PR AGENCY DIARIES: WHAT IS LITTLE RED BOOK AND WHY SHOULD NZ BRANDS CARE?

With over 300 million users (and counting), Little Red Book (Xiaohongshu) has become one of the most powerful social media and shopping apps.

Imagine you took Pinterest, mixed it together with Instagram and Amazon, and planted it right in the hands of millions of women (and more than a few men) who love beauty, fashion, lifestyle and health products.

While we thought Pinstagramazon was a genius name, the app is called Xiaohongshu which translates to ‘Little Red Book’ – and it has quickly become the go-to guide for savvy shoppers.

What is Little Red Book?

Initially created for Chinese users to review and share foreign products they bought while abroad, it’s essentially a product search engine – with a unique blend of social community, user-generated content and product recommendations. Users upload their shopping experiences with text, images and videos for other users to engage with, just like on Instagram – liking, commenting and “collecting” posts to view later.

How do users discover content and products on Little Red Book?

Just like other platforms, you can follow people you like – keeping on top of what your bestie or your favourite celeb is posting, or you can head to the “explore” page (sound familiar?) to find something new. As usual hashtags are king and you can search by keyword if you’re looking for something specific.

If you’re looking close to home the “nearby” section pulls up content from your vicinity – from our office in Grey Lynn, we were delivered a plethora of stunning Kiwi travel content, mixed in with all the best hotels, the yummiest eateries, a puffer jacket recommendation, and where to find 99c Haagen-Dazs.

How do influencers make their buck on Little Red Book?

Users who post lots of quality product photos and reviews quickly grow their following, and just like other social platforms, their profiles reflect their personal style and interests. Once a user has built up a large and trusting audience (over 5,000 followers and over 10,000 average post views), they’re able to start making some bank from their valuable recommendations through the built-in influencer marketing system.

To amplify their presence on Little Red Book, many brands turn to Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) to bridge the gap and get their products in front of more people – or to the KOL’s smaller but still important sister, the Key Opinion Consumer (KOC). Trust is key when it comes to influence on Little Red Book and influencers are rewarded for being real, relatable and honest. Regular users can smell a rat from a mile away so smaller KOCs are often more effective for converting.

In fact, Little Red Book has a staunch focus on content integrity – influencers must register their paid promotions and if they fail to do this, they risk having their account deleted. Users like to know when they’re consuming an ad and attempting to pull the woollies on one’s followers is an instant way to destroy that hard-earned trust. A common criticism of Western platforms like Instagram is that they’re too commercial and influencers aren’t playing by the rules – Little Red Book is strictly no-cowboy-land.

So, what does this mean for NZ brands?

The audience on the app is about 90% upper class women, and 50% are aged between 18-35, and are mostly located in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Guangdong. Although there are plenty of users there, it’s interesting to note that users who are living outside of China have on average more influence – their posts get more likes and comments and are “collected” more, leading to more sales.

With trust and integrity coming in at number one, recommendations on the app are taken seriously, and, unlike Insta or Facebook, people using the app often usually have the intention to spend and “collecting” posts is a clear indication they’re getting ready to buy.

To put it simply, being visible on Little Red Book is a powerful way to get your brand in front of Chinese consumers, whether you’re already selling in China or not.

Ready to get a page in the book? Get in touch with us today.