Ten thousand words long article: Hand in hand teaching you how to play with private domain traffic

There are many articles discussing the concept of private domain traffic , and the author will start with cases and operational methodologies to help everyone understand what kind of products are suitable for private domain traffic operations, what processes and execution points need to be followed for operation, and help everyone understand private domain traffic and how to use it to achieve user growth.

This article will reveal the true face of private domain traffic from the following 7 aspects to help online education peers achieve user growth at low cost:

1. What is private domain traffic?
2. What is private domain traffic?
3. How to use private domain traffic?
4. Three keys to private domain traffic operation
5. 2 ways to start private domain traffic
6. Online education private domain product creation
7. WeChat personal account private domain operation process

01 What is “private domain traffic”?

Before answering this question, we must first know the concept that is opposite to it - "public domain traffic". The so-called "public domain traffic" is traffic that everyone can use, but it requires a certain cost and is not necessarily sustainable.

Specifically, they are offline traffic and several major Internet traffic users such as BAT, especially the latter, such as WeChat, QQ, Tmall, Taobao, Baidu, Douyin, Kuaishou, Weibo, JD.com, Toutiao, Pinduoduo, etc., as well as platforms that are relatively vertical in the field but also have abundant traffic, such as Zhihu, Jianshu, Babytree, Xiaohongshu, etc.

So what is “private domain traffic”? The so-called "private domain traffic" is a controllable traffic pool based on the "public domain traffic" platform.

Let’s take WeChat as an example. For the entire WeChat ecosystem, 1 billion active accounts are “public domain traffic”. For each individual WeChat public account, WeChat group, and WeChat personal account, their fans, group members, and friends are “private domain traffic” because these can be independently operated and maintained by the people who own the public account, WeChat group, and personal account.

Therefore, the relationship between "public domain traffic" and "private domain traffic" can be represented by the following figure:

It can be seen that "private domain traffic" has many advantages compared with "public domain traffic", the biggest of which is control. As long as it does not violate the bottom line of the "public domain traffic" platform's rules, it will no longer be constrained, and this can minimize the cost of acquiring customers.

Why do you say that? Let me give you a very simple example.

If you spend hundreds of dollars on Baidu keywords to get a lead, but it is not converted, and you direct the traffic to your personal WeChat account through search optimization, and get good conversions through careful operation, if you do a rough calculation, the former method costs hundreds of dollars to acquire customers, while the latter method costs nothing.

Therefore, it is not surprising why so many people are vigorously pursuing the concept of "private domain traffic", because its purpose is to help everyone turn traffic into customers at low cost.

02 What is “private domain traffic”?

Since “private domain traffic” is so useful, what are its specific forms? This also requires starting with the nature of "private domain traffic".

The essence of the so-called "private domain traffic" refers to the management of user relationships. Because "private domain traffic" is controllable, it means that our relationship with users can be relatively close or relatively distant. In other words, this relationship can be divided into different levels.

1. The most superficial level: fans

The most superficial "private traffic" is the fans on social accounts such as official accounts, Weibo, and Toutiao. This is the most basic "private traffic" and also the "private traffic" with the shallowest trust relationship.

The information received by fan-type "private domain traffic" is often one-way, and it relies on the operator's continuous one-way output to maintain retention. The more the content suits the fans' tastes, the better the conversion effect. This is also the operating logic of WeChat public accounts (mainly subscription accounts).

2. Middle layer: community

A deeper level of "private traffic" than fans is the community, that is, the same WeChat group or QQ group, where members are at least group members, not necessarily friends, but are gathered together in some way and communicate with each other around a common interest.

Community-based "private domain traffic" receives multi-directional information and has a higher level of trust than fans. It also improves conversion effects through continuous community-based operations such as group activities, group discussions, group live broadcasts, etc.

3. Second level: Friends

A type of "private domain traffic" that is even deeper than social networks is friend relationships, mainly WeChat friends and QQ friends, because these two are currently the most important instant messaging tools in China, and almost everyone's social relationships are accumulated on them.

Friend-type "private domain traffic" is the most discussed type of "private domain traffic" at present. The main reason is that it has the highest level of trust and the best conversion effect. After all, friends can communicate directly and frequently and are easy to trust each other. As long as refined operations are guaranteed and products are recommended frequently, there will be very good monetization.

