Tips for promoting your notes on Xiaohongshu!

In the era of social e-commerce and content e-commerce, brands, KOLs, and platforms (including Weibo, WeChat, Xiaohongshu, Douyin, Taobao, and major emerging e-commerce platforms) are all keen on promoting products.

However, good content can make consumers remember the product’s selling points and willingly hand over their wallets. But more often than not, even though the content is released by KOLs, it is ultimately just a wave of distribution, and savvy consumers are not so easily tempted by it.

Under this trend, let’s talk about Xiaohongshu’s 2.0 approach to promoting content and how to bring users back to life.

This article is compiled based on the sharing of Da Yichao, founder of PenTip Technology, at the Granary Entrepreneurship Academy.

– 01 –

Why choose Xiaohongshu

Xiaohongshu is a new blue ocean of traffic and a very good platform for promoting products. If the products are promoted reasonably and users do not object to them, it can bring very impressive sales data to brands.

The content format of Xiaohongshu is closer to life scenes. It contains some good product recommendations and a list of single items, so it is reasonable for us to sell goods and promote products on it. The most important thing is that users also like to read these.

Some of my female friends are really exaggerated. They follow some internet celebrities and they will buy any products recommended by them, including some beauty devices. Even if they use them once or twice and decide not to buy the products recommended by the internet celebrities again, they will not be able to help but buy them after a while.

This is also the reason why I made up my mind to work on Xiaohongshu. Its ability to bring goods is really exaggerated. When we see something that is not particularly expensive and we feel that it is a must-have, we will definitely buy it.

This is a set of data. The download volume of Xiaohongshu ranks first in Apple's social category. In terms of the gender ratio of its users, males only account for 10%, but females account for nearly 90%. Therefore, female users are still the primary productive force for impulse consumption, and the main group of people who sell goods on Xiaohongshu's platform are still female users.

The biggest difference between Xiaohongshu and Weibo is that from the time users see the content, to the time they generate demand, to the time they learn about a brand, to the time they choose the brand, and finally to the time they place an order, within the Xiaohongshu platform system, users can get everything done in one step, which is an advantage that Weibo does not have.

– 02 –

How to promote products on Xiaohongshu

The most common and basic way of promoting products through pictures and texts is on Xiaohongshu.

Let’s take a case we have worked on. Jindao is a company that makes beauty products and instruments. It started out as a private label company, but now it has gradually started to make things under its own brand, and the platform it wants to put its products on is Xiaohongshu.

Our methodology is, first, to analyze the product positioning, second, to prepare the content, and third, to screen the matching IP.

First, analyze the product positioning.

The keywords for beauty devices include ultrasound, blackhead removal, pore cleaning, and facial lifting and firming. We need to clearly define the positioning of this product, prepare more precise content, and then use a more precise IP to promote it.

Second, prepare the content.

The content of Xiaohongshu is completely different from that of Weibo. The content of Xiaohongshu is personalized. For example, the cover of Xiaohongshu can be made more casual, but it must be eye-catching.

The content of Xiaohongshu must be personalized, and users must feel that we are actually using this product. I want to share this state with everyone, with my fans, and with the person who opens this note, so that there will be a sense of reality.

Third, filter the matching IPs.

I know that many manufacturers and clients may have had some ideas and may have thought about creating their own IP. I do not recommend that you do it yourself, nor do I recommend that you find an agency to operate it on your behalf.

When we leave this organization, although the IP is still ours, without the support of the organization, we cannot guarantee that the IP data will not decline.

Therefore, the best solution is to find existing IPs according to our needs and accurately match suitable IPs.

Back to the case, when the manufacturer wanted to promote the massager, they raised this demand and I matched it accurately for them, finding an IP that was suitable for promoting the massage, and then I did it based on this. This is the fastest way.

– 03 –

How to operate note-type content

There are many types of content operations on Xiaohongshu. Let’s first look at the most basic one, notes.

1. Amateur's notes: When I first started Xiaohongshu, I didn't just create my own account. I was definitely focusing on a certain field, and it was impossible for me to cover all categories.

Therefore, we must cultivate a large number of accounts, and it is best if these accounts are all amateurs. They can start from scratch, but they must feel real.

For example, we saw an older mother on Xiaohongshu. She shared something with us. The photos she took and the text she wrote were very sincere, which made us feel at ease and made us feel that this was real. She had really used this product before sharing it with us.

This is the importance of amateurs. It is a truly pure user-oriented approach, a sharing of real experiences and feelings, and this is what the people on Xiaohongshu are concerned about.

2. Amway articles: On the Xiaohongshu platform, the Amway articles or usage notes we post will basically become popular as long as the content is true and not an advertisement, and the account quality is also good. This popularity does not mean that we have purchased these resources, but that the Xiaohongshu platform will promote them itself.

The content of the article must not be soft advertising. I have met many people who have just started operating Xiaohongshu. They are interested in Xiaohongshu just to sell goods, so they are very direct when posting content and directly post the product page.

