XHS Advertising Report Template: How to Build Client-Ready Campaign Reports
Date Published
Table Of Contents
1. Why XHS Campaign Reporting Is Different
2. The Core Sections of an XHS Advertising Report
3. Section 1: Campaign Overview
4. Section 2: KPI Performance Summary
5. Section 3: KOL/KOC Content Performance
6. Section 4: Paid Ad Performance (Feed Ads & Search Ads)
7. Section 5: Audience & Platform Insights
8. Section 6: Strategic Recommendations
9. Reporting Cadence: Weekly vs. Monthly Reports
10. Common Reporting Mistakes to Avoid
11. Get a Ready-to-Use XHS Report Template
Why Your XHS Campaign Reports Deserve Their Own Framework
When a client asks "how did the campaign perform on Xiaohongshu?", handing them a generic social media report is a missed opportunity — and a credibility risk. Xiaohongshu (also known as RedNote or Little Red Book) operates on a fundamentally different logic than Instagram, Facebook, or even Douyin. It functions simultaneously as a content discovery feed, a social commerce engine, and a product search platform used by over 300 million monthly active users. That means the metrics that matter, the story those metrics tell, and the way you structure a client-facing report all need to reflect XHS's unique ecosystem.
This guide walks you through exactly how to build a professional, client-ready XHS advertising report template — one that captures the platform's full-funnel complexity, translates XHS-native KPIs into language clients can act on, and positions your agency or brand team as a credible expert in Chinese social commerce marketing.
Why XHS Campaign Reporting Is Different {#why-different}
Most Western marketing teams are fluent in Meta or Google Ads reporting. They know their CTR benchmarks, their ROAS targets, and their attribution windows. XHS reporting requires a meaningful mindset shift, not because the fundamentals of performance marketing change, but because the platform's metrics hierarchy is different.
On Xiaohongshu, saves (收藏) carry a weight that likes never do on Instagram. When a user saves a post, it signals genuine purchase intent — the platform's algorithm treats saves as a high-value engagement signal and rewards the content with greater distribution. Similarly, branded search volume growth on XHS is often a more accurate indicator of campaign impact than direct click-through conversions, because many users discover a brand on XHS and then complete their purchase on Tmall, JD, or in-store. A report that only counts clicks misses the majority of what XHS campaigns actually achieve.
Additionally, XHS campaigns typically combine three distinct activity types under the KFS model — KOL content (达人内容), Feed Ads (信息流广告), and Search Ads (搜索广告) — each with its own data source, measurement logic, and performance benchmarks. A client-ready report needs to surface insights from all three layers and show how they work together across the consumer journey, from initial awareness to purchase intent.
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The Core Sections of an XHS Advertising Report {#core-sections}
A well-structured XHS campaign report serves two audiences at once: the client stakeholder who wants to understand business impact, and the marketing team that needs actionable data to optimize the next campaign. The sections below form the backbone of a report template that works for both.
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Section 1: Campaign Overview {#campaign-overview}
Every client report should open with a concise campaign overview that anchors the data that follows. This section should be one page or less and cover the essentials without jargon.
What to include:
• Campaign name, period, and platform (XHS / Xiaohongshu / RedNote)
• Campaign objective (brand awareness, product launch, lead generation, conversion, etc.)
• Target audience definition (age, gender, tier-city focus, interest categories)
• Total budget spent (broken down by KOL fees, Feed Ad spend, and Search Ad spend)
• Ad formats and placements used (Feed Ads via Juguang, Search Ads, Spark Ads / KOL amplification)
• Summary of creative assets deployed (number of notes, video vs. image, KOL vs. brand account)
This overview gives clients the strategic context they need to interpret the numbers that follow. It also demonstrates that the campaign was deliberately structured — not just "boosted posts" — which builds confidence in your team's approach.
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Section 2: KPI Performance Summary {#kpi-performance}
This is the heart of the report. The KPI summary should display performance against the pre-agreed objectives set before campaign launch, never metrics chosen after the fact to look favorable.
