28 essential thinking models for Xiaohongshu operation

1. Xiaohongshu advertising methodology

This delivery methodology is formed by combining the analysis of official selling points with traffic-boosting tools, from categories to positioning to reach, and finally amplifying traffic to form Xiaohongshu's systematic approach.

Figure 1: Heterogeneous Identification Methodology

Selling point segmentation: interest-based, functional, and scenario-based;

Crowd/Scenario: core crowd/competing products/category/scenario, vertical scenario/general use scenario;

Form/experts: hot content/attractive content/shopping guide content, core experts/interest experts/related experts;

Amplify traffic: professional accounts & Dandelion, French fries & performance advertising, brand advertising & IP cooperation.

2. Brand appeal at different stages

Reference Yinxiang breaks down the demand for planting grass on Xiaohongshu. There is no brand mindset, and the core is to bring goods; Phase 2 is through new product 0 to 1, completing the initial word-of-mouth accumulation; Phase 3, new product 1 to 10 stages, population penetration, mind penetration, the last stage is a mature brand, mature single product reputation maintenance, mind consolidation, while doing a good job of public opinion control and brand promotion.

Figure 2: Brand appeal at different stages

3. Consumer Cognition Model

This model was proposed by Feiyang in Growth. Currently, Douyin seeding is mainly based on content. Whether it is a corporate account or a KOL, it is mainly divided into two steps: depositing money and withdrawing money:

The money-saving actions include planting grass + mental brand building, and the money-withdrawing actions include traffic and store live broadcasts. For brand planting, both aspects must be balanced. If you only plant without harvesting, you cannot make a profit. If you only harvest without planting, it will be difficult to sustain, and you need to maintain a balance in the end.

Figure 3: Consumer Cognition Model

4. Media Communication Model

In "Marketing Management", Philip Kotler defines the communication process as consisting of nine major elements: sender, receiver, information, media, encoding, decoding, reaction, feedback and noise. In order for their information to be spread, marketers must consider how the target will decode it when encoding the information.

H&H directly abstracts itself into sender and receiver. Encoding is what H&H often calls super symbols. After the media gives it to the receiver, it adds a psychological defense line. All the work in communication is to lower the user's psychological defense line and enable them to accept the communication content more quickly.

Figure 4: Media communication model

5. Maslow's Pyramid of Needs Theory

Value must be based on user needs. When talking about user needs, we have to take out Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Safety and physiological needs remain at the functional level and belong to the material level, while social, respect and self-realization are concentrated on the spiritual level. Xiaohongshu's marketing mainly focuses on social, respect and self-realization needs.

Figure 5: Maslow's pyramid needs theory model

6. Eight major groups

In 2019, Alibaba proposed eight major groups, dividing the consumer groups into small town youth, urban GenZ, urban white-collar workers, sophisticated mothers, urban middle class, urban blue-collar workers, urban silver-haired people, and small town middle-aged and elderly people.

First, young people from small towns.

They are young men between 20 and 30 years old, mainly living in fourth-tier cities and below. They have less mortgage pressure, considerable disposable income and more leisure time, which means they have enough time and financial resources to control their own lives, and most of them focus on entertainment apps.

Second, Generation Z.

The majority of them are students, most of whom were born in 1995 and 2000, and they live in first-, second- and third-tier cities. Internet natives are keen on online shopping, and there seems to be no offline attraction that can attract them to shop in stores.

Third, the exquisite mother.

They are mainly pregnant mothers or young mothers with children under the age of 12. They mainly live in first-, second- and third-tier cities and have strong consumption power. They care about their children's growth and pay attention to the health and safety of products; they love their children while loving themselves and pay attention to their own health and maintenance; at the same time, due to their high educational level, they are the guardians of the health of the whole family and the decision makers of purchases.

Fourth, new white-collar workers.

This group of people is mainly concentrated in the age group of 25 to 35 years old. They usually live in first-, second- and third-tier cities. They are mainly company employees, civil servants, financial practitioners, etc. and have strong consumption power.

Fifth, the senior middle class.

This group of people are mainly concentrated in the age group of 35 to 45 years old. They usually live in first-, second- and third-tier cities. They are mainly company employees, civil servants, financial practitioners, etc. and have strong consumption power.

Sixth, urban blue-collar workers.

The population is mainly concentrated in the age group of 25 to 45 years old, and usually lives in first-, second- and third-tier cities, but their consumption capacity is not as good as that of the two consumer groups of new white-collar workers and senior middle-class people.

