Xiaohongshu Ads in Singapore: A Practical Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners
Advertising on Xiaohongshu can feel unfamiliar for businesses that have never worked with a Chinese social platform before.
Also known as RED or Little Red Book, Xiaohongshu combines lifestyle content, reviews, recommendations, search and product discovery. For Singapore businesses, it can provide a way to reach Chinese-speaking residents and visitors while they are actively researching places, products and services.
The challenge is that Xiaohongshu ads do not behave exactly like Facebook, Instagram or Google advertising.
Users often expect content to feel useful, specific and native to the platform. Ads that look excessively commercial, reuse generic creative or target people without considering their search and discovery behaviour can struggle to generate meaningful interest.
For beginners, the most practical approach is to build the fundamentals first: prepare the business account properly, publish useful content, choose the right advertising format, understand customer intent, test several creative approaches and improve the campaign based on what users actually do.
Key Takeaways
- Xiaohongshu advertising works best when paid promotion is supported by a credible profile and useful organic content.
- Feed ads are generally suited to discovery, while search-oriented advertising can reach users who are already researching a relevant topic.
- Search intent should influence ad topics, headlines, keywords and creative.
- Xiaohongshu creative should feel native to the platform rather than looking like a conventional display advertisement.
- Beginners should test a manageable number of audiences and creative concepts before increasing spend.
- Likes alone are not enough. Profile visits, enquiries, bookings, purchases and cost per acquisition are more meaningful when business results are the objective.
- The customer journey after the ad matters just as much as the advertisement itself.
What Are Xiaohongshu Ads?
Xiaohongshu ads are paid placements that allow businesses to reach users beyond their existing followers.
Depending on campaign setup, advertising eligibility and the products available through Xiaohongshu’s commercial platform, businesses can promote content across discovery and search-related environments.
The important difference is the context in which people encounter the advertisement.
A user may already be researching:
- Cafés to visit in Singapore
- Facial treatments for sensitive skin
- Tuition options for their child
- Hotels around Orchard Road
- Restaurants worth trying
- Beauty products available in Singapore
- Places to visit during a Singapore holiday
This means Xiaohongshu advertising can reach users while they are moving through the research and decision-making process.
The strongest ads therefore often resemble helpful recommendations, guides, comparisons or experiences rather than traditional banner advertising.
Why Xiaohongshu Ads Matter for Singapore Businesses
Singapore provides an interesting market for Xiaohongshu because businesses may be able to reach both local Chinese-speaking consumers and visitors from Mainland China.
According to Singapore’s Department of Statistics, 73.9% of Singapore’s resident population was Chinese as of June 2025. That does not mean every Chinese Singaporean uses Xiaohongshu, but it shows the scale of the local population that may be comfortable consuming Chinese-language content.
Tourism adds another opportunity. Singapore Tourism Board reported that Singapore welcomed 16.9 million international visitors in 2025, with Mainland China the largest source market at 3.1 million arrivals.
For businesses in categories where customers research before purchasing, Xiaohongshu can therefore provide another way to appear while people are considering their options.
Potentially relevant industries include:
- Beauty and wellness
- Food and beverage
- Education
- Hospitality
- Travel
- Retail
- Fitness
- Lifestyle services
- Selected professional and home services
Some industries are subject to additional advertising and qualification requirements, so businesses in regulated categories should check current platform rules before launching campaigns.
Can Singapore Businesses Run Xiaohongshu Ads?
Eligible Singapore businesses can apply for Xiaohongshu’s enterprise professional-account ecosystem, subject to the platform’s current region, industry and qualification requirements.
Xiaohongshu’s current official professional-account rules list Singapore among the overseas regions supported under its open-access framework, while noting that eligibility can depend on industry rules and that requirements may change.
This is important because businesses should not assume that Xiaohongshu advertising requires a Mainland Chinese company in every case.
However, account verification, advertising eligibility and required documents can differ according to:
- Country or region
- Business type
- Industry
- Product or service being promoted
- Current Xiaohongshu policies
Businesses should therefore confirm the latest requirements before committing campaign budgets or producing large amounts of advertising creative.
