Tech & Innovation - January 20, 2025

RedNote: The Rising Chinese App Capitalizing on TikTok's...

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RedNote, a Chinese lifestyle and travel app known as Xiaohongshu in its homeland, is leveraging the uncertainty surrounding TikTok's future to its advantage. With a user base of over 300 million, mostly monthly active users, RedNote has recently experienced a surge in popularity in the US. The app, which is primarily used by young women living in major Chinese cities, presents a unique blend of photo slideshows, text posts, and videos in a grid format, offering a different user experience than TikTok's one video at a time approach.

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Influencer Marketing Strategy

RedNote has partnered with US influencers to promote its platform and increase its American user base. A campaign brief from Solare Global, a NYC-based marketing agency, revealed that creators were asked to make sponsored posts for RedNote, highlighting the app's user-friendly design, international appeal, and engaging content. Creators were also encouraged to share their own RedNote accounts and invite their followers to join them on the platform.

Content Moderation Policies

One of the key differences between RedNote and TikTok is their approach to content moderation. Being accessible in China, RedNote adheres to Beijing's strict censorship rules. In contrast, TikTok is not available in China, and its parent company, ByteDance, operates a separate video app called Douyin.

A Shared Social Media Platform

The influx of American users on RedNote has created a unique opportunity for people in the US and China to connect on a shared social media platform. Users have been engaging in cross-cultural exchanges, asking questions about each other's countries and cultures. RedNote is attempting to capitalize on this sentiment to promote itself as a positive, global platform.

The warmth of normal people being kind and curious about one another is the core sentiment there at the moment, the influencer brief said. And we think its a beautiful thing.