Seventh, urban silver-haired.

People over 50 years old living in first-, second- and third-tier cities, the traditional people born in the 1960s and 1970s, are different from the new white-collar workers. They are the "invisible gold mine" in the Internet era, but the concept of frugal consumption is still deeply rooted. Although they are heavy users of instant messaging (i.e. WeChat, QQ, etc.), their consumption is still mainly offline.

Eighth, middle-aged and elderly people in small towns.

They are mainly people over 35 years old living in fourth-tier cities and below. They are deep followers of consumption, pursue ultimate value for money, and focus on socializing with acquaintances. Because of the existence of this group of people, most stores that rely on customer relationships still have value and necessity.

7. The Rule of Seven

The rule of seven means that users will only be willing to learn about your brand and trust you after seeing you seven times in a row, and then buy your products. The same is true for advertising. Only after being influenced seven times will there be some changes. So we advertised about 7 times.

Figure 6: The Rule of Seven

7.531 Hot Articles Model

By using more than 5 types of notes and going online in the information flow, you can quickly identify the note style type. Then, use 30% of your energy to create potential hot articles, and 10% of your energy to focus on hot article notes for added recommendations. Find notes with high search returns and that can drive traffic outside the site. The 531 hot article core model is formed by continuously filtering high-quality article notes.

Figure 7: 531 Hot Articles Model

8. Xiaohongshu conversion ROI system

Excerpt: Rocket Big Data uses CPE (likes + favorites + comments + follows) as a measurement indicator for off-site ROI conversion. For example, if we spent 10,000 yuan on Xiaohongshu and got 2,000 interactions, then the CPE cost is 5 yuan.

By monitoring the T indicator, which is the ratio of Taobao searches to Xiaohongshu interactions, we can get the ratio of Taobao searches to Xiaohongshu interactions. For example, if 2,000 interactions bring 10,000 searches to Taobao, then the value of T is 5.

Measure the brand keywords through business cards, product sales and shopping as well as free traffic within Taobao. At this moment, measure the transaction volume, which is S search volume × conversion rate. The transaction volume will give the transaction amount, which is the transaction volume × average order value. Finally, through conversion attribution, see the final correlation coefficient.

Figure 8: Xiaohongshu conversion ROI system

9. Horizontal Marketing

Horizontal marketing is a horizontal creative thinking method relative to vertical marketing. Reorganize products by developing new uses for existing products, creating new scenarios and targeting new targets.

Horizontal marketing is a creative process that is more suitable for the divergence of creative content. It is a creative thinking and it is a necessary supplement to vertical marketing. In other words, horizontal marketing is not a replacement for vertical marketing, but a completely new way of thinking when the market reaches a deadlock.

Horizontal marketing is divided into 3 steps:

1. Choose a focus. The focus can be something we want to focus on, a problem to be solved, or a goal to be achieved. For example, sending roses on Valentine's Day can be the focus of our attention.

2. Carry out horizontal substitution to generate stimulation. Horizontal substitution is an interruption in the logical thinking sequence, creating a new blank market. There are currently 6 methods: substitution, inversion, combination, exaggeration, removal, and permutation. For example, taking "giving roses to your lover on Valentine's Day" as an example, these 6 techniques can be explained in detail.

3. Establish a connection.

To establish the core of connection is to rationalize the logic of horizontal replacement of content. For example, if you want to send lemons on Valentine's Day, you need to know how to achieve it and in which situation to send lemons so that the whole process goes smoothly.

10. OKR goal management model

OKR is the abbreviation of Objective Result. Many companies are using it, such as Xiaohongshu, Alibaba, Google, etc. It is a task management method that is centered on objectives and key results and can help us better clarify our goals, using this week's tasks and subsequent tasks as auxiliary.

How to formulate an effective OKR:

1. Take out a piece of paper and fold it twice. We will get a paper with four areas.

2. List the “Goals & Key Results” on paper: “This week’s tasks”; “Status indicators”; “Tasks to be completed in the next month”

3. Set goals: For example, “Complete 5 Xiaohongshu notes this week!”

4. Formulate key results: only three key results can be formulated; key results must be executable; key results must be of moderate difficulty; mark the confidence index

🌰For example, the goal is to "become a dandelion expert in one month"

Key results: 1. 5,000 followers; 2. No violations in the account; 3. High-quality content in the account

Then add a confidence index (5-10 stars) to each task, indicating the confidence level in completing the task. 8 stars means 80% confidence.