Step 1: Prepare Your Xiaohongshu Business Account
Before running advertisements, make sure the account is properly established.
Businesses should generally be prepared to provide official company information during verification.
Depending on the application, this may include:
- Company registration details
- Business documentation
- Brand information
- Contact information
- Industry qualifications where required
- Supporting documentation requested during verification
Xiaohongshu’s current rules state that eligible overseas enterprises can apply for enterprise professional-account verification, while some industries require additional qualifications.
After verification, the profile itself also matters.
A useful business profile should make it easy to understand:
Who are you? What do you provide? Who is it for? Why should someone continue exploring the account?
Include a recognisable logo, understandable business description and enough content for potential customers to determine what the business offers.
An advertisement may successfully bring someone to the profile, but an empty or confusing account can lose that interest immediately.
Step 2: Build Useful Content Before Advertising
One common beginner mistake is opening an account and immediately spending money on advertisements.
It is generally more useful to build a small content foundation first.
Consider what happens after someone sees an ad.
They may:
See the ad → Read the post → Visit the profile → Browse other posts → Compare → Enquire
If the profile contains only one promotional post, there is very little information available to support that decision.
A stronger starting profile might contain:
- Frequently asked questions
- Customer experiences
- Service explanations
- Product demonstrations
- Before-and-after examples where appropriate
- Practical guides
- Pricing explanations
- Behind-the-scenes content
- First-time customer advice
- Comparisons between different options
The objective is not to publish dozens of posts before advertising.
It is to make sure that anyone arriving through an advertisement sees enough useful information to continue considering the business.
Step 3: Understand the Main Xiaohongshu Ad Approaches
Beginners do not need to use every advertising option available.
Start by understanding what the user is doing when the advertisement appears.
Feed Advertising
Feed-oriented advertising reaches users while they are browsing and discovering content.
This makes it useful for introducing a product, service, experience or problem that the person may not have been actively searching for at that moment.
Good feed creative therefore needs to earn attention.
A facial business, for example, might lead with:
敏感肌第一次做Facial，可以先问这5个问题
5 questions to ask before your first facial if you have sensitive skin
rather than:
Premium Facial Package — Book Now
The first version gives the user a reason to stop even if they were not originally planning to book a facial.
Search-Oriented Advertising
Search advertising becomes particularly relevant when users already know what they want to investigate.
They might search:
- 新加坡Facial推荐
- Singapore facial price
- Bugis cafe
- Orchard hair salon
- 新加坡英文补习
- Singapore hotel recommendation
The closer the content matches the reason behind the search, the more useful it can feel.
Search advertising can therefore be particularly valuable when businesses understand the questions and phrases customers use while comparing options.
Video Advertising
Video can be effective when something needs to be seen to be understood.
Examples include:
- Beauty-treatment processes
- Restaurant experiences
- Fitness classes
- Hotel room tours
- Product demonstrations
- Educational programmes
- Service processes
- Before-and-after journeys where compliant
The opening needs to establish the subject quickly. Long introductions give users an easy reason to scroll away.
Feed Ads vs Search Ads: Which Should Beginners Use?
The choice depends largely on customer intent.
| Factor | Feed Advertising | Search Advertising |
| User behaviour | Browsing and discovering | Actively researching |
| Main strength | Creating interest | Capturing existing interest |
| Typical intent | Lower to medium | Medium to high |
| Creative style | Native, visual, experience-led | Closely matched to the search |
| Useful for | Awareness and consideration | Research and decision stages |
| Example | “5 signs your skin may need more hydration” | “Singapore hydrating facial” |
Neither format is automatically better.
A restaurant that wants tourists to discover it before arriving in Singapore may benefit from discovery-oriented content.
A tuition centre targeting parents who are already researching English tuition may place more emphasis on search intent.
Many mature strategies eventually use both: feed advertising to create demand and search-oriented content to capture demand.
Step 4: Understand Search Intent Before Choosing Keywords
Keyword strategy should not begin with the question:
Which keywords have the highest search volume?
A better first question is:
Why is the customer searching?
Searches can generally be organised into three useful categories.
