China Learnings This Week

March 28, 2022

Short Video Platforms to Deal with Stricter Rating Measures

Problems with fan circles, such as irrational fan support among young fans, have become a cause of concern for Chinese politicians. Setting up a classification system for short video platforms is one of the options that has recently been offered.

‘First, we should tighten content management and allow the media to fulfil its social role,’ Chinese officials stated. Second, market restraints should be increased to aid the return to the rationality of the star-making frenzy.’

Netizens praised the move, pointing out that short videos have a significant influence on young people today, and that many videos on platforms like Kuaishou focus on attracting attention but neglect quality.

Last year, China saw certain limits come into effect when a notice was published in September 2021 forbidding TV and streaming platforms from running idol training shows – competitive reality shows that pit future stars against one other, with the victors going on to become China’s newest idols.

Link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/8t7aaiOj0j1OhHSIwffFqA 

 

How to Make Your Brand Go Viral: Branded Mini-Movies in China

Mini movies are short cinematic pieces created for a particular product or brand. The duration is generally shorter than 30 minutes. With the advancement of new media technologies, the branded mini-movie was formed, and it has become a popular marketing tool in recent years.

The purpose of a branded mini-movie is to disseminate information in order to demonstrate the brand’s values and messaging for commercial purposes. Touch and Go, a 90-second Cadillac commercial mini-movie starring Daniel Wu and released in 2010, is credited with being China’s first branded mini-movie.

Many brands have turned to mini-movie marketing as a regular activity in recent years, and some have even developed their own mini-movies. Alibaba Pictures, for example, was launched by Alibaba in 2014.

One of the most popular mini-movies was  What is Peppa? (啥是佩奇?) video with several hundred million views across streaming media platforms and the Chinese hashtag for #WhatIsPeppa was viewed nearly 1.5 billion times on Sina Weibo soon after its release.

Link: https://daxueconsulting.com/branded-mini-movies-in-china/ 

 

Video Account Has Added Useful New Features

  1. The service menu can be added to the WeChat Channels

Recently, brands that have received certification have been able to add a “service menu” capability to their home page, allowing for a straight jump to a mini-program.

At present, several WeChat Channels have added new service menus, and different types of accounts can customize the service setup. For example, the Channel 丁香医生 has two service sections and Huawei Customer Service features six service sections for contacting customer service, store inquiries. etc.  It can more effectively reach users and improve their convenience.

  1. Paid live-streaming rooms on WeChat Channels

Previously, Tencent NBA WeChat Channel hosted first paid live broadcast room, which carried NBA regular season content. The brand can create a paid live streaming room where users can choose what they want to view.

  1. The relationship between WeCom and WeChat Channels getting closer

WeCom added an option to send, receive, and watch the WeChat Channels live broadcasts, as well as send and receive live broadcasts from customers and publish them to customers’ friends’ Moments. The current version of WeCom now supports the direct push of the channel’s business card, which helps to gain exposure of the brand and increase the number of WeChat Channels followers.

Link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/VcPwp9lo_67PL1DG5Ck9kg

You may also like

WeChat Menu Basics: Introduction for Brands

March 16, 2022

What is WeChat Menu?

Aside from articles, one of the most important functions that companies can use on WeChat is the Menu – it’s always-on content that brands can use in a variety of ways.

The WeChat menu is where users will search for key information, such as your company’s contact details, brand story, key products, product line introduction, and more. They can simply access these menu tabs when they click on your WeChat official account.

To begin with, the WeChat menu is similar to the menu on a website, and you can replicate or mirror the menu from your official website by taking into account which information are the most important for your China’s audience. As you will see in this article, a well-crafted menu by directing the users to relevant tabs can increase sales and increase lead generation. Menu tabs can be updated on regular basis and some can lead to ongoing events or campaigns. 

WeChat Menu Backend

Menu – More Important than One Thinks

According to Digital Luxury Group, of all the engagement activities carried out by followers, Menu Clicks ranked the highest of all types of engagements with official accounts at an astounding 73%. This might be a shock for many brands that mainly focus on producing amazing weekly content but often neglect regular updates of their WeChat menu. Users tend to engage with brands on WeChat when they are looking for specific types of information or services, which are generally accessed through the menu tabs therefore menu serves a different purpose than weekly articles. 