5. Develop three status indicators: including work enthusiasm, learning enthusiasm, and interaction level; use colors to indicate the level (red: dangerous; yellow: normal; green: healthy)

6. Set tasks for this week (5-6): prioritize (p1: 2-3; p2: all the rest); describe the details (to do list); task status: in progress; completed

7. Set tasks to be completed within a month

8. Self-examination: Does the goal excite me? Does a prioritized task list ensure I accomplish my OKRs? Do I know what I am about to do?

9. Iteration: Review the use of OKRs every week; after completing them, reward yourself and identify potential problems.

11. Six-step method for data analysis

1. Ask questions: First of all, the question should be clear. For example, is the problem we need to solve on Xiaohongshu product promotion or product sales?

2. Make a hypothesis: What goals need to be achieved based on the hypothesis of this problem?

3. Data collection: Based on this hypothesis, start collecting data. Xiaohongshu can collect data from within the platform or through external platforms, such as Qiangua, Yien, etc.

4. Data processing: After data collection, you can process the data, including disassembling and classifying the data, and extracting useful data.

5. Data analysis: After the data is sorted, you can conduct comparative analysis on the industry, category, or competitive products.

6. Results presentation: Visualize the results using tables or other tools

12. Brand Five Forces Model

Brand power is a comprehensive expression, mainly covering product power, channel power, marketing power, management power and brand power.

Product strength: refers to the comprehensive cost-effectiveness of a product, including the relationship between the product's functional attributes and its price. Among them, product power is the foundation and the carrier that drives other forces.

Channel power: refers to the business awareness, management capabilities, market structure, financial strength and brand loyalty of first- and second-tier distributors.

Marketing power: refers to the strategic layout, integrated marketing capabilities, media resource capabilities, and crisis public relations capabilities of the enterprise at all levels.

Management ability: refers to the ability of the executive team (all levels of the enterprise, dealer executive level) to organize, control, follow up and summarize marketing projects.

Brand power: It is the accumulation of brand assets such as brand awareness and reputation, the influence of goodwill, and cultural identity, which are the comprehensive capabilities in driving consumer purchases. Brand power is the ultimate driving force, which is equivalent to the most core source of power.

13.FAB Profit Sales Law

The FAB benefit sales method is to selectively and purposefully persuade customers point by point based on their needs and intentions when introducing products, sales policies, and sales details.

F: refers to attributes or functions (Feature or Fact) , that is, what are the characteristics and attributes of your own products, such as whether this brand has created a unique "pearl" product memory point in the shower gel brand.

A: It refers to advantages, that is, how you are different from your competitors, and think about differentiation.

B: refers to customer interests and value (benefit) , the benefits that your product advantages can bring to customers.

14. Eight incentives model for copywriting

Create anxiety and induce recognition (e.g., businesses that don’t use Xiaohongshu are courting death)

Simple aggregation, emphasizing numbers (e.g. three conscientious bloggers that newbies must follow when using Xiaohongshu)

Suspense comparison, triggering complaints (such as: how to make your first million at zero cost)

Industry insider information to arouse curiosity (e.g., let’s calculate how much it costs to raise a child from 1 to 18 years old)

Starting point and end point, generate yearning (e.g.: From a monthly salary of 3,000 to a monthly salary of 30,000, I only did this one thing right)

Raise questions and resonate with people (e.g., have you ever thought about this question: why is it so easy for others to make money, but so difficult for you, as human beings?)

Easy to get started, lower the threshold (e.g., as long as you have a mobile phone, you can easily earn 3,000 yuan a month)

Results presentation, showing strength (e.g. my account only has 50,000 followers, let me show you the backend monetization data)

15. AISAS Model

The AIASS model is a consumer behavior analysis model summarized by Dentsu in response to changes in traditional shopping behaviors caused by the Internet. For Xiaohongshu, each indicator can be reviewed. High-quality notes must receive enough attention and high clicks from users, and then be searched on and off the site, and ultimately be shared, achieving a word-of-mouth effect.

A (Attention): Attention , attracting attention. At this time, the cover and title of Xiaohongshu are to attract users' attention.

I (Interest): Generate interest, read the text and generate purchase inquiries and purchase interest;

S (Search): Active search. After reading the notes, search for the brand on and off the site.

A (Action) Purchase, take action. Purchase is the most authentic feedback of action. Purchase can be made on or off the site.