Category Intent
The user knows the general category.
Examples:
- 新加坡美容
- Singapore tuition
- 新加坡咖啡厅
- Singapore facial
The person is researching broadly.
Problem or Need Intent
The user has a specific concern.
Examples:
- 敏感肌适合什么facial
- 第一次做facial注意什么
- 小孩英文不好怎么办
- Orchard附近有什么好吃
- 新加坡下雨天去哪里
These searches reveal the problem the user wants solved.
Decision Intent
The user is closer to comparing businesses or making a choice.
Examples:
- 新加坡facial推荐
- Singapore facial price
- Orchard hair salon recommendation
- 新加坡英文补习推荐
- Best hotel near Orchard Singapore
These searches are particularly useful because they often reveal what information customers require before deciding.
A well-rounded campaign should therefore consider multiple stages rather than relying only on broad category terms.
Step 5: Define the Right Audience
Targeting should start with a clear description of the customer rather than simply selecting the largest available audience.
Before launching a campaign, answer:
- Who is most likely to buy?
- What problem are they trying to solve?
- What age or life stage are they in?
- Are they residents, expatriates or travellers?
- Which Singapore locations matter?
- What interests are related to the product or service?
- Are they deciding for themselves or someone else?
- What would make them search for the product now?
For example, a tuition centre may primarily want to reach parents rather than students.
A skincare business may focus on consumers interested in beauty and skincare.
A restaurant around Marina Bay may want to reach both Singapore residents and travellers researching dining options.
Broad targeting can generate reach. Relevant targeting gives that reach a better chance of becoming commercially useful.
Step 6: Make the Advertisement Feel Native to Xiaohongshu
One of the easiest ways to waste advertising spend is to reuse another platform’s creative without adapting it.
Xiaohongshu content often works best when it starts with the user’s question or experience rather than the advertiser’s promotion.
Instead of:
Premium Facial Treatment — Book Now
consider:
第一次在新加坡做Facial，有什么需要注意？
What should you know before getting your first facial in Singapore?
Or:
敏感肌做护理前，可以先问这5个问题
If you have sensitive skin, ask these five questions before a treatment.
A restaurant could use:
第一次来新加坡，这3道菜比较值得试
Visiting Singapore for the first time? These are three dishes worth trying.
A tuition centre might lead with:
家长第一次选英文补习班，可以先比较这4点
Parents choosing an English tuition centre for the first time can compare these four things.
The advertisement still supports the business.
The difference is that the reader receives value before being asked to take action.
Step 7: Keep the Visual Simple
Xiaohongshu is highly visual, but more design does not necessarily create a stronger advertisement.
A useful cover usually contains:
- One obvious subject
- One clear idea
- A readable headline
- Enough contrast to understand the message
- A reason to continue reading
Avoid trying to place the entire sales pitch on the cover.
Too many badges, arrows, prices, benefits and promotional phrases create cognitive clutter.
Think of the cover as answering one question:
Why should I open this?
The post can explain everything else.
Step 8: Start With a Controlled Testing Budget
There is no universal Xiaohongshu advertising budget suitable for every Singapore business.
Cost depends on variables such as:
- Industry
- Campaign objective
- Competition
- Targeting
- Audience size
- Creative
- Campaign duration
- Advertising format
Rather than searching for one “correct” starting number, beginners should think about what the test needs to learn.
For example, if budget permits, a campaign could compare:
2 audience approaches × 2–3 meaningfully different creatives
The purpose is not to create six nearly identical ads.
Each variation should answer a real question.
For example:
Audience A: Singapore residents interested in the category
Audience B: Relevant visitors or another clearly different segment
And:
Creative A: Customer experience
Creative B: Educational guide
Creative C: Product or service demonstration
If six variations would spread the available budget too thinly, test fewer combinations.
A smaller test that gathers useful information is more valuable than a large campaign with too many variables.
Step 9: Test Different Creative Ideas, Not Tiny Cosmetic Changes
Testing three different headline colours is unlikely to teach a business as much as testing three different reasons to care.
Strong creative testing should compare angles.