WeChat Menu Stats

Why Use The WeChat Menu?

Best first impression: When a user clicks to follow your account, they receive an automatic welcome message. You can edit and craft this message by using WeChat links directing to menu tabs, e-shops, contact forms, etc. Make sure it’s concise and not too long.

Smoother user journey: The menu helps users quickly find all FAQ (frequently asked questions) information. From the menu, they should be able to access e-commerce (if applied), customer service, and brand introduction. This is something that WeChat users are used to and automatically check when following a new account. 

Stay up-to-date: Look at the menu as your information hub for the Chinese market as it’s quite possible that your Chinese customers will check your WeChat menu more often than your website. Carefully focus on the most important tabs like brand introduction, current product catalog, contract details page e.g. one of the biggest mistakes we’ve seen it’s uploading contact details as image, therefore, emails or phone numbers can’t be copy-pasted causing inconvenience for potential customers. 

Gain new followers: Although the menu is only visible to users who visited your WeChat account and won’t necessarily help with the initial account awareness when you manage to hook your visitors with the menu, you can lead them through a rich brand experience journey. That’s why investing more time and effort into creating menu content is crucial. 

WeChat Menu Backend WeChat Menu Backend

WeChat Menu Montagut WeChat Menu Montagut WeChat Menu Montagut

Who Can Enable the Menu?

The menu function is accessible by two types of accounts:

– Verified subscription accounts,

– Service accounts.

The good news is that all overseas companies applying for a service account can enable a menu on their official WeChat account. The menu can be set up and edited using the desktop official account WeChat backend. 

Menu Tabs

From the technical point of view, the menu can consist of a maximum of three columns and each can have a maximum of five sub-menus. Your menu can have a total of 15 tabs. In special cases, if you need more submenu tabs, there is also an option to create a menu tab showing a collection of related articles for more advanced WeChat users. You can contact us to find out more. 

However, we don’t recommend setting up a maximum amount of many tabs as it might be slightly overwhelming for the users and make it hard to find the information that they are looking for. Remember that the core of the WeChat menu is its functionality. Hence, 8 or 9 tabs is ideal.

There are a few options to build your menu:

Sub-menu content

  • Send a Message  
    • Article,
    • Text message,
    • Image,
    • Audio,
    • Video.
  • Jump to Web page:
    • WeChat article – best user experience as the page loads quickly, and beautiful posts can be created.
    • External website – not recommended since if the website is hosted outside of China, it will be extremely slow. If it is in English, it will be discouraging to readers.
  • Jump to Mini Program

Jump to ‘WeChat Article’ is the most user-friendly solution. 

WeChat Menu GB  WeChat Menu PG

How to create a menu?

Step 1: On the top left of your public account page, you’ll notice a “menu” icon appear after you’ve created your service account or had your subscription account certified.

Step 2: Create three first-level menu items and second-level sub-menu items for each of them. 

Each menu column name can consist of up to 4 Chinese characters or 8 letters

Each menu tab name can consist of up to 8 Chinese characters or 16 letters

Step 3: Now it’s time to start creating content for your menu. Click on each item to create content when users click on each tab. As mentioned above you can ideally link it to either one of the messages you just produced, an existing article, WeChat mini program or an external webpage (make sure the webpage displays well on mobile and fast enough for WeChat user standards).

Sometimes it can take up to 24 hours for a new menu to appear on your account. Be patient!

Conclusion

Here are the important things to know about the Menu:

  • WeChat menus are becoming one of the most clicked types of content in the WeChat official account ecosystem. 
  • They are your brand information hubs for the Chinese market. 
  • Brands can set at most 3 menu columns with each menu column set a max of 5 sub-menus. In total, a brand has 15 sub-menu tabs to leverage.
  • WeChat’s official account backend allows tracking follower behavior to understand the click rate of each menu. We will cover WeChat menu optimization and other advanced options in our next post. 