4. Deepest layer: CRM system

Is the level of “private domain traffic” determined by the trust relationship? My initial answer was yes, but as I practiced more and more and observed more and more people, I found that it is not trust that determines the level of "private domain traffic" but the intensity of relationship management. From this perspective, the CRM system is the deepest level of "private domain traffic".

Official websites, independent apps, WeChat service accounts, mini-programs, personal stores, personal accounts and community operation tools, etc., all have CRM systems that record a series of user behavior data from browsing, registration, login, reservation, use, payment, etc., and automatically manage labels based on these data and user information. This can achieve personalized operations and marketing for thousands of people, and is the best conversion tool in this era of traffic anxiety.

Therefore, the types of "private domain traffic" mainly include four categories, and based on the hierarchical relationship, they can be ranked as follows: CRM system>friends>community>fans.

03 How to play with “private domain traffic”?

As mentioned earlier, most people frequently mention "private domain traffic" in order to solve problems such as customer acquisition, monetization, and growth. The core of achieving this is to find ways to use "private domain traffic" to achieve these goals. How to do it specifically?

1. Find products suitable for "private domain traffic"

What kind of products are suitable for “private domain traffic”? This needs to start with the characteristics of "private domain traffic", which someone once summarized as follows:

1. High average order value: Because of the need to maintain user relationships, higher costs are inevitable, especially labor costs, which naturally require a high price.
2. High repurchase rate: Getting users to continue purchasing is the core prerequisite for maintaining a relationship. If the product does not need to be repurchased, "private domain traffic" is basically useless.
3. High topicality: Purchase is not the only way to build a relationship with users. It may be more meaningful to let users participate in the product itself.

So, what kind of products meet the three characteristics of “private domain traffic”? In fact, there are many, including beauty, education, insurance, catering, medical beauty, etc., which are all suitable for operation with the thinking of "private domain traffic".

It took a dozen months for an online education company to go directly from Series A financing to listing in the United States. The most fundamental reason for this is that its products are large-class online K12 courses, which are typically high-priced, high-repurchase, and highly talked-about, making them very suitable for operations with "private domain traffic."

For example, it covers the entire stage from kindergarten to college entrance examination, so it naturally has the possibility of repeat purchase; the degree of standardization is low, and the form is "content + service", which requires a relatively high investment cost; in terms of scenarios, students can compete with each other, and parents can spread word of mouth, and it is very topical.

Therefore, based on the "three highs" attributes of K12 products, it designed the "private domain traffic" operating logic shown in the figure below.

From this chart, we can see that transforming "public domain traffic" (WeChat, Toutiao, Douyin, etc.) into "private domain traffic" (WeChat account, WeChat group) and having products suitable for "private domain traffic" (k12 online courses) take over is the core of achieving growth.

So, how to implement the operating logic of "private domain traffic" in detail?

2. Determine the core carrier for depositing "private domain traffic"

The premise for implementation is to determine what the carrier of "private domain traffic" is. For those who really want to achieve stable customer acquisition through "private domain traffic", WeChat personal accounts and apps, service accounts, stores, etc. based on CRM systems are the only two choices. The reasons have been explained in the second part.

In fact, the CRM system is more widely used by enterprises, and is more in the field of product technology. For operators, personal WeChat accounts are the most frequently used and are easier to use.

The author once saw an operator engaged in offline education, who used his personal account as the core sedimentation carrier of "private domain traffic", cumulatively attracting more than 100,000 precise traffic for offline stores and realizing 20,000 in cash in a single day.

Another example is the well-known marketing influencer "Doris", who once cited the example of Perfect Diary. The latter used the "private domain traffic" method to create a personal WeChat KOC (amateur blogger), which stood out in the Double 11 in 2018 and became a dark horse in the cosmetics industry.

What is even more exaggerated is that many organizations that are good at playing with traffic, such as wool parties, micro-businesses, and gray and black industries, have also begun to study "private domain traffic". They package and utilize personal accounts. The lower-level operations are to create anxiety and "cut leeks", while the more advanced ones are to raise accounts, brush orders, and wool the wool to engage in gray and black business.

Of course, these are the wrong ways to use “private domain traffic”, so don’t use them.

