Tear open Xiaohongshu's home furnishing traffic, the reason behind the 10-fold growth

Xiaohongshu has become a marketing platform for many brands. How can the home furnishing industry obtain accurate traffic and improve sales conversion when entering Xiaohongshu? This article combines relevant cases and analyzes them from four aspects in detail, hoping to help you.

How many difficulties are there for home furnishing companies to enter Xiaohongshu?

How to layout? How to create content? How to create accounts and traffic? Why limit traffic? How to build a brand? I believe these are the problems encountered by most businesses and enterprises.

Today, offline traffic has plummeted, and physical operations in the home furnishing industry have become difficult, because young people's purchasing habits have changed and they are more inclined to obtain information and consume online.

Xiaohongshu is a "life encyclopedia" and "consumption decision-making" platform preferred by young people. Many users who are preparing to renovate their homes come here to search for information such as decoration tips, decoration styles, and furniture customization.

Some people even found their favorite home products on Xiaohongshu, such as mattresses, sofas, lamps, wardrobes, shower heads, bedding sets, etc., and "shopped for a home online" in one stop.

Therefore, Xiaohongshu has also become a marketing platform for home furnishing brands.

So how do you plan your marketing on Xiaohongshu, get precise traffic for home furnishings, and increase sales conversions?

And what to do next?

We will conduct a specific analysis from the following four aspects.

Contents of this article:

1. 1. Growth trend of Xiaohongshu home furnishing industry

1. Xiaohongshu Home Furnishing Business Strategy
2. How to operate Xiaohongshu's home IP
3. A reference for analyzing the hot articles on Xiaohongshu’s home furnishings

01 Xiaohongshu Home Furnishing Growth Trend

To plan marketing on Xiaohongshu, we must first understand the target user profile of the home furnishing industry on Xiaohongshu, the overall development trend, hot search keywords, the search volume of hot search terms, etc.

According to Xinhong data, users in the home furnishing industry are concentrated in the young population aged 23-35, and are mostly concentrated in new first-tier and second-tier cities. Women account for 77.2% and men account for 22.8%.

(Displayed by Xinhong Data under Xinbang)

In terms of overall development trends, in November, the overall traffic volume of the home improvement and home furnishing industry showed a rapid growth trend.

(Data source: Xinhong Data, a subsidiary of Xinbang)

For example, looking at the category words of the lighting industry, the top rankings are "crystal chandelier" with 16,000 related collections, "eye-protection ceiling lamp" with 62,300, "garden lamp" with 1,410, and the 7th and 8th are "bedroom ceiling lamp" with 6,266 and "living room ceiling lamp" with 7,921. The growth changes of the lighting industry on the Xiaohongshu platform can be observed from the lighting market data.

(Data source: Xinhong Data, a subsidiary of Xinbang)

Furthermore, among the category words in the home furnishing industry, the top one is "toilet", with 4.0467 million collections, "sink" related collections are 370,500, "smart toilet" related collections are 207,400, "double-slate island" related collections are 27,400, and "how to match tiles" related collections are 22,600. From the overall home furnishing data, we can observe the growth changes of the lighting industry on the Xiaohongshu platform.

At the same time, the popularity of search terms such as "bedroom, balcony decoration" has increased. In addition, the search rate of users for home decoration experience-related words such as "avoid pitfalls" has also increased;

According to the monthly report, the topic with the fastest growth in popularity is “small apartment decoration”, which continues to maintain a high level of search popularity.

(Image source: Screenshot of Xiaohongshu Monthly Report)

Among them, the search popularity of the decoration category has risen rapidly with related words such as "living room decoration, balcony decoration effect, small apartment decoration, log style, medieval style, 2024 decoration style". In other subcategories, the search growth is obvious with hot search words such as "shower, balcony cabinet, sofa, four-piece set, cappuccino bouquet".

While we are discussing health and intelligence, a super interesting trend is quietly emerging in the home field.

Many users also seek to add elements that reflect their personal opinions and tastes in their living spaces, giving their residential life more possibilities for expressing their personalities.

After reading the above data on the home furnishing market, how can the home furnishing industry find a path to vertical growth in its respective fields? And where is the turning point of the trend in the home furnishing industry?

Let’s look at the following:

First, the transformation from a single product to multiple categories;

Companies can either integrate surrounding categories horizontally or dig deep into their own industries to find their own competitiveness. In the Internet era, diversified development and focus on niche areas are the keys to brand growth.

