Xiaohongshu marketing methodology for wine brands, increasing sales by 40% (6,000 words)

Recently, the rise of low-alcohol wine on Xiaohongshu has become a trend that cannot be ignored. The market has also brought more opportunities to many emerging brands. How can a wine brand stand out in the Xiaohongshu market? The author of this article describes the marketing methodology in detail in 6,000 words. Let's take a look.

There is a lot of room for innovation in the marketing and promotion of low-alcohol beverages. For example, low-alcohol beverage brands represented by emerging brands such as Luoyin have successfully attracted the attention of most young users through platforms such as social media, with precise positioning and differentiated content marketing.

Therefore, it can be seen that the rise of low-alcohol beverages on Xiaohongshu has become a trend that cannot be ignored, and has also brought more market opportunities to many emerging brands.

However, it should be noted that the market competition is fierce, and brands need to carry out refined maintenance in content creation, marketing strategies and user relationship management in order to stand out in the Xiaohongshu market.

1. Analysis of trends in low-alcohol wine categories

2. How to do keyword layout in the low-alcohol wine category

3. How alcoholic beverages can capture the attention of consumers on Xiaohongshu

4. Low-alcohol wine brand strategy (Meijian, Shiguangmeijiu, Luoyin)

01 Analysis of low-alcohol beverage category trends

Low-alcohol beverages have become a favorite of modern young consumer groups. When we go shopping in convenience stores, it is not difficult to find that there are more categories of low-alcohol beverages than high-alcohol beverages, and the sales volume is also higher. Some experts predict that in the near future, low-alcohol beverages will enter a node of full-scale outbreak.

The figure below shows that in 2022, compared with 2016, the market size of low-alcohol beverages has increased by nearly RMB 22.7 billion in the past six years. The scale will continue to expand from 2023 to 2025, and is expected to exceed RMB 70 billion in 2025, gradually becoming a trend.

As the market size continues to expand, the e-commerce scale of the low-alcohol beverage category is also catching up. According to statistics in 2021, rice wine, tea wine, and soda wine will become high-growth categories , and how to differentiate themselves has become a problem facing the low-alcohol beverage category.

In terms of categories, the alcoholic beverage industry is a relatively monopolistic industry, mainly divided into three categories: liquor, beer, and wine, which together account for nearly 80% of the market share.

In 2020, the growth of low-alcohol trendy drinking categories in the overall alcohol market showed a good momentum, especially plum wine, which increased by nearly 90%, with the strongest momentum. Although low-alcohol trendy drinking does not account for a significant proportion of the Chinese alcohol market, it has become an important choice for young consumers to differentiate from liquor and beer.

【Drinks and beverages target audience】

With the emergence of new consumer groups, Generation Z and women are the main consumer groups. The resulting consumption scenarios such as gatherings with friends, drinking at home, bars, etc., which do not make you drunk, are driving consumers to buy low-alcohol beverages.

According to the data, alcoholic beverages are more popular among female users, with a male-to-female ratio of 1:9. The consumer group is mostly concentrated in the 25-34 year old age group. The audience is more distributed in Guangdong and Jiangxi , and users in first-tier and new first-tier cities are more concentrated.

In the past year, female consumers have continued to integrate into the online wine and beverage market, and "her power" is more prominent among the younger generation of wine and beverage consumers: from the overall age structure, female consumers born in the 1990s and 1995s already account for half of the market, and the number of female consumers born in the 1990s far exceeds that of male consumers.

From the perspective of consumer groups, users in this age group enjoy life more. Judging from the notes on Xiaohongshu, users prefer camping, wine, fruit wine and other categories.

At present, the global low-alcohol wine market is expanding, consumers' demand for health and sub-health products is increasing, and low-alcohol wine categories are receiving more and more attention. At the same time, the quality of low-alcohol wine is also constantly improving, and more and more high-end low-alcohol wine brands, such as organic wine and pure natural wine, are appearing on the market.