In fact, the above is just to prove the role of WeChat personal accounts as a base for "private domain traffic". Therefore, as long as the operation strategy is designed based on WeChat personal accounts, it can effectively acquire customers and realize monetization.

3. Design a specific operational strategy for “private domain traffic”

The operational strategy of "private domain traffic" is to specifically clarify the approximate operational actions of each link based on a certain model, and the operational links of "private domain traffic" generally go through the following steps: traffic diversion -> fission -> conversion -> transaction -> repeat purchase.

Next, taking personal accounts as an example, we will briefly describe the operational actions that can be performed in these links.

(1) Traffic generation

First, design the traffic-generating products to create a certain asymmetry and trigger demand, and then use the delivery to the "public domain traffic pool" to collect data. The second step is to polish the copywriting logic, including the video script. For example, if you want to direct traffic to a personal account through Douyin, you need to shoot short videos repeatedly. It is impossible to just shoot a video and say "everyone add me" and then it's over.

(2) Fission link

The two most critical things are to sort out the fission path and to design an incentive plan for both parties. The core of the former is to form a closed loop to avoid breaking the traffic chain. It is best for personal accounts to be the beginning and end of the closed loop. The latter pays attention to whether the incentive is attractive, with scarcity and super value as the main principles, to avoid affecting the exponential growth effect.

(3) Conversion stage

In order to maximize the purchasing potential of personal account friends, it is necessary to build a community and centrally operate these "private domain traffic". After the community is built, it is necessary to design a series of activities for the purpose of activation, such as live broadcast, check-in, chain, flash sale, coupon issuance, etc., to trigger a climax and pave the way for the transaction.

(4) Transaction and repurchase

After activation, "private domain traffic" will complete some conversions within the community, and more transactions and repeat purchases need to be achieved through private chats, circle of friends scripts, etc. For example, all friends can be managed by labeling, accurately locating needs through communication, and providing personalized value services such as feedback and answering questions to build trust and create the possibility of monetization.

At this point, as long as the operational strategies of the above links are implemented, and the private domain traffic carriers (mainly personal WeChat accounts) are targeted for positioning transformation (for example, sharing practical information and comments in the circle of friends with the image of an expert), "private domain traffic" can achieve services for customer acquisition, monetization, and growth.

04 Three Keys to “Private Domain Traffic” Operation

1. Establish a personal image

To be honest, I didn’t have the concept of personal setting before. I started to have a feeling about this concept when I was doing writing as a side job. During a company meeting, my colleagues said that I was a KOL in the operation circle. I said, "Don't joke." But now I think about it, I really am starting to have some influence.

Once a person becomes influential, he or she will be labeled by people who follow him or her. Many labels will be combined into a virtual "person", which is the persona. When others mention a certain label, they will think of you, but what they think of is not just your name, but the impression you give to others, such as fairness, fun, depth, practicality, etc.

In fact, "personality" is not a word that can be accepted in high-class society. Instead, another word is mentioned repeatedly, that is IP, or more specifically, personal IP. When I was reading the book "Private Domain Traffic", I understood one of the points: IP itself is a private domain traffic pool because it comes with its own traffic. This is the same as what is said in “Traffic Pool”: “Brand is the traffic pool”.

The traffic brought by brands and IP belongs to the flow of mind, that is, the flow of people's hearts. This is the most real traffic, but it is difficult to quantify. However, once discovered, it will feel very accurate and has high stickiness. This should be the reason why it is considered to be private domain traffic.

During my retreat, my partner Songyue has been getting along well with the friends in the Wild Community and has won many loyal fans because she is versatile and hardworking. Her true personality is very contagious. She also publishes a year-end summary in her personal name every month, and the number of readers far exceeds the usual tweets of Wild Operations. This is the role of private domain operations of personal IP.

Of course, both Songyue and I still have a long way to go to create a real personal IP, but this proves that private domain traffic operation is not simply about posting advertisements and making products, but about considering tone and labels. The flow of people's hearts is the most stable traffic.

2. Fine promotion

Refined operation has always been a very important aspect of private domain operation. For a long time, I have always believed that private domain operation is refined operation. This view is actually worthy of consideration, because the premise of refinement is controllable traffic, and the operation of pure public domain traffic is mostly rough.

