From account maintenance to monetization, a practical guide to the entire process of private domain traffic

At the beginning of 2020, a sudden epidemic caused many companies and businesses to pay attention to online marketing and customer acquisition. Creating private domain traffic is an important part of online customer acquisition. We interviewed five front-line operators and extracted 32 private domain traffic operation skills based on cases. I hope readers will gain something from it.

Private domain traffic is undoubtedly the hot spot this year, but how should private domain traffic be applied?

Yin Jiyue, a private domain traffic operator, told Muddy Waters that a barbecue restaurant had recently opened in a certain place, and the restaurant urgently needed to expand its influence and brand in the local market. If traditional WeChat public accounts are used as a brand promotion strategy and fan accumulation channel, the cost will be high.

The final brand strategy for the new store opening was to build private domain traffic based on personal WeChat accounts. The store has made drastic reforms around personal WeChat accounts. The store relies on private domain traffic and can directly acquire customers from WeChat. Two months after opening, the monthly turnover of a single store doubled from 110,000 to 225,000. The establishment of a loyal fan community has also brought a higher repurchase rate to the store. "Posting an advertisement in a loyal fan group of more than 100 people can bring in more than 20 orders."

Yan Tao, founder of Sanshou Marketing Channel, also said that the 5,000 super users of a maternal and child brand he had worked with contributed more than 15 million in sales from January to August this year, which was twice the sales for the whole of last year. The 20,000 super users selected by another partner contributed a turnover of 300 million yuan a year.

Youzan previously shared a case in which a public account screened out 30,000 loyal users and generated an annual revenue of 20 million in 2017.

As private domain traffic became popular last year, Muddy Waters prepared this detailed practical guide to private domain traffic to focus on issues such as personal account personality building, user reach, and personal account risk avoidance.

1. Overview

1. What is private domain traffic?

Private traffic that is accessible at any time, more controllable, reusable, and free. Yin Jiyue believes that private domain traffic is a mechanism to better serve the relationship between brands and consumers. Finding users, maintaining users, activating users, monetizing users, repeat purchases, and word-of-mouth referrals can all be better accomplished under the private domain traffic system.

2. Where does private domain traffic exist?

"Private domain" is a relative concept, not an absolute concept.

Compared with official accounts, the natural traffic from search engines is public domain traffic, while subscription accounts are private domain traffic. If compared with personal accounts, the opening rate of public accounts is too low and it is difficult to reach them actively. Subscription accounts are public domain traffic, and personal accounts are private domain traffic.

There is no absolute public domain, nor is there an absolute private domain.

3. Which products are suitable for operating through private domain traffic?

High-frequency products: Private domain traffic can reach customers frequently and continuously enhance customers’ awareness of the brand, which is suitable for high-frequency products.

Social relationships: such as various communities, peer exchanges, resource exchanges, etc. By publishing some paid content for free through Moments, you can continuously expose paid content within the community and attract new users through timely updated information.

The essence of private domain traffic is to establish connections, create relationships between users and operators, and create value through long-term operations for users. What we need to do with private domain traffic is not short-term harvesting, but long-term cultivation.

2. How to build a private domain traffic pool

4. How many stages are there in maintaining an account and how long does each stage take?

Three stages.

Registration period: About one week after registration. The risk of account suspension is highest at this stage, so do not perform any marketing operations.

Growth period: about one week to one month after registration. At this stage, real user behavior should be simulated to prevent WeChat from determining it as a marketing account and blocking the account.

Maturity period: No abnormality is found after one month and it can be used normally.

5. How many WeChat accounts can one person register?

One ID card can be used to register five WeChat accounts.

6. How to register a large number of WeChat accounts? What should I pay attention to?

Avoid virtual operator number segments 170 and 171. If you cannot avoid virtual operators, try to use the 167 number segment.

Do not use third-party tools or register using an emulator on PC. Use the official original WeChat to register.

If you register in batches, you need to use data traffic to access the Internet. Registering a large number of accounts with the same IP address may easily lead to being blocked.

7. How to maintain an account?

Registration Period:

① After registration, complete the profile picture, nickname, location, signature, Moments background wall and other information.

② Real-name authentication and bank card binding. It is better to deposit a small balance in WeChat wallet or purchase a small amount of Zero-Balance Wallet.

③ Build social relationships:

Strong relationships: After registering, add several old WeChat accounts (those that are in normal use, have passed real-name authentication, have bound cards, and have used payment functions) as friends as soon as possible. It is not advisable to have too many accounts, just add 1-5 friends you frequently contact. Transfer money with friends, send and receive red envelopes, etc.

Weak ties: Chatting with WeChat friends, joining several WeChat groups, and liking and commenting on friends’ Moments.