In the future, with the inheritance of drinking culture and the improvement of health awareness, the low-alcohol beverage category is expected to continue to develop steadily.

02 How to do keyword layout in the low-alcohol beverage category

After hot red wine and convenience store cocktails unexpectedly became popular on Xiaohongshu, more wine merchants gradually launched their products on the Xiaohongshu platform. Today, there are more than 90,000 Xiaohongshu notes about the keyword [red wine].

So how can merchants stand out from the crowd? The author [Zhuang Jun] has summarized some methodologies on how alcohol can capture the mind of people on Xiaohongshu , and I suggest saving them.

1. Scene introduction - strengthen the user's impression of drinking

Q: Where do young people drink now? On Xiaohongshu, home bars, pubs, specialty bars, and camping picnics are all popular drinking spots chosen by young people.

The family has become a very common scene for modern young people to drink. Young users gradually like the family atmosphere and enjoy happy time at home. In Xiaohongshu, many influencers often hold parties and home bars at home. They prefer to find their favorite wine by themselves and share it with friends. There are relatively many such user groups.

When operating Xiaohongshu accounts, the implantation of scenes can achieve twice the result with half the effort. When users put themselves into the scenes, they will have the desire to interact.

Similarly, many young people will read various guides on Xiaohongshu and try to make cocktails and special concoctions at home to entertain friends, which is also the concept of treating their home as a bar.

More and more young people are choosing to enjoy drinks in offline shops and bars with a sense of atmosphere. They have very high standards and requirements for the experience and storytelling of offline alcohol consumption scenes.

Camping and picnics have also become a new way for young people to drink. They will choose to sit together with friends outdoors and enjoy the wonderful experience brought by fine wine and delicious food.

More and more users are becoming interested in outdoor activities such as camping. When traveling in nearby cities with friends, camping becomes the best choice. Xiaohongshu operators can also grasp this psychology of users and carry out product placement in camping notes.

Home bars, taverns, specialty bars, and camping picnics are all popular drinking spots chosen by young people , and where they choose to drink depends on their pursuit of scene experience and storytelling.

For example, RIO's target group is "empty-nest young people" who drink alone, while their previous positioning was for empty-nest elderly people; Hoegaarden focuses on the picnic scene; and Bingqing is positioned for the scene of eating hot pot with green plum wine; Berry Sweetheart's target scene is sisterhood gatherings, especially gatherings of women and their besties.

2. Implant time words to deepen users’ muscle memory of the product

Nowadays, young people tend to drink alcohol in pleasant occasions such as with meals, visiting restaurants, before bedtime, and at weekend gatherings. Drinking has become a way to relax.

On Xiaohongshu, these scenes have also become popular drinking times, where people can find their favorite wine and food pairs.

Understanding the time when these young people drink and their thoughts will help us better meet their needs and make it easier to find suitable sales strategies in the market.

For young people, drinking has now become a relaxing time and a very happy time.

It is different from the traditional concept of drinking. The traditional concept of drinking is either because of sad things, broken love, or farewell. These emotions are sad, and drinking is used to vent one's emotions.

3. Visual presentation-enhance brand image

Focus on the packaging of the wine and try to incorporate modern popular elements into the packaging design.

For example, you can use fresh and soft rainbow tones, or fashionable metal elements as embellishments. These visual effects will bring a very strong artistic sense, making consumers feel that the quality of the wine is higher, and will also enhance the impression of brand recognition. Users will try your product because it looks good.

Don’t forget to use picture details to present the color, aroma or mellow taste of the wine. These details will give users a more three-dimensional wine experience.

4. Provide personalized services to retain loyal consumers

Merchants can retain loyal consumers by providing personalized services. When operating Xiaohongshu, this part of the content can be used as a small proportion when planning the proportion of accounts, similar to pampering fans.

For example, provide customized services, after-sales services, coupons, etc. to improve user experience and loyalty.

