​From Zhang Xiaohui's entry into Taobao to the beauty industry's large traffic and small incision

This article deeply analyzes the refined operational strategies of the beauty industry in the era of high traffic. Through the case of Gigi Leung joining Taobao, it explores how to achieve brand breakthroughs through cross-platform marketing and deep cultivation of niche markets. It hopes to provide new perspectives and thinking for brand owners and marketers in the beauty industry.

On May 26, Zhang Xiaohui launched her Taobao live broadcast debut with her "Rose is Rose", and quickly launched the second show on June 1. The new queen of live streaming, who was promoted by Xiaohongshu last year, is trying to extend her reach and explore a wider world of live streaming.

Before the cross-platform live broadcast, Zhang Xiaohui's team had quietly started "warming up" in early May. On May 9, Zhang Xiaohui released a micro-variety show "Zhang Xiaohui's Rose Editorial Department" on Xiaohongshu and Douyin simultaneously, inviting editors of different ages to present the "Rose is Rose" product selection story. Once the content was released, it attracted a lot of praise from netizens with its unique female perspective and warm workplace narrative, and also brought out the team's professional and diverse compound capabilities.

On May 13, "Rose is Rose - Zhang Xiaohui" entered Weibo and released information about live broadcast activities during the 618 period. At the same time, a series of short videos about rose stories, such as "How to Find the Love of Life", "In the Future, I Want to Create More Uniqueness", and "Zhang Xiaohui Dialogues with Jo Malone CBE", were released one after another. Zhang Xiaohui's team launched an IP "preaching" attempt in the public domain. With a softer approach, @玫瑰是玫瑰-张小卉 achieved 134,000 fans and over 10 million IP content playbacks in less than a month, and gained more attention from newcomers as a "beauty blogger".

On May 20, Zhang Xiaohui's beauty and skin care store "Rose is Rose" officially entered Tmall International. After five live broadcasts by herself and her team, she has gained more than 210,000 fans, and a single live broadcast has been viewed by more than 10 million people.

"The adaptability of slow live streaming on Taobao", "Top anchors fleeing from a single platform"... The first discussions to ferment around this entry into Taobao are about anchors. With the obvious "generation gap" of top anchors, more and more newly emerging KOLs are trying to break free from the restrictions of a single platform and look for a broader traffic entrance.

At the same time, there are also many vertical beauty topics. The beauty content shared by Zhang Xiaohui during the live broadcast, such as "hair care" and "niche skin care products", has also triggered a large number of vertical bloggers to discuss. The segmented consumption trends in the beauty field have become a hot search, and many brands have followed up to pursue more public domain topics.

With the help of cross-platform, growing anchors can gain access to a wider audience. With the help of topic fields, brand owners can get closer to the more segmented needs of users. Acquiring new users and new trends in a larger traffic pool is the key to the next stage of the beauty industry's breakthrough.

01 Transformation of top anchors, advancement of Zhang Xiaohui and others

The transformation of super anchors is a significant "industry signal" in the live broadcast circle this year. Many super anchors such as Li Jiaqi, Xiao Yangge, Dong Yuhui, Simba, etc. have gradually faded out of the live broadcast room for various reasons.

Xiao Yangge's daily live broadcast frequency is controlled at once a week. He has mentioned many times in the live broadcast that he will shift his focus to other fields such as electronic music festivals, film and television projects and offline physical stores; Simba also clearly stated in the live broadcast on May 20 that "through ten live broadcasts, Xinxuan will get used to the absence of Simba, let fans get used to Simba's departure, and let the industry slowly dilute Simba's public opinion"; Dong Yuhui announced that the focus of his work will be transformed from live broadcasting to doing talk shows; even "Li Jiaqi", who has always been active in the front line, went to participate in the recording of the new season of "Brothers Who Overcome Troubles", and said in the live broadcast that he would "make money to give red envelopes to everyone"...

Obviously, after experiencing the decline of traffic dividends in the live broadcast industry in the past two years and the game between top anchors and platforms, a number of top anchors are seeking their own transformation paths, either for the protection of personal IP or for the long-term and healthy development of the company.

Xiao Yangge who shoots short dramas, Simba who studies AI, Li Jiaqi who appears on variety shows, and Dong Yuhui who does interviews, more and more anchors are stepping out of the live broadcast room, trying to embrace new tracks and pursue more possibilities.