Life scenarios: Adding WeChat emoticons, offline payments, and using WeChat to pay for other apps; Reasonable movement of geographical locations; Following public accounts; Using third-party functions such as Didi and Dianping embedded in WeChat.

④ Add 10-20 WeChat friends gradually in the first week. Do not add more than 3 friends on the same day. Do not actively add too many friends. Add more friends passively.

⑤ Do not use features such as Drift Bottle and People Nearby.

⑥ Post to Moments normally, focus on daily life, and do not post advertising content.

⑦ After logging in, stay logged in stably and do not change devices or switch login accounts frequently.

Growth stage:

The account maintenance operation proceeds normally, but the number can be appropriately relaxed. Add more friends, up to a maximum of 30 in 24 hours.

Follow more public accounts.

You can experience functions such as shake, people nearby, and drift bottle.

8. How to determine whether the account has been identified as a normal account by the system?

The safest and lowest-risk WeChat account can be normally exposed from "People Nearby".

The small account (new account, high risk) can see the large account (normal account) normally when opening "People Nearby"

The small account cannot be seen in the large account's "People Nearby" list

9. How do I know if my personal WeChat account is at risk?

①Friend adding restrictions

②Restrictions on posting in Moments

③ The circle of friends is limited, and some friends cannot be swiped

④Searching for this WeChat ID shows abnormal status, and others cannot add friends

⑤ When chatting with friends, a "risk warning" is displayed on the other party's screen

⑥ Risk warning will also appear when someone transfers money to you

3. Personal Account Creation

10. What determines the first impression of a personal account’s personality?

The "four-piece set" of a personal account determines the first impression, namely nickname, signature, avatar, and circle of friends background wall.

These four pieces are clear at a glance and visible to everyone. For private domain traffic operators, they are as important as the signboard of a physical store.

11. What does a successful personal account persona look like?

①Authenticity: They are official staff of the brand/store and can communicate with users on behalf of the brand/store. The information on products, promotions, etc. published is authentic and valid.

② Friendly: It can make people realize that this is a real person. Even if they don’t know the real name, it is still a personal account belonging to a real person, not a cold customer service WeChat.

③ Credibility: Personal accounts should play the role of KOC (Key Opinion Consumer). He is neither an authoritative expert nor a person with a certain level of research in his field. It can give reasonable and reliable consumption opinions from the user's perspective.

12. How to name a personal account?

Three restricted areas:

AA So-and-so: Nicknames starting with A have been equated with WeChat merchants by users. The more A’s there are, the easier it is to be blacklisted.

Name + Phone Number: Similar to the previous one, this type of name is used exclusively by sales.

Directly using the brand name/store name: This type of account is often equipped with a logo avatar. This kind of brand-strengthening approach will only actively distance the user from the account. Users cannot feel that there is a living individual on the other side of the screen, which will cause them to feel alienated.

Reasonable naming method:

It is best to use the brand name, such as Perfect Diary’s private domain traffic personal IP "Xiao Wanzi", Blue Whale Muddy Waters’ "Muddy Waters Xiaoer" and "Muddy Waters Paotang". You can also use a two-part structure of "brand name + person's name" or "person's name + brand name".

People should be made aware that there is a real individual behind this account, rather than an empty brand concept.

13. How to set an avatar?

Restricted areas for avatars: landscape photos, animal photos, photos of celebrities/internet celebrities, and logos.

This type of avatar will also increase users' sense of alienation, making it difficult for people to have a positive impression of the account. It is best to use real-life photos. If it is private domain traffic operated by a physical store, portrait photos of real scenes in the store can be used. If you don't have suitable real photos, you can also entrust a professional artist to create a cartoon/caricature of your personal image.

Avatar principle: real people, authenticity, trustworthiness, and no sense of distance.

14. How to set up a signature?

The signature should not be set directly as a business introduction, as it is too stiff and will increase the sense of alienation. The signature should be designed in accordance with the product positioning and personal account IP, with the focus on shaping the personal account IP image. You can also use the brand slogan directly.

15. How to set the background wall?

The background wall is similar to the signature and is not suitable for directly displaying business. The background wall setting should follow the same logic as the avatar, and should be based on real-life photos. For physical stores, it can be set to real-life photos taken in-store by real people of the account IP.

Setting principles of background wall:

① Real-life shooting. Build your personal IP to reduce the sense of alienation.

② Create intersections with stores/products, increase credibility, and create the feeling of an official account.

16. How to locate the IP address of a personal account?

Personal accounts also need to have corresponding personality positioning. Taking Perfect Diary’s Xiao Wanzi as an example, Xiao Wanzi is positioned as a young, beauty-loving young woman who is good at using beauty products.

