The little red book : a key tool in the beauty market

The little red book: What is it?

The application is Chinese and thus totally unknown in Europe or America. However, with its 200 million users it is worth being known. Especially if you want to bring your company to the Chinese market. Also known as RED or XIAOHONGSHU, the Chinese social media app was created in 2013 by Miranda Qu and Charlwin Mao. The original goal was to allow Chinese women to share their entire lives. This ranged from their photos to posts, to videos. In its early days, the little red book was exclusively filled with content rather based on beauty, products, makeup, beauty tips. Over time the content began to diversify. Users only shared posts about beauty. Soon they started talking about their daily life more globally and going further other subjects.

It was only some time later that a new idea was born in Charlwin and Miranda’s head. People liked the application so much that they came up with the idea of turning it into an e-commerce platform.

Then was born in 2014, Red mall. This feature has enabled many brands to do so. The application gives them huge visibility forging their brand image through the comments and opinions of the users of The Little Red Book.

Who uses Xiaohongshu aka RED?

The target audience is very clear. It is young women between 20 and 35 who are targeted. They are :

• active
• connected

Active user

That means they’re money. So they can spend on Red Mall. They will also share all the activities of their active life.

Red User are Connected

The so-called “connected” people are the first users of the applications. These connected women will be the driving force behind The Little Red by filling the site with posts, videos, and photos. Above all this profile is useful because it is this kind of user who will not hesitate to comment and give their opinion on the publications, or the different products sold. They are the ones who will shape your walking image.

A key tool on the beauty sector

XIAOHONGSHU is an application that you must imperatively use in order to adopt a digital marketing strategy that adapts to the Chinese population.
The application has several notable advantages that we will share here.

Fast purchase process

The Chinese are suspicious of scams. Before buying a product in a shop, they often have the reflex to first find out about it online. This allows them to be certain of the quality of the product, its origin, its characteristics, etc…

So when it comes to shopping online, they are even more rigorous, and demand to be certain of the quality of the product. The purchasing process is often very long. But the application has solved this problem. By sharing their daily life through the application, the Chinese have learned to know it and live with it. So they no longer have any fear of buying products on the site. The buying process is much faster because of trust reigns.

KOL : Marketing asset

KOL or Key Opinion Leaders are persons who have a great power of influence. On the application, it is often women who will try out products and rate them (you know the same as Instagram or youtube). Brands give them their products as a gift to test them. Sometimes it is even the application itself that pays them in compensation for their good contribution to the platform.

They are paid to test products, but not only! They have to make comments and give their opinion on the product, it is called the shopping note. In this way, the followers can get an idea about the product, get to know it and talk about it among themselves.

How to use RED effectively?

1 – Target your customers

Your company needs a clear vision of who its customers are. Knowing their age and gender is not enough. You need to take the time to get to know your customers and their typical profile. That way, you’ll know exactly what their needs and desires are, and how to meet them.

2 – Follow-up

Attention: KOLs are not enough!
Your products will be put forward and thus visible to your potential customers, but you have to make sure that the marketing campaign is followed up. The post of an influencer will have an important impact. Many comments will also appear in the publication, and this time it will be up to you. You will have to bring answers to the questions raised, take care of customer service.

3 – Observe your competitors

It is by observing that you will learn!
Indeed, in order to learn how to master the application do not hesitate to take a look at the competition. You will be able to compare the techniques used and make them your own.

4 – Relying on experts

You will have understood that entering the Chinese market is complex but presents a golden opportunity. The tools, strategies, and customers are different, everything is new. It then takes time to tame, learn and master. This is why it is essential that you get help from experts who will have experience in using the Little Red Book. They will know how to adapt to your digital marketing strategy.

More info about RED marketing here

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Gentlemen Marketing Agency is a company of 75 experts who will know how to guide you. They know the tool and, above all, they will help you establish yourself in the Chinese market over the long term. Give yourself every chance to succeed, contact us.