Read more about in the second part of this article: WeChat Menu Basics: How to Optimize WeChat Menu?

Are you looking for setting up your very own WeChat Menu? Please get in touch with our team. We apply our knowledge and experience to assist businesses in forming meaningful connections and expanding their consumer base in China. For additional information, please contact us by phone – Shanghai or Hong Kong

You may also like

What Is Dewu?

March 9, 2022

You probably hear a lot about RED, one of the biggest UGC (User Generated Content) platforms in China. Well, there is another one that is super popular among Chinese millennials and Gen Z, that is DEWU (得物), previously known as POIZON or Du (毒).

Shanghai Shizhuang Information Technology Co., Ltd. launched Dewu, commonly known as Poizon, an online shopping app. It is China’s largest fashion brand exchange and trading platform, including features such as evaluating the validity of fashion labels and trend sharing. Product listings, trade mechanisms, and unified delivery are all subject to strict authenticity checks.

Poizon Dewu

Dewu’s USP

The “identify first, ship later” shopping approach is Dewu’s unique selling point. Trendy shoes, fashion, watches, accessories, gaming, digital and home appliances, beauty, vehicles, and more are among the product categories. At the same time, by consistently accumulating fashion content, Dewu is becoming a trend indicator and voice for young users as a trendy lifestyle network for young people. 

People can also share their impressions and discuss their purchases with other users. For example, the app boasts a thriving community of sneakerheads who discuss the latest releases on the platform. As a result, the most trending topics of discussion revolve around sneakers, fashion brands, celebrities, street culture, cars, watches, and fashion art, all of which are popular among young people.

Poizon Dewu Poizon Dewu Poizon Dewu

Growth of Dewu

Dewu App has become synonymous with “quality e-commerce”, leading the new demand for quality consumption

The Dewu platform’s total revenue in 2019 was 7 billion yuan, with sneakers accounting for the majority of that. The domestic second-hand shoe market was nearly monopolized by this app. In the same year, the app had accumulated 47 million product identifications. 

In 2020, the number of identifications will have expanded dramatically, surpassing 60 million, with roughly 40 million active monthly.

According to Fan Ruan, Dewu’s MAU (Monthly Active User) hit 81 million in May 2021, representing an increase of 8% month over month. 

Key User of Dewu

The structure and demographics of Dewu’s DAUs (Daily Active Users) is very interesting as the ratio of male to female users on Dewu is 52:48. This is in stark contrast to RED, which has a predominantly female user base.

Dewu has a sizable percentage of young customers. The post-90s generation accounts for more than 75% of the total. These young people are the driving force behind online consumption and the architects of the new online economy’s future development. They consume with strong personal qualities. They are not only open to trying new products, but they are also more willing to share their consumer experiences with others and strive for a positive consumer experience. 

When it comes to China, 61% of Gen Z is looking for brands that will set them apart. As a result, Dewu is a platform that assists Gen Z in meeting its needs. 

Why do more and more brands choose Dewu(得物）？

Dewu’s app store ranking has been in the top ten for quite some time. Dewu has now become a “platform level” product, based on the IOS store rankings and the average daily downloads of more than 100000 users. Because of that, Dewu is attracting an increasing number of companies and service providers.

At present, more than 5,000 brands have settled in, mostly fashion wear brands and high-end brands, such as sports brands Adidas, luxury brands such as Coach, Michael Kors, Armani, and so on.

The reason why high-end brands choose Dewu is mainly due to the following two points:

  1. The user group and consumer demand are expanding.
    The consumer demand of users grows as user groups expand: male users are interested in shoes, watches, accessories, and men’s apparel; female users look for more women’s clothing, beauty makeup, and skincare goods, among other things. There is space for brand development due to consumer demand.

    At the same time, the “post-90s” account for more than 80% of property users, according to the most recent government statistics. Young people are the target audience for high-end brands.
  2. The content community system is also good for the brand.
    The platform will guide customers to consistently develop high-quality content in Dewu’s content community system. When producing news on Dewu, for example, the platform will provide “high-quality strategic advice” to help people write high-quality news.