Personal accounts need to consider what kind of image they want to present to users. The most ideal image should be authentic and credible, while also having some research into the field that the brand is engaged in, playing the role of a trustworthy KOC.

To this end, you need to carefully design the "four-piece set", namely avatar, nickname, personal signature, and background picture. What is more important is the content of the circle of friends. The daily output of Moments should be produced with the mindset of content operation, rather than just treating Moments as a free advertising space.

In addition, actively participating in your friends’ circle of friends and interacting by liking and commenting from time to time will help increase affinity.

17. What kind of content should not be posted when creating a circle of friends?

Taboo texts in Moments:

①Chicken soup, inspiration, philosophy, famous sayings

② False information and clickbait articles

③Negative energy

④Advertisement screen flooding

18. How many types of content are needed to create a circle of friends?

① Daily life content

Life-oriented content should focus on shaping personal IP and improving the affinity of the account. The daily life of the account operator can be published to make people realize that there is a real person behind this account. Including daily food, travel, gatherings and play, daily work, etc.

② Share content

The content shared is mainly aimed at shaping the brand image and increasing product awareness. In addition to regular brand stories, brand news, etc., the published content should also be extended to include some relevant information of the category. For example, beauty brands can share some skin care techniques and tips, and tea brands can share methods of making simple fruit tea at home.

In addition, some product features should also be involved. For example, you can reveal daily work to reflect the rigor of the company's new product research and development, create a sense of professionalism through daily work photos of the workshop/laboratory, and brands that focus on handwork can reflect craftsmanship through staged work photos.

③ Monetization conversion content

Advertising content that directly converts into cash, such as product information and promotional information. It is best if advertising content that guides conversion and monetization accounts for no more than 30% of the Moments.

The three types of information should be released in proportion to create a real personal IP, which can maximize the guarantee that users will not be disgusted when posting advertisements on WeChat Moments and increase the conversion rate.

4. User Operation and Traffic Diversion

19. What are the common ways to divert traffic through WeChat?

Depending on the location where the traffic is deposited after diversion, it can be divided into group diversion, public account diversion, personal account diversion, and mini program diversion. In addition, multiple methods can be combined to operate. Private domain traffic is mostly operated by groups and personal accounts. Mini program diversion and public account diversion will not be discussed later.

20. How do I know if my traffic diversion is causing user dissatisfaction?

Now the loyal fans/regular customers group selects seed users and conducts willingness tests on them. If your regular customers have a low willingness to share, then either the bait for diversion is not attractive enough, or there is a problem with the poster design.

21. What are the common diversion operation paths?

22. What are the commonly used diversion tools?

Juicy fission, WeTool, Chat Dog, Small fission, Join Group Treasure, Create Group Treasure, Star Glory Task Treasure, Walk Show

23. How many ways are there to reach private domain traffic?

Personal account, corporate WeChat, WeChat group

24. How to choose between social, personal, and corporate accounts?

Wang Liuliu, founder of Fission Growth Lab, believes that personal WeChat accounts are the most suitable in terms of scenarios.

From the perspective of transactions: the conversion rate of personal accounts is much higher than that of corporate accounts.

From the perspective of rules: corporate accounts are less risky than personal accounts.

From the perspective of traffic: Enterprise accounts have much more permissions than individual accounts.

The final transaction conversion and fan maintenance are mainly biased towards personal accounts.

25. How to reach users at a deeper level and enhance user stickiness?

Wang Liuliu believes that it is necessary to avoid harassing users during the reach process and to reach them in a timely and effective manner. User stickiness can be established through interaction when conditions are met.

However, the interaction method is designed based on user portraits and user needs. The same interaction method cannot be designed for all users. Not only will it not increase stickiness, but it will become harassment.

There are several interactions that enhance stickiness:

①Interaction that makes target users curious

②Interactions that engage target users

③Interaction that makes target users happy

Yin Jiyue said that user operations are divided into three levels: shopping assistant, topic expert and private partner. A deeper level of user reach is to become a private partner of the user, which not only solves the user's life needs, but also meets the user's social needs and provides the user with more emotional companionship.

26. Why shouldn’t we be superstitious about WeChat groups?

For people who have become friends, introducing them into a WeChat group may not be conducive to conversion in a one-on-one private chat situation. Moreover, adding each other as friends within the community will also cause disturbance to users, and the mutual communication between users may bring negative reputation to some brand activities and cause damage to the brand.

27. How to activate users without causing them to be disgusted?

Yin Jiyue believes that the basis for not being disgusted is being able to get more value from you, and providing value is the basis for activating users.

Continuously providing users with the value they need through Moments, WeChat groups, and private chats can enable users to have higher trust.