For example, the traffic operation of the app is a private domain form that completely accumulates traffic. It uses data tags to push personalized messages and attract benefits to achieve the purpose of retention and conversion. There is a process of refined operation involved, such as how to label users, what content to push, and how to guide them to receive benefits. These all need to be gradually refined.

I have been engaged in the operation of Tencent traffic for a long time. The core is group chat, such as QQ group and WeChat group. From letting users join the group to triggering group members to reply and then to group members purchasing products, if this path is to achieve the expected results, the importance of refinement is self-evident. Although I have always understood this issue, it was not until recently that I really felt how important it is. There are two main points.

First, the refinement of private domain traffic must be achieved at the user level.

What are the user groups? What are the traffic characteristics of these groups? What areas and needs can be subdivided? These issues are the main basis for user segmentation and the prerequisite for formulating targeted operation strategies.

Moreover, unlike app traffic which can be stratified and classified into groups through big data tags, social network traffic often requires manpower to identify. If you have your own product system, you must guide users to register and bind with WeChat.

As long as the user level is refined enough, the product monetization effect will be greatly improved.

Second, the refinement of private domain traffic requires the refinement of operational details.

For example, a shorter and clearer user path can bring a very amazing user experience, which will have a direct impact on operational results.

I often use this example to illustrate a problem: A leading education company conducted an unlocking fission activity. In order to increase the attention rate of the official account, it broke down the post-payment attention process into three steps. Users followed the instructions almost mindlessly, and the attention rate increased to 95%.

Another example is community promotion:

I recently asked my friends to break down any activation actions, such as checking in, live streaming, and lucky draws, into many small steps, and to gradually and patiently guide users in the group to participate in the interaction according to the instructions. The activity level will be much better than simply pushing content.

No matter what purpose I am carrying out operations, refinement is an issue that I pay special attention to, because operations are all about details, the more detailed the better. This will help discover more problems, allowing for rapid iterative optimization to achieve the best possible results.

3. Focus on monetization

What is the purpose of private domain traffic operation? My answer is monetization and repeat purchases, that is, getting users to continue paying, of course, through the products and services we provide. This is a transaction model based on deep trust.

However, I see that many people still understand private domains as "this traffic is mine" rather than "this traffic makes it easier for me to make money."

You should know that the reason why private domain is called private domain is because the traffic has a high degree of trust in you, which can help you reduce the conversion cycle and increase the conversion rate. However, I have seen some people who are very "sympathetic" to private domain traffic and dare not cash it out easily. The fundamental reason is that they think that this traffic is not "mine."

For example, many people wait until the service is complete before starting group conversion. Although the starting point is to provide complete service before impressing users, users’ decisions are often irrational. They may pay halfway through the experience. If you wait until the service is completed before converting, the user’s enthusiasm has gone down and they will no longer pay attention to you. At this time, the traffic is no longer "yours" and the private domain is no longer a private domain.

Therefore, monetization should be the core purpose of private domain operations. From the moment you add friends to the community, you must try your best to convert the other party and convert all the private domain traffic you have. This conversion can be very light, such as leaving clues.

05 Two ways to start "private domain traffic"

1. Free start

Free starting is currently one of the main ways to start private domain traffic, that is, using free products as bait to complete the cold start of traffic, specifically including starting with personal accounts, public accounts, WeChat groups and mini programs.

Let’s take the example of starting a personal account and break down the detailed process.

First of all, you need to find traffic pools in major channels, and output content, bait and personal WeChat to guide people to add friends. There are many specific channels, such as BAT, Toutiao, e-commerce platforms, video platforms, information platforms, Q&A platforms, community platforms, etc.

For personal accounts, there is a very practical way to find traffic, that is to find WeChat groups. You can search for WeChat groups directly on WeChat and Sogou, and you will see many QR codes for joining the group. Just scan the code to enter.

Secondly, after adding friends, guide users to release free products and conduct fission. There are two paths for fission:

1. Forced sharing: add friends - provide posters and scripts - ask to share and take screenshots - reply with screenshots - traffic cycle.
2. Assist with invitations: add friends - reply with an invitation code or directly obtain the script and poster - invite a specified number of friends to add - traffic cycle.

It should be noted that forced sharing should not be emphasized only in the circle of friends. At present, it should be directed more towards WeChat groups (the same below). As for the reason, you know, and for the sake of caution, it is recommended to use the second personal account fission method more often.