Dewu’s current content community, like Xiaohongshu’s, is in UGC mode, with many KOL and MCN institutions settling in. According to official public data, Dewu collaborated with approximately 100 MCN institutions in the first half of 2021.

Incentive for brands

The platform offers a number of benefits that attract top businesses to collaborate with the platform. They are as follows:

  • Discounted pricing for businesses (Lower cost and faster shipment)
  • The user interface is simple (high-speed operation)
  • Service of operation (New product launches, operation guidance, marketing activities, community promotions)
  • Customer service from a single merchant (Efficient response, fast payment)

Poizon Dewu Poizon DewuPoizon Dewu

Step-by-Step Process on Becoming a Seller on Dewu

The registration process for sellers is similar to that of other Chinese e-commerce platforms. There are various steps to it.

Step 1: Create an account and log in.

  • Register the personal user account for the platform
  • Create a password for your account
  • Go to the merchant’s registration page, select “I want to enter,” and read the instructions.

Step 2: Fill in the information

  • Complete the company and brand information, and then submit your qualifications.
  • Next, verify the accuracy of the information before submitting it for evaluation.

Step 3: Wait for the review

  • Within 7 working days, you will receive a response.
  • Check the status of the review, make any necessary changes, or move on to the next step.
  • Confirm the merchant’s agreement to participate.

Step 4: Make a deposit.

  • Go to merchant login backstage
  • Then make payment via online deposit or upload bank account details.

Conclusion

Dewu is a second-hand marketplace with strict anti-counterfeiting measures in place. Consumers are protected by these procedures, which provide them with psychological security by preventing them from spending money until the products have passed an authenticity check.

The platform is great for high-end, limited-edition items. Things such as co-branded items, luxury items, and collectors’ items are some examples. 

The platform also provides room for budding Chinese brands, making it an excellent starting point for those wishing to establish a brand in China.

Are you looking for setting up an e-commerce business on Dewu? Please get in touch with our team. We apply our knowledge and experience to assist businesses in forming meaningful connections and expanding their consumer base in China. For additional information, please contact us by phone – Shanghai or Hong Kong

You may also like

The Week’s Update In China

February 23, 2022

Alibaba goes after JD’s direct retail model with new e-commerce app:

It is establishing a new online platform that will follow the direct sales strategy of rival JD’s. Maoxiang, the new platform’s name, will first focus on consumer electronics.

Why it matters: 

Alibaba is trying out different models to boost business growth amid weakening consumer spending, intensifying competition, and tightening regulations. 

Details: 

Maoxiang will adopt a direct retail model. The online platform can sell branded merchandise directly to consumers, having more control over sourcing, quality, storage, delivery, and after-sales.

For starters, the platform will focus on selling consumer electronics products, big-ticket items that JD also focused on during its early days. SF Express and Danniao Logistics are possible couriers for the service to ensure next-day doorstep delivery.

Link: https://technode.com/2022/02/18/alibaba-goes-after-jds-direct-retail-model-with-new-e-commerce-app/

Chinese otome games mark Valentine’s Day with fresh female content

Chinese female-oriented online games released new content to celebrate Valentine’s Day and attract new players. 

Why it matters: 

Otome (Japanese for “maiden”) games are primarily role-playing games aimed at female gamers (RPG). These online games pander to the emotional demands of female gamers by giving a variety of love fantasies. For these game designers, Valentine’s Day has become the most popular annual event.

Details: 

Eight out of the top 10 otome games listed on TapTap, a game review platform and player community, released special content for Valentine’s Day.

For example, I Should Be a Rich Lady, the most downloaded otome game in Apple’s Chinese app store, unveiled Valentine’s Day contest on Feb. 10. Players are asked to vote for their favourite romantic characters. The game maker, Tomato Games, produced customized stickers for the winning character based on the votes. The game’s app ranks fourth overall in Apple’s RPG category.

Mr Love: Queen’s Choice, produced by Papergames, also released an update, adding more holiday plots and scenes. Players have the chance to win cash and other game content rewards  (in Chinese) during the time-limited update.