S (Share) Share, share, person-to-person communication is the lowest communication cost, and achieve word-of-mouth effect;

16. IDEA Methodology

The IDEA model is a marketing thinking tool officially proposed by Xiaohongshu. It helps brands grow on Xiaohongshu through four steps: insight, definition, expedition, and advocate.

Insight: Insight into needs. With the help of Xiaohongshu’s official tools, users leave data on Xiaohongshu to help brands understand needs, find the right track, and determine what kind of user mind the product targets.

Define: Define the product, define product naming, core selling points, use expert + new product trial tools to help customers define product selling points and communication points, and prepare for the first round of MVP testing.

Expand: Seize the track. Expand not only refers to increasing sales, but also pays more attention to improving the brand in categories and user minds. At this stage, through Xiaohongshu's information flow and search tools, seize the category SOV and gain a higher market share.

Advocate: advocate for the brand. When users use a good product and have a good experience, they will share it for the second time. The brand can accumulate content. At the same time, the brand can use Xiaohongshu brand advertising, such as flame topics, splash screen ads, commercial topics and other tools to gather brand content and advocate for the brand.

17. Pyramid Principle

The pyramid principle can be used to refine the main text or selling points of Xiaohongshu. The principle is that anything can be summarized into a central argument, and this central argument can be supported by three to seven arguments, and these arguments are also supported by data, which are linked together, allowing users to have absolute trust.

For example, if an eye cream claims to be the best at adherence and the savior of powder sticking, to prove this claim, it can point out which elements in its ingredients can achieve adherence, and the specific reasons why these elements achieve adherence need to be clearly informed to users so that the proof is more complete.

18.PDCA working principle

PDCA means that every work needs to go through four stages: planning, executing the plan, checking the plan, adjusting the plan and continuously improving it. You can learn more about it from Kazunari Tomita’s “Efficient PDCA Work Technique”.

P (Plan): From the definition of the problem to the action plan, in the operation of Xiaohongshu , you can formulate a fan-increasing plan or specific content indicators. This indicator must be quantifiable, such as increasing the number of fans by 1,000 in 3 months. At this time, you can break down the goals specifically.

D (Implementation DO): Implement the action plan, formulate multiple solutions according to the target topics, and implement the measures into specific tasks to facilitate organizational implementation.

C (CHECK): Evaluate the results, paths, topics and solutions developed in the planning phase, verify the implementation status at this stage, and make further adjustments.

A (Adjustment): Adjust the overall goals, make major adjustments to the implementation plan, adjust the solution, or do not need to adjust, and continue.

19.3W Golden Circle Rule

Figure 16: 3W Golden Circle Rule

What to do [What] refers to what to do specifically, and refers more to the execution level, specifically to how to accomplish it.

How 【How】through which aspects, that is, how to solve this problem and how to better achieve the goal.

Why 【Why】that is, why do we do this? What is the reason? In the process of operating Xiaohongshu, many brands also provide good product experience, but they are not clear about what substantial benefits they can get through the good product experience. The good product experience can use official influencers to feedback on the advantages and disadvantages of products, continuously adjust product design, and allow brands to continuously upgrade products.

20. Total-Division-Total

This is the most commonly used structural method for writing the main text of Xiaohongshu. It conforms to readers' reading habits and can also clearly express product views.

Summary: Summarize the main points, express your experience of using the product, and bring about specific and substantial changes;

Points: Clearly express the reason for achieving this effect and which ingredients of the product achieve it;

Summary: In summary, call on everyone to buy this product and the corresponding purchasing channels.

21.4P Marketing Theory

Figure 17: 4P Marketing Theory

4P is the whole of marketing, and the core elements of marketing revolve around 4P. During the operation of Xiaohongshu, we should not only consider the specific methods of article writing, but also revolve around the 4P theory of marketing.

P Product: The first word in a brand is product. Before promoting it, you should first think clearly about whether the product can solve user pain points, arouse itch points and pleasure points, and whether it is valuable to users.

P Price: Pricing determines the world. It depends on which price segment the product wants to reach, be it high-end, mid-range or low-end.

P Channel (Place): Which channel is used for purchase, online or offline, and offline is it a convenience store, a hypermarket, or a specialty store.

P Marketing (Promotion): Which specific promotion method to use, choose the appropriate channel for promotion based on the channel and population situation.

22. SWOT Analysis

Based on the situation analysis under internal and external competitive environment and competitive conditions, the main internal strengths, weaknesses, external opportunities and threats are listed through investigation. This method can be used to analyze and summarize the strengths and weaknesses of the enterprise.

