Guide for maternal and child merchants to get the most out of Xiaohongshu!

As an encyclopedia for women, Xiaohongshu not only attracts young ladies to recommend products and share their orders, but also attracts many new mothers to recommend maternal and infant products on Xiaohongshu and share notes on preparing for pregnancy, raising children, and keeping their babies healthy.

Due to the natural adaptability of the population, maternal and child products have also begun to make marketing layouts on Xiaohongshu. Some brands such as Kangaroo Mom, Babycare, and Red Elephant have completed the first stage of planting grass and cutting grass on Xiaohongshu. How do specific maternal and infant brands deploy their products on Xiaohongshu? I hope today’s 3,000-word article will inspire you.

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• Industry insights: fast growth and many category opportunities
• User needs: Four types of maternal and child care, targeted layout
• Brand strategy: Four types of brands and ways to break through

1. Industry Insights: Fast Growth and Many Category Opportunities

Judging from the data officially released by Xiaohongshu, the overall search data for maternal and infant products continues to rise, which fully confirms that Xiaohongshu has become an encyclopedia of maternal and infant products, and users will first look at Xiaohongshu before purchasing related products.

In addition, among the mother and baby population, 69% are 23-33 years old, mainly concentrated in first- and second-tier cities. This also reflects the high-value population attribute of Xiaohongshu. By conquering this group of people, we can grasp the high-potential mother and baby population. At the same time, they are more picky about the sophistication of products and content.

Figure 1: Xiaohongshu maternal and infant traffic data

In the maternal and infant category of Xiaohongshu, there are nearly 40 categories including complementary food, early education, infants and children, milk powder, strollers, etc., among which complementary food, early education and complementary food for infants and children are the top 3 searches, while milk powder, infants and children, and diapers are ranked behind. The search volume indirectly reflects the user demand. The larger the search volume, the stronger the user demand for the category, and the more mature the category is on Xiaohongshu.

Figure 2: Search volume of maternal and child sub-categories on Xiaohongshu

Looking at the overall competition, according to official data, some categories with low demand and high competition, such as maternity bags and maternity toiletries, have become a red ocean of competition, while categories like infant clothing and infant nutrition have high search volumes but few brands, and are in a blue ocean of competition. A small market and strong competition have a low ceiling. For new brands, they need to find a market with high search volume and less competition, and find a larger market.

Figure 3: Competition in Xiaohongshu’s maternal and infant sub-categories

The official classification of the maternal and infant industry is into four categories: maternal and infant care, consumables, maternal and infant small items, and baby food. From the figure below, we can see that products like baby creams, safety seats, and cribs have always maintained a high search volume, with high overall demand and high market demand.

Figure 4: Search volume trends for subcategories of the maternal and infant industry on Xiaohongshu

Judging from the search volume of Xiaohongshu as a whole, the maternal and child category continues to grow. Early childhood education, infant education, and clothing have always been industries with high user attention. In terms of the overall level of competition, the maternity bags and pregnant women categories are already in a red ocean of competition due to their small market and high participation, whereas baby clothing is in a blue ocean market. For categories in the blue ocean market, it is important to take the lead in layout and create popular articles to drive hot product business.

2. Category Insights: Four categories of maternal and infant products, targeted layout

To help everyone better understand the maternal and infant industry, I divided it into four quadrants based on average customer spending and usage level. The price is based on the single consumption amount, with 300 yuan as the dividing line, and the usage level is fast-moving consumer goods (defined as weekly must-haves). Maternal and infant products are divided into four categories: high average customer spending + fast-moving consumer goods, low average customer spending + fast-moving consumer goods, low average customer spending + durable goods, and high average customer spending + durable goods.

Figure 5: Four major classification methods of maternal and infant industry

1. High average order value + fast moving consumer goods

The price is high and users use it frequently. This is a sexy and good business with a high ceiling for the category. Such products solve mothers’ pain points and are likely to form long-term purchasing habits, including high-end milk powder, infant health products, early education and other categories. In addition, due to frequent use and high user attention to the brand, this category is also prone to producing strong brands.

