How to efficiently attract users in the infant formula market? Tips on how to effectively create content on Xiaohongshu!

How much do you know about the infant formula market?

Recently, I have received marketing consultation from several infant formula brands, including both new brands and some established leading brands in the market.

This is also one of the hot tracks that I continue to pay attention to. Today, I would like to take this opportunity to share with you some of our ideas and possible content gameplay when doing content seeding marketing on Xiaohongshu as a baby brand! The baby milk powder track has undergone earth-shaking changes in the past decade. Before 2007, domestic brands occupied more than 60% of the market share , and Sanlu, which ranked first, had a market share of 18.26%. It can be said that there are many powerful domestic brands in the domestic market, and there are also a considerable number of head brands. However, after the melamine incident, the Chinese people’s trust in domestic milk powder plummeted, and imported milk powder quickly occupied the domestic market , especially when the two-child policy was fully liberalized. It can be said that a large number of era users have been steadily harvested.

I believe that all the veteran brands in this field are well aware of this: the road ahead for domestic milk powder is not easy.

Opportunities arise during the epidemic stage.

Because infant formula is a consumable product that needs to be purchased frequently and stably, and the source of milk plays an almost decisive role in quality, mothers have turned their attention back to domestic milk powder at this special stage. After a period of word-of-mouth accumulation and with the introduction of new national standards, consumers have gradually regained their trust in the quality of domestic milk powder. In addition, in recent years, domestic brands such as Feihe, Junlebao, Biostime, etc. have been very strong in marketing. From the perspective of the entire market discussion and popularity, domestic milk powder has gradually returned to the market. In other words, we say that it is more successful in customer acquisition and marketing .

Up to now, there is actually no clear consumer trust boundary between imported and domestic milk powder. Each has its own advantages, and the key to market share lies in marketing . Therefore, the infant milk powder brands I have come into contact with, no matter what stage they are in, whether they currently have a user base, and even some brands that rank very high in Tmall categories, have no sense of market security. I want to use Xiaohongshu to plant grass and grab target users, but I don’t know how to do it, or how to achieve this goal cost-effectively and efficiently.

1. What are your consumers paying attention to?

It's very simple. If your consumers don't pay attention to the selling points you mentioned, then the popularity and the effect of planting grass will be very limited.

Even if our products have new concepts or new ingredients that require user education, we can start from the direction they are concerned about.

Of course, when our product has multiple selling points and we don’t know which one to choose as the main selling point, choosing the one they are most concerned about will definitely be more effective!

2. What are their search habits?

This seems similar to the previous one, but the difference is that here we need to understand what words he will use to search for what he is interested in. This is related to the keywords in our topic layout and content, etc.

3. Content and gameplay of the track

What content methods are available for brands in the same track or on the platform, and what are their uses? For example, the long-selling method is the popular content method that is always popular. We can deploy a part of these every month and take a long-term approach. There are also some tracks that have staged creative methods, such as the first cup of milk tea in autumn. This method is very popular only at a certain stage and can help us get some instant high traffic . Then let's take a look at these points to see how to play the infant formula track! It is recommended that you can combine your own products and follow my analysis to summarize and identify them!

1. What do mothers who consume infant formula pay attention to?

1. Food safety and brand reputation

All baby products cannot escape the safety concerns of mothers, especially the imported food.

Brand reputation means a lower rate of product failures and is a guarantee of quality for the public . This is why the marketing of infant formula in the past two years has abandoned some celebrity endorsements and instead strengthened feedback from KOLs and public word of mouth.

This also reminds us that when placing an ad, we should not only pay attention to the interaction with the notes at that time, that is, the increase in the current volume of the ad, but also pay attention to the public opinion on the Xiaohongshu platform and even the entire network.

2. Digestion, absorption and immunity

In terms of nutritional functions, ingredients that help babies digest and absorb better and enhance immunity will become the basic demand.

Especially under the influence of the previous epidemic, everyone's attention to immunity has increased unprecedentedly. We can also see that in the past two years, many brands have stepped up their promotion of ingredients that enhance immunity.

3. Special formula milk

In addition to infant formula, which is the most widely recognized by users, the attention and overall sales of special formula and organic milk powder are also increasing significantly. This also means that in the environment of consumption upgrading and refined parenting, users have put forward higher demands on the value-added functions of milk powder.

No longer satisfied with basic nutrition, but more additional additions.

4. Problem Solving

Every time we talk about market growth, we actually rely on two parts - new users in the track and original competitors' users.

That is, new mothers and mothers who are using other brands.

For those mothers who are using other brands, the biggest driving factor for switching brands is product problems.

The problem here is not a "big crash" in product quality or reputation, but more related to the individual feedback from the baby.

