.

5. What else should I do after publishing the article?

According to platform rules, the key time points that affect article push are 24 hours and 72 hours respectively.

After posting the article, share it to Weitao, Weibo or other platforms , or forward it to company groups or reader groups, so that everyone can click in to read, browse, comment, forward, and collect it to get more recommendations.

PS: Although Toutiao articles support 5 revisions, please do not do it too frequently. We will recommend them again after each revision.

In addition, you should also regularly analyze article data and adjust the topic selection and writing direction in a timely manner. These data can let you know what types of articles users like to read. ?

(See the number of reads, comments, reposts, and favorites)

02. The second largest text traffic platform: Wukong Q&A

4 Tips on Choosing Questions

This is the second relatively important text platform on Toutiao, and its counterpart is Zhihu. It also has a separate app , and traffic is also gained through algorithmic recommendations on Toutiao.

You might say: I did that too, but I read very little.

This has a lot to do with your choice of topic. Here are 4 tips on how to choose questions:

1. Look at the number of collections and answers of the question

There are too few collections, which means that other people are not interested in this issue.

Too few answers means that the system rarely pushes this question and there is no traffic.

TIPS: When the number of collections is greater than the number of answers, it means that the quality of the answers is average and does not meet the needs of readers. This question is also of concern to everyone. At this time, if your answer is more detailed, the number of readers will be higher.)

Choose questions with at least 5 favorites and 10 answers , so the reading volume won't be too bad. Of course, there are some common topics that are popular in themselves that you can also answer.

According to the latest rules of Toutiao, you cannot use the same article for multiple purposes , so when choosing questions, try to choose those with relatively high numbers of answers and collections.

2. Answer questions related to your field

If you are selling parenting courses, find some questions that mothers are concerned about and answer them; if you are selling skin care products, find questions related to skin care and makeup to write about. Otherwise, it will be difficult for the platform to recommend accurate users to you.

There is no technical skill in the content of the Q&A. It does not need to be too long, about 500-1000 words. It is best to write it based on personal experience , as if you were sharing and communicating with others, rather than a full-length theoretical lecture. Try to be down-to-earth.

3. If there is a hot spot, it will be better and the system will recommend more.

For example, on World Book Day, I searched for questions related to reading on Toutiao and simply shared a reading method I was using. I didn’t expect that one article would get over 100,000 views. You know, if it were on WeChat, you might not be able to achieve that even if you were bald.

4. Don’t answer these two types of questions

①Expiration issue

There is no recommended amount due to expiration! ! When you are looking for a problem, just click in and you will find the answer. The system will prompt you.

Also pay attention to the time of the first few answers. If the first answer is from 3 years ago, give up, as the system will recommend very few of them.

② There are too many answers + the answers with very high quality will be passed over. The competition is too fierce and the recommendation volume will not be very high.

Also, after posting, remember to check whether the answer has been recommended to the front page of Toutiao , otherwise the number of recommendations will be very small~

(Just like Zhihu, the top answers have the most exposure, and the answers ranked lower are basically drowned out)

03. Toutiao’s friend circle: Wei Toutiao

4 ways to improve reading + 4 details

This is a product designed by Toutiao for social interaction, just like our Moments, but it is different because it is also recommended by algorithms, which means that people who don’t follow others can also see other people’s micro-Toutiao.

(The display format of Weitou.com)

The operation method is also very simple, just like the circle of friends, that is, text + pictures + conversion entrance.

Weitao has a very powerful function of increasing followers , and can also promote products and sell circles. At the same time, micro headlines are short, take less time, and can be posted in fragmented time.

If you want to read more, here are 4 ways to help you:

First, for hot events , the platform also gives a high number of recommendations.

Second, the beginning should be attractive and storytelling is very popular.

But it should be noted that whether you are following hot topics or telling stories, you need to appropriately combine your own field and content.

Third, if you want good quality, you need to provide some practical methods and suggestions in the content, and have your own opinions and insights , such as comments and views on the hottest events, or what inspirations and insights the story gives us. This is your own summary, experience, and opinion. In short, you want others to gain something after reading it. (Micro headlines are generally better with 150-500 words)

There is also topical content that can easily go viral, such as a point I shared before: many restaurant owners do not pay attention to adding customers on WeChat, and thus lose a lot of traffic.

This view caused a huge stir on Toutiao, with many people discussing it in the comments, and the content was widely spread in everyone's discussion. You can check Zhihu to see if there are any hot topics related to your industry. It is easy to go viral by writing and posting them on Weibo.

During the writing process, the useful information or pictures compiled can also be posted on Weibo. For example, an account called Short Video Training Gu Xiaoyu attracted 230,000 followers by sharing information on Weibo.

When sharing information, post a screenshot of some of the content to attract users and encourage them to come to you to claim it.

When editing the content of Weitou, I found that doing these 4 small details can also increase the completion rate~

The above is the part of creating headlines. Once the topic hits the tag, it is not a myth that a popular article can bring thousands of fans. Although it is not difficult to increase followers on Toutiao, no matter how many followers you have, if you don’t add WeChat = 0, what should you do?

