American social media users are joining Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu, also known as RedNote or Little Red Book, over fears the US government will soon ban TikTok.
Xiaohongshu this week rocketed up Apple’s iPhone app download charts in the US, with many English-speaking users sharing their first experiences with the platform on X (Twitter) and Instagram.
But savvy Australian brands are already familiar with the Chinese platform, using it to reach consumers, generate sales, and build an audience abroad.
Xiaohongshu, also known as RedNote or Little Red Book is operated by Xingyin Information Technology and counts as many as 300 million monthly users.
The platform, which bears similarities to Instagram, is particularly popular with women and skews towards a young, affluent audience.
ASX-listed companies like Medibank and Sydney Airport have established a presence on the platform.
Katrina Hall is the head of public relations at MultiConnexions, a multicultural marketing and advertising agency that helped those companies build a presence on Chinese social media.
Speaking to SmartCompany, Hall said many Australian businesses are keen to explore business opportunities through Xiaohongshu.
“There are a lot of ways a brand can have a presence on the platform at a range of price points – not all of which mean setting up your own account.”
That includes complete corporate pages, where brands can roll out their own content and set advertising targets by age, gender, and other familiar filters.
Xiaohongshu, or RedNote, also boasts in-app purchasing.
Alternatively, Australian brands can recruit influencers in an “advanced” and highly creative marketplace.
“Some of our clients choose to tap into the creativity and the power of influencers,” also known as ‘key opinion leaders’, Hall said.
“They have a brand partnership where the influencer might test out the product or service and create their own content based on the experience, and some of that [content] is quite incredible… it’s very unique content you would never expect.”
But simply joining Xiaohongshu without a plan or investment is unlikely to reap rewards for curious Australian brands.
As it stands, the platform does not have an English-language option, making it difficult for those without Chinese language skills to use Xiaohongshu effectively.
“For smaller companies, an owned account might be too resource intensive – in terms of creating regular in-language content and having a strategy in place to try and grow your account, it can be off-putting for some,” Hall said.
“But for others, if your target audience is fairly and squarely young, affluent Chinese women, there’s no other platform that’s going to be as impactful as Little Red Book.”
The importance of that market is significant, Hall added, as Chinese shoppers account for a major proportion of luxury sales in Australia.
That is not to say smaller businesses are excluded from the platform.
Light + Glo, a Melbourne-based candle and fragrances business, is building its presence on Xiaohongshu after an unexpected discovery in September last year.
Speaking to SmartCompany, co-founder Suji Sanjeevan said a customer traveled across the city to visit Light + Glo’s warehouse store, where he bought $600 worth of candles.
Sanjeevan asked where the customer discovered her brand.
“He said ‘I saw a post on Little Red Book’”, but Sanjeevan had “no idea that this social media platform even existed”.
“He said, ‘Most of the Chinese-speaking community that are based in Australia are on that platform, and that’s really where we go to to find gifts.’”
Sanjeevan began exploring the platform soon after, using translation apps to navigate the Mandarin interface.
While businesses like MultiConnexions are capable of assisting major companies, Light + Glo initially struggled to find social media strategists versed in Xiaohongshu.
But to reach the full potential of the Xiaohongshu audience, Light + Glo has now recruited a strategist and a blogger to help the business build its profile.
Light + Glo’s Xiaohongshu account is now central to its Q1 goals, and its plan to respond to a growing Chinese customer base.
That includes the launch of a new candle inspired by the upcoming Lunar New Year, which has already inspired a cluster of direct messages through Xiaohongshu.
“Just like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok, Little Red Book has become part of our social media awareness campaign,” Sanjeevan said.
Sea West, a cruise operator based in Mandurah, Western Australia, last year launched its own Xiaohongshu account.
The business joined the “wildly popular” platform to develop its direct inbound business, Sea West said on LinkedIn.
The account appears to boast more than 1,000 likes across its content, showcasing its lobster boat trips and dolphin-watching tours.
Education providers are also active on the platform, with institutions like the University of Wollongong recruiting marketing agencies to reach prospective students in China.
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Senior Business Journalist
Focused on the small business sector, David’s work covers the political, regulatory, and economic issues facing Australian entrepreneurs. Prior to joining SmartCompany, he was a reporter for Business Insider Australia. You can follow him on LinkedIn.