For example:
Angle A: Customer Experience
“What happened during my first facial in Singapore?”
Angle B: Problem/Solution
“Sensitive skin? Ask these five questions before choosing a facial.”
Angle C: Education
“Extraction vs hydrating facial: what is the difference?”
These are genuinely different ideas.
When results differ, the advertiser learns something about the audience’s motivations.
That insight can then inform future organic content, search strategy and advertising.
Step 10: Give Users a Clear Next Step
Advertising should not leave users wondering what they are supposed to do.
Depending on the business and the platform options available, the next step may be to:
- Explore the profile
- Send an enquiry
- Request more information
- Book an appointment
- Check availability
- Visit a store
- Learn more about the service
Match the action to the amount of commitment required.
Someone researching a higher-consideration service may not be ready to purchase immediately.
In that situation, moving from:
Post → Profile → Enquiry
may feel more natural than demanding:
Post → Buy Now
Step 11: Review What Happens After the Click
Strong advertising cannot compensate for a weak customer journey.
When people show interest but do not convert, advertisers often immediately blame the ad.
The problem may actually happen afterwards.
Review:
- Is the business profile easy to understand?
- Is important information available?
- Are prices or starting prices explained where appropriate?
- Are enquiries answered promptly?
- Do staff understand the offer?
- Is booking straightforward?
- Can the team identify which enquiries came from Xiaohongshu?
- Is follow-up consistent?
Think of the entire journey as:
Ad → Content → Profile → Trust → Enquiry → Response → Booking → Sale
Every stage can lose customers.
A campaign should therefore optimise the system, not only the advertisement.
How to Optimise a Xiaohongshu Ad Campaign
Once a campaign begins generating data, avoid making random changes.
Instead, diagnose where performance is breaking down.
High Impressions but Weak Engagement
Possible issues:
- The creative does not stop attention
- The topic is too generic
- The opening is unclear
- The content feels overly promotional
Focus first on creative and message.
Strong Engagement but Few Profile Visits
Possible issues:
- The content is interesting but not commercially relevant
- The business connection is unclear
- Users receive the answer without wanting to learn more
Strengthen the bridge between the useful content and the business.
Profile Visits but Few Enquiries
Possible issues:
- The profile lacks trust-building content
- Pricing or service information is unclear
- The offer is weak
- The next step is confusing
Review the profile and conversion path.
Enquiries but Few Bookings or Sales
Possible issues:
- Slow response
- Poor lead handling
- Price objections
- Weak follow-up
- Advertising message and actual offer do not match
At this point, changing the advertisement alone may not solve the problem.
One Creative Clearly Outperforms the Others
Do not simply increase the budget immediately.
Ask why it worked.
Was it:
- The topic?
- The hook?
- The customer problem?
- The format?
- The offer?
- The audience?
Use the answer to create the next generation of creative.
What Should Businesses Measure?
Advertising metrics should match the business objective.
Attention Metrics
These can show whether users notice the content:
- Impressions
- Views
- Engagement
Content-Quality Signals
These can show whether people find the content useful:
- Saves
- Shares
- Comments
- Post interactions
Consideration Signals
These indicate deeper interest:
- Profile visits
- Additional post views
- Direct enquiries
- Information requests
Business Metrics
These matter when revenue or lead generation is the objective:
- Qualified enquiries
- Appointment requests
- Reservations
- Store visits
- Purchases
- Revenue
- Cost per enquiry
- Cost per acquisition
- Lead-to-sale conversion rate
A post with fewer likes but more qualified enquiries may be much more commercially valuable than a highly engaging post that attracts the wrong audience.
Common Xiaohongshu Advertising Mistakes
Reusing Facebook or Instagram Creative Without Adapting It
Content designed for another platform does not automatically fit Xiaohongshu’s discovery environment.
Adapt the topic, cover, language and information depth.
Targeting Too Broadly
More reach does not automatically mean better results.
The goal is to reach people with a plausible reason to care.
Making Every Post Look Like an Advertisement
Users can quickly ignore content that begins with aggressive promotion.
Lead with usefulness, experience or a relevant question.