S (strengths): the advantages and opportunities that the company has in terms of products, raw materials, and supplier materials;

W (weaknesses): the shortcomings of the product, which are not as good as those of competitors and have no competitive advantage in the market.

O (opportunities): Opportunities we have and the measures we can take relative to our competitors

T (threats): Factors that threaten us, hinder our development, and threaten our future growth.

23. Porter’s Five Forces Analysis

Figure 19: Porter's Five Forces Analysis

Founded by Harvard University professor Michael Porter in 1979, it is a competitive strategy analysis method that determines the degree of industry competitiveness. The five forces are mainly divided into the bargaining power of suppliers, the bargaining power of buyers, the ability of potential competitors to enter, the substitution power of substitutes, and the current competitive power of competitors in the industry;

Supplier bargaining power: If the supplier has strong supply capabilities and great autonomy, they will also bargain. For example, in the diamond industry, De Beers controls diamond production and has the right to set product prices.

Bargaining power of buyers: If buyers are concentrated in a small number of customers, they will naturally have the power to bargain. When the product is recognized and liked by more consumers, the premium opportunity will be in their hands.

Entry of potential competitors: When industry profits are high, it will naturally attract more participants. The more participants there are, the greater the brand's competitive advantage will be.

Substitute substitutability: Substitutability of substitutes. If the price of substitutes is low, it will also erode the brand's market. For example, cultured diamonds are also eroding the market of natural diamonds.

Competition among industry competitors: that is, competitors in the same industry, such as the cheese industry, Meiji Landou, Dr. Cheese, Hetiya, etc., all of which are competing in the same track.

24. Kenichi Ohmae's 3C Model

Kenichi Ohmae, a leading figure in Japanese strategic research, proposed that a successful strategy must take into account three aspects: the company itself, its customers, and its competitors. Only when the company, its customers, and its competitors are in the same strategic system can customers gain sustainable competitive advantages.

C (Corporation): Analyze the company itself and find the most differentiated competitive advantage;

C (Customer): A company’s primary consideration should be the interests of its customers, not shareholders or other groups. In the long run, only those companies that truly care about their customers will be attractive to investors.

C (Competitor): The competitor strategy of an enterprise can be achieved by finding effective methods and pursuing differentiation in functional areas such as procurement, design, manufacturing, sales and service.

25. A/B Testing

A/B Testing is to control the same variables and conduct tests to see which one works better. For example, when placing ads on Xiaohongshu, we will select different articles, set the same time, region and audience, and conduct targeted delivery to see the data changes between the two. If the data performance of one side is much higher than the other, we will continue to deliver the notes with good data.

26. Lv Bai 10-3-1 Model

Lu Bai proposed the 3-10-1 model in "The Hot Little Red Book". If you are not sure what type of writing style to choose, you can choose 3 fields, then find 10 currently popular notes, and then organize them into documents, imitate and create, and finally choose a field that suits you and continue to delve into it.

For bloggers or brands who are unclear about their own positioning, they can choose multiple fields and organize the popular articles on the market into a table. Imitation is the greatest innovation. Imitate first, and then find a note-taking style that suits you better and create corresponding popular articles.

Figure 22: Xiaohongshu’s hot-selling topic database

27.T+H chain transformation

T+H Tmall and Xiaohongshu sales conversion, Tmall conversion brought by Xiaohongshu marketing. Xiaohongshu content < Xiaohongshu exposure < reading volume < interaction volume < Tmall visitor volume < Tmall transaction volume. The above is an entire marketing production line. The data of each link can be recorded, continuously analyzed and compared. If the data is good, the reasons are analyzed; if the data is bad, the reasons are analyzed.

28. Brand Triangle Model

The brand triangle model was proposed by H&H as a tool to help us better understand brands. The bottom layer is the product, that is, the structure of the product. The left side is the brand proverb, including business theory, product science, brand discourse and corporate culture; the symbol system on the right side is the super symbol.

Every customer who wants to promote a product on Xiaohongshu should first think about whether the product structure is reasonable and whether it is competitive. Secondly, consider whether the discourse system is appropriate and whether there are any advertising slogans and promotional slogans.

Then consider whether it is possible to make users retain their knowledge, form memories, and achieve the effect of communication. Only after considering these three issues clearly, can you truly succeed in promoting products on Xiaohongshu.