Note that users will be more cautious before buying, and will do a lot of research before buying, looking at the ingredients, the efficacy, and whether there are any professional recommendations. For such brands, it is recommended to increase brand potential through the use of celebrities and influencers on Xiaohongshu to save brand awareness. In addition, through trial packs and other products, customers can be locked in through user experience. This is why many early childhood education institutions often use trial classes.

Figure 6: Feiyang is growing brand money deposit and withdrawal action diagram

3. Low average order value + fast-moving consumer goods

Most of these products are daily necessities that are used every week or every day, such as some snacks, maternity and infant products, diapers and other products. Users are more likely to follow these products, and their use by different experts can easily inspire users to try them. Once this type of maternal and infant product wins the user's choice, it is easy to develop dependence in the later stage. In the early stage, you can adopt the good product experience & Taobao approach to allow more users to try the product first and complete the usage experience of the first batch of seed users.

3. Low average order value + durable goods

Most of them are mature categories, and there are also many strong brands. Before purchasing, users will look at whether the products are well-known among their friends or in the market. For example, for categories such as breast pumps and baby bottles, since they are durable goods, users will also check guides and brand reviews before purchasing. Brands with clear professional selling points are more likely to be chosen by users.

4. High order value + durable goods

This type of product is used infrequently and can be used for several years once purchased. Due to the high price, it takes a long time for users to make purchasing decisions. Users will also make multiple comparisons, such as safety seats, cribs, and confinement centers. Users pay more attention to the products, ingredients, and functions.

This type has expert endorsements and review notes, making it easier to gain the trust of users. Compared with fast-moving consumer goods with high customer unit prices, this category cannot generate multiple repeat purchases, so the scale and strength of advertising are relatively small, and we adhere to the strategy of less but better advertising.

3. Brand strategy: Four types of brands and ways to break through

So how do the four specific types of brands perform on Xiaohongshu? I have found four brands that are doing well in four categories and analyzed their marketing strategies on Xiaohongshu so that everyone can learn from them in a targeted manner.

1. High average order value + fast moving consumer goods

Take the DHA brand Natural Doctor as an example. DHA is a polyunsaturated fatty acid that is very important to the human body. It is beneficial to the intellectual development of infants and young children, both during pregnancy and during the baby's growth. Proper supplementation is good for the development of the eyes and brain (experts say so). Currently, the high-end DHA series is priced at 300 yuan/50 cases, and the Natural Blogger price is 398 yuan/50 tablets, which is in line with the high unit price and fast-moving consumer goods attributes.

Analyzing its advertising on Xiaohongshu, the corporate account is more of a display function, instantly promoting "good algae oil amber" to show the brand's selling point, and also pinning the father's random inspection notes to the top. The professional account is mainly used to show authority and product introduction.

Figure 7: Natural blogger business account

Checking its influencer placement on Xiaohongshu, it is found that it has cooperated with both the random inspection Dad Review and the maternal and child influencer Nian Gao Mama. Its business notes of the past 30 days are 12 business notes, which are mid-level influencers in the high-priced fast-moving consumer goods categories. Mid-level influencers are highly authoritative, and the categories have high profits, so they can be supported.

In terms of content, because the DHA category is still in its growth stage, many users are unaware of its efficacy. The notes first promote the benefits of algae oil DHA for babies, and then embed the natural blogger's amber standard of good algae oil into it, allowing users to choose brands in the category.

Figure 8: Enen Star Natural Doctor Business Notes

Summary: For high-order fast-moving consumer goods, the key is to first gain the trust of users, experts and vertical bloggers to dispel users' concerns, and then use corporate accounts for authoritative endorsement and reprinting, continue to place advertisements for high-quality expert notes, expand the brand's voice on Xiaohongshu, create notes with high interaction volume, and achieve traffic to the site and a basis for decision-making.

2. Low average order value + fast-moving consumer goods

Taking cheese sticks as an example, the average order value of cheese sticks is low and the consumption frequency is high. As the leading cheese stick brand, Meiji Landou’s corporate account is more about official activities, such as cross-border collaborations and holiday marketing. In terms of advertising, it mainly relies on influencers and does a good job of reposting.