Link: https://technode.com/2022/02/14/chinese-otome-mobile-games-mark-valentines-day-with-fresh-female-content-mr-love/

How fashion can leverage blind box marketing in China

Blind boxes have grown into a massive industry that is expected to be worth 30 billion yuan ($4.6 billion) by 2024. Many Chinese consumers enjoy unexpected content, which fashion firms may use to create interesting narratives.

The problem is figuring out how to make blind box marketing work for fashion and luxury firms. Lanvin, which developed a blind box lottery on its Wechat mini programme for Chinese Valentine’s Day in August, is one luxury brand that has previously tried the waters.

Lanvin, a Chinese company controlled by Fosun International, set a low threshold for entrance into their Chinese Valentine’s Day lottery last August. To participate, participants simply had to pay 200 yuan. Team or group games might be played, garnering 50,000 players in a month and five-folding Lanvin’s Wechat views.

Link: https://www.voguebusiness.com/consumers/how-fashion-can-leverage-blind-box-marketing-in-china

Beauty in 2021: Trends, Observations, and KOL+KOC Marketing

Competition between domestic brands, both old and new, is increasing, as is competition between domestic brands and foreign brands. Limited collections and interesting brand ambassadors are used by brands to captivate consumers.

Men’s make-up, body care, and other beauty and skincare categories grew by triple digits, with male perfume consumption increasing threefold in four years.

Link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/BXK4dLCsxNdAI9imxLj0LA  

Why do more and more brands choose Dewu(得物）？

The ranking of Dewu in the IOS app store has been in the top 10 of the app store for a long time. Judging from the IOS store rankings and the average daily downloads of more than 100000 users, Dewu has now become a “platform level” product. More and more brands and service providers have begun to invest Dewu.

At present, more than 5000 brands have settled in, mostly fashion wear” brands and high-end brands, such as sports brands Adidas, luxury brands ascoach, Michael Kors, Armani, and so on.

The reason why  high-end brands choose Dewu is mainly due to the following two points:

  1. The user group and consumer demand are expanding.
    The consumer demand of users grows as user groups expand: some guys are interested in shoes, watches, accessories, and men’s apparel; girls require women’s clothing, beauty makeup, and skincare goods, among other things. There is space for brand development due to consumer demand.

    At the same time, the “post-90s” account for more than 80% of property users, according to the most recent government statistics. Young people are the target audience for high-end brands.

  2. Second, the content community system is also good for the brand.
    The platform will guide customers to consistently develop high-quality content in Dewu’s content community system. When producing news on Dewu, for example, the platform will provide “high-quality strategic advice” to help people write high-quality news.

    Dewu’s current content community, like Xiaohongshu’s, is in UGC mode, with many KOL and MCN institutions settling in. According to official public data, Dewu collaborated with approximately 100 MCN institutions in the first half of 2021.

Link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/0xP54EO37NE3K3kUPW7hEQ

You may also like

Advertising on RED/XiaoHongshu

February 21, 2022

Xiaohongshu, also simply called RED, is one of the fastest-growing smart social commerce apps on the market, with over 100 million monthly active users. RED provides multinational brands with enormous opportunities to maximize their potential and establish a strong presence in China. It’s for this reason that famous brands like Louis Vuitton and YSL are clamoring to advertise on the site. If you are not convinced yet check our previous post 5 Reasons to Leverage RED/Xiaohongshu and How to Set Up an Account. 

In the ever-changing digital landscape, it’s a must-have Chinese marketing channel for beauty, lifestyle, and fashion brands. 

RED helps marketers to engage and sell to their target market by utilizing a filtering algorithm that tailors material to users’ likes, which is one of the most significant advantages.

The most effective strategy to reach users is to advertise in the app’s newsfeed. User-friendly and authentic material with clear reasons to interact is preferable. We recommend to use a mix of multimedia with enticing descriptions with hashtags to cover a variety of views depending on the objectives and industry subjects. 

One of the key ways to gather popularity on RED is of course collaboration with KOLs and KOC ​​which we will cover in our next posts.  