Finally, users who pass the fission review are pulled into the WeChat group through their personal accounts to complete the initial traffic start-up.

Case: Penguin Tutoring, which uses "service account + personal account" as the initial traffic pool to attract the addition of personal accounts. At the same time, it uses different benefits as bait, uses the fission method of assistance invitation to complete the start-up, and imports it into WeChat group operations.

The underlying logic for launching public accounts, WeChat groups, and mini programs is the same as that for launching personal accounts. The difference lies in the different traffic conversion positions.

The general process of starting a public account: release free products through external channels and on the public account and leave the public account entrance - get a mandatory sharing poster or a prompt to invite friends after following - share successfully or invite a certain number of friends successfully - get the WeChat group entrance - join the group and operate.

The general process of setting up a WeChat group is as follows: release products on various channels and leave a WeChat group QR code - after joining the group, you will receive a mandatory sharing poster or a prompt to invite friends - share successfully and take a screenshot and reply to the group or directly invite a certain number of friends to join the group - pass the review - obtain a personal account QR code - join the group and operate after adding.

There are many cases of launching public accounts and WeChat groups, so this article will not list them all, but focus on the launch of mini programs.

The general process of launching a mini program is as follows: publish products on various channels and leave the mini program QR code - get a prompt to invite friends after entering - share the mini program or poster - successfully invite a certain number of friends to join the mini program - reply with keywords after the review is passed to get a personal account/WeChat group QR code - join the group and operate.

Case: Tencent’s Mangzhong Special Training Camp uses the mini-program as the starting point, which allows for live broadcasts, playbacks, and fission invitations for courses, and highlights a special entrance to guide users into the WeChat group.

2. Paid start

Paid start-up is another major way to start private domain traffic.

From a big-picture logical point of view, it can be seen as a paid transformation of the free start-up, but the reality is that the paid start-up methods are more diverse, more effective, and more precise, so if you want to do the initial accumulation of private domain traffic, the author recommends this method.

This is because the fission method adopted by the paid start-up uses low prices and bonuses as incentives, which is itself designed for the payment link, and payment, compared to free, has the function of screening users.

The most important point is that the content that users pay for is mostly of a traffic-generating nature, with a pricing range of 1-49 yuan, with common ones being 1 yuan, 9 yuan, 19.9 yuan and 29.9 yuan.

Next, I will briefly introduce the general path of paid startup and the main fission methods.

Starting path: Release products on various channels and leave a payment entrance - pay and follow the official account - share posters and invite friends through group buying/unlocking/distribution/bargaining and other fission methods - share and invite successfully - add personal account - join the group and operate.

Fission method:

(1) Group buying

The group leader and group members purchase products in groups at a price lower than the original price, which is generally used to increase the volume of high-frequency or low-unit-price products.

Case: An online education platform used 10 online live broadcasts to successfully sell 170,000 group classes for three people at RMB 19.9.

(2) Unlock

First purchase a part of the product at a low price, such as the first lesson, and then invite friends to purchase the first lesson to unlock the remaining products.

Case: A leading educational institution adopted a fission model of unlocking the first class for 1 yuan and acquired more than 100,000 precise paying users in 5 days.

(3) Distribution

Users generate invitation posters, and their friends purchase products through the invitation posters, and they earn a certain percentage of the profits.

Case: New World Marketing Course, NetEase Xijing Course and other courses designed distribution fission above level 2, all achieved screen dominance on the same day, but were later banned.

(4) Bargaining

Users can bargain by themselves, then initiate bargaining and invite friends to help bargain until the target price is reached, such as 1 yuan, and then get the product.

Case: A K12 light course model product imitated Pinduoduo's bargaining method and launched the "Buy Sudoku Course for 1 Yuan" activity, with significant results.

06 Creation of private domain products for online education

After private domain traffic accumulates, it needs to be operated. The best way to make users feel involved and valued is to provide content. For online education, there are two specific content forms that have been proven to be effective, namely live broadcast and training camps.

1. Live Broadcast

Live streaming has both service and conversion attributes. Its essence is to impress users with the level of famous teachers and urgently needed content, among which content is the absolute core. When polishing content, two issues must be clarified: what to say and how to say it.

The choice of live broadcast content is mainly determined by the field. For example, live broadcasts in the education industry are divided into categories such as further education and subject areas. Different types have different requirements for teachers and different depths.