【Top buzzwords for alcohol】

Top alcoholic beverage keywords: cocktail making, drinking, wine, fermented rice, rice wine, white wine, cocktail, mulled wine, beer, hangover remedy, hangover remedy, fruit wine, convenience store cocktail making, red wine recommendation, boiled red wine, how to choose red wine, butter beer, honey fruit wine, convenience store homemade wine

Obviously, the popularity of strong liquor on Xiaohongshu is not high, and it can even be said to be relatively low. As for the hot words about liquor, we can see that [cocktail] is the most popular, followed by rice wine, white wine, cocktail, etc. The real-time popularity of mulled wine on Xiaohongshu in the past six months is 221.58w , and low-alcohol liquor is on the rise on Xiaohongshu.

[Cocktails popularity on Xiaohongshu in the past three months]

In the past 90 days, the popularity of cocktails on Xiaohongshu has gradually increased, with 38,700 notes published in three months , a total popularity of 6.4666 million , and a high user interaction desire, with 271,300 interactions. From the user's perspective, low-alcohol drinks are more in line with young people's drinking habits.

On April 25, the highest popularity value in one day was nearly 70,000, and 648 notes were published on that day.

As an important part of social, cultural and lifestyle in modern life, consumers are paying more and more attention to the quality and taste of low-alcohol beverages. At the same time, they are also increasingly fond of sharing and communicating their drinking experiences and feelings on social platforms. Xiaohongshu is also an important stage for the low-alcohol beverage category.

More and more low-alcohol beverage brands are entering the Chinese market, and a number of excellent low-alcohol beverage brands have also emerged in the country.

According to the recent popularity of low-alcohol wine on Xiaohongshu, brands can start from the following aspects when doing keyword layout on Xiaohongshu :

1) Select keywords related to the brand for layout; such as brand name, brand slogan, brand logo, etc.

2) Develop a specific keyword release plan: Brands need to develop a specific keyword release plan to ensure the matching of keyword cover and time nodes. When selecting keywords, brands should pay attention to keyword rankings and the situation of competitors, and conduct targeted optimization.

3) Cooperate with KOLs: Brands can also cooperate with influential KOLs on Xiaohongshu and ask them to include brand keywords when publishing relevant content to expand brand exposure and influence.

4) Product features: Brands can publish keywords based on the characteristics of low-alcohol wine, such as taste, raw materials, brewing process, etc., such as "refreshing low-alcohol wine", "soft-tasting low-alcohol wine", etc. At the same time, they can target different user groups, such as "professional low-alcohol wine for women", "low-alcohol wine for summer drinking", etc.

03 Case Study of Low-Alcohol Wine Category

The low-alcohol beverage market is a highly competitive market with numerous competitors and brands. Facing fierce market competition, the Meijian brand adopted a differentiated brand positioning to highlight its uniqueness and characteristics.

At the same time, with the help of Xiaohongshu, a popular social media platform, we can interact and communicate with consumers, attract the attention of potential customers, and increase brand exposure and awareness.

Today we have disassembled three low-alcohol liquor brands. Let’s take a look at how they market themselves on Xiaohongshu.

1. Meijian

Meijian’s positioning is: “Table wine”, which emphasizes the product’s superior selling points.

Supported by a clear brand positioning, Meijian has been leading the low-alcohol trendy beverage market in less than three years since its listing, achieving growth far exceeding that of its peers. Not only has it achieved steady growth in sales across all channels, leading the low-alcohol trendy beverage market, its performance in e-commerce has been particularly impressive, and it has continuously defended the title of Tmall's fruit wine category sales champion.

Grasping the core of the social culture of the Chinese dining table and focusing on the new Chinese dining scene, using "Long time no see, see you with good green plum wine" as the emotional communication point, it inspires cultural confidence in drinking green plum wine and revives the national drink as the category grows.

