As the gossip center of the entire Internet, Weibo is attracting more and more attention. Data shows that in the first half of 2018, the number of Weibo users in China reached 337 million, an increase of 21.4 million from the end of 2017. The number of Weibo users accounted for 42.1% of the total number of Internet users. Many people believe that Weibo has begun to decline.

For many new media operators, Weibo is still a new media marketing platform for acquiring traffic and getting started the fastest.

How should a newbie in new media operate Weibo? In fact, no matter which platform you choose, if you want to operate well, just follow the following five steps:

1. Familiar with Weibo
2. Clear positioning
3. Formulate the topic
4. Creative content
5. Promotional content

1. Be familiar with Weibo

No matter which platform you want to operate, you need to first understand the platform attributes and then understand the source of traffic.

Platform properties

Weibo has built China's largest social interest network. On Weibo, you can find like-minded people, share life with them, exchange experiences with them, and be spectators who don’t know the truth. In general, Weibo allows modern people who have nowhere to go to find a sense of belonging.

1. User characteristics: Weibo's monthly active users have been growing steadily, reaching 462 million in 2018. Compared with other traffic platforms, Weibo users tend to be younger, with the majority being between 23 and 30 years old, followed by those aged 18 to 22. In terms of the gender ratio, unlike Xiaohongshu, the proportion of male users on Weibo is slightly higher.
2. Content characteristics: Weibo users are very active in the pan-entertainment field, mainly in the fields of TV dramas, variety shows, celebrities, fashion, beauty, cute pets, etc.

Traffic sources

After understanding the platform attributes and user characteristics, you can start planning your marketing. So, before marketing, you also need to know where the traffic sources are.

There are many sources of Weibo traffic, including comprehensive popularity, user rankings, popular questions and answers, popular articles, super topics, hot topics, and drop-down words. The main traffic sources are the following four:

• Comprehensive hot spots: Comprehensive hot spots are the most core channel for traffic sources. They are also the channel with the highest information exposure and the most direct traffic-generating effect . Generally, Weibo posts with high-quality original content and relatively high overall rates of reposting and likes have the opportunity to become popular.

• User ranking, also known as personal Weibo ranking . When you want to search for users related to a certain keyword on Weibo, you will generally search according to the user ranking.

• Popular Q&A: We can gain traffic by asking and answering questions.

• Popular articles: Popular articles are the best channel to attract accurate fans. Fans attracted through content screening have a stronger sense of trust and the conversion rate will be higher in the later stage.

2. Clear positioning

After becoming familiar with the Weibo platform and registering a Weibo account, you must do a good job of positioning yourself so that you can plan the release of subsequent Weibo content. Weibo positioning includes personality positioning and content positioning:

Personal positioning

Positioning your personality on Weibo is actually like introducing yourself when you first meet someone and labeling yourself.

Take me for example. I am a Japanese major who switched to new media operations. My purpose is to give some experience to people who also want to change careers or new media professionals. So my profile can be written like this: A Japanese major who switched to new media operations ~ recording tips for changing careers. The introduction is my personal label, which allows users to have a clear understanding of me when they first follow me.

Content Targeting

Personal positioning is the premise of content positioning, and content positioning is to make users clearly understand what value they can get from you.

Everyone already knows who you are, so what do you do? What are you good at? You have to show it in the content. Your strengths/interests/products are your content, and by delivering valuable content, you can attract many users. Your positioning areas can be [black technology], [new media operation], [beauty], [COS], etc.

Taking myself as an example, my content positioning is [new media operation], so I can output a series of valuable information about new media operation, including [new media operation interview answering skills], [new media operation resume template], [5 major skills for public account operation], etc.

3. Formulate the topic

When formulating topics, we can determine the topics through target keywords. Among them, the target keywords include core keywords and derived keywords.

Core keywords

The so-called core keywords are actually the words with the simplest theme, and they are also the words with the highest search volume . When choosing core keywords, pay attention to the following two points:

1. Closely related to your Weibo positioning
2. People search for it every day and it is accurate

For example: My Weibo positioning is a Japanese major who switched to new media operations, and my purpose is to help newbies like me who have switched to new media operations. Then the core keyword I choose can be [switch to new media operation].

Derived keywords

Derivative keywords are also called related keywords, which are an extension of core keywords.