Such as green stool, diarrhea, constipation, milk rash, allergies, getting angry, etc…

Almost all feedback from babies ultimately comes down to dietary adjustments, and these are also our entry points for reaching new users and achieving growth!

5. Literacy and science popularization

For mothers, especially new mothers, science literacy is always an essential content.

For example, how to choose milk powder, how to select, how to prepare, how to read the formula, what to do if the baby spits up milk, etc...

This type of content is also the main content for us to build user trust and achieve long-term retention, interaction and exposure of content on the Xiaohongshu platform.

When choosing topics for popular science, giving priority to literacy that corresponds to the selling points of our products will greatly improve our efficiency in promoting product sales.

Of course, if we choose the content that receives the most attention on the platform, it can help our brand gain better exposure, which is very suitable for new brands or brands that need to break out of their circle.

Therefore, the selection of content themes still needs to be combined with our existing development goals.

2. What are their search preferences?

When they want to buy but don’t have a clear brand preference, I find that their searches are still very diverse and segmented.

1. Search by age group

• 1st segment/2nd segment/3rd segment
• 0-3 years old milk powder
• m+ baby milk powder

3. Search by physical characteristics

• Hypoallergenic/anti-allergic
• Digestion/Absorption
• stomach

4. Search by origin

• Domestic milk powder
• New Zealand milk powder/Korea milk powder
• Imported milk powder

3. How to play the hot-selling content of infant formula

1. Baby growth strategy

Cutting Angle:

Through a series of pain points in raising and feeding babies, such as seasonal feeding/indigestion/flatulence/spitting up, or focusing on product advantages, such as increasing immunity, improving intelligence, doubling absorption, etc., solutions are provided and implanted

Target audience: mothers who encounter difficulties in raising children and seek solutions

Content role: mothers search for common pain points to drive traffic, and products are embedded in solutions to guide purchases

Platform basic popularity: ★★★★★

2. Buy dry goods for milk powder

Cutting Angle:

Through certain ingredients/physique/daily milk powder selection guides, this is the essential knowledge shared by milk powder consuming mothers. At the same time, the selection guide also proves the product quality.

Target audience: Moms who don’t know how to choose milk powder/how to choose according to their needs

Content function: Provide mothers with selection suggestions and method guidance, help mothers choose milk powder suitable for their babies, and make recommendations

Platform basic popularity: ★★★★

3. In-depth evaluation of milk powder

Cutting Angle:

In response to the needs of mothers who need professional recommendations, we conduct in-depth horizontal evaluations of several milk powders, analyze their advantages and disadvantages and their suitability for babies, and help mothers choose

Target audience: mothers who have questions about the advantages and disadvantages of certain milk powders and need professional answers

Content role: Use other brands to increase exposure, help mothers gain in-depth understanding and guide purchases

Platform basic popularity: ★★★★

4. Product promotion and evaluation

Cutting Angle:

Sharing and recommending the experience of using a single milk powder is more authentic, similar to buyer shows

(Usually presented with parent-child interaction or shopping content)

Target audience: mothers who have already made a choice and want to learn more about a certain milk powder

Content function: Provide more real user feedback and public word-of-mouth for mothers who have already chosen a brand or product

Platform basic popularity: ★★

5. Parent-child activities and life

Cutting Angle:

Warm parent-child interaction, mostly videos, is one of the most popular contents for mothers to watch in their leisure time

Target audience: Bloggers’ fans and the general public on the platform who prefer to read parent-child content

Function of content: The platform often has hot content, which can be used to implant products, increase exposure, give users a sense of immersion, and subtly influence users' minds.

Platform basic popularity: ★★★★

6. Share thematic items

Cutting Angle:

Implant the needs of mothers and babies who love to stock up, and new mothers who need a full set of solutions for feeding scenarios

Target audience: General maternal and child consumers who have theme needs/want to stock up

Content role: Use searches of other brands/products to increase exposure, guide brand searches, and gain in-depth understanding

Platform basic popularity: ★★★

7. Creative recipes

Cutting Angle:

Implantation through mothers' needs for making complementary foods/baby snacks

Target audience: mothers who are concerned about their baby’s diet

Content function: To improve the baby's eating fun and daily nutrition, and extend the use scenarios of milk powder

Platform basic popularity: ★★★★★

8. Small Theater

Cutting Angle:

Interesting stories about life/funny jokes/parent-child life, etc.

Target audience: General readers of parent-child content

Content function: The content is interesting, drives product exposure, and guides brand search results

Platform basic popularity: ★★★★

In a word, for the infant formula market, popular science content and daily-related content with a strong sense of immersion are the key to sedimentation and dissemination, while the layout, proportion and entry point of other content require us to adjust according to product characteristics and the current development needs of the brand!

Author: Bobo Marketing Circle, WeChat Official Account: Bobo Marketing