Brand methodology - creating a meaningful and differentiated plum wine brand and driving growth through brand power

The first thing is to understand the target market; before building a brand, understand the needs and preferences of the target market in order to formulate targeted brand positioning and marketing strategies.

Understand the needs of potential customers and the situation of competitors through market research and analysis.

Develop meaningful brand positioning based on the needs and differentiation points of the target market. Brand positioning needs to highlight the uniqueness and characteristics of the brand so that consumers can remember your brand among many brands.

Meijian's main consumer group is young people who like alcoholic beverages, especially women. This group usually pursues a fashionable, healthy and high-quality lifestyle , and Meijian's products also reflect these characteristics in design.

According to market research and analysis, green plum wine, as a traditional alcoholic beverage, is becoming increasingly popular among young consumers.

Meijian brand products have attracted a certain number of target customer groups through innovative taste design, personalized packaging and marketing strategies.

The second is to create personalized products; through innovative product design and unique product taste, create personalized plum wine products.

Product design needs to be consistent with the brand positioning and consumer needs, and at the same time needs to be of high quality.

Green plum wine is Meijian’s main product. The product design is different from other plum wines on the market, and it is more personalized and distinctive.

Meijian has conducted research and development and innovation in product flavors and formulas, upgrading the taste of traditional plum wine and incorporating more flavor elements that young people like.

For example, the green plum wine launched by Meijian not only has a sweet taste and fruity aroma, but can also be paired with different drinks or cocktails, increasing the diversity and playability of the product.

The second is to use marketing strategies; through various marketing means, increase brand exposure and awareness.

Meijian uses a variety of methods such as social media platforms, online and offline activities, and KOL cooperation. In addition, Meijian will also direct KOL fans to its own fan community to further expand its influence and enhance brand awareness and reputation.

At the same time, Meijian also launched exclusive benefits and promotions to attract more consumers' attention and purchases.

Finally, it is continuous optimization and innovation; brand building is a process of continuous optimization and innovation, which requires continuous improvement and adjustment of products and marketing strategies to adapt to market changes and consumer needs. At the same time, the brand also needs to keep pace with the times, constantly innovate and update to maintain its competitive advantage.

Creating a meaningful and differentiated plum wine brand requires consideration and practice from many aspects. By formulating brand positioning, creating personalized products, applying marketing strategies, optimization and innovation, we can increase the brand's influence and market share and achieve long-term growth and development of the brand.

Scenario Marketing

Meijian has been constantly enriching its content scenes, starting with family scenes; Meijian wine and other drinks are mixed into summer drinks;

Then there are the dining scenes, with crayfish, barbecue, etc. as side dishes, and then there are get-togethers with friends, goodnight wine, etc. The scenes are constantly iterated, and through the scene-based setting, consumers can find reasons to buy, creating the phenomenon that everyone is drinking plum wine.

Cross-border joint IP

Meijian continues to expand its boundaries and launches many cross-border joint IP products - Xiling Meijian seasonal limited gift box, Meijian x Pinpinxiang

Limited edition intangible cultural heritage Baihao Yinzhen tea plum wine, Meijian x Hema and seasonal limited edition: drunken hairy crabs, etc.

Meijian and Landlord's Cat jointly launched the theme song "Green Plum". The song and lyrics highlight the characteristics of Meijian's products and strengthen the brand's tone. In addition, the brand also cooperates with KOLs to produce content, conveying the brand's tone of naturalness, health and relaxation, and highlighting the brand positioning of Chinese table wine.

The brand has rapidly expanded its brand awareness by cooperating with popular IPs such as the TV series "You Fei", variety shows "Happy Trio" and "New Four Seasons Song", which further strengthened the product's tone and enhanced user minds because it was in line with the product positioning.

Taking advantage of the platform and Tmall's valuable user traffic resources and brand endorsement resources, Meijiancha Plum Wine successfully topped the fruit wine category with the help of Tmall's Treasure New Brand Event.