Optimising for Likes Instead of Business Results
Likes can be useful signals, but they should not replace enquiries, bookings or purchases when those are the actual objectives.
Changing Campaigns Too Quickly
Constantly changing targeting, creative and offers makes it difficult to understand which variable caused the result.
Make changes with a clear hypothesis.
Testing Too Many Similar Ads
Five nearly identical images do not necessarily provide five useful tests.
Test genuinely different customer angles.
Ignoring Search Intent
A beautiful advertisement can still miss users if it does not address what they are actually trying to find.
Ignoring the Profile
Paid reach may introduce the business, but the profile often helps the customer decide whether to trust it.
Ignoring the Sales Process
If enquiries are handled poorly, increasing advertising spend can simply generate more leads that fail to convert.
Advertising Compliance Matters
Xiaohongshu advertisements are subject to platform advertising and industry rules.
Current Xiaohongshu guidance states that advertisers may need appropriate industry certification, and claims involving facts, statistics, test results or other substantiated statements can require supporting evidence.
Businesses in regulated or qualification-sensitive industries should pay particular attention to current requirements.
Examples can include areas such as:
- Healthcare
- Education
- Finance
- Property
- Travel
- Other regulated services
Do not assume that because a claim is acceptable on another advertising platform, it will automatically be accepted on Xiaohongshu.
Before launching, review the latest platform policies and ensure that promotional claims can be supported where required.
Should You Use Creators Together With Xiaohongshu Ads?
Creator content and paid advertising can complement each other.
Creators can introduce a business through an experience, review or explanation, while advertising can extend the reach of content or themes that already resonate.
A simple progression might be:
Organic Content → Learn What Resonates → Creator Content → Paid Amplification → Enquiries → Sales
Businesses do not need a large influencer campaign from day one.
A smaller company can first learn:
- Which customer questions attract attention
- Which posts generate saves
- Which topics create profile visits
- Which content leads to enquiries
Creator collaborations can then be introduced more strategically.
When selecting creators, relevance matters more than follower count alone.
A Practical Beginner Campaign Structure
A first Xiaohongshu campaign does not need to be complicated.
A sensible process might look like this:
- Verify the business account and required qualifications.
- Complete the profile.
- Publish several useful organic posts.
- Define one clear campaign objective.
- Identify the audience and search intent.
- Choose Feed, Search or another suitable advertising approach.
- Prepare two or three genuinely different creative angles.
- Start with a controlled testing budget.
- Observe attention, consideration and business metrics.
- Diagnose where users drop out of the journey.
- Improve the strongest audience-and-creative combinations.
- Increase spend gradually where business results support it.
This creates a useful learning loop:
Audience → Search Intent → Creative → Advertisement → Customer Action → Data → Better Creative
For Singapore SMEs that prefer external support with Xiaohongshu account strategy, Mandarin content, creator coordination and paid campaign management, Advergreen Digital is one Singapore-based team working in this area.
The same principle applies whether the campaign is managed internally or externally: understand the customer first, test systematically and scale based on meaningful results rather than vanity metrics.
Final Thoughts
Xiaohongshu advertising is not simply a matter of uploading an advertisement, selecting an audience and adding budget.
The platform works best when businesses understand how people use it to discover, research, compare and make decisions.
For beginners, the foundation is straightforward:
Build a credible profile → Understand customer intent → Create useful content → Choose the right advertising approach → Test different ideas → Measure meaningful actions → Improve the full customer journey.
Paid advertising can accelerate reach, but it cannot compensate for weak content, unclear positioning or a poor enquiry process.
Businesses that treat Xiaohongshu as both a discovery platform and a customer-research environment are in a better position to learn what customers care about and turn those insights into more effective marketing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Singapore Businesses Advertise on Xiaohongshu?
Eligible Singapore businesses can apply for Xiaohongshu enterprise professional-account services, subject to current region, business-category, qualification and advertising requirements. Singapore is currently listed among supported overseas regions in Xiaohongshu’s professional-account rules. Requirements can change, so businesses should confirm current eligibility before applying.
Do I Need a Mainland Chinese Company to Run Xiaohongshu Ads?