At the same time, there are many anchors trying to seize opportunities and make new leaps. A typical example is Jia Nailiang. During this 618 period, as the ace anchor re-promoted by Douyin, Jia Nailiang opened up many new traffic entrances online and offline. Taking offline as an example, with the help of ladder advertising and large-screen advertising, Jia Nailiang covered the promotional content to more than 100,000 points in 6 major cities, and attracted traffic from the public domain for the first live broadcast.

The same is true for Zhang Xiaohui. After leaving Xiaohongshu, she used omni-channel media to build momentum for her IP to enter Taobao. With the help of Weibo, Douyin, Xiaohongshu, and WeChat official accounts, the "Rose is Rose", a "niche beauty and skin care collection store" IP created by Zhang Xiaohui's team, mined traffic in different positions. Not only did it accumulate private domain users in the WeChat applet of the same name, but it also used the larger platform of the Tmall flagship store to acquire more new consumers.

This evolution is also in line with the needs of the industry. As the pace of super-head anchors has obviously slowed down, brands and platforms are calling for more growth-stage anchors to fill the gap, stabilize the basic market, and drive more new market segments.

Taking Veronica Yip's IP as an example, with the help of unique labels such as slow life, high quality, niche products, and treasure brands, "Rose is Rose" has grown rapidly in the past year and gained a group of loyal fans. This 618 has attracted even greater attention from users in the public domain.

After only two live broadcasts on Taobao, a number of hot search topics related to product selection and anchor’s remarks were born, such as #张小卉的精选的品照很敬我雅思#, #张小卉直播室入就能出#, #头发護原始這麼分類#, #为什么小面護品是火#, #青年探小品牌紀紀行室#, #张小卉直播谈不有美容身耻#. In the fancy exposure, a large number of users who were unfamiliar with 张小卉 established awareness of the “Rose is Rose” IP because of her skin care and hair care gameplay, and the “newcomers” in the live broadcast field also made a significant advancement.

02 Beauty brands enter a deep water period, three major trends "volume" vertical categories

It is worth noting that, whether it is Jia Nailiang or Zhang Xiaohui, a large number of advanced and "ferocious" anchors are concentrated in the beauty industry.

This is inseparable from the complementary relationship between the beauty and personal care track and the live streaming e-commerce industry. With the continuous increase in the penetration rate of live streaming e-commerce in recent years, beauty brands have exploded with strong vitality and growth space in the live streaming room, and have become the focus of "making money" during the big promotion period.

However, what cannot be ignored is that with the rise of domestic brands and the intensification of internal competition in the industry, the beauty industry is gradually entering a deep water period. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, from January to April this year, the year-on-year growth rate of cosmetics was 2.1%, showing a further slowdown trend. The "lipstick economy" is no longer a tried and tested card. With fierce homogeneous competition, the beauty industry has also shown three major trends.

First of all, after visiting multiple brands and observing the social scene, Doujiao found that anti-aging is still a popular keyword this year.

Different from vertical demands such as sensitive skin, freckle removal, and whitening, anti-aging is more universal and gradually spreads to become a demand of beauty consumers of all ages. Young consumers aged 20-25 are concerned about "anti-early aging", users aged 25-35 are concerned about "anti-aging", and users over 35 are concerned about "deep anti-aging". Different age groups have core consumer groups that are concerned about "anti-aging".

During this Taobao live broadcast by Gigi Leung, she specifically shared a lot of anti-aging knowledge. Among them, the three golden dimensions of "anti-sugar and anti-oxidation, collagen supplementation, and focus on sleep" triggered a large number of bloggers to automatically follow up and summarize.

It is worth noting that the product line in this direction is also rich enough, whether it is the oral track or the beauty care track, there is a lot of room to explore. According to data from iiMedia Research and Qingyan Intelligence, the scale of China's anti-aging market is expected to reach 150 billion yuan in 2024. The current vacancy of the leading brands in this track means countless opportunities and possibilities.

Second, in order to enhance brand power, major domestic and foreign brands are all turning to "raw material innovation".

According to CBO statistics, the number of new cosmetic raw materials registered in 2023 reached 69, an increase of more than 64% year-on-year, of which 54 were domestic brands. Listed companies such as Beitanni, Marubi, Proya, Huaxi Biotechnology, and Aries have all applied for new raw material registration. Among them, Chinese-style plant raw materials are very popular.

"Previously, a large number of domestic brands were stuck with overseas raw materials due to technical accumulation and other reasons. Now, with the launch of a new raw material research competition, domestic active ingredients have become an effective substitute for traditional raw materials and are expected to become a core factor in the rise of domestic beauty products," a relevant person in charge of a new domestic cosmetics brand told Doujiao.

