Case analysis: Xiaohongshu advertising strategy!

This article will take Cemoy, an Australian skincare brand that sold 100 million yuan in just one year from its inception to its launch, as an example to analyze its marketing strategy and how to evaluate the effectiveness of Xiaohongshu 's marketing.

Australian skincare brand Cemoy achieved 100 million yuan in sales in China after one year of operation and 300 million yuan after two years.

In summary, they mainly promote their brands through public relations, Xiaohongshu, and celebrity recommendations. After the brand has a certain reputation, they begin to cooperate with influencers who have their own stores and can sell goods, and then use the data from cooperation with influencers to develop B-end distributors. All the steps and rhythms are aimed at developing sellers and ultimately completing the sales of their own products.

So here comes the question:

1. How cemoy promoted itself on Xiaohongshu;
2. How to evaluate the effectiveness of promotion on Xiaohongshu?
3. How to balance the relationship between promotion rhythm and sales;
4. How to select content KOLs and control their number in the early, mid and late stages.

Next, I will give specific answers to the above questions (based more on data analysis rather than personal subjective judgment)

01How do you see whether Xiaohongshu advertising can bring results?

As shown in the figure, I have pulled the content count of cemoy's facial cream and lotion categories on Xiaohongshu and the search term data on Taobao.

The lotion has been widely advertised on Xiaohongshu since May 2019, with the search volume reaching 62,842 that month. As the amount of content increases and the target search volume is reached, the delivery begins to be reduced, and the monthly content is maintained at between 150 and 200 pieces on demand. The search volume on Taobao remains at around 100,000, and this data can rank in the top ten in the search for lotion brands.

There is relatively little data on face creams. Although searches have increased, they have not reached the level of lotions and lotions. Currently, searches for face cream brands only rank around the top 100.

The above can explain:

1. Advertising on Xiaohongshu can have an impact on Taobao search volume;
2. Regarding measuring the delivery rhythm: you can first deliver on Xiaohongshu, and simultaneously look at the search volume of the delivered products on Taobao. When the search data comes up, you can reduce the delivery appropriately and then look at the search volume. If the search data does not decrease at this time, adjust and test your own delivery data until it reaches a relatively stable state. [Stability of the number of ads and the stability of Taobao search index]

02 How to balance the relationship between promotion rhythm and sales

If you look at this picture together with the one above, you will see that the first yellow part "Facial Care Set" corresponds to Cemoy's lotion and milk products, and the second yellow part "Lotion/Cream" corresponds to Cemoy's cream. By comparing the sales data of these two products with the corresponding advertising data of the products in the above picture on Xiaohongshu, we can find the impact of the overall advertising on search and sales.

Of course, because it takes some time to verify from planting grass to conversion, the fluctuations in sales are not timely enough to verify the effectiveness of Xiaohongshu, but we can make a judgment based on the sales data of the total time period. In general, the data gap brought about by the impact is still relatively large.

03 How does cemoy make its delivery?

The above is the promotion rhythm and number of different products of cemoy in Xiaohongshu. Because the 21-day essence and lotion are the two best-selling products of cemoy, below I will analyze the corresponding content and rhythm of the 21-day essence and lotion on Xiaohongshu.

First, let’s talk about the general selection of KOLs and the significance behind them:

About the definition of KOL level:

• Amateur: less than 10,000 fans;
• Junior talent: 10,000-50,000 fans;
• Mid-level influencers: 50,000-500,000 fans;
• Top influencers: more than 500,000 fans.

The significance of choosing different KOLs:

• About amateurs and junior experts: Once the content of Xiaohongshu is published, it will always exist as long as the blogger does not delete it. This allows users to see the corresponding information at any time when searching for products. In other words, if it is a niche product that is being tested in the early stages, or if the budget is limited, you can invest in amateurs on Xiaohongshu so that when users or B-end distributors see the brand's promotion somewhere else one day, they will not be unable to find any product-related recommendations or information.
• About top KOLs: Top influencers are largely there to harvest sales;
• About celebrities: Celebrity endorsements can increase brand potential;
• Regarding mid-level KOLs: They can make recommendations on a wider range and with greater influence;

The relationship between general placement and sales:

Based on the promotion by a large number of ordinary people, top influencers harvest sales, celebrities use their platform to increase brand potential, and mid-level influencers promote the brand on a large scale. Generally, these four steps will allow the promoted products to gain influence on the sales platform, and then fixed monthly investments will be made to maintain this influence and keep sales. (The influence is mainly determined by testing the product’s search index on Taobao.)

1. The promotion rhythm of 21-day essence

(1) The main selling points of the product

1. Contains light particles, which can improve skin condition in just 21 days;
2. Small packaging is more convenient to carry;
3. Anti-blue light concept;
4. For those who stay up late at night;
5. Various extracts: brown algae, Centella asiatica, etc.

