The owner of a “granny” hair salon in Richmond was surprised when a few months ago she started getting a steady stream of younger customers coming through her doors.
Little did she know a Chinese social media app - with positive reviews about her shop - was directing them there.
Anna Liu is the owner of Hong Kong Washington Salon, which has served customers for 26 years on Ackroyd Road.
“They told me they came after seeing posts on Little Red Book,” Liu said about the influx of youthful customers.
Little Red Book, or RED, is a popular Chinese-language social media platform where people share and look for content on topics ranging from product recommendations and lifestyle tips to shopping guides and beauty advice.
Last September, someone made a Little Red Book post about her experience at Washington Salon and spoke highly of its affordable rates - the post went viral.
People visited the store after reading it and then shared more posts about their experience.
Little Red Book has 450 million users globally, 70 per cent of whom are 35 years or younger, and around 70 per cent of all the users are female.
Like what happened to Liu, the app is increasingly impacting businesses in Richmond, a city known for its Chinese cuisine with nearly half of its population speaking Chinese as their mother tongue.
Lynn Shen spends an hour a day on Little Red Book looking at reviews.
“I eat out two to three times a week and almost every time before I go out, I check reviews and recommendations on the app," said Shen.
"Google reviews don’t necessarily reflect the taste of Chinese Canadians like myself."
She also checks the app for recommendations for hairdressers, makeup tips, dance classes and shopping.
“To me, Little Red Book has the best algorithm... I can always find something useful and the content they push to me is relevant.”
Growing RED influencer community
The app’s growth in Richmond has created a new community of Little Red Book influencers, people who go to shops and restaurants in the city and write reviews.
Yifei Yao, a painting teacher in Richmond, has an alter ego on Little Red Book as the food blogger “Yakuza Eater” and boasts more than 5,000 followers.
His online character is a Japanese gangster wearing a patterned shirt, leather shoes and a punch perm-like hairstyle, posing with a serious look in front of various food dishes.
“I like to try different restaurants and take photos with the food – and there are so many restaurants in Richmond to try out. At first, I shared it with friends and then started posting on Little Red Book,” said Yao.
Some of his earlier Japanese gangster-style photos became popular, he decided to stick with this style.
Not knowing when he will post about food, he is prepared every time he goes out.
“I wear Japanese gangster-style clothes everyday, including going to my class. Sometimes people on the street will give me a strange look. I also carry my selfie light with me everywhere,” said Yao.
“The online character has become part of my identity in real life.”
Hannah Yuan is another Richmond-based influencer.
She has run her Little Red Book account “Little Island Cilantro” (translation) for three years and has more than 30,000 followers.
Unlike Yao who specializes in food reviews, Yuan’s content includes product unboxing, shop visits, pet tip sharing, lifestyle sharing, event reviews and more.
“I’m a heavy user of RED myself and I like to share things with others. When I share and my content can provide useful information to others, I feel happy,” she said.
Both Yao and Yuan said they are often recognized by their followers out and about in Richmond, and they have been able to capitalize on their influence by partnering with businesses. But the money they make is not enough to replace a full-time job.
“The volume of the Chinese Canadian market here is not comparable to the market in China,” said Yuan.
Crucial battlefield for businesses
More companies in B.C. have opened accounts or launched campaigns on Little Red Book in recent years, according to Grace Zhang, content marketing director at Periphery Digital, a Vancouver-based multicultural marketing agency.
“Little Red Book is a crucial battlefield for businesses now, especially if they want to target customers from the Chinese Canadian community,” said Zhang.
The platform looks similar to Instagram but has a stronger search function, she said, whereby people can search the topics they are interested in and relevant posts will show up.
People can read posts from anyone, not just those they follow, and the app pushes content people may be interested in. These features differentiate LIttle Red Book from another popular Chinese social media app, WeChat.
The most popular trending topics on the platform are beauty, outfits, skincare, food tutorial and weight loss exercise, hairstyle, photography skills, fitness and nail art, according to Zhang.
"Little Red Book primarily relies on user-generated content, which is often seen as more authentic and relatable... Short-format, lifestyle and useful content is more popular on the app,” Zhang said.
“So, if companies market on the platform, they need to tailor their messaging for this platform specifically.”
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