However, Xiaohongshu users do not care about such parametric things. What they want to see is the user’s own status and real product experience.

It is best if our avatars show real people’s faces, and it is best not to leave contact information in the content introduction. It should not be too commercial, otherwise users will think it looks fake.

We must have a very real feeling, the core point is to be real.

3. Soft advertising placement: We cannot place advertisements so directly, but there are still some ways to skirt the rules and take shortcuts.

For example, we can use a small account to ask for the store name or purchase link in the comment area, and then we can use a large account to reply with the store name in the comments. This is a relatively simple and direct method, but it does work and is very effective.

The most important thing is that Xiaohongshu can directly send formal links. After we establish brand cooperation with Tmall or JD.com, we can directly see what product is mentioned in the note, and we can click to buy it directly. This is the most formal method, and the traffic will definitely be huge.

– 04 –

How to operate copywriting content

Then let’s take a look at the content operations of copywriting.

1. Celebrities promote products: There are many celebrities on the Xiaohongshu platform. They cooperate with the Xiaohongshu platform because they have their own traffic. When they help you promote a product, even if the product has a high premium, their fan base will still accept it.

When celebrities endorse products themselves, fans will feel that products certified by their idols must be reliable. They will get close to their idols and will definitely buy the products, not to mention that the idols took the photos themselves and have used the products themselves.

2. Expert recommendations: On Xiaohongshu, content like chicken soup for the soul is not easy to become popular, and users will basically not click on articles without useful information. Articles recommended by experts are more likely to become popular. They are more informative. They may be fragmented notes, but they must be informative content or tutorials, and it is best if they are easy to understand.

When we explain something very complicated to our fans in a simple and easy-to-understand way, they will find it easier to absorb the information, and they will naturally pay attention to us because they feel they can get something and information from us. This is the expert type of promotion.

3. Targeted sales: Another type of sales is targeted sales. We must clearly understand the user’s needs and the direction of development, and then share our real experience.

For example, if we promote a skin care product, we must match our skin type or skin condition according to the product's efficacy. The purpose of doing this is to accurately target the users that the product wants to serve.

– 05 –

How to promote Xiaohongshu

With good content operation, we also need to learn how to do brand promotion so as to maximize the advantages of seeding grass. How to do it specifically?

1. Linkage to dominate the screen.

A study shows that 81% of consumers will have their purchasing decisions influenced by frequently appearing content.

For example, Chengwaiquan conceives topics through big data analysis, target population portraits, and peer competitor keyword data, and "promotes" from one internet celebrity to dozens of internet celebrities, attracting various KOLs to form a unique UGC atmosphere, and simultaneously launching fan interaction activities to generate viral fission with the help of fan power.

After achieving full media coverage through joint screen domination, we will screen out those effective and valuable consumers. This is the significance of screen domination.

2. Popular product recommendations from celebrity KOLs.

Users' long-term attention to KOLs will give them a sense of identity. For example, after I posted more notes, many people sent me private messages asking me about their concerns about electronic or digital products. They agreed with my understanding and felt that the things I recommended must be reliable.

This strategy of recommending hot products can not only help brands gain massive exposure, efficient traffic and particularly good reputation, but also achieve tangible sales conversions.

3. Evaluation of influencers’ recommendations.

After reading the product reviews posted by influencers, users will communicate in the comment section and gradually establish a social relationship. This social relationship is spontaneously established based on the users' identification with the influencers.

This method, first of all, is extremely low cost. As long as we maintain the content and comments well, it will spread spontaneously. Secondly, it is very easy to promote. As long as we build a good reputation and get the positioning right, users will spread the word by word of mouth. These are some of the advantages that the Xiaohongshu platform can bring.

– 06 –

What should I pay attention to when promoting Xiaohongshu?

When promoting on Xiaohongshu, some merchants see very good results while others see very little. Why is the gap so big and obvious? What should you pay attention to when promoting on Xiaohongshu?

1. The importance of official support

On the Xiaohongshu platform, we must have a strong ties with the platform because official support is very important. For example, if we create the same content and publish it directly, we can only get basic popular delivery for a certain period of time. But if we have official support, the official will give us some traffic recommendations, and it is very likely to become popular.

As an MCN agency, we will negotiate with the Xiaohongshu platform about a resource exchange. The Xiaohongshu platform needs content supply, which it cannot do by itself. It needs to introduce fresh blood to produce content for it, and these are what we are good at, and we can provide it with the content it wants.

What we want from the Xiaohongshu platform in exchange for resources is free advertising space and various exposure channels, including offline activities.

2. The importance of data analysis

For advertising, we need to do data analysis so that we can know whether what we invest in is worthwhile, whether the IP we choose is correct, and whether the content we create has achieved maximum utilization.

We can use the basic data within the platform for analysis. The more intuitive ones are the data flow, fan attention and platform time period. We can also do some data analysis on the influencers we choose, such as his interaction volume.