04. No matter how many fans you have, if you don’t add WeChat = 0

How to use pictures and texts to attract users to add WeChat actively?

You cannot directly leave WeChat ID, QR code and other marketing advertising information in the headlines, otherwise the traffic will be restricted. What should I do?

We can start with the content of the article, cooperate with the private message function, and finally direct the traffic to WeChat or WeChat public account for transaction.

1. Reply to keywords in private messages

Whether it is an article, a Q&A, or a micro headline, we can guide everyone to follow you at the end, introduce who you are, what your expertise is, what value you can provide to everyone, and what content this account will continue to provide, giving them a reason to follow you.

Then ask them to forward and collect the article, and then send a private message with the keyword to receive the information. (Reposting and then sending a private message can increase the number of article recommendations. There is a big difference between saying it and not saying it.)

(It is best to set keywords to some easy-to-type words or numbers to reduce the user's action cost)

We can set up automatic keyword replies in advance on the Toutiao backend and WeChat personal account management tools (such as Xingyun Retention). Users can immediately obtain contact information and data by simply triggering some of these words, shortening the path and reducing manual operation costs.

(Left: Toutiao backend private message settings; Right: Xingyun customer retention automatic reply settings)

2. Comments to attract traffic

A. Post/reply to comments in your own articles

For example, if you wrote an article sharing a social case, if someone asked you in the comments how to do it, you can reply "private message XXX" and then communicate with him on WeChat.

(Please note that the express version of Toutiao does not have the private message function)

When posting useful information on Weitao to attract traffic, put the method of obtaining it in the comment area + pin it to the top, and interested users will obtain it on their own.

B. Post/reply to comments in other people’s articles

Many articles by big Vs have millions of readers. You can be the first to leave a message in the comment section. The comments are targeted and you can ask others to like them after leaving the message.

The text of the comment is also crucial. Don’t just leave your contact information. You can write an article with keywords in the title in advance, and then guide everyone to search for the title of the article. People who are really interested will search for it.

3. Customize the Menu

Just like the custom menu bar of a public account, when users follow you and visit your homepage, they will see your function menu.

You can put your website, Taobao store, Youzan store and other platforms here. You are not allowed to put competing products with Toutiao. Please read the official instructions before doing this.

4. Article extension link

When we publish articles or videos, we can see an "extended link" below. This cannot be placed casually. It is best to be related to the content of the article you published, so that the fans attracted will be more accurate.

(You can put a website or business profile)

The above are the creation skills and traffic-generating methods for the graphic and text parts. So how to make short videos for Toutiao?

05. Xigua Video, which is also recommended by the algorithm, has 4 key factors that make it highly recommended

The short videos here are Xigua videos, not Douyin short videos. The display format, entrance, and playback time are all different.

The content here is also recommended by algorithms. As long as you publish content in a vertical field, you can be recommended precise matching users. This is something that many other platforms cannot match, and you can also sell goods through columns.

I won’t go into details about the content and topic selection of the video here. You can create it based on your own industry field. Let’s briefly talk about the four key factors that help Xigua Video achieve high recommendations and playback volumes.

(1) Title

If you have read Toutiao, you will find that Toutiao short videos tend to have long titles, usually two or three paragraphs, and the effect is better if the word count is between 26-30 words .

Because the title contains enough keywords, according to the algorithm, it will be recommended to more users who have identified these keywords, thus expanding the audience range;

In addition, you can also use special sentence patterns such as interrogative sentences, rhetorical questions, parallel sentences, three-paragraph sentences , or write a title on the video cover to attract more viewers' attention and increase click-through rate. (You can refer to the previous tips for taking titles for pictures and texts)

(2) Put the key content at the beginning of the video

The length of Xigua videos is generally more than 3 minutes . If users click in and don’t see what they expect, they may exit the video. Improving the completion rate of videos is also a key factor affecting recommendations.

So you need to put the key content in the front, or set up more bait hooks to attract users to watch the entire video bit by bit.

(3) Release time

During the day, the playback rate of short videos released in three time periods will generally be higher, namely around 1 o'clock, 13 o'clock and 18 o'clock.

Generally, the effect of posting in the afternoon will be much better than that in the morning . The traffic between 8-9 pm is also very large. You can create relevant content based on your own field and publish it.

(4) Interaction Index

Similarly, the number of comments, shares, and likes on a short video will also affect the number of recommendations and views. Therefore, within 24 hours of posting the short video, find some small accounts to comment and leave messages, use manual intervention to strengthen interaction and increase the platform's recommendations for the short video.

As for video editing tools, I recommend you to use Jianying , which can be easily operated on mobile phone.

How to use video to attract traffic?

At the end of the video, it says to follow XXX official account and reply with keyword XXX to get the information package, or you can just introduce yourself in a few simple sentences. It is not recommended to directly post the WeChat account, as it may be restricted during the review.

The best video shooting mode is horizontal (left picture). The right picture shows the vertical shooting mode.

Author: Teacher Kunlong

Source: Teacher Kunlong (ikunlong)

Related reading:

Toutiao account operation methods and strategies!

Experience and tips on how to increase followers and monetize on Toutiao!