Mastering Red: Strategies for Driving Traffic and Engagement

With more than 140,000 brands actively engaging on Red (Xiaohongshu), the platform has proven to be an important battleground for brands. Known for its highly engaged user base, primarily consisting of young, affluent, and trend-conscious consumers, Red allows brands to connect directly with their target audience and boost brand engagement through authentic user-generated content.

Uniquely blending social networking with e-commerce, this platform has strong influence on purchasing decisions, making it an essential tool for brands to build trust, drive product discovery, and increase sales in the competitive Chinese market.

In this article, we will provide you with actionable and effective insights to create engaging content on Red, by introducing two case studies from VO2 Asia Pacific. 

Understanding Your Audience on RED

Chinese Gen Z consumers, born between 1997 and 2012, are undeniably the key drivers of the future consumption trends. They have the fastest spending growth out of any generation in the country, with spending expected to quadruple to 16 trillion yuan ($2.4 trillion USD) by 2035. Since Covid-19, there has been a major shift in the consumer behavior of today’s young people. 

They have moved away from brand chasing and following trends, to focusing on product functionality. An increasing number of young consumers tend to purchase based on "need," focusing on long-term satisfaction rather than fleeting gratification.

To align with this shift in consumer behavior, brands on RED are no longer sending salesy promotional messages. Instead, they are portraying a picture of a dream living scenario and eventually building a cult-like community that creates genuine loyalty over the brand.

Impact on Purchase Decision

RED, often referred to as the "new generation search engine", has significantly impacted consumer purchasing behavior and decision-making processes. Before making a purchase—especially in categories like beauty, luxury, and 3C electronics—nearly all consumers consult RED for recommendations and reviews. Consumers trust the content more, as it reflects genuine user experiences.

The platform itself has evolved from being just a social media app to a comprehensive ecosystem that influences every stage of the consumer journey:

1. Awareness: RED offers four main content sources—Subscribed, Discovery, Local, and Search. These channels expose users to a wide range of content that inspires their next purchase.
2. Product Seeding: Compared to other platforms, RED fosters a deeper level of engagement. The algorithm curates content based on users' browsing behavior, meaning the more they interact with posts, the more tailored content they receive.
3. Consideration: When consumers are interested in a product, they dive deeper into research. This involves exploring brand homepages, KOL posts, and UGC (user-generated content), and even sharing posts with friends for feedback.
4. Purchase: RED introduced its in-app store feature in 2014, allowing users to make purchases without leaving the app. This seamless shopping experience boosts conversion rates by reducing the friction of switching between platforms.
5. Advocacy: After completing a purchase, consumers often share their new finds on RED, helping promote the product to other potential buyers and keeping the cycle of engagement going.

How to create engaging content on RED

The primary source of content discovery on RED comes from the Discovery section, where posts are distributed through an interest-based algorithm known as CES (Community Engagement Score).

RED evaluates each post based on its engagement rate, which includes metrics like clicks, likes, comments, and reposts. The interaction from the first 300-500 targeted users is especially crucial. Additionally, the engagement within the first 18-24 hours after a post goes live determines whether it will be further distributed and continue to gain visibility. Posts with higher engagement scores are shown to more users, leading to sustained exposure and interaction.

To drive more traffic and brand awareness, it’s essential to go beyond brand-owned content. Collaborating with the right KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders) and leveraging UGC (User-Generated Content) are key strategies for generating traffic.

• KOL Community Loyalty: KOLs on RED have highly engaged and loyal communities, making them effective in promoting content and driving discussions around your brand.
• UGC Impact: UGC is particularly powerful for creating buzz on RED, as it forms a large portion of the platform’s content. Encouraging authentic user participation through reviews, experiences, and shared stories is vital to building credibility and sparking wider conversations.

At VO2 APAC, we believe that the foundation of quality content starts with:

Understanding the Target Audience. It’s crucial to align the brand's target audience (TA) with Xiaohongshu (RED) users, identifying mutually interesting angles that resonate with both.

Creating Visuals and Narratives. Craft engaging visuals and narratives that resonate with the target audience, while ensuring that the brand image remains consistent throughout the campaign.

How to work with KOLs

Launching a successful KOL campaign requires careful planning and strategic decisions.