Of course, most of the time the content of the live broadcast is decided by the teacher, and even the outline is drawn up by the teacher. After all, it has to reflect professionalism. For example, a live broadcast class in an online education is taught by a professional teacher, and what the operators can do is to control and improve it.

(1) How to control it?

• First, the operator must become a listener and ask questions and make suggestions to the teacher from the audience's perspective. This process should be done at least once, and as many as three to five times.
• The second is the live broadcast test, which rehearses the entire process, from the warm-up before the live broadcast, to the product conversion and information collection during the live broadcast, and then to the Q&A after the live broadcast, to check for all possible problems.
• Finally, it is time to check the details of the PPT, live broadcast equipment, etc., such as sound volume, picture emotion, delay, text color, animation presentation, etc.

(2) How to improve it?

The main part that needs to be improved is the conversion link of live broadcast, and the following details need to be paid attention to:

• Content framework: Adhering to the basic logic of "what-why-how", the advantage of this is that it is easy for teachers to sort out their thoughts and the audience to understand.
• Product conversion: The conversion process is concentrated on the "what to do" part. At this time, it is generally linked to the product selling points. The design must avoid being abrupt and use cases to convince users.
• Product recommendation: After the main content, it is the formal product introduction part. It is recommended to use video or physical display to allow users to have a preliminary experience of the product and understand its characteristics and usage effects.

2. Training Camp

Boot camp is another way to enhance users’ sense of value. Its product details can be designed based on the addiction model, namely “trigger-action-variable rewards-investment”.

(1) Trigger

It is divided into external triggers and internal triggers. External triggers are daily class reminders and check-in reminders in the community, such as posting group announcements, sending red envelopes, etc. Internal triggers are the impact of course content and class formats on students. This is the core key point for whether the trigger can be effective.

The course content should be polished according to user needs and authoritative systems. The teaching format should be based on the principle of immersion and find ways to improve attention and interactivity.

(2) Action

After internal and external triggers, users will complete specific actions, namely practice and check-in, motivated by the desire to test their learning outcomes. However, according to "action = motivation + ability + trigger", in order to successfully complete practice and check-in, it is necessary to make this behavior simple and easy, that is, the method of practice and check-in does not require any learning cost.

Regarding this point, we need to consider two aspects. One is the content of practice and check-in. It is best to choose content that takes less time. The second is the specific method of check-in, which can be solved by using a check-in mini program.

(3) Variable rewards

During the check-in session, many training camps choose to ask students to write texts or make mind maps. This is obviously not in line with the principle of simplicity and requires extremely high rewards as a driving force. If this driving force is set reasonably, it will be very effective for students' investment in learning.

Rewards are generally divided into three types, and each corresponding strategy is briefly listed:

• Social rewards: People naturally desire to be recognized, so this can be satisfied by setting up question-and-answer sessions and guiding students to share their views.
• Prey Reward: Prey is anything that satisfies a certain need, such as money, information, resources, etc. The corresponding strategies include teaming up to punch in to get bonuses, and persisting in punching in to get rare information.
• Self-reward: that is, the desire for pleasure. Based on this, a high-difficulty challenge activity can be designed on the basis of the original course to stimulate students' enthusiasm for participation and make them feel that what they have learned is useful.

(4) Investment

Through the three steps of triggering, action and reward, we can basically change the students' behavior and make learning continuous. However, it is obviously more important to make students voluntarily continue to participate in learning in the training camp.

The strategy that can be formulated based on this is to gamify lectures and check-ins, and design them according to the PBL model, namely points, badges, and leaderboards.

For example: points can be obtained by attending classes and checking in, and points can be used for redemption and rewards; different number of study days correspond to different achievement levels; the points ranking list is updated regularly, and users with high rankings are rewarded, etc.

07 WeChat personal account private domain operation process

1. Account creation

The first step in operating a personal WeChat account is to create a high-quality account, which is different from the private accounts we use in daily life, and also different from those advertising accounts that can be seen everywhere and recognized at a glance.

To “nurture” such an account, two things need to be done, namely, building a personal image and establishing a circle of friends.

(1) Character creation

The so-called character building is to shape your WeChat personal account into an easily recognizable account, so that when people add you as a friend, they can easily see what you do. In this way, they will think of you when they have needs.