Not necessarily. Xiaohongshu’s current rules provide pathways for eligible overseas businesses, including Singapore entities. The exact documents and eligibility requirements depend on the company, industry and current platform rules.
What Is the Difference Between Xiaohongshu Feed Ads and Search Ads?
Feed advertising reaches people while they are browsing and discovering content, while search advertising is designed around users who are actively researching a topic. Feed advertising can help create interest; search advertising can be valuable when relevant demand already exists.
Are Xiaohongshu Ads Suitable for Singapore SMEs?
They can be suitable for SMEs whose target customers use Xiaohongshu to research their category, particularly businesses in experience-driven or comparison-heavy industries such as beauty, F&B, education, travel, hospitality, retail and lifestyle services.
Suitability should be based on audience behaviour rather than simply the popularity of the platform.
Do Xiaohongshu Ads Need to Be in Chinese?
Not every piece of content must be entirely Chinese, especially in multilingual Singapore.
However, Mandarin content is often important when targeting Chinese-speaking users. English terms can still appear naturally for Singapore neighbourhoods, product names, treatments, schools and other phrases customers commonly use in English.
The language should reflect how the intended audience actually communicates and searches.
How Do You Choose Keywords for Xiaohongshu Ads?
Start with customer intent rather than simply collecting broad category keywords.
Useful keyword groups include:
Category searches — what the customer wants
Problem searches — what the customer needs help with
Decision searches — what the customer compares before choosing
Customer conversations, frequently asked questions, platform search behaviour and existing content performance can all provide useful keyword ideas.
How Much Should a Beginner Spend on Xiaohongshu Ads?
There is no universal amount that is appropriate for every advertiser.
A beginner should set a controlled test budget that is sufficient to compare a manageable number of meaningful audience and creative variations without spreading the budget across too many variables.
The objective of the first campaign should be learning as well as performance.
Which Xiaohongshu Ad Format Is Best for Beginners?
There is no single best format.
Feed advertising may be useful when the business needs to create awareness or introduce an experience, while search-oriented advertising may be stronger when customers already actively search for the service.
The right choice depends on customer intent and the campaign objective.
Should I Advertise Before Posting Organic Content?
Usually, it is helpful to have useful content available first.
People who discover a business through advertising may visit the profile before contacting it. A profile containing helpful posts, explanations and customer-focused information gives those users additional reasons to continue considering the business.
Can Xiaohongshu Ads Generate Leads?
They can support lead generation when the business has the appropriate campaign setup and the customer journey gives interested users a clear way to enquire.
Xiaohongshu’s official commercial platform includes lead-collection marketing scenarios alongside other advertising objectives.
However, lead volume alone should not be the final measure. Businesses should also assess lead quality, booking rates, sales and acquisition cost.
How Do You Measure ROI From Xiaohongshu Ads?
Start by connecting advertising activity to business outcomes.
Depending on the business, track:
Ad spend → Enquiries → Qualified leads → Bookings or purchases → Revenue
Useful efficiency metrics can then include:
Cost per enquiry = Advertising spend ÷ Enquiries
Cost per acquisition = Advertising spend ÷ New customers
The more reliably a business can identify the source of each enquiry or sale, the more accurately it can evaluate Xiaohongshu’s commercial contribution.
How Long Does It Take to See Results From Xiaohongshu Ads?
Some advertising signals can appear relatively early, but meaningful business results depend on the industry, target audience, creative quality, competition and customer decision cycle.
A restaurant booking and a high-value education programme, for example, may have very different decision timelines.
Rather than judging a campaign from a single day’s performance, businesses should look for consistent patterns across creative, audience behaviour, enquiries and conversions.
What Should I Do If My Xiaohongshu Ads Get Views but No Enquiries?
Identify where users stop progressing.
If an ad receives views but little engagement, review the creative.
If users engage but do not visit the profile, review commercial relevance.
If they visit the profile but do not enquire, review trust, information and the offer.
If enquiries arrive but do not convert, review response time, sales handling, pricing and follow-up.
The advertisement is only one part of the conversion system.