KPIs on XHS fall into three tiers that mirror the consumer journey:
Awareness KPIs (top of funnel):
• Total Impressions (曝光量)
• Total Reach (触达人数)
• Follower Growth (粉丝增长)
• Branded Search Volume on XHS (品牌搜索量)
Engagement & Consideration KPIs (mid-funnel):
• Saves (收藏) — the most platform-significant engagement signal
• Comments (评论)
• Likes (点赞)
• Shares (分享)
• Overall Engagement Rate (互动率)
• Cost Per Reading / CPR (阅读成本) — the cost-efficiency of content reach
• Cost Per Engagement / CPE (互动成本) — the cost of meaningful interactions
Conversion KPIs (bottom of funnel):
• Click-Through Rate (CTR / 点击率)
• Cost Per Click (CPC / 点击成本)
• Profile Visits (主页访问)
• Store Visits or Product Page Clicks
• Conversions (transactions, form submissions, or app installs)
• Cost Per Acquisition (CPA)
• Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)
For each KPI, the report should show: the target (if one was set), the actual result, the percentage variance, and a one-line interpretation. Avoid dropping raw numbers without context. A 3.5% engagement rate means nothing to a client unless they know the XHS benchmark for their category is 2.1%.
If the campaign objective was brand awareness rather than direct conversion, resist the pressure to lead with click data. Leads with impression reach and branded search lift, because those are the metrics that actually answer the question the client is asking.
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Section 3: KOL/KOC Content Performance {#kol-performance}
For most XHS campaigns, KOL and KOC content forms the organic foundation that paid amplification is built on. This section breaks down individual creator performance so the client can see which content drove results and which didn't — insight that directly informs future briefs.
What to include per creator:
• Creator handle, tier (KOL vs. KOC), follower count at time of posting
• Post format (image carousel, video, mixed)
• Publication date
• Impressions, Likes, Comments, Saves, Shares
• Engagement Rate
• CPE (if the post was amplified via Feed Ads)
• Qualitative note: did the comments indicate purchase intent, genuine interest, or neutral sentiment?
Present this data in a table format for easy comparison. Below the table, include a short narrative identifying the top two or three performing posts and explaining why they performed — was it the creative format, the creator's niche relevance, the posting time, or the keyword optimization in the caption? This analysis is what separates a data dump from a useful report.
It is also worth flagging the viral post rate, which measures what percentage of the campaign's notes achieved meaningfully above-average reach. A campaign with a high viral post rate signals that the content resonated organically and is a strong candidate for paid amplification in the next flight.
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Section 4: Paid Ad Performance (Feed Ads & Search Ads) {#paid-ad-performance}
Paid campaign data lives inside Juguang (聚光), XHS's official advertising platform. This section presents performance from Feed Ads (信息流广告) and Search Ads (搜索广告) separately, since they operate at different stages of the funnel and are optimized differently.
Feed Ad Performance:
• Total impressions and reach
• CTR and CPC
• Engagement rate of amplified posts vs. organic benchmark
• Best-performing creative (with a thumbnail or screenshot)
• Audience segments that delivered the highest engagement
• Spend breakdown and budget efficiency vs. targets
Search Ad Performance:
• Target keywords and their match types
• Impressions and average position
• CTR per keyword
• CPC and total spend per keyword group
• Conversion actions triggered (store visits, product clicks, form fills)
• Search term report: what users were actually searching when your ads appeared
For both formats, include a performance vs. benchmark table. XHS advertising benchmarks vary significantly by industry — beauty and skincare tend to see higher engagement rates than automotive or financial services — so the comparison should be category-specific wherever possible. AllXHS's industry-specific Xiaohongshu marketing strategies can help contextualize these benchmarks for your vertical.
If the campaign used the KFS model with Feed Ads amplifying top-performing KOL posts, include a side-by-side comparison of organic performance vs. amplified performance for those specific notes. This is one of the most compelling data stories you can show a client: "here's a post that organically reached 12,000 people — and here's what happened when we put CNY 5,000 behind it."
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Section 5: Audience & Platform Insights {#audience-insights}
XHS campaigns generate audience data that goes beyond what most clients expect from a social media report. This section translates platform analytics into strategic insight.
Audience data to pull from Juguang and the brand's Professional Account (专业号):
• Demographic breakdown of users who engaged (age, gender, city tier)
• Interest categories of the campaign's engaged audience
• Device usage patterns
• Time-of-day and day-of-week engagement peaks
• New vs. returning audience composition
Platform-specific behavioral insights:
• Which keywords drove the most organic brand searches during the campaign period
• Content formats that generated the highest save rate (this informs future creative direction)
• Cross-platform signals: if UTM tracking or promotional codes were deployed, include any downstream traffic or conversion data from Tmall, the brand's own e-commerce site, or offline retail
This section is where a strong report earns its keep. Clients don't just want to know what happened — they want to know what it tells them about their audience on XHS. An insight like "62% of users who saved our campaign posts were female, aged 25–30, located in Tier-1 cities, with a demonstrated interest in premium skincare" is actionable intelligence, not just a metric.
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Section 6: Strategic Recommendations {#strategic-recommendations}
No client-ready report should end with data alone. The final section translates performance findings into concrete next steps, demonstrating that the reporting team understands not just what happened but what it means for the brand's ongoing XHS strategy.
