Little Red Book, also known as Xiaohongshu, is a Chinese social media powerhouse with over 300 million monthly active users, making it one of the most talked-about apps in China in 2024 and an essential platform for brands looking to connect with Chinese consumers.
Referred to by many as the “Holy Bible of social shopping in China,” Xiaohongshu is renowned for its lifestyle, fashion, beauty, and travel content.
Users share experiences, reviews, and recommendations, making it a unique blend of Instagram, Yelp, TripAdvisor, Amazon reviews, and YouTube unboxing videos, but with a distinct Chinese flavor.
The platform’s emphasis on authenticity and user-generated content makes it a powerful tool for building brand awareness and driving sales in the Chinese market.
To unlock the full potential of Little Red Book to advance your business in China, setting up a brand's official account is the first step.
This guide will walk you through the process of building a professional brand account that can best communicate your brand image on Little Red Book using the Professional Account and how to use the Professional Accounts to become an industry leader.
What is Little Red Book Social Media App
Little Red Book, or Xiaohongshu, is an innovative social app and e-commerce platform that is hot in China.
It’s a place where users share their experiences, reviews and insights on various topics, especially beauty, fashion, food, travel and lifestyle. Chinese users use this great platform for information, tips and recommendations. One can think of it as Yelp, TripAdvisor and in a sense, Quora all built into Instagram. A product review platform wrapped in the body of a social app.
Apart from its unique positioning, Little Red Book distinguishes itself also from other social media apps and e-commerce sites with features like build-in e-commerce functionality and an emphasis on user-generated content and community engagement.
Essentially, this platform is used by users to connect with others, find new trends, learn new knowledge, make informed purchase decisions and ultimately, place the orders and receive customer services in one place – all towards leading a better life, unlike other platforms that prioritize sales over an authentic and holistic user experiences.
An All-in-One Social Media Platform That Transforms China's Digital Landscape
Little Red Book, or Xiaohongshu, has been transforming the Chinese social media landscape from day one. Here are some major changes it brought to the Chinese digital landscape and Chinese market:
Recommendation Algorithm
The platform boasts of an advanced recommendation algorithm, which is not dissimilar to that of the TikTok. The algorithm “distributes” good content – posts and videos that can draw attentions from Little Red Book, or Xiaohongshu, users and keep them on the platform – without having to rely on the follower numbers or paid advertising.
This gives a huge advantage to small businesses who may not have tens of hundreds of dollars worth of adverting budget. As long as the content is valuable or entertaining or insightful, or for any other reasons that can keep readers engaged, there is a big chance that your content to be picked by the algorithm and be promoted to hundreds of thousands of users for free.
We will talk about the Little Red Book algorithm in detail some other day.
Influencer (KOL and KOC)
Little Red Book is a social platform that is also famous for its integration of influencers -- they are called KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders) and KOCs (Key Opinion Consumer) in China -- as a way to increase user engagement and promote products.
Little Red Book has a built-in influencer management tool called Pugongying, also known in English by its translation: Dandelion, allowing brands to research, connect and place orders for influencer collaboration.
UGC
Platform users on the platform affect the shopping experience as they talk about and explore their shopping habits, preferences, and reviews in detail and in creative ways.
This is why the platform takes a user-centered approach, allowing businesses to create visual content that speaks to consumers and enriches their shopping experience.
Although it’s not the first among all the social media platforms in China, it surely is the best among all the social media platforms in doing this.
Built-in E-Commerce Functionality
Little Red Book launched its e-commerce platform in 2019, as a way to monetize the massive traffic. Unlike other e-commerce platforms like T-mall or JD, Little Red Book E-Shop is built-in its social app. The goal is to help users complete transaction right after they are exposed to the reviews.
With such massive amount of user generated content already existed on the platform and a well calibered e-commerce feature, Little Red Book has created a concept called "Social E-Commerce" which has been soon adopted by almost all social platforms and e-commerce platforms alike. As the originator of the concept, Little Red Book has become a must have tool for both consumers and brands.
For users, usually young people, Little Red Book is an inspiration, a social networking platform with a strong focus on self expression and a doorway to a world of curated products and services. For brands, it’s a marketing channel, a direct line to their target audience and an opportunity to build brand awareness and drive sales.
And creating and setting up a Little Red Book Professional Account is the first step for brands to be able to take advantage of the many great commercial features the platform offers.
What are the Key Features of Little Red Book Professional Accounts?
