Xiaohongshu is conquering the "male" barrier

In order to achieve user growth, Xiaohongshu has taken the best and most cost-effective option, focusing on expanding the male group and increasing the penetration rate among the male group and the elderly group. Let's take a look at the author's analysis.

In the eyes of the public, Xiaohongshu has always been labeled as "feminine". Over the past many years, Xiaohongshu has indeed been a secret garden for girls.

However, in recent years, I have found that more and more men around me are using Xiaohongshu, and some even cannot put it down.

It turns out that straight men also love Xiaohongshu.

1. Xiaohongshu, also loved by straight men

In the past, female users were the absolute main force of Xiaohongshu.

According to public data, as of 2020, the proportion of female users of Xiaohongshu reached 90.41%, and the gender ratio gap is extremely huge.

Image source: Xiaohongshu

In 2021, Xiaohongshu launched a male content incentive plan, calling on more male creators to join Xiaohongshu and create content that is more oriented towards men, such as automobiles, digital products, and sports.

Image source: Xiaohongshu

Essentially, this move is a means for Xiaohongshu to increase its user base. In addition, it can also make Xiaohongshu's content more diversified.

Currently, Xiaohongshu has over 100 million daily active users and 260 million monthly active users, of which more than 30% are male users. Xiaohongshu has over 20 million monthly active creators, with an average of 3 million notes published per day and an average of 300 million search queries per day.

Image source: China Business News

Xiaohongshu welcomes men and solves the problem of men. Judging from the results, Xiaohongshu has been very successful.

Compared with female users, many people don’t know what male users read on Xiaohongshu.

2. Boys, what do you read on Xiaohongshu?

Since there is no public data for statistics, I interviewed several friends around me to see what they usually read on Xiaohongshu.

I found that in addition to using Xiaohongshu to make food and travel guides, men also read a lot of other types of content.

1. Xiao Zhou: No matter what, look at the beauties

Some men download Xiaohongshu to see beauties, and so do my friends. The "beauties" are happy to share, and the comments under their posts are all asking for links or sharing matching experiences.

Image source: Xiaohongshu

In the early days, Xiaohongshu also placed advertisements targeting male users on platforms such as Hupu, Tieba, and Zhihu. Basically, male users would not post overly masculine comments under such notes. Later, they would often divert to other content, such as men's wear.

2. Brother Cui: OOTD, read Xiaohongshu

Cui Ge reads Xiaohongshu mainly to learn about men's dressing and follow fashion trends. On Xiaohongshu, there are as many as 4.28 million notes about men's dressing, and he said he would never be able to finish reading them.

Image source: Xiaohongshu

Most of the bloggers who share notes are not professional fashion KOLs, but ordinary fashion enthusiasts.

Image source: Xiaohongshu

They use Xiaohongshu to share their dressing experiences and exchange experiences with like-minded people.

3. Xiao Liu: For men’s skin care, read Xiaohongshu

Xiao Liu reads Xiaohongshu and learns how to take care of her skin and keep it clean and fresh. On Xiaohongshu, there are more than 470,000 related notes and more than 40,000 products.

Image source: Xiaohongshu

Each blogger will tell you in detail, “how to care for your skin”, “what products to choose”, “what to use for daily sun protection”, etc., in a clear and concise manner.

Image source: Yansong Dylan (Xiaohongshu)

4. Brother Li: I learn football on Xiaohongshu

Li Ge goes to Xiaohongshu and likes to read notes related to sports. Contrary to everyone's stereotype, there are many professional football coaches on Xiaohongshu, and the quality of its content is no worse than that of other professional sports communities.

In addition, Xiaohongshu itself often holds events to allow people who love sports to share their daily lives and experiences.

Image source: Xiaohongshu

In recent years, Xiaohongshu has held various activities in an attempt to attract more male users to join Xiaohongshu.

Male users are indispensable to Xiaohongshu, and the reason is very simple.

3. Xiaohongshu really needs them

Xiaohongshu has 260 million monthly active users, which is close to 300 million, but it is not enough because its competitors have achieved outstanding results.

As of the end of the third quarter, Weibo's monthly active users reached 605 million and its daily active users reached 260 million, which are impressive overall figures.

In the eyes of investors and company executives, Xiaohongshu still has a lot of room for improvement. Only by achieving user growth can various data be improved.

For any company, user growth is one of the main goals.

Xiaohongshu's main users are young women in high-tier cities, and its penetration rate among them is also relatively high. However, its penetration rate among men and the elderly is relatively low.

Image source: Inside and outside

At present, the penetration rate of Xiaohongshu among young women is nearly 50%. Further penetration requires a lot of effort. It is difficult to see good results in a short period of time, and the overall cost-effectiveness is not high. Expanding the user base of the elderly is also not cost-effective.

So, for Xiaohongshu, expanding the male group is the best choice for user growth.

At the same time, it is also the most cost-effective choice.

User growth is everything.

In addition, the male group also needs Xiaohongshu. Its excellent tool nature makes it very useful to most male users who pay attention to practicality.

At present, the influx of male users has not caused much impact on the community atmosphere of Xiaohongshu.

How to maintain a wonderful balance between male and female users and reduce "disharmony" in the community is one of the important topics for Xiaohongshu to face in the future.

References:

From Little Red Book to Big Red Book YiMagazine

"Breaking the Circle Economics: Xiaohongshu Welcomes "Men""

Author: Weaving

Source public account: Weiguojiang (ID: wjam123456), focusing on the forefront of new media and insights into new consumer fields.