XHS Ad Account Setup: Getting Started With Paid Advertising on Xiaohongshu
Date Published
Table Of Contents
• Why Paid Advertising on Xiaohongshu Is Worth Your Attention
• Understanding XHS Ad Account Types
• Prerequisites Before You Set Up Your XHS Ad Account
• Step-by-Step: How to Set Up Your XHS Ad Account
• Choosing the Right Campaign Objective
• XHS Ad Formats You Need to Know
• Budgeting and Bidding Basics for XHS Ads
• Common Mistakes to Avoid When Starting XHS Paid Ads
Xiaohongshu — also known as RedNote or Little Red Book — has evolved from a lifestyle-sharing app into one of China's most powerful social commerce platforms, with over 300 million monthly active users actively discovering products, reading reviews, and making purchase decisions. For international brands, that represents an extraordinary opportunity. But breaking into the platform's paid advertising ecosystem is not as straightforward as setting up a Google or Meta campaign, and getting the XHS ad account setup process wrong from the start can cost you time, money, and market credibility.
This guide walks you through everything you need to know to get started with paid advertising on Xiaohongshu — from understanding account types and eligibility requirements to choosing ad formats, setting budgets, and avoiding the most common pitfalls that trip up international brands. Whether you're entering the Chinese market for the first time or scaling an existing XHS presence, this is your practical starting point.
Why Paid Advertising on Xiaohongshu Is Worth Your Attention {#why-paid}
Unlike most social platforms, Xiaohongshu occupies a uniquely trusted position in the Chinese consumer journey. Users come to XHS specifically to research products, read authentic reviews, and discover brands — making the platform's audience far more purchase-ready than typical social media scrollers. Studies consistently show that XHS content influences purchase decisions across beauty, fashion, food and beverage, travel, and mother-and-baby categories, among many others.
Paid advertising on XHS amplifies that organic trust. While organic content and Key Opinion Leader (KOL) partnerships remain central to any XHS strategy, paid ads allow brands to reach precise audience segments, scale content that's already performing well, and drive measurable traffic to storefronts or landing pages. For international brands looking to establish a foothold quickly, XHS advertising offers a direct line to high-intent Chinese consumers that few other platforms can match.
That said, XHS advertising operates within a distinct regulatory and cultural framework. Understanding the system before you spend a single yuan is the smartest investment you can make.
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Understanding XHS Ad Account Types {#account-types}
Before you can run any paid campaigns, you need to understand which type of XHS advertiser account applies to your brand. Xiaohongshu distinguishes between several account categories, and the one you need depends largely on your business registration and market presence.
Brand/Enterprise Accounts (品牌号): These are the most common choice for international brands. A verified brand account unlocks access to the full suite of advertising tools, including Xiaohongshu's self-serve advertising platform (聚光, or Juguang). Verification requires submitting business registration documents and going through Xiaohongshu's compliance review.
Agency-Managed Accounts: Many international brands that lack a Chinese business entity work through a certified XHS marketing agency or reseller. The agency holds the ad account and manages campaigns on the brand's behalf. This is often the most practical route for brands outside mainland China, since direct account registration typically requires a Chinese business license.
KOL/Creator Accounts with Ad Tools: Xiaohongshu also allows verified creators to amplify their content through paid tools, but this is distinct from brand advertising and serves a different purpose.
For most international brands reading this guide, the realistic starting point is either establishing a Chinese entity to register directly, or partnering with a certified agency that can hold and manage the account. If you're navigating this decision, AllXHS's expert Xiaohongshu marketing services can help you identify the most efficient path for your specific situation.
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Prerequisites Before You Set Up Your XHS Ad Account {#prerequisites}
Rushing into account setup without meeting the prerequisites is one of the most common mistakes international brands make. Xiaohongshu has a thorough compliance review process, and missing documentation will stall your campaign launch by weeks.
