What XHS/RedNote actually is
Think of it as Instagram and a shopping review site fused together: users post "notes" (photo/video posts with long-form captions) reviewing products, clinics, restaurants and experiences, and other users discover businesses through search and the recommendation feed rather than primarily through following accounts. This makes organic content genuinely discoverable in a way most Western platforms no longer allow.
Getting verified
Business verification (the blue checkmark) unlocks commercial features — store links, contact cards, and ad eligibility — and is a strong trust signal for Chinese-speaking consumers who actively check for it before engaging with a business account. See the verification service for the full process, or run the free verification eligibility checker first to see where you stand.
Ad formats
Two main levers: Juguang ads (paid placements in search and the main feed) and KOL/KOC collaborations (paid partnerships with creators, which read as organic recommendations and typically outperform pure ads on trust).
Most effective campaigns for MY/SG businesses combine both — Juguang for reach, KOL/KOC for credibility. See the XHS marketing service for how we structure this, and check your own copy against platform norms with the free XHS content checker.
New to the terms? See what KOL, KOC and UGC mean.
How the platform actually works
Xiaohongshu functions as a search-and-discovery engine as much as a social feed — a large share of usage is people searching a specific need ("aesthetic clinic KL", "renovation contractor JB") rather than scrolling a following list. That changes what "good content" means: a note optimised for search intent and saves outperforms one optimised for likes alone.
- Note structure. A clear title stating what the note answers, a strong cover image (the single biggest factor in whether a note gets opened from the feed), and a body that front-loads the useful information before any brand pitch — notes that bury the point under a wall of hashtags or emoji tend to underperform on both save rate and search ranking.
- Popular content categories. Beauty/skincare, F&B, travel, home/interior, and increasingly cross-border shopping and services are the platform's deepest categories — the same verticals where MY/SG businesses see the strongest organic pull (see "RedNote by industry" below).
- Xiaohongshu Ads Manager (聚光/Juguang). The platform's own ad console — accessible only to verified business accounts (企业号) — for boosting notes into search results and the main feed. See the verification service if your account isn't there yet.
- External link policy. Xiaohongshu is deliberately closed relative to Instagram or TikTok — outbound links in a note's body or bio are heavily restricted for unverified accounts, and even verified accounts have narrower link placement than most Western platforms allow. Practically: don't plan a note-content strategy around driving external clicks; plan around driving in-app search visibility and DMs/store links instead.
- Community guidelines and account standing. Like any platform, Xiaohongshu enforces its own content and conduct rules, and account standing (not just follower count) affects distribution — an account with prior violations gets less algorithmic reach even on compliant new content. Check your own note copy against common restrictions with the free XHS content checker before publishing.
RedNote by industry
- Aesthetic & dental clinics: before/after-style content performs strongly but must stay within KKM/MDC advertising rules — see the compliance knowledge base before posting treatment content.
- F&B & retail: genuine product/experience content and KOC seeding outperform direct-sale posts — this is a discovery platform, not a catalogue.
- Interior design: portfolio-style project reveals are a strong native fit for the platform's visual, long-form post format.