Selection criteria: Beyond basic metrics (number of followers and engagement rate), we would also pay attention to the demographic and interest profiles of their followers. It ensures the KOL's audience aligns with the brand's target market, resulting in a more effective campaign.

Content strategy: While it's important to provide a clear brief to KOLs, allowing them creative freedom can lead to diverse and authentic content. The key message must be communicated consistently, while KOLs could express it in their own style. It helps KOLs to maintain a unique tone of voice and stay relevant with their followers.

Case Study: GROVE

In a recent project, VO2 Asia Pacific partnered with KOLs on RED to promote Grove’s Cold Pressed Avocado Oil, with a premium position in the segment of maternal and infant food supplements.

We selected KOLs who matched the desired audience profile:

1) Users aged 25-45

2) Actively seeking mother and baby products

Specific KOL categories such as “Baby food,” “Cute kids,” “Good product sharing,” “Intelligent mothers,” and “Lifelog” were prioritized to reach this target group.

KOLs were given guidelines to ensure that Grove’s key product messages were conveyed consistently. We also encouraged the KOLs to integrate the product core selling points with their daily life.

Top 3 posts from the campaign

30 posts were created by KOLs for this campaign, which generated a total of 194,390 readerships.

This result has significantly increased the search index for brand-related product keywords on RED. This surge is largely driven by the strategic use of relevant search keywords integrated into content by KOLs, making it easier for consumers to find detailed information about 'Grove Avocado Oil.' By embedding the key terms that potential buyers are likely to search for, consumers can quickly discover the posts we've curated and are more likely to decide to purchase Grove products.

How to launch UGC campaign

When planning a UGC campaign, the primary objective is to engage your community in a way that aligns with your brand’s values while encouraging organic interaction. To ensure success, brands need to consider several factors:

• Topic Selection: The topic should resonate with current trends or cultural moments that matter to your audience. By tying your campaign to relevant events, holidays, or lifestyle trends, you create an immediate connection with your target users. The more relatable the theme, the higher the chances of participation.
• Execution and Participation: Offering incentives, such as free product trials or the chance to be featured, motivates users to participate. Clear guidelines and easy access to participation channels, such as using hashtags or specific tags, can also drive engagement. 
• Content Quality: While UGC is naturally more diverse, it’s still important to maintain content quality. Offering clear guidelines or inspiration, such as recipe challenges or style prompts, helps ensure that user submissions align with your brand’s image and message.
• Long Term Engagement: UGC campaigns should be designed for lasting impact. Unlike KOL campaigns, UGC activities can continue to engage users long after the initial campaign ends, as the community shares, interacts with, and builds on each other’s content. This helps maintain ongoing interaction with the brand and provides valuable content for future marketing efforts.

Case Study: La Crèmerie

VO2 Asia Pacific collaborated with La Crèmerie, the first official flagship for French dairy products in Asia, to promote French cheese in China through a UGC campaign. This campaign aims to increase brand awareness, foster community, and inspire creative uses of cheese. Titled “法酪芝香， 开启早餐新风尚“ (Fragrant French Cheese, Leading the New Trend of Breakfast),  the campaign encouraged users to share their own cheese-based recipes during the National Day holiday.

To execute the campaign, La Crèmerie offered free cheese trial packs to participants who created and shared their recipes. By offering product trials and tapping into the growing breakfast trend, the campaign generated high participation and aligned user content with the brand's values of refined living. 

Below are some examples of the user generated recipes:

From a consumer perspective, the campaign provided educational information about French cheese and sparked creativity in recipe creation to form a better community interaction. For the brand, it enhanced consumer engagement, broadened awareness of French cheese and its culinary uses, and generated valuable visual assets for ongoing content creation. 

The success of this campaign also shaped future marketing strategies by reinforcing the importance of community-driven UGC to sustain interest and loyalty.

Visit La Crèmerie WeChat Official Account to explore more content.

Mastering RED requires a deep understanding of the platform's unique ecosystem, where authentic engagement and community-building are at the heart of every successful campaign. With the evolving digital marketing landscape, RED will continue to be the “Go-to” platform, driving brand discovery, trust and loyalty in China. 

Here at VO2 Asia Pacific, we work with brands to carry out campaigns on RED with customized strategies that deliver results. 

Reach out to us at contact.asia-pacific@vo2-group.com to discover how we can elevate your brand's presence on this powerful platform.