Secondly, diversification of channels;

In the past, doing a good job of intercepting and closing deals at the terminal might be enough to occupy the market, but now if a company does not know how to operate through multiple channels and diversify operations and cannot handle the source of customer traffic, even the best sales skills may become ineffective. Therefore, when a large number of merchants have achieved good results on Xiaohongshu, most of them have allocated a part of their budget to Xiaohongshu.

The future home furnishing stores will definitely be based on the integration of online and offline, emphasizing the integration of home decoration and home furnishing. Therefore, it is necessary for enterprises to establish their own online platforms and realize closed-loop operations online and offline.

Finally, the scene-based sales model will replace the era of single product display

It pays more attention to the presentation of home space and caters to young people's preference for emotional consumption.

Of course, today's young people prefer products with high appearance and extreme focus. These products have their own traffic and will be more likely to attract attention and consumers' love.

In this era, mastering an industry, becoming the king of a niche market, or having unique traffic products will all be important factors in a company's success.

So, when it is confirmed that there is money to be made in each segment, how can companies expand in this direction?

Let’s continue to look down.

02 Xiaohongshu Home Furnishing Matrix Strategy

If you want to develop a business in the home furnishing and decoration industry, the next step on Xiaohongshu is to plan a home furnishing brand operation plan.

But how to do it?

1) Dig deep into the pain points of home furnishing consumers

First of all, whether you are in the home improvement and building materials business, furniture business, or home decoration and household goods business, before doing marketing on Xiaohongshu, you must understand one thing: who are you going to sell your products to, rather than directly imitating the popular content in the furniture and home improvement industry.

For example, if you sell sofas or lamps, the unit price is 10,000 or even tens of thousands of yuan. If you see a popular article with a customer unit price of only a few hundred yuan, with such a big price difference, it is obvious that the target audience for sofas or lamps is different. "Behind the content and products are the crowds. Only by thoroughly studying the crowds can you stand out from your peers."

Therefore, you need to have a clear understanding of the crowd portrait from the beginning, including age, income, identity, etc.

(Source: Produced by Xiaohongshu Business Learning and Development)

To be more specific, the decision-making group for home furnishings is still women, accounting for 83%. We see that people aged 23-30 account for 43%, 31-35 account for about 20%, and users in first- and second-tier cities account for 57%. From the overall population portrait, the corresponding content strategy should be adjusted accordingly if the business wants to target a certain group of people.

For example, the couples preparing for marriage who are asked by their mother-in-law for a wedding house, the single people in first-tier cities who are moving and buying new furniture, the mothers of two children who are buying furniture to send back to their hometown before going home for the Spring Festival, and the mothers of two children who are changing the furniture for their children's bedroom. These are all consumer purchase groups with special requirements for products and scenarios.

For example, when it comes to sofa buyers, cream-style sofas are the most popular among them, while fabric and leather sofas are the most popular among them. Finally, in terms of style, lazy sofas are more popular among young people.

What’s the use of understanding the consumer groups in the home furnishing industry?

Brands can plan content more specifically, divide the population, and use content to screen the people they need to convert, rather than blindly posting notes, releasing information flows, and blindly looking for bloggers to cooperate with.

Have you learned the above?

Now that we have a clear understanding of the brand’s target audience, let’s take a look at how the furniture industry arranges accounts and content.

2) Xiaohongshu Home Furnishing Account and Content Strategy

Secondly, in terms of content, the furniture industry must have a layout, and different types of accounts correspond to different groups of people.

Regarding the furniture account personality; there is no need to worry about it at the beginning. Because the sub-accounts, IP corporate accounts, employee accounts, traffic accounts, blogger accounts, etc. of competitors are probably the result of long-term practice and gradual summary. After the 1.0 version is completed, consider the 2.0 version. This step is critical.

Regarding content strategy, some content is used to deliver traffic, so that people who have not purchased yet know your furniture brand and products in advance. Some content is used to increase account weight, and some is used to close deals.

For example, let’s say you have three or five home furnishing accounts and publish a total of 100 furniture-related notes every month.

Perhaps 40% of these contents are popular science furniture knowledge for traffic distribution, 20% are for promoting one’s own furniture brand, and the remaining 40% are for targeted sales.