2. Time Plum Wine

Shiguang Wine is a brand that focuses on low-alcohol wines and targets young, tasteful consumers. On Xiaohongshu, Shiguang Wine has increased brand exposure and user engagement through creative content marketing, KOL cooperation, and interactive activities, thereby increasing brand reputation and sales.

The content published by Shiguang Wine on Xiaohongshu is very creative. For example, it combines fine wine with elements such as travel and food, or uses elements such as beauty and fashion to highlight the diversity and adaptability of the products, attracting the attention and participation of a large number of users.

Cooperate with some influential KOLs on Xiaohongshu, let them try the brand's products and share their experience, and recommend the brand to more potential users through the influence of KOLs, thereby increasing brand awareness and user loyalty.

Xiaohongshu has organized some interactive activities, such as answering questions, puzzles, voting, etc., to increase user stickiness and participation through user participation, while also increasing brand exposure and user participation.

3. Drink

The Luojiu brand was established in 2019 and mainly produces low-alcohol alcoholic products, such as low-alcohol liquor, fruit wine, etc.

The brand's philosophy is to advocate healthy, health-preserving, low-alcohol drinking methods, and to emphasize that while enjoying the pleasure brought by alcohol, one must also maintain physical health.

In the eyes of users, there are roughly five reasons why the brand's products can attract them to buy:

1. Tastes good
2. The product packaging is nice
3. The cup is nice (with gifts)
4. The product tastes good
5. The product design is very beautiful

In order to meet the needs of young consumers, the Luoyin brand has many highlights and features in product design and marketing, as follows:

1) Diversified product lines: Luoyin brand has multiple series of product lines, such as fragrance series, fruit series, sweet wine series, etc. Each series has different flavors and concentrations to meet the needs of different consumers.

2) Understand the emotional value of users. We learned that whether it is products, gifts or gift bags, they all fully meet the definition of "good-looking" by modern young people. When the Luoyin brand sells products, it also gives away some cups. Users may buy products because the cups and gift bags are good-looking.

In the previous article "5 ideas for Xiaohongshu's hit products, used by more than 300 million brands!", it was written that if a brand wants to create a hit product, it must pay attention to the packaging and emotional value of the product, which is part of the reason why it was able to sell 5.567 million in sales during the 2022 New Year Festival.

3) Warm scene creation : Luoyin attracts the attention of young female users by creating a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere and a refreshing life scene on Xiaohongshu. For example, when posting, it uses a refreshing background, warm light and soft colors to create a relaxing and enjoyable atmosphere, which makes it easier for users to accept and identify with it.

4) Leverage on users to conduct circle marketing: Mainly through users’ photos and posting on social platforms as a carrier, circle marketing is conducted through user circles, so that the brand can be effectively spread. Through the form of person-to-person word of mouth, it gradually ferments and fissions on the Internet, which has a good effect of brand exposure and traffic generation, and realizes the integration of brand and effect.

Many Xiaohongshu users promoted the products by combining traditional Chinese style and ancient Hanfu clothing with product close-ups, which achieved different display effects and quickly became popular on Xiaohongshu through visual and interesting marketing.

Low-alcohol liquor can be marketed in Xiaohongshu through scene creation, grasping user needs and pain points, etc. By creating a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere, a fresh life scene is created to attract the attention of young female users.

In addition, it is also necessary to grasp the needs and pain points of users, such as the need for suitable drinking and concerns about the risks of excessive drinking, so as to promote low-alcohol beverages.

When it comes to content creation, you can use warm and soft backgrounds, lighting, and tones to create an atmosphere of relaxation and enjoyment to attract users’ attention.

Through these methods, effective content marketing of low-alcohol beverages can be achieved on Xiaohongshu, attracting more attention and recognition from target users.

Author: Zhuang Jun

Source: WeChat public account "Zhuang Jun (ID: zhuangjunweixin)"