Here's what you'll typically need before initiating the setup process:
• A verified XHS business account — your brand profile must be active and verified before advertising access is granted
• Chinese business license (营业执照) or equivalent entity documentation for direct registration
• Brand trademark registration — particularly for categories like beauty, health, and food, XHS requires proof of trademark to prevent counterfeit advertising
• Product compliance documentation — regulated categories (supplements, cosmetics, infant products) require additional certifications
• A funded advertising account — XHS typically requires a minimum deposit to activate campaigns, which varies by account tier and region
• A designated landing destination — whether that's your XHS store, a product detail page, or an external link (note: external links have restrictions)
Getting these materials organized in advance dramatically reduces the back-and-forth with Xiaohongshu's review team. If your brand operates in a regulated vertical such as beauty, health, or mother-and-baby, plan for a longer review timeline and consult industry-specific Xiaohongshu marketing strategies to understand what compliance looks like in your category.
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Step-by-Step: How to Set Up Your XHS Ad Account {#setup-steps}
Once your prerequisites are in order, the account setup process follows a logical sequence. Here is how it works in practice:
1. Create or verify your XHS business profile — If you haven't already, register a business account on Xiaohongshu and complete the brand verification process. You'll need to submit your business license, brand name, and supporting documentation through the platform's official verification portal.
1. Access Juguang (聚光), XHS's advertising platform — Juguang is Xiaohongshu's self-serve ad management platform, equivalent to Meta Ads Manager or Google Ads. Once your business account is verified, you can apply for Juguang access at the platform's advertiser portal.
1. Submit your advertiser application — Fill in your company details, select your industry category, and upload the required compliance documents. The review process typically takes 3 to 7 business days, though it can be longer for regulated categories.
1. Fund your ad account — After approval, you'll need to make an initial deposit to activate your account. Minimum thresholds vary, but budgeting at least 10,000 to 20,000 RMB for initial testing is a reasonable starting point for most brands.
1. Configure your account structure — Set up your account-level settings including time zone, billing currency, and notification preferences. This is also where you'll link any XHS storefronts or product catalogs you want to promote.
1. Create your first campaign — With your account funded and configured, you're ready to create your first campaign. Select your objective, define your audience, choose your ad format, set your budget, and upload your creative assets.
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Choosing the Right Campaign Objective {#campaign-objective}
Xiaohongshu's advertising platform organizes campaigns around specific objectives, and choosing the right one shapes everything from your bidding options to how the algorithm distributes your ads. The primary objectives available on Juguang include brand awareness, content engagement (likes, saves, comments), follower growth, note traffic (driving clicks to your XHS content), and conversion (purchases or leads).
For brands new to XHS advertising, starting with a content engagement or note traffic objective is usually the smartest approach. XHS's algorithm rewards content that generates genuine interaction, and building a track record of high-engagement posts strengthens your organic reach in parallel with paid distribution. Jumping straight to conversion objectives before you've established audience familiarity with your brand often results in higher cost-per-result and lower overall efficiency.
As your campaigns mature and you accumulate data, you can layer in conversion-focused objectives — particularly if you're running an XHS shop or linking to a Tmall or JD.com storefront.
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XHS Ad Formats You Need to Know {#ad-formats}
Xiaohongshu's advertising formats are designed to blend naturally into the user experience, which is part of what makes them effective. Rather than disruptive banner ads, XHS ads typically look and feel like organic posts — a deliberate design choice that aligns with the platform's trust-first culture.
The core ad formats available to brand advertisers include:
• Sponsored Notes (信息流广告): These are native-style posts that appear in users' discovery feeds. They look identical to organic content but carry a small "ad" label. Sponsored notes can include images or short videos and link to your XHS profile, product page, or store.
• Search Ads (搜索广告): These appear when users search for specific keywords, placing your brand in front of people actively looking for products in your category. Given how intent-driven XHS search behavior is, search ads can deliver strong ROI for established brands.
• Brand Takeover / Opening Screen Ads: These premium formats appear when users first open the app and are typically reserved for larger brand campaigns with significant budgets.
• KOL Content Amplification: Brands can use paid tools to boost organic posts from KOL partners, extending the reach of influencer content beyond the creator's existing audience.
For most brands starting out, sponsored notes and search ads offer the best balance of accessibility, targeting capability, and cost efficiency.