Who are Chinese influencers: KOL and KOCs? 

Today, we will focus on how you can advertise using RED’s native media buy system.

While advertising on the platform is certainly beneficial to your business, navigating XiaoHongshu’s merchant setup can be tricky. There’s a lot to consider, and there’s not a lot of help available. Here’s all you need to know about selling on XiaoHongshu without the hassle!

Step 1: Create an account on RED / XiaoHongshu

To begin, you must first create an account on XiaoHongshu’s enterprise system. If you’re an incorporated business with your own email account, this should be pretty simple.

Step 2: Provide information about your business

After you’ve created an account, you’ll need to fill out the following information:

  • Company information and qualification: like your contact information, location, the origin of your goods, trading model (cross-border or general commerce), and business type. Also, include a Chinese business license or letter verifying your right to sell in China and proof of incorporation.
  • Financial information: your bank details, account number, billing currency, and sort code
  • Brand information and qualification: adding your brand name, description, and photos, as well as whether you’re a single or a multi-brand company. Also, I Include trademark certificates, permission to resell other brands (if applicable), and authorization to sell under your own brand.

Step 3: Review of qualifications on RED

After you submit the above information, XiaoHongshu will review your application and determine whether you are eligible to sell on their site. If all of the information you supplied is correct, you can complete it as soon as one week after your submission.

Step 4: Fill out the contract

When RED approves your application, you’ll receive both a digital contract to sign through email and a physical contract to return by mail. Read these over with a lawyer and sign them as soon as possible if you wish to move further.

Step 5: Take up the XiaoHongshu training

The completion of XiaoHongshu’s online training program is the final stage in the application procedure.

This section contains all you need to know about selling on the platform, and you won’t be able to start your store until you finish it. Set aside some time to concentrate on this – it will benefit you greatly in the long run.

Time taken to register: The length of time it takes to register is mostly determined by how quickly you can complete all of the paperwork, complete your company introduction, submit photographs, and so on.

If you do everything correctly from the start, you can administer the application in one week.

Costs included: Deposits and operating fees are included in the cost of selling on the platform. Deposits vary depending on your company’s “characteristics,” your qualifications, and the type of store you intend to open.

The deposit is usually RMB 20,000 and is returned three months after the store is closed.

Conclusion

Xiaohongshu’s unique stance as a trustworthy, celebrity-approved distributor of international products is an ideal route for businesses. Especially for ones looking to leverage the social commerce trend as part of the e-commerce revolution for purchasing superior products.

However, marketing in China is never simple. There are language barriers to overcome, rules to follow, and high costs to consider. All of that makes starting all too risky.  

That is why at KRDS, we commit to assisting businesses to achieve marketing success in China. If you require further support with setting up your account, please contact our team. We use our knowledge and expertise to help businesses build meaningful partnerships and develop their network among Chinese customers. For additional information, please contact us by phone – Shanghai or Hong Kong

You may also like

5 Reasons to Leverage RED/Xiaohongshu and How to Set Up an Account?

February 18, 2022

China is one of the world’s largest e-commerce markets, with a myriad of marketplaces to choose from. Taobao, Tmall, JD, and Pinduoduo have drawn millions of shoppers to become frequent buyers over the last decade. 

Social media has substantially impacted the way Chinese consumers shop online, in tandem with a tremendous increase in mobile phone usage. Especially those born in the mid-to-late-nineties, Chinese Gen Z also called the post-90s generation, are pioneering new trends.

That’s where XiaoHongshu comes in: a well-known “lifestyle” UGC and review app that’s taken the e-commerce world by storm. You can find the introduction to RED we covered before here – A Quick Guide to Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book) Marketing. 

XiaoHongshu, or RED, is a combination of beauty, lifestyle, and fashion app in one that allows users to share their personal style while also discovering new goods from around the world. It is the Chinese equivalent of Instagram on steroids, and it’s a great way to read product reviews, share daily outfits, get fashion advice, and find high-quality businesses and all of this with just one click to buy the products mentioned in the article. This is especially relevant for relatively unknown, small luxury brands since beauty enthusiasts in China love to search for new labels and one of the industries that enjoyed this trend are niche perfumes – The Accelerating Growth of Niche Perfume Brands in China.