5. Examples of Change

28. Which fields are suitable for using private domain traffic?

At present, private domain traffic is mainly used in four areas.

1. Physical store.

2. Bringing goods and WeChat business

3. Online Internet projects (knowledge payment, paid communities, online education, etc.)

4. The brand has its own traffic.

29. How do physical stores use private domain traffic?

Private domain traffic is widely used in physical stores. Muddy Waters learned that a community store significantly increased its user repurchase rate through private domain traffic and cultivated a group of highly sticky fans.

The store itself is a good traffic entrance. For physical stores, the source of traffic is not the most important issue to worry about. Physical stores have a certain amount of natural traffic every day. If you want to build a private traffic pool, all you need to do is migrate offline traffic to WeChat and complete the traffic sedimentation.

A community snack shop has accumulated nearly a thousand users in two groups by transferring in-store customer traffic to its WeChat account and then transferring it back to the WeChat group. These users are customers who have made at least one purchase and have a strong willingness to pay.

The store owner will post new products every day in the group from time to time, and publish some discount and promotion information, and release community/fan-exclusive benefits from time to time. In addition, the store increases the number of fans by diverting traffic.

The store owner will also use the "best luck" of the group red envelope to conduct the lottery. This lottery method is also very convenient. It does not require users to perform more operations, which reduces the user's operating costs.

Through one-on-one private chats on WeChat, users can also place orders directly on WeChat and pick up the goods in store, completing the order process of "check product information in the community - stimulate purchasing desire - place orders through private chats - pick up the goods to complete the purchase."

The store relies on private domain traffic and can directly acquire customers from WeChat. The owner said that currently about 40% of the store’s customers have placed orders through personal accounts. The sales contributed by using private domain traffic is stable at around 10,000 yuan per month, and "sales from WeChat accounts account for 40% of the store's sales."

30. How do brands use private domain traffic?

When it comes to private domain traffic, Perfect Diary is a brand that cannot be bypassed. Perfect Diary’s rapid rise as a new brand is closely related to its operation and cultivation of private domain traffic.

Perfect Diary has established a large number of personal account matrices and created the brand personal IP "Xiao Wanzi". We signed a contract with a real-life model and every post on WeChat Moments is shot with a real person.

Perfect Diary uses offline stores and online sales to attract customers and potential customers with purchasing intentions to its personal WeChat accounts. Through content operations in the circle of friends, users can feel familiar with each other, and brand exposure can be continuously generated to increase user recognition.

(Screenshot from Xiao Wanzi’s Moments)

(Automatic reply words from Xiao Wanzi’s personal account)

Use automatic replies + a small amount of manual operations to direct personal account traffic to the community, and conduct various operational activities within the community, including promotions, lucky draws, etc. After establishing private domain traffic, "Perfect Diary" can repeatedly reach customers through WeChat Moments and communities, and generate conversions or repeat purchases through live broadcasts, big promotions, and lucky draws.

During the Double Eleven promotion in 2019, Perfect Diary ranked among the top 20 beauty brands in terms of sales on Tmall, becoming a well-deserved dark horse. Industry insiders said that its sales growth rate was as high as 1193%.

6. Risk Avoidance

31. How to transfer the traffic pool under special circumstances?

Wang Liuliu said that it is usually necessary to transfer the traffic pool, which can be divided into two situations:

① If you need to urgently direct traffic, it is recommended to use a transfer tool to replace the WeChat account, and then continue to direct traffic to the individual account through the transfer tool. For example, from the platform to the WeChat group, and from the platform to the service account. The transfer tool needs to be easy to reach, have a low churn rate and few restrictions. WeChat groups can be reached through multiple group announcements, and service accounts can be reached through multiple message templates.

② If there is no urgent need to direct traffic, you can start slowly from one account. Continuous transfer is more important than a large amount of transfer at one time.

32. How to reduce the risk of account violations?

① Avoid sensitive words in Moments, such as transfer, red envelope, order brushing, Taobao password, coupons, etc.;

② Control the frequency of group messages. Group messages to all friends should be sent no more than once a month.

③ Do not log into too many WeChat accounts with the same IP address and do not use data to access the Internet. In the same network environment, if one WeChat account violates the rules, it may easily lead to all WeChat accounts in the same network being blocked.

④ The mobile phone used for the WeChat account that has violated the regulations should not be used to log in to other new accounts.

WeChat has strict and clear regulations on directing traffic to personal accounts. Practitioners should note that private domain traffic should be operated reasonably and in a standardized manner within an appropriate range. Some marginal products and excessive marketing will only have a negative impact on the industry and the network environment.

Author: Blue Whale Muddy Water

Source: Blue Whale Muddy Waters