In today’s digital marketing era, Xiaohongshu (also known as RED) has emerged as a prominent social platform with its unique content ecosystem and vast user base, offering brands a broad stage for marketing. As of March 2024, Xiaohongshu’s monthly active users surpassed 300 million, with a search penetration rate reaching 70%. The article delves into Xiaohongshu’s marketing ecosystem and advertising strategies, aiming to provide a practical and comprehensive guide to help brands achieve precise marketing and efficient conversions on the platform.
Xiaohongshu User Profile and Data
Xiaohongshu is a lifestyle-sharing social platform with a massive user base. Currently, the platform boasts approximately 300 million monthly active users and over 500 million registered users. Among these, women account for a staggering 70%, with users from Tier-1 and Tier-2 cities making up 50%. Such a user demographic makes Xiaohongshu the preferred marketing hub for brands targeting female consumers and those promoting high-quality lifestyles.
Source: Qiantu, licensed for commercial use
The majority of users (55%) browse content on the Discovery Page, while 45% use the search function to assist in decision-making. Xiaohongshu is not just a platform for sharing recommendations; it’s also a key channel that inspires purchase intentions and drives conversions.
Marketing Touchpoints on Xiaohongshu
Xiaohongshu offers a diverse range of marketing touchpoints, including content creation, influencer collaborations, live-streaming commerce, in-feed ads, and search ads.
●High-Quality Notes: By publishing engaging and high-quality posts (known as “notes”), brands can capture users’ attention and build trust.
●Influencer Collaborations: Partnering with influencers at various levels—from top-tier to micro-influencers—enables brands to reach a wide range of user groups, enhancing brand exposure and seeding product interest.
●Live-Streaming Commerce: The live-streaming feature provides brands with opportunities to interact directly with consumers, facilitating real-time engagement and sales.
Collected by YOYI TECH
Key user behaviors and factors influencing marketing outcomes on Xiaohongshu include:
●Discovery Page Browsing: 55% of users engage in browsing content and getting inspired through the Discovery Page.
●Search for Decision-Making: 45% of users rely on the search function to aid their purchasing decisions.
●Note Visibility: The visibility of posts on both in-feed and search results depends heavily on the quality and relevance of the content.
●Product Rankings: In Xiaohongshu’s mall, product visibility is largely determined by sales rankings; the higher the sales, the greater the product’s exposure.
Xiaohongshu’s Closed-Loop Ecosystem
Xiaohongshu has created a fully closed-loop ecosystem that allows users to complete their entire purchase journey—from discovery to purchase—within the platform. After being inspired by posts, live streams, or other content, users can directly search for and buy related products on the platform. This seamless shopping experience not only enhances user satisfaction but also drives higher conversion rates and sales for brands.
How Xiaohongshu Enables External E-commerce Ecosystems
The influence of Xiaohongshu extends beyond its platform, as its “seeding” capability also drives sales on external e-commerce platforms. Many users who are inspired by Xiaohongshu proceed to purchase products on other platforms. Therefore, Xiaohongshu’s marketing efforts not only increase brand visibility and reputation but also provide indirect support for sales on external e-commerce channels.
What Are Xiaohongshu Ads, and Which Brands Should Use Them?
Xiaohongshu offers a range of advertising options, including in-feed ads, search ads, and splash ads. These formats enable precise targeting of desired user groups, enhancing brand exposure and conversion rates. Xiaohongshu advertising is ideal for brands aiming to expand their influence, boost sales performance, and connect with young, high-quality lifestyle-oriented users.
Types of Advertising on Xiaohongshu
Xiaohongshu provides a variety of advertising formats to cater to different marketing objectives:
●In-Feed Ads: The discovery page’s feed ads serve as the primary entry for content-based interests provoking, optimizing traffic distribution strategies, and leveraging precise targeting to ensure native content reaches the desired audience efficiently.
●Search Ads: These ads appear in search results, ensuring precise exposure to users with specific purchasing intentions.
●Splash Screen Ads: Positioned at the prime entrance point, splash screen ads boast a high-exposure advantage. Through full-screen immersive visual experiences and unique interactive formats, these ads enhance brand or product recall and capture user attention effectively.
●Brand Zone: This format covers search scenarios and establishes a brand’s private marketing territory through formats such as Brand Space and Basic Brand Zone. This setup meets diverse marketing needs while ensuring precise targeting and conversions for high-intent audiences. Brand Zone formats include Showcase, Live Streaming, and Triple Card styles, while Basic Brand Zone features Banner formats. These options support multiple landing page redirects, such as detailed note pages, topic pages, and product detail pages.
●Surprise Box: Tailored surprises for users in highly relevant brand scenarios or for users on their birthdays. With the Surprise Box, users are guaranteed to win a prize upon opening, linked to specific brand keywords or topics. This feature promotes lead generation and encourages the creation of user-generated content (UGC) notes.
●Pugongying (Dandelion Program): Collaborations with Xiaohongshu content creators for soft, organic promotions.
Collected by YOYI TECH
Xiaohongshu’s Targeting Capabilities
Xiaohongshu’s advertising system boasts powerful targeting capabilities, allowing advertisers to tailor campaigns based on users’ gender, age, location, interests, and more. This precise targeting ensures that ads reach the most relevant audience, improving conversion rates and return on investment (ROI). Additionally, Xiaohongshu offers verified accounts for businesses, ensuring the authenticity and credibility of advertisers’ profiles and operations.
Advantages of Advertising on Xiaohongshu
Xiaohongshu ads come with several key advantages:
●Precise Targeting: Through detailed user profiling and advanced targeting, ads effectively reach users with purchase intent.
●Diverse Ad Formats: A variety of ad formats—such as in-feed, search, and splash ads—meet the unique needs and goals of different brands.
●High-Quality User Base: Xiaohongshu’s users are predominantly young women who have strong interests in fashion, beauty, and lifestyle topics and possess high purchasing intent and spending power.
●Efficient Conversion: As a platform focused on inspiring purchases, Xiaohongshu fosters a user environment where browsing naturally leads to conversions.
●Strong Social Attributes: Built on sharing and interaction, Xiaohongshu enables brands to engage with users directly through influencer collaborations, community discussions, and participation in trending topics.
As a social platform with a massive user base and strong marketing potential, Xiaohongshu provides brands with abundant opportunities for engagement through its diverse touchpoints and advertising formats. Its precise targeting, high-quality user demographic, and efficient conversion capabilities make it an essential tool for brands aiming to increase their influence and boost sales. For brands looking to connect with young, high-quality lifestyle consumers, Xiaohongshu represents a valuable and indispensable marketing arena.
Featured Image Source: Qiantu, with commercial authorization