Xiaohongshu: a must-have marketing tool for Beauty & Lifestyle brands in China
With millions of daily active users, Xiaohongshu has become one of China's most influential social commerce platforms. Xiaohongshu offers significant opportunities for international brands to build a strong presence in the country, and it’s a must-have marketing channel for businesses in the Chinese digital landscape.
Table of Contents:
• What is Xiaohongshu?
• Xiaohongshu users.
• Why should you use Xiaohongshu for your marketing in China?
• Work with the right KOLs.
• Advertising on Xiaohongshu.
• RED Mall.
What is Xiaohongshu?
Xiaohongshu (小红书), also known by its English name Little Red Book or RED, is among China's most popular social commerce apps.
Founded in 2013 by Charlwin Mao and Miranda Qu, the platform has grown over the years to become China’s foremost shopping platform, boasting over 300 million registered users and 85 million monthly active users as of July 2019.
In the beginning, Xiaohongshu was only an App for users to review products and share their shopping experience and tips. Today, the platform offers premium quality and exclusivity and has developed into a trusted source for tips and recommendations in terms of beauty, fashion and luxury products. The App is mainly UGC (users generated content), meaning that its contents are created by the highly engaged community. Users can research and review products extensively, post and share product reviews, blogs, and lifestyle stories via photos and short videos.
In 2014 Xiaohongshu also launched its own cross-border eCommerce platform called RED Mall, which connects Chinese consumers with global brands and enables them to purchase overseas products directly through the App.
Xiaohongshu offers considerable opportunities for international brands to leverage their presence in China. Having an official account on Xiaohongshu allows you to get closer to the Chinese consumer with a targeted strategy, and is a great opportunity to expand your business in the Country.
Xiaohongshu users
Xiaohongshu mainly targets a specific user group: young, female shoppers who live in top-tier cities. Unlike other social media, the platform is especially popular among young people between 18 and 35 years old, with 70% of its users born after the 1990s. 80% of the users are young Chinese women interested in buying foreign mid to high-end products, especially cosmetics. Over 60% live in 1st and 2nd tier cities, which means that most of the platform’s users have a higher purchasing power than other platforms’ users. This young active user base makes the App’s culture trendy and smart.
Given that it’s extremely popular among China’s Generation Z, Xiaohongshu is an effective marketing platform for brands that would like to target a young and sophisticated demographic.
Why should you use Xiaohongshu for your marketing in China?
The selling of counterfeit goods has always been a huge concern of China’s e-commerce industry. For brands, having an official account on Xiaohongshu means boosting the confidence of Chinese consumers. Indeed, winning the customer perception as a reliable company selling real goods has been a key success point for social commerce platforms in China. Xiaohongshu was able to tackle this concern, and to date is one of the best platforms for premium luxury brands to run successful marketing campaigns. If you want to stand out amongst competitors, Xiaohongshu is a powerful marketing tool for your e-reputation.
Xiaohongshu also plays an important role in the consumer purchasing process. The platform encourages and rewards high-quality content posts and videos, emphasizes “authenticity”, and is a wonderful tool when it comes to word-of-mouth. If Chinese consumers leave a review after purchasing your products, it will generate much more visibility than just advertising your brand.
Work with the right KOLs.
The App’s user-generated content also led to the emergence of several Key-Opinion Leaders (KOLs) becoming active on the platform. Most of these KOLs have a huge community online and are even more popular than celebrities in terms of communication and marketing. They share useful tips and interesting content about beauty and lifestyle and promote products to followers. Xiaohongshu is one of the best platforms for KOL campaigns, which is an effective tool for your brand to increase brand awareness, user engagement, and followers.
Live-streaming with KOLs is one of the biggest digital trends in China and is a very effective way to promote your brand and target sales conversion. In fact, it allows you to show the products in a realistic and detailed way and increases the relationship of trust between you and the viewers. Another efficient marketing method you want to consider is gifting products to influencers in exchange for free posting. Seeding indeed is the most cost-effective way to work with high-quality influencers and celebrities and helps you build a strong relationship with KOLs.
In January 2019, Xiaohongshu launched its official influencer marketing platform called Pugongying (蒲公英), which connects brands, brand partners, and third-party content partner organizations. On Pugngying, companies are able to find their KOLs for a collaboration.
Advertising on Xiaohongshu.
Along with the influencer marketing platform, Xiaohongshu also introduced its official advertising packages which can help to increase exposure and click-through. Qualified brands can integrate ads that will appear within the newsfeed or that will pop up upon opening the App. Once clicked on them, users are directed to a dedicated promotion page or a specific post.
However, unlike other e-commerce platforms, Xiaohongshu does not provide display ads services. Given that the app mostly relies on its community and social interactions, hiring a KOL who will directly promote your products is the best way for you to advertise your brand.
RED Mall.
Launched in 2014, RED Mall allows Chinese consumers to purchase overseas products from international brands directly through the App. Setting up your official account or RED Store helps you boosting market awareness and sales.
You can promote and sell your products directly to customers, who — after checking the reviews (including pictures and videos) — will just have to click on the product they like and pay online. Xiaohongshu also provides you with customer services, logistics services, and REDelivery — Xiaohongshu’s own delivery system.
Conclusion
Xiaohongshu is a fast-growing online marketplace and is an app full of opportunities for brands wanting to expand their activities in China, as well as to raise their brand’s awareness. Its content-driven model attracts consumers who value quality and authenticity, which provides great opportunities for premium brands. Thus, you have to understand how the app works and how to take advantage of it.