Third, segmented vertical categories show high potential, and facial oils, foundation, and hair care have become the focus of explosion in the beauty and personal care field.

Take foundation makeup as an example. Since last year, a large number of domestic foundation makeup brands have emerged. Domestic foundation makeup brands such as Fangli and Banfenyi are at the top of the Double Eleven list. Emerging concepts such as foundation skin care and oriental-style foundation makeup have also attracted consumers to new domestic brands, and quickly increased brand stickiness after having a better consumer experience. The repurchase rate of beauty brands is much higher than that of makeup brands, which also means that once a brand is established, it is easier to "stand firm" in the market.

Similarly, with the rapid growth of the hair care market, the hair care field has also become the focus of a new round of layout for many beauty brands. Estee Lauder's Avanda, L'Oreal's Vichy and Kerastase and other brands have accelerated their marketing pace in the mainland market. High-end hair care, scalp care and other niche topics have also become the focus of user discussion. In the topic #头发养生原始内容哪些#, a large number of beauty experts shared hair care details and recommended treasures. Under the content of the sandwich method and Kardashian's same water-glowing hair, a large number of netizens joined in the discussion on how to maintain and repair hair.

To some extent, behind these new trends are the decisions made by beauty brands based on consumer insights, which also mean new opportunities and challenges.

03 In addition to e-commerce, beauty brands are pursuing more new fields

During the visit, the founder of a beauty brand directly told Doujiao, "With the general follow-up of major brands in product research and development and the dispersion of channels, it is very difficult to create another super brand like PROYA. Combining user consumption trends and achieving lightweight marketing innovation will also be an indispensable part of brands building differentiated competitiveness."

Currently, more and more beauty brands are trying to move out of e-commerce live broadcast rooms and create more segmented topic areas in more diverse venues to attract incremental crowds and drive traffic for big promotions.

First, the social scene has become a "battlefield". Different from straightforward new product theories, efficacy theories or beauty recommendations, a more gentle combination with entertainment IP, consumer trends and hot topics, and invisible implantation of brand products has become a popular trend.

Xiaohongshu has started playing the game of "changing makeup after listening to advice". Amateur bloggers change their makeup ideas based on the analysis of enthusiastic netizens and post before-and-after comparison pictures to attract a large number of traffic. "Online mutual assistance to become beautiful" has become a very typical social topic. The sharing of makeup based on popular conditions, such as crazy makeup and relaxed makeup, can also attract more attention than simply recommending good things.

Weibo further magnifies its hot spot advantage. From "Sisters Who Make Waves 5" to "Joy of Life 2", popular entertainment content will have corresponding makeup tutorials. Under the topic of celebrity makeup, celebrity makeup artists will also "speak from their own experience" and recommend "makeup techniques" and brand usage tutorials. At the same time, creative ways of showing makeup such as "Dragon Year Limited Makeup" and "My Annual Makeup" are more likely to trigger fission effects.

At the same time, the brand has once again returned to the emotional creation field. It is no longer simply promoting products, but trying to return to brand power building around the need of "pleasing oneself" through a large number of hot topics for women and combining them with Women's Day, Mother's Day, 520 and other nodes.

Take Fuerjia as an example. Its 3.8 advertisement "Auntie" focuses on a mature yet free female image, conveying the characteristics of today's women who are not defined or constrained. Under the trending search #My Auntie is Always Great#, a large number of female users showed strong resonance and also subtly completed a deep understanding of the brand concept.

Many brands are also trying to move from online to offline, focusing on the new energy brought by offline channels. In particular, beauty and cosmetics stores and boutique retail stores have become the focus of many brands.

"The core purpose of offline expansion is to gain a good market position, but the cost of offline brand stores is too high. Through instant retail stores, we can be closer to the scenario-based and immersive consumption needs of young people, and the cost is more controllable," said a practitioner of a beauty brand.

The combination of offline flash mobs and live broadcasts has also become a popular trend. A typical example is FENTY BEAUTY BY RIHANNA, whose online surprise day event was combined with a limited-time flash mob event in Shanghai. Rihanna's personal "pancake-making" in Shanghai also set off a social scene, triggering a large number of fans to join the discussion.

Overall, whether it is the advancement of super-head anchors, the efforts of brands in categories, or the changes in the field, they all reflect the beauty industry's goal of breaking through the existing ceiling and pursuing more business growth. In a broader product line and space, whether it can combine brand advantages and do a good job in "product innovation" and "communication innovation" in the segmented field will become the key to determining the next stage of the beauty brand landscape.