(2) Initial promotion of 21-day essence products on Xiaohongshu

It took about 3 months from October to December 2018. All influencers mainly recommend products based on trial.

Content screenshots:

From top to bottom, they are junior masters, mid-level masters, and amateurs.

(3) Promotional content on Xiaohongshu during the hot-selling period of the 21-day essence product

Starting from January 2019, the output of experts is mainly based on evaluation, comparison and usage experience. This cycle continues throughout the entire sales cycle of the product.

(4) Content presentation format

1. A collection of recent favorite products;
2. Daily skin care routine;
3. It is mentioned in a certain makeup;
4. Comparison photos of the product after 21 days of use;
5. Just sharing this product.

From top to bottom, they are: top talents, mid-level talents, junior talents, amateurs, and stars.

2. Promotion rhythm of lotion products

(1) The main selling points of the product

1. The product packaging has a sense of ceremony (the bottle is exquisite);
2. 5d all-round maintenance;
3. Improve skin "lumen";
4. Ingredients: The same bifid yeast as big brands and the brand's patented ingredient (Ecdoin);
5. Pregnant women can use Australian cosmeceutical brands;
6. Easy to absorb.

(2) Early promotion of lotion products on Xiaohongshu

From April to mid-May 2019, it took about 1.5 months, mainly focusing on usage experience and evaluation.

Content screenshots:

From top to bottom, they are junior masters, mid-level masters, and amateurs.

(3) Promotional content on Xiaohongshu during the hot selling period of lotion and emulsion products

Starting from mid-May 2019, the focus will be on direct product promotion.

(4) Content presentation format

Starting from the perspective of using this product, it usually starts from the packaging box and ends with applying the product on the face.

From top to bottom: amateur, primary, waist, head, star

04 Analysis of differences between the launch of two products

This is the launch time of different products under the cemoy brand and the number of the brand in Xiaohongshu. Please pay attention to the data of the 21-day essence and lotion (red and green lines).

In general: the initial promotion cycle of the 21-day product lasted for 3 months, but the initial promotion cycle of the lotion product only took 1.5 months.

There may be two reasons:

1. The 21-Day Essence is the first product to establish user awareness of the cemoy brand through re-promotion, so the initial promotion was based on trial use and the duration was relatively long.
2. The 21-day essence is a new product that requires certain market education, whereas the lotion is a mature product and was launched after cemoy already had a certain degree of market recognition, so the product promotion content and pace are faster.

05 Why are some products not promoted by distributors?

I believe you can also find out from the picture above that the cemoy brand started to expose content on Xiaohongshu in July 2017. After 2 years and 8 months, it has launched 8 new products, from ampoules/masks/21-day essence/lotion/cleanser/cream/eye cream.

The rhythm of product launches on Xiaohongshu above also shows the brand's pace of product launches, with an average of one model every three months.

Because we learned in the previous article that cemoy was mainly developed by distributors, so why didn’t the distributors of ampoules and facial masks that were promoted at the beginning succeed?

I picked two top distributors and let’s take a look at the product features of their stores:

Jingbao International

The top-selling facial masks in the store are priced between 43 yuan and 79 yuan, and the prices of the top 20 products in the store are all less than 180 yuan.

White leaf shop

The top-selling sheet masks in the store are priced between 48 yuan and 88 yuan, and the prices of the top 20 products in the store are all less than 180 yuan.

The price of cemoy mask is 129/5 pieces, which is close to 22 per piece on average. The price of ampoule is 198/2 pieces, 10ml. The biggest reason why these two products were not promoted is the price.

If you want to use B-end distributors for your own products, you need to consider whether your price distributor can increase the volume, and you need to determine the price range of the channel you want to build.

06 Conclusion

1. Make your product description clear enough before launching

Whether your price is appropriate (for target consumers and distributors); whether your selling point can be well expressed by experts; whether your product is a good product (of course, it is not up to you to decide; it must be recognized by the real target consumers)).

2. When publishing, set a reasonable amount of content for yourself

From the above analysis, we can see that if the total amount of materials in a single month does not exceed 100, it will be difficult to achieve results, so we must set a reasonable budget and not stop at a superficial level.

3. Give yourself a corresponding time period during the delivery process

Cemoy is already a national brand in Australia. From July 2017 to December 2018, it took a full year and a half, and after changing 3 products, we finally got the current results, so we need to set a testing time period for each of our products.

4. Rationally allocate and use influencers at different levels at different stages of the campaign

You can refer to the number of influencers’ placements on the cemoy brand in different time periods, and specifically refer to the table of the number of Xiaohongshu placements for the 21-day essence and lotion above.

PS: These contents are not necessarily all paid for. As the brand develops, there will be some tap water content. All you have to do is monitor the overall content volume.

Author:Sally

Source: Sally

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