The areas where a personal WeChat account can reflect one’s personality are the following: nickname, signature, avatar and homepage background wall. People who often use personal accounts call them the “four-piece set.”

How is a “four-piece set” generally designed? The core principle is to fill content around a unified persona. For example, an online education WeChat account can create an expert persona, such as an admissions expert, a family education consultant, etc., and turn the account into a professional KOC. The specific design can be as follows:

• Nickname: Institution name + teacher/real name, such as "New Oriental Teacher Xiao He".
• Signature: A concise resume, such as "focusing on physics teaching for 10 years, helping children avoid learning difficulties"; or conveying feelings, such as "making children fall in love with learning is the greatest motivation."
• Avatar: Use the organization’s logo less often. You can use cartoon animal images that symbolize the company. Try to use professional or daily life photos.
• Home page background wall: There are two types. One is a picture version of a personal introduction that highlights professional resume and matches the company's tone; the other is a picture guide that guides people to view content in the Moments.

(2) Building a circle of friends

For personal accounts, the circle of friends is its greatest value. Good content in the circle of friends will accelerate the trust of others, because 99% of people’s first action after adding a friend is to check the circle of friends. This is the first step to understand the other person, and can even directly judge what kind of person the other person is. This shows the importance of building a circle of friends.

For WeChat accounts whose purpose is to serve corporate growth, the Moments are mostly company-related content. Such Moments are worthless. The Moments of more personal accounts are "shelf advertisements."

A good circle of friends can definitely help others. If they have a problem, they can find relevant solutions by looking through your circle of friends. It doesn't have to be a complete solution, but at least it can give some inspiration.

Regarding the types of content in Moments, the following three are recommended for reasonable planning and allocation:

1. Useful information: useful information related to the field, which can be in any form such as pictures, text, articles, short videos, etc.
2. Chicken soup: short stories or golden sentences with positive energy and emotional guidance, accompanied by emoticons, daily signs or posters;
3. Evaluation: Evaluation and recommendation of practical products related to the field you are in. These can be your own products or other brands. For example, in the education field, you can recommend books, pens, notebooks and other learning supplies.

One thing to emphasize here is that the above methods are only personal suggestions, not absolute principles. Because WeChat is a social network among acquaintances, trust always comes first. The more lifelike a personal account is, the easier it is to create a sense of intimacy and the less likely it is to lose friends.

2. Content Operation

A personal WeChat account can have an impact on friends. In addition to one-on-one communication, what is more important is whether the content provided to the other party is valuable, such as sharing in the circle of friends, private chat information, etc.

Especially for the traffic and retention of personal accounts, good content plays an almost decisive role, especially for personal accounts with amateur personalities and no authoritative endorsement. The most effective way is to provide valuable content that meets urgent needs.

So how do you find and operate such content?

What we can be clear about is that content is not found out of thin air, but must fit the needs of target users. This is the most important work to be done before looking for content. There are three main specific methods, namely user research, tracking competitors and industry hotspots.

After determining the content direction based on these methods, you can collect content materials step by step.

One of the most important ways to find content is to search the entire Internet. The basic logic is to list as many keywords as possible for all the content in this field, and then search on Baidu, WeChat and other platforms in turn, giving priority to free downloads, and then paid downloads.

Of course, during the search process you will encounter many links that ask you to enter personal information. You must be cautious about this. In addition, if you need to add a WeChat account to obtain the content, you will generally be asked to pay first. If you can afford it or think the content is worth it, you can choose it.

In addition, another way to find content is to join multiple vertical forums, niche public accounts, paid communities, knowledge planets, etc., download all the content in them, and then store them on your own content platform, such as Baidu Netdisk, or download them directly to your computer.

Of course, if you find it troublesome to search and want to produce it yourself, that is also possible, provided that you have the skills or a corresponding content team. If you have the conditions and resources, it is recommended as this will become your core barrier.

After we find the content, we need to classify and organize it, because we will search for it frequently in the future and will continue to introduce content. A messy content library is very detrimental to the overall operational efficiency and effectiveness.

Because the classification standards for content in different fields are different, it is difficult to provide a methodology for building a content library, but there are only two basic principles:

• The classification should be detailed and clear. Each category and each subcategory should be stored in a separate folder and have a unified naming convention to facilitate search.
• Make reasonable arrangements for the time, purpose and frequency of use. It is best to establish a scheduling system to avoid mixing and misuse.