We regularly organize and analyze these data, so that when we find problems, we can make timely adjustments. If we do not monitor the data, our half-year campaign may be in vain. Therefore, the most important significance of data analysis is timely adjustment.

The purpose of our promotion is to bring in goods. If we don’t set some basic KPIs for ourselves, we may be just burning money. Therefore, we have to set KPIs for ourselves, as well as for the internet celebrities and institutions we want to sign, and put pressure on them to make their content more accurate so that we can ultimately sell the goods.

– 07 –

The misunderstanding of Xiaohongshu

Many people have seen the benefits of promoting products on Xiaohongshu and have started to operate on Xiaohongshu, but not many have done well. This is because they made the following mistakes:

1. The content is not attractive enough and practical enough;

2. The positioning and tone of Xiaohongshu account is not clear. Without the cultivation and incubation of an organization, the content posted by amateur accounts will be messy, their positioning will be vague, and it may be difficult to find their own tone;

3. The user groups being followed do not match. Without the involvement of an organization, it is difficult for us to do some accurate matching, and the IPs we screen may not be universal;

4. The advertising placement is awkward and the exposure of notes is low.

– 08 –

How to solve the misunderstandings in the operation of Xiaohongshu

How do we solve the above four problems?

1. Personalization of Xiaohongshu account.

When we operate a Xiaohongshu account, we must have a personalized attribute. We must look like a real person. The content we post should not be very official or professional. It should be like that of an ordinary person and make users feel real. This is a personalized attribute.

2. Carry out some appropriate marketing interactions to enhance intimacy with consumers.

After we have a large number of IPs, we must hold some activities regularly and select at least ten IPs to participate in the activities, so as to achieve the linkage screen dominance mentioned before. After our marketing interaction, not only will the chance of product content exposure increase, but it will also strengthen the intimacy between consumers and IP.

3. Maintain close contact with consumers and provide timely feedback.

After consumers are inspired to buy a product and have used it, they will definitely give their own opinions on the consumption. The first type is to give feedback on the product, hoping that the product can be improved. The second type is to take notes, hoping that more people can use the product. What we have to do is very simple, write down all these contents, organize them and post them, so that fans know that we are always paying attention to them and we care about their thoughts.

4. Plan some surprises for consumers and build beneficial relationships.

This is very similar to the lottery on Weibo. We can hold some offline activities, give gifts to fans on site, and build more interest relationships. Because only when we give consumers real benefits will they rely on us for a long time. We must use benefits to bind fans.

5. The content of the notes is more accurately positioned and of higher quality, and the target consumer group is identified.

– 09 –

What should I pay attention to when planting grass on Xiaohongshu

There are five principles to pay attention to when planting grass on Xiaohongshu:

1. Circle communication: “People are divided into groups”, and eye-catching information will spread faster within the same circle, and can stimulate self-propagation of “audience-audience”.

2. Authenticity: Authenticity is always the key. Grass-roots content is the key to making fans believe that the KOL will truly recommend the product after using it. So what kind of authentic KOL content is? The first is to experience the product personally, and the second is to have heartfelt user experience and product evaluation.

3. Sales rhythm: The rhythm of new product launches inside and outside the site is fully connected; control comments to guide conversion, supervise the direction of public opinion, release appropriate content at each stage, and multi-dimensional comment content to trigger resonance.

4. Be consistent: Ensure exposure on all platforms and link it to e-commerce keyword searches, so that users can see the title and keywords and then search for products, thus demonstrating the effect of promoting products everywhere.

5. SEO (search engine optimization): Make a summary and timely review, communicate with customers in a timely manner after each day of launch to count the e-commerce search volume data, and then reversely infer the KOL's promotion effect. This includes account type selection, whether the publishing time is appropriate, whether the published content is seed-producing, and the KOL promotion effect, so as to select the next round of seed-producing accounts.

In the era of digital marketing with information explosion, producing high-quality content is an important part of determining the effectiveness of grass-roots promotion.

Based on product characteristics and combining the characteristics of what consumers like to watch and buy, we can produce refined and customized content to capture the minds of consumers and successfully promote their products.

In this context, doing a good job of promoting Xiaohongshu is almost equivalent to opening up a new blue ocean of traffic for the brand.

What abandons you is not the era of drastic changes, but your own inaction.

Related reading:

1. Do you know the operation and promotion strategy of Xiaohongshu?

2. There are 7 ways to promote on Xiaohongshu. Have you ever made a mistake?

3. For promotion on Xiaohongshu, just read this article.

4. Xiaohongshu promotion: Xiaohongshu user growth methodology!

5.How to promote on Xiaohongshu? 2 program steps!

6.4 major strategies + 7 major skills, a comprehensive interpretation of Xiaohongshu promotion strategy!

Author: Da Yichao

Source: Barn Entrepreneurship Observation