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Budgeting and Bidding Basics for XHS Ads {#budgeting}
Xiaohongshu's bidding system operates on a cost-per-click (CPC), cost-per-thousand-impressions (CPM), or cost-per-engagement (CPE) basis depending on your campaign objective. The platform offers both automated bidding (where the algorithm optimizes for your goal within your budget) and manual bidding (where you set maximum bid amounts yourself).
For brands new to the platform, automated bidding is generally the safer starting point. It allows Juguang's algorithm to learn your audience efficiently without requiring deep platform expertise upfront. As you gather performance data and develop a clearer sense of what your target cost-per-result looks like, you can transition to manual bidding to exert more control.
A few practical budgeting principles to keep in mind: set a daily budget rather than a lifetime budget during the testing phase so you can pause underperforming campaigns without burning through your allocation. Allocate budget across at least two to three creative variations so the algorithm has options to optimize between. And resist the temptation to scale too quickly — let campaigns run for at least 7 to 14 days before drawing conclusions about performance.
For a deeper understanding of how budget strategy fits into a broader XHS marketing plan, explore the free Xiaohongshu resources available at AllXHS, including industry reports and ready-to-use planning templates.
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Common Mistakes to Avoid When Starting XHS Paid Ads {#mistakes}
Even experienced digital marketers make predictable errors when they first enter the Xiaohongshu advertising ecosystem. Being aware of these in advance can save you significant budget and frustration.
Treating XHS like Instagram or TikTok. While the platforms share surface similarities, XHS users have a distinctly different mindset. They expect content that feels genuine, informative, and community-oriented. Overly promotional creative that might perform on other platforms tends to underperform sharply on XHS.
Neglecting Chinese localization. Ad copy, imagery, and landing page content must be authentically localized — not just translated. Cultural nuance matters enormously on a platform where trust is currency. Generic English-to-Chinese translations with no cultural adaptation signal inauthenticity to XHS users.
Skipping the organic foundation. Paid ads work significantly better when they amplify content that has already demonstrated organic appeal. Brands that skip building an organic content presence and go straight to paid advertising often see poor results because their profiles lack the credibility that XHS users look for before following or purchasing.
Underestimating compliance requirements. XHS has strict advertising policies, particularly around health claims, cosmetic ingredients, and product comparisons. Ads that violate these policies will be rejected — or worse, result in account suspension.
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Next Steps After Launch {#next-steps}
Getting your XHS ad account set up and your first campaign live is a significant milestone, but it's really just the beginning of your paid advertising journey on the platform. The brands that succeed on Xiaohongshu long-term are those that treat every campaign as a learning opportunity, consistently refining their creative, audience targeting, and content strategy based on real data.
Monitor your Juguang dashboard closely in the first two weeks after launch, paying particular attention to engagement rate, click-through rate, and cost-per-result relative to your benchmarks. Use the platform's audience insights to understand who is actually responding to your ads — you may discover high-performing segments you hadn't anticipated. And keep your creative fresh: XHS users consume content voraciously, and ad fatigue sets in faster than on most Western platforms.
Building a Sustainable XHS Advertising Presence
Setting up your XHS ad account is the first step in what should be an evolving, data-informed paid advertising strategy. Xiaohongshu's advertising ecosystem rewards brands that invest in genuine localization, community-oriented content, and consistent presence — not those that treat it as a simple channel for direct-response campaigns.
The complexity of getting started on XHS is real, but so is the opportunity. With over 300 million monthly active users who are among the most engaged and purchase-ready consumers in China, the brands that invest the time to understand the platform properly are the ones positioned to capture meaningful market share.
AllXHS exists to make that process faster, smarter, and more effective for international brands. From account setup guidance to full-scale campaign strategy, our resources and expert team are here to help you navigate every step of the journey.
Ready to Launch Your XHS Advertising Strategy?
Whether you're just beginning to explore Xiaohongshu advertising or you're ready to scale an existing presence, AllXHS has the expertise and resources to accelerate your success. Explore our industry-specific XHS marketing strategies, access free tools and reports, or connect directly with our team for personalized guidance.