For example, the home furnishing brand "Gujia Home Furnishing" has 9 matrix accounts and publishes 80 notes per month. Among them, 25% are practical furniture knowledge, 25% are brand promotion, and the remaining 45% are used for accurate traffic diversion and transaction.

Of course, you can also just focus on one or two types of content, and then gradually improve it based on user needs. For example, the home improvement brand "Decoration Helper" has only one account, publishes 90 notes per month, all of which are precise traffic-driving content, and has more than 2 million fans, which is very good.

It is very important to understand the target audience, account planning and content strategy! However, have you noticed that in order to achieve an ideal result, there must be a practical implementation method.

3) Xiaohongshu home furnishing process layout

So, how to implement it specifically? It is divided into four steps:

The first step is to identify the target population.

The second step is to think about how to solve the content material. There are two methods:

The first method: find home bloggers to take photos in batches; or let the bloggers post, we report it, and then post it to our own account;

The second method: We build the home scene ourselves and shoot the home scene.

The third step is to check the popularity rate and visitor volume of the article to see if there is a positive growth. If so, you can add the spotlight to test the horse race and subsequently amplify the traffic.

The fourth step is to review whether the results are OK.

Let’s use the results to test whether this furniture brand strategy is ideal?

However, can sales be achieved with just popular articles and traffic?

03 Xiaohongshu Home Furnishing IP and Matrix

Of course not. You also need to build user trust and have products that users need. In other words, your product needs to be customized for a certain group of people. So how do you solve the problem of user trust? Should you sell single products or complete sets of products?

Coordination between furniture professional number and IP number

The emergence of home IP accounts is to solve the problem of user trust.

We know that the home furnishing industry is quite complicated and many consumers have aversion to businesses.

Home Furnishing IP uses real people to conduct story marketing, which is more real and credible. For example, it tells how many people it has helped, how to deal with various professional problems, etc. Therefore, the emergence of home furnishing IP solves the problem of users' trust in home furnishing brands and sales conversion rate.

Home IP Case:

For example, the home furnishing IP account "一一颗KK" uses real people in all videos to share the personal story of "quitting the news job at the age of 37 to start a home furnishing designer"; the achievements and hardships on the road to entrepreneurship; sharing decoration tips, sofas, lamps and other home furnishing items based on personal decoration experience. It has created a lively, warm and approachable personality, rather than a cold account.

(Account: YikeKK 433,000 followers, 806,000 likes, 398 notes, real person appearance)

Home IP Case:

To give another example, the decoration IP account "Coriander's Design Studio" uses real people to share content such as renovation and improvement of various apartment types, decoration pitfall avoidance guides, and how to save money on decoration. It also uses the actual effects of customer decoration as the scene. The overall effect is very realistic and immersive, which is very conducive to transaction conversion.

(Account: Kosonger, 47,000 followers, 497,000 likes, 337 notes, real person appearance)

Once a home furnishing IP is formed, it is not just selling a single product, but a whole set of home furnishing products. Therefore, after some bloggers have been doing it for a while, or after home furnishing brands have established matrix accounts, they will gradually turn to group buying.

This is also the business model of the home furnishing industry.

(For example: Maoerduo Foshan Furniture, let’s deeply analyze this account, including the IP personality style, topic selection, account operation, content selection, customer acquisition logic, and business growth model)

Because after diverting traffic from Xiaohongshu to the private domain, if you only have one product, the repurchase rate and stickiness are low, because it cannot meet the multi-faceted needs of users. Only with a complete set of products can the user's repurchase rate and referral rate be higher.

Therefore, in the past, no matter whether it was a furniture brand doing sofa business or lamp business, they all ended up doing group buying business for a whole set, which naturally formed a personal brand and then drove the company's product sales.

To achieve a closed sales loop on Xiaohongshu, traffic from popular articles is indispensable.

So what are the rules for popular content?

04 Analysis of the hottest articles on Xiaohongshu’s home furnishings

Case 1: 4 living room sofas that can be used as beds

(Note data: 2k+ likes, 1k+ favorites, 50+ comments)

Xiaohongshu hot article title: The title uses the title formula of specific numbers + products + multi-scenario applications. The 4 sofas let users know what products you are sharing, and share several products. "Living room sofa that can be used as a bed" reflects the dual-purpose function of a product, which can be used as a living room sofa and a bed.

