Continuous “Planting a seed of interest”: children’s book marketing strategies on Xiaohongshu

Purpose As one of China’s most influential social platforms, Xiaohongshu is considered an underexploited market with significant user traffic. This study aims to build on existing scholarly work on social media marketing by conducting an empirical analysis of Xiaohongshu’s content to explore effective marketing strategies for children’s books. Design/methodology/approach This study uses qualitative content analysis to investigate the marketing practices for children’s books on Xiaohongshu. By systematically coding and interpreting data, the authors identified core marketing strategies and their interactions among publishers of children’s books on the platform. Findings Based on viral marketing and social proof theories, the analysis delineates practices and interrelations among three key marketing strategy components: content creation, traffic navigation and sales conversion on Xiaohongshu. From this analysis, a conceptual model titled “Continuous ‘Planting a Seed’ of Interest: Strategies for Marketing Children’s Books on Xiaohongshu” was developed. Originality/value This research not only corroborates the existing literature on the transformative power of social media in marketing but also extends it by providing a focused examination of how these principles apply to the promotion of children’s books on Xiaohongshu. It also provides practical insights for publishers looking to develop effective marketing strategies.