For example, in order to output useful information to the circle of friends, you need to plan reasonably what to post every day. These contents will form a schedule, which can reduce the release of duplicate and low-quality content and greatly reduce the bad experience.

3. Find seed users

When "raising" a personal WeChat account, you will be required to save a group of friends and do some interactions to reduce the risk of subsequent large-scale additions. After the preparation period, you need to find real seed users to reserve user resources for continuous new user acquisition and conversion.

In fact, traffic from any channel can be used as a source of users for a personal account, but the author only organizes the search methods for WeChat groups, because WeChat groups are the most convenient channel for adding people, which is faster and more direct than attracting traffic from outside WeChat.

(1) Search from the official account

Normal public accounts will have an entrance to join the group, either in the menu bar, or leaving a personal account for you to add and then pull you into the group.

(2) Search using WeChat or Sogou

Directly search for keywords related to "group" or activities on WeChat or Sogou, and you will find that many articles contain group QR codes or personal account QR codes. You can filter out the valid entries and apply to add them.

(3) Actively join paid communities or knowledge planets

Compared with free communities, paid communities are much higher in terms of user quality and activity. If you want precise seed users, paid communities or Knowledge Planet are the first choice.

(4) Join the community of competing products

Any business that holds an event will set up an activity group. For example, any knowledge payment and education and training company that sells courses will set up a service group. All you have to do is participate, whether it is free or paid, as long as you make sure there are users suitable for you.

No matter which channel you use, as long as you enter the group, try your best to add friends. There are two best ways. One is to greet the group owner and ask him to recommend you actively. The other is to be active, such as sending red envelopes, information, opinions, etc., to add friends passively.

4. Precision Sales

The ultimate goal of operating a personal WeChat account is to increase conversions and repeat purchases with a high probability, and sales are the most critical link in the private domain operation system of a personal account. As for how to sell, the author has summarized two strategies.

(1) Layered conversion

All friends are managed by labels, and are stratified according to multiple dimensions such as channel source, communication frequency, whether they are in the group, whether they pay, etc. They are divided into multiple levels of users. Those with high levels are given priority for conversion, and those with low levels are guided into long-term traffic pool cultivation.

In fact, the specific conversion method needs to be designed according to the actual situation of friends. As for the long-term traffic pool, it can be completely replaced by a personal account. The method is to build a matrix number, namely the traffic number, activity number and transaction number, and the user accuracy increases successively.

(2) Script Release

Because the opening rate of Moments is the highest in the WeChat ecosystem, publishing Moments for marketing is a very efficient way, and the marketing method based on this is called script release. The underlying logic is to design marketing links in advance based on user psychology to improve conversion.

The specific steps are as follows:

• Product warm-up: create suspense in advance and arouse users' appetites. Countdown posters and unintelligent copywriting are the basic configurations.
• Interactive momentum: initiate interactive gameplay such as lottery and collection of likes. The prerequisite for participation is to spread the activities, with the purpose of expanding the momentum.
• Desire strengthening: Post screenshots of previous users' praise or use renderings on Moments to create trust and strengthen expectations.
• Limited pre-sale: Open a fixed quota product pre-sale entrance for a limited time, with the purpose of stimulating the first wave of intended users to convert.
• Authoritative recommendation: The heavyweight customers who display the purchase of products are often opinion leaders in a certain field, and the purpose is to strengthen conversion.
• Value Gift: Starting community promotions before the official release requires early placement. The event time is generally 1-3 days, imitating the press conference mode.
• Guide purchase: During the official release process, strategies such as limited time, limited quantity, and shelter will still be used. At the same time, new preferential measures such as gifts and group newspapers will be matched to ensure that users who are interested in conversion will be maximized.

In short, through layered conversion and script marketing, the vast majority of precise intention users can be basically covered. After conversion, you can achieve continuous repurchase with services beyond expectations. The rest can only rely on long-term cultivation and opportunity-based conversion.

The above is a comprehensive interpretation of all private domain traffic. It can be found that the most core logic is "content + operation", which is also the essence of all user growth methods.

Author: From PM to CPO

Source: From PM to CPO