A Little Red Book Professional Account is a special type of account for businesses, brands and content creators. It's the brand's official account and official market presence.
The official account (Professional Account) gives access to features and tools that regular users don’t have, so they can have a professional presence, interact with their audience and promote their products or services.
Key features of Little Red Book Professional Account:
Brand Profile
Create a brand profile page with custom logo, description and contact information.
Content Creation Tools
Publish different types of authentic content, images, videos, articles and live streams from a website-hosted content center, which is inaccessible to individual users.
Data Analytics
Get detailed analytics to track content performance, audience demographics and engagement metrics from the Professional Account Control Center.
Paid Advertising
Professional Accounts can run targeted ad campaigns to reach specific audience and increase brand visibility utilizing the platform official advertising tool, Juguang Platform.
E-commerce
Set up an online store directly on Little Red Book to sell products and manage orders.
KOL Collaboration
Professional Accounts can partner with Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) and Key Opinion Consumers (KOCs) for influencer marketing campaigns using Little Red Book's official influencer management tool -- Pugongying, or Dandelion.
This collaboration can increase user engagement and promote products more effectively by using the influence of both KOLs and KOCs.
Community Management
Professional Accounts can interact with followers, reply to comments and messages and build a community by using the Group Chat function only available for Professional Accounts.
Why Little Red Book App Professional Accounts
A Little Red Book professional account is the beginning for brands to start commercial activities on the platform, especially with Chinese consumers.
It’s not just the first step to open a store, run ads and build a community but also a powerful tool to convey brand spirit, increase user stickiness and convert efficiently.
This is especially important for brands that want to enter China and build a loyal customer base. Through professional accounts brands can:
Build a professional image
Share industry insights, brand stories and product knowledge to build a professional and authoritative brand image.
Increase user stickiness
Build strong relationships with users and fan base through genuine interactions and valuable content from the official account.
Promote conversions
Use professional accounts for targeted promotion, attract target audience, collaborate with KOLs and KOCs and achieve efficient commercial conversions. KOCs increase engagement and enrich shopping experiences by sharing user-generated content on Little Red Book.
Crisis management
Respond to negative information in time, mitigate negative impact and maintain brand reputation.
Can International Brands Open Professional Accounts on Little Red Book?
Yes. Foreign brands can also register and verify Professional Accounts on Little Red Book. To create a Professional Account, you first need to create personal accounts. Then, log in to the Account Control Center and initiate the verification process. You'll need to submit various documents, including a business license and application letter. There is a 600 CNY fee for applying and verifying a new account.
For more details please refer to our Guide: How to Create and Verify A Xiaohongshu Professional Account in 2024.
Three Steps to Build a Good Professional Account on Little Red Book
Clear Positioning
Define the account’s positioning and target audience and choose a style.
Will it be professional and scientific-popularization style or lively and approachable interactive style? Make the choice based on the brand’s characteristics and target audience’s preferences.
Unlike other apps, Little Red Book's strong focus is on user preferences and experiences rather than just sales, creating a community feel.
As a social e-commerce platform, Little Red Book encourages brands to share industry insights, brand stories and product knowledge to build a professional and authoritative brand image, to increase the time Little Red Book users spent on the app and help Chinese shoppers complete a purchase.
Decoration
Profile picture, bio, background image and menu are the face of a professional account.
Make sure the profile picture is clear, bio is concise, background image is beautiful and menu is reasonable to leave a good first impression to users.
This is especially important for foreign brands to build strong relationships with Chinese consumers.
High quality content
Content is king. Remember Little Red Book is first and foremost a lifestyle social media app that help users lead an aspirational life and solve their problems in their daily life.
Provide Little Red Book users with valuable information and solve their pain points through original notes, repost high quality content, share practical tips etc. to build brand trust.
Use professional accounts to publish content similar to the organic user generated content and run targeted promotion, attract target audience, collaborate with KOCs and achieve efficient commercial conversions. Encourage user generated content to build brand trust and engage with the community.
Live Streaming
Also, consider doing branded live streaming sessions, like workshop or product demonstration, which can increase user engagement and drive sales during promotions.
Brands Without Borders provides full services to help you register and verify your official accounts on WeChat and other popular Chinese social apps.
Ready to skyrocket your brand’s presence on Little Red Book (Xiaohongshu) by opening a Professional Account? Dive into this guide and get started today! For a custom boost, reach out to our stellar support team!
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