A strong recommendations section covers:
• What to amplify: Which KOL posts or ad creatives should be boosted in the next flight, based on their organic save rate and engagement quality
• What to test: Any creative hypotheses suggested by the data (e.g., video outperformed image carousels in this campaign — test a video-first approach for the next product)
• Keyword refinements: Search terms from the paid campaign that should inform organic content keyword strategy, and vice versa
• Audience expansion or narrowing: Based on which audience segments delivered the highest-quality engagement
• Budget reallocation: If Feed Ads significantly outperformed Search Ads (or vice versa), a suggested budget shift with rationale
• Content calendar alignment: Upcoming XHS platform IP events or seasonal moments that the brand should plan content around
Keep this section specific and numbered. Clients are far more likely to act on "we recommend boosting Note [X] with CNY 8,000 in Feed Ad spend before [date]" than "we suggest continued investment in paid amplification."
For deeper strategic guidance or help executing these recommendations, AllXHS's expert Xiaohongshu marketing services provide hands-on support tailored to your brand and vertical.
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Reporting Cadence: Weekly vs. Monthly Reports {#reporting-cadence}
The right reporting cadence depends on campaign type and client expectations, but there is a practical structure that works for most XHS engagements.
Weekly performance dashboards are best for live paid campaigns. These should be lean — a single-page summary of spend, impressions, CTR, CPC, and any anomalies that require immediate action. The goal is to keep clients informed without overwhelming them, and to flag optimization opportunities before spend is wasted.
Monthly deep-dive reports follow the full template structure outlined above. These are the reports that get presented in client meetings, shared with senior stakeholders, and used to inform quarterly budget decisions. A monthly report should contextualize week-by-week data into a coherent campaign narrative, with clear comparisons to the previous month and to the original campaign targets.
End-of-campaign reports are a third format worth having templated. These are submitted at the conclusion of a defined campaign flight (a product launch, a seasonal activation, a KOL seeding push) and include a full retrospective: what was planned, what was executed, what performed, what didn't, and what the brand should carry forward into the next campaign.
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Common Reporting Mistakes to Avoid {#common-mistakes}
Even experienced digital marketers make mistakes when reporting on XHS campaigns, particularly when they carry assumptions from Western platform reporting.
• Reporting likes as the primary engagement metric. On XHS, saves are the strongest signal of genuine interest and purchase intent. A post with 50 saves and 200 likes outperforms a post with 20 saves and 800 likes in terms of real commercial impact.
• Ignoring branded search volume. Many XHS campaigns drive discovery that converts off-platform. If you are not tracking branded search volume on XHS (and ideally on Tmall and Baidu) before and after the campaign, you are missing a critical part of the ROI picture.
• Using Western benchmarks. CTR, CPM, and engagement rate norms on XHS differ from Meta and Google. Presenting XHS numbers against global social media benchmarks misleads clients. Use category-specific XHS benchmarks wherever possible.
• Separating KOL and paid data in silos. The KFS model is designed to work as a system. A report that presents KOL performance and Juguang performance in isolation fails to show how they amplified each other — the most powerful story in most XHS campaigns.
• Omitting qualitative comment analysis. The comments section of high-performing XHS notes is a goldmine of consumer insight. Including a brief qualitative summary of comment sentiment, common questions, and spontaneous brand mentions adds significant value to any report.
For brands new to XHS or looking to build a more rigorous reporting framework, AllXHS offers a comprehensive library of free Xiaohongshu resources including templates, industry reports, and platform-specific tools across 20+ verticals.
The Report Is Part of the Strategy
A well-built XHS advertising report is not just an accountability document — it is a strategic asset. Every campaign generates data that, when properly structured and analyzed, makes the next campaign smarter, cheaper, and more effective. The template outlined in this guide ensures that nothing important gets lost: not the save rates that indicate what content resonates, not the search lift that shows awareness is building, and not the audience insights that tell you exactly who is engaging with your brand on China's most commercially influential social platform.
The brands that scale successfully on Xiaohongshu are the ones that treat reporting as a learning cycle, not a formality. Build the template once. Use it consistently. And let the data compound.
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Ready to Take Your XHS Campaign Reporting Further?
AllXHS is the #1 English-language resource hub for international brands marketing on Xiaohongshu, with 378+ data-driven industry reports, 25+ ready-to-use tools and templates, and a full suite of expert marketing services across 20+ verticals.
Whether you need a plug-and-play XHS report template, industry-specific KPI benchmarks, or hands-on campaign management support, our team is ready to help.