Why Should International Brands Leverage the Platform?

XiaoHongshu provides a variety of free and paid ways for businesses to advertise their brand to their user base. Some of them include:

Reason 1: Brand accounts

On XiaoHongshu, brand accounts are one of the most effective ways to interact with the community. They can send ‘notes’ to fans, add photographs and videos, sell their own items, and answer fan reviews and comments.

A brand account on XiaoHongshu with the correct strategy and content in place might quickly build attention on the platform, especially if your notes are added to the ‘boards’ of popular influencers.

Reason 2: 100 Monthly Active Users

XiaoHongshu has over 100 million monthly active users with 70% female and almost 40% users being between 25 and 34 years old. If you are a beauty, fashion, or lifestyle brand targeting Chinese gen Z that’s the platform to be. 

Content Promotion Model

Reason 3: ‘Key Opinion Leaders,’ or influencers

Xiaohongshu developed as a review platform and grassroots content is still dominating. Influencers and key opinion leaders (KOLs) are critical to establishing traction on XiaoHongshu and are perhaps the most powerful type of advertising available.

The XiaoHongshu ‘Influencer Platform,’ a database with roughly 6,000 influencers, is designed to match you with individuals who are most relevant to your speciality and budget.

Who are Chinese influencers: KOL and KOCs?

Reason 4: XiaoHongshu advertising 

XiaoHongshu also offers traditional advertising in the form of ‘pop-up’ ads that display when the app is used and promotional messages that are organically incorporated inside the platform’s ‘explore’ feed, in addition to organic opportunities and influencer marketing.

Develop content for the most important Chinese e-commerce festivals to catch the attention of Chinese users. Check out how to advertise on the platform in our article – Advertising on RED.

Overseas Shopping

Reason 5: Crossborder e-commerce

Xiaohongshu offers cross-border e-commerce business for brands based outside of China and wishes to target and sell to the Chinese market. Because of its business model, RED takes care of the warehouse and logistics within China making it easier for foreign brands to operate.

Find out more about cross-border e-commerce in China. 

 

How to Set Up an Account on RED/Xiaohongshu?

Setting up accounts on WeChat and XiaoHongshu is frequently done in conjunction and is substantially less expensive than selling on Tmall.

Step 1: On RED, there are over 20,000 brand community accounts. Nearly 10,000 third-party e-commerce merchants use the network, which offers over 100,000 distinct products. As a result, the most vital initial step is to create an account.

Step 2: After you’ve created an account on RED with a Chinese phone number (you can also create an account with an international phone number, but your app’s functionality would be limited), the next step is to see if you can use their in-app e-commerce option. 

Requirements for setting up an account

Your company must have a business registration in China in order to use this function. One of RED’s biggest advantages as a social commerce platform is that it has its own store where users can make purchases directly from the app. Many brands benefit from this closed-circuit integration since it allows them to sell their products more easily.

The main documents required to open a XiaoHongshu account are:

  • Papers for registering a business
  • Incorporation certificate
  • Form for customs registration

You’ll also need to submit the following supporting papers.

  • Information about the company 
  • Logistics commitment letter 
  • Authorization letter for store operations 
  • Brand information Application form 
  • Authorization form Trademark authorization

Conclusion

Xiaohongshu is an amazing platform where lifestyle brands can advertise things such as fashion, cosmetics, nutrition meals, accessories, and brands that are popular with young female shoppers. Hence, If you want to reach Chinese young female consumers, XiaoHongshu should be a big component of your strategy.

More than just another e-commerce marketplace; it’s a lifestyle community where users and influencers share photos, videos, and information about things they’ve used.

That is why at KRDS, we are committed to assisting businesses to achieve marketing success in China. If you require further support with setting up your account, please contact our team. We use our knowledge and expertise to help businesses build meaningful partnerships and develop their network among Chinese customers. For additional information, please contact us by phone – Shanghai or Hong Kong

You may also like