For example: on the premise that the core keyword is [switching to new media operations], the derived keywords can be [new media operations interview], [new media operations resume], [new media operations prospects] and other keywords related to switching to new media operations.

4. Creative Content

When creating content, pay attention to the quality and originality of the content. Do not copy and paste other people’s Weibo copy, and do not include any links or QR codes to avoid having your weight reduced. There are two main forms of microblog content:

Short Weibo

1. Word count: It is best to keep the word count to around 150 words. You can think of it as writing a diary and substitute your own personality to make it appear more realistic.
2. Illustrations: It is recommended to use 1, 4, 6 or 9 high-definition pictures. Keeping the pictures symmetrical will make them more beautiful and neat.

Top Articles

• Title: It is recommended to use double titles, which will be more attractive. For example, if I want to publish a headline article about switching to new media operations, I can write a title like this: "10 Essential Knowledge for Switching to New Media Operations (2): How to Switch to New Media Operations within Three Months"
• Introduction: The introduction should be concise and powerful, echo the content of the article, and be able to stimulate users' interest in reading. For example, if the title is "10 Essential Knowledge for Switching to New Media Operations (2): How to Switch to New Media Operations in Three Months", the introduction can be written like this: Here is a guide to quickly switching to new media operations~
• Cover image: There is an optimal size for the cover of a headline article. The official size is 1000X562px, and the information security area is 1000X400px. The information security zone means that when you open the headlines article to read, you can see the contents of the information security zone. Well, except for the information security zone, other areas cannot be seen. Similarly, in the 1000X562px size, the 1000X400px area is displayed, and the other 162px area is not displayed. After testing, the 162px area that is not displayed occupies 82px above and below. Therefore, the important content of the cover image will be concentrated in the middle 400px area.

• Text: In addition to ensuring the quality of the content, you should also pay attention to the layout, with both text and pictures, and the word count should be controlled between 1,000 and 3,000.
• Ending: At the end of the article, a CTA should be set to guide users to convert. However, since any external links/QR codes placed on the Weibo platform will reduce the weight , you can ask users to reply with keywords to request links/resources.

5. Promotion and traffic diversion

After the content is created, it’s time for the final step: how do you get users to pay attention to your content? Therefore, you need to promote and gain traffic. We will start from two aspects: traffic-generating copywriting and traffic-generating techniques.

Lead generation copywriting

The so-called traffic-generating copy is the text used to guide users to receive your resources/click on your link, which must be unique or attractive. For example:

In addition, the traffic-generating copy should be set in the first 3 to 4 lines of the short Weibo to prevent it from being folded , which will prevent users from paying attention to it in the first place. There are two types of traffic-generating copywriting: one is used for the Weibo content you post yourself, and the other can be used to intercept traffic from other popular Weibo posts.

Some of you may be interested in new media information, so you can just leave a message in the comment section.

Drainage techniques

• The direct method is suitable for Weibo corporate accounts or big V accounts. If it is a personal account, it is easy to cause user disgust and is not recommended. For example: [For more detailed information, please click + link].

• Targeted method: Create welfare resources for users based on the content of the article, and guide users to pay attention and receive them. For example, in my headline article “10 must-read knowledge points for switching to new media operations (1): Three perspectives to help you understand new media”, I created a welfare resource for users that is a practical resource on how to get started with new media.

• The incidental mention method: treat yourself as a user, talk about your own personal experience, and convince with your own achievements. This method is very suitable for the Weibo platform. It is neither too obvious nor too authentic. For example: When talking about your experience of entering the industry or learning new media, you can say that when I was just getting started, I also tried to sign up for new media courses, and what Teacher XX said about XXXXXX impressed me very much/it helped me a lot.

• To put it simply, the small account comment method is to use your own small account to lead the tone in the comment section of your own Weibo.

• The method to intercept traffic from other bloggers’ Weibo comment sections: Search based on the keywords in your own Weibo content, comment in the top-ranked Weibo comment sections, and attach your own UTM link.

But please note that in order to weaken your purpose and prevent bloggers from thinking that you are doing small advertising and thus deleting your comment. Your comments must be soft-text and not too direct.

As long as you follow the above five steps, even if you are a novice in Weibo operations , you can get started quickly and obtain a large amount of traffic on the Weibo platform.

Author: Banpie Private School

Source: Banpie Private School

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