Xiaohongshu hot article cover: The cover is in the form of a collection of sofas, giving users an overall impression. Each sofa is named after something common in users' daily lives + high-value pictures, which immediately arouses users' curiosity and attracts users to click on the cover picture to see what sofas like "puffs, sailboats, elephant ears, and tofu blocks" look like.

Hot article on Xiaohongshu: The article introduces the appearance design, function, craftsmanship, materials, style and the user's feeling when sitting on the sofas of 4 sofas

Hot comments on Xiaohongshu: Netizens in the comment area asked questions such as how to buy tofu sofas, how to contact, whether they can be customized, the color of the sofa, which one is the softest, etc. This attracted a group of accurate users to consult and achieved the purpose of attracting traffic and conversion.

Copying homework: Skills that are popular on the Internet themselves have their own traffic. Evaluation notes provide a process for everyone to verify the skills, which allows more people to see the results more intuitively. People will accept both good and bad skills, and it is also easier to arouse user interaction.

Case 2: No way! No way!

(Note data: 6k+ likes, 7k+ favorites, 150+ comments)

Hot titles on Xiaohongshu: The title uses the formula of creating suspense + repetition, "No way", which makes users wonder, what exactly is it about? Repeat it again to strengthen the theme to be expressed and stimulate users' curiosity again.

Xiaohongshu's hot cover: The cover shows a picture of a "sofa" with the text "The sofa with the highest IQ tax", which makes users think "there is an IQ tax on sofas, it's incredible". Combined with the title "No way", it creates emotions and makes users wonder which aspects of the sofa are the IQ tax. Click on the cover to find out and avoid being fooled.

Hot-selling content on Xiaohongshu: The content tells users what kind of sofa they should and should not choose from 8 aspects, such as sponge weight, color, etc. It is practical and simple.

Hot comments on Xiaohongshu: Netizens have many inquiries in the comment section, such as asking bloggers to recommend sofas, judging the quality of a certain sofa, netizens sharing brands to avoid, resonance from netizens who have already fallen into the trap, etc., which has triggered interactions and voices from netizens from all walks of life.

Copy homework: Sofas are furniture items that every household needs. We are sharing practical knowledge such as a guide to avoid pitfalls. People who have not bought a sofa need to learn so as not to fall into the trap. Netizens who have already fallen into the trap can easily resonate with it.

Case 3: Buying a 2k+ mattress online is awesome❗️Real experience sharing 3 tips❤️

(Note data: 32k+ likes, 37k+ favorites, 2k+ comments)

Hot titles on Xiaohongshu: The titles use the format of low price + product + personal real experience sharing. "2k+ mattress" attracts users' attention with its cheap price, and personal experience type is more likely to increase users' trust and resonate with them.

Xiaohongshu's best-selling cover: The cover shows a bedroom scene of "a person lying on a mattress", and with a specific text description, users quickly know that this is a content sharing the experience of closing a pit. For those who have a need or have bought a mattress, they will be attracted.

Hot content on Xiaohongshu: The content is based on the successful experience of individuals purchasing cost-effective mattresses, and shares the indicators to refer to when choosing a mattress, such as the softness and hardness of the mattress, springs, filling layers, fabrics and other details. It is full of practical information, saves money and worry.

Hot comments on Xiaohongshu: Netizens interacted very well in the comment section. Some asked for a list, some went directly to the Tmall store to buy, and some asked where to buy carpets and rocking chairs. It was a good way to increase fans and improve sales conversion.

Copy homework: This kind of content that shares shopping experience based on real personal experience is more likely to be liked and accepted by users. Because your successful experience is a role model, users can use it directly, which is the value. It can help users avoid pitfalls and save them time and energy.

Summarize

Xiaohongshu has 260 million monthly active users, and the home furnishing industry is a hot track with a continuously surging demand. Therefore, if you want to grab a piece of the pie here, you must complete the marketing layout as soon as possible, realize brand marketing and sales conversion, and solve the current problem of difficulty in operating physical stores.

This article starts with 1. Analysis of the growth trend of the track, 2. Consumer habits of the crowd, 3. Methodological summary of home furnishing accounts and IP creation, and 4. Deconstruction of the hot article model of home furnishing. I hope that today's sharing is full of practical information and can be helpful to brand companies engaged in furniture, home decoration and building materials, and home textiles.

In 2024, I wish your sales will double and your brand growth will accelerate.

Author: Zhuang Jun

WeChat public account: Zhuang Jun (ID: zhuangjunweixin)