Through En Star Number, we have checked the situation of influencer deployment in the past month. From the perspective of the deployment in the past month, it can be seen that the majority of influencers are junior influencers. For those with low average order value, the reputation of junior influencers is more likely to gain user trust. The types of influencer notes not only focus on mothers and babies, but also on food and weight loss. For this type of maternal and child products, the Little Red Book will promote them through vertical maternal and child bloggers in the early stage, and in the later stage, it will focus on related influencers, break through the circle layer by layer, and attract more people to use it.

Figure 9: Enen Stars Miucoland Business Notes

Summary: Low-unit-price & fast-moving consumer goods brands rely on scale to win, and need to let more people know about the brand. In terms of influencer investment, a pyramid influencer organization can be used to invest in layers, stimulate user UGC attributes, let buyers post notes spontaneously, form a word-of-mouth effect, let Xiaohongshu become word-of-mouth and the basis for decision-making, and then harvest in large quantities through the Douyin platform.

3. Low average order value + durable goods

Take baby bottles as an example. Among baby products, they are also durable goods, and the overall price is less than 300 yuan. For example, Brown, a blogger who advocates scientific feeding and prevents bloating, breaks down his advertising on Xiaohongshu. The corporate account is more of an official promotion, focusing on brand stories, celebrity endorsements, and advertising KV. In terms of advertising, it is mainly based on influencers.

Figure 10: Dr. Brown’s Enterprise content

Because there are few business notes, I formed a group to check the advertising situation in the past three months. Judging from the experts who have reported in the past three months, they are mainly junior experts. Due to the properties of baby bottles, the advertising is basically focused on maternal and child bloggers, and the core difference point of the advertising is to prevent bloating. Because the baby bottle category has entered the mature stage, the brand has also passed the education period and entered the brand competition stage, and differentiated selling points have become the foothold.

Figure 11: Details of Dr. Brown’s Business Notes

Summary: Low-priced goods and durable goods are generally in the four major categories. It doesn’t sound like a very sexy business, but users have a high awareness of the categories. Many brands have already occupied the market. At this stage, new brands win through innovation, and old brands enter the consumer’s mental choice list by occupying their position.

4. High average order value + durable goods

Taking the category of safety seats as an example, users will make repeated comparisons and check detailed guides before purchasing. Take Wilton as an example. By disassembling its Xiaohongshu advertising, we can see that the corporate account is also used as an official image display, with dad reviews and product function videos. The core is still to use influencers for promotion. I have pulled out the business notes for the past month. The influencers are mainly concentrated in the top and waist-level influencers and high-priced products. The top and waist-level influencers are more trustworthy.

Figure 12: Wilton’s Little Red Book Business Notes

The safety seat category has entered the stage of brand competition. The key at this stage is to tell users how the brand is differentiated, embed user scenarios, and tell users the differences. For example, Wheeldon highlights collision safety, fabric safety, installation safety, and factory audit safety through random inspections by dads to dispel users' purchasing concerns. For durable goods with high customer unit price, it depends on the competition stage of the category. In the early stage, users should be informed of the category attributes. In the growth and maturity stage, the brand differentiation should be informed.

Summary: From the perspective of the entire maternal and infant brand’s launch on Xiaohongshu, professional accounts are more of an authoritative display, which is really heartbreaking. Maternal and infant brands should learn from beauty brands, make professional accounts the focus of product launch, reprint and report the notes of influencers, heat up the interaction and bring back searches and conversions, complete the commercial closed loop within the site, and accumulate fans for the brand on Xiaohongshu.

In addition, for products with high unit prices, experts, celebrities and influencers are used to dispel customer concerns. For products with low unit prices, mid-level and top influencers are used to create an atmosphere that everyone is using the product, stimulating users' desire to try. Specifically, at each stage of the appeal, the appeal is more differentiated through promotion based on the product's own positioning. That’s all I have to say about maternal and infant marketing on Xiaohongshu today.