These days, we all know the power of social media and the benefit of harnessing its full potential. We’re here to tell you all about the newest and hottest social media platform: Xiaohongshu, and how it can be important to food service business owners and operators:
Founded by Mao Wenchao and Qu Fang in 2013, Xiaohongshu, also known as XHS or 小红书, is a platform serving primarily Chinese content, which could help you capture the attention of both local Mandarin speakers and a Chinese audience. Its name literally means ‘little red book’, and its endless scrolling feature is reminiscent of Pinterest or Instagram — but Chinese.
Serving predominantly Chinese content, XHS has captured lightning in a bottle by serving immaculately curated, aesthetic, or even ugly-cute Chinese content ideas to China and its overseas audience. This social media platform expanded its scope to include a plethora of topics such as sports, travel, home decor, and restaurant reviews. Approximately 70% of its 260 million worldwide users are female (working out to around 182 million!), but in Malaysia, more than 80% of its 1.5 million users are female — and on average, they are mostly between 20 to 35 years old, which means that you’d be looking at Gen Zs and millennials. It is not uncommon to hear about a new cafe or restaurant from your friends, and they learned it from XHS! Food and gourmet-related content scored the fastest-growing post views and search volume in 2022, marking the platform’s significance in supporting food service businesses.
XHS is a platform for users to share short videos and photos about fashion, beauty, food, travel and anything that might strike their fancy. The app is also conducive to interaction, allowing users to post photos with reviews, tips, comments, etc. With troves of user-generated content, building a following and spreading the word has never been easier. Today, XHS is a growing platform that leads lifestyle, beauty, fashion, food and travel trends.
How can Xiaohongshu help food service business owners like you?It’s not just the power of word-of-mouth, it’s also the fact that people interact on XHS that makes it a powerful medium. Influencers, micro-influencers, even the average person — they are all valuable assets that can help market your brand or boost your brand recognition. Many known businesses are utilising XHS for their public presence, including international brands. First, Starbucks have made their presence known on Xiaohongshu to promote new products, behind-the-scenes content, and exclusive offers with its followers. And Haidilao also uses Xiaohongshu to promote its new restaurant locations, showcase customer reviews, and run contests and giveaways.
Ready to join the big boys? Here are some benefits that XHS can bring to your business!
a. Elevate your brand awareness
With a large user base that is mostly active, XHS allows your food business to have the opportunity to grow in the wider market. By creating high-quality, relevant content, your business has higher chances to get more attention!
b. More leads and drive sales.
Users in XHS are known to have a high engagement and tend to purchase products from brands they form the most connection with. Try running targeted ads alongside engaging content for your business to thrive on this platform.
c. Connect with followers and foster loyalty.
Utilise the platform’s communication features to build a loyal community around your food service brand. In XHS, it is easy for business owners to interact, answer queries, and promote their products. By doing this, you will certainly gain loyalty from new customers.
Like Instagram, people are constantly scrolling the app to find the next best thing to visit, so having a presence on XHS matters — it could just allow you to tap into a demographic that your current algorithm on existing social media apps may not reach.
With the right exposure, aesthetic and charm, your business is sure to find its audience on XHS, be it café-hoppers, brunch kakis, or gourmet lovers. Let the little red book be your oyster as you venture into Xiaohongshu. For more guides and tips, sign up as an Ajinomoto Food Biz Partner today!
Ajinomoto Food Biz Partner
