Xiaohongshu Creator Marketplace: How the Pugongying Platform Works
Date Published
Table Of Contents
• Why Pugongying Matters for Brand Marketing on Xiaohongshu
• Key Features of the Pugongying Platform
• How Pugongying Works: A Step-by-Step Overview
• Types of Creators Available on Pugongying
• Pricing and Campaign Budgeting on Pugongying
• Challenges International Brands Face on Pugongying
• Tips for Running a Successful Pugongying Campaign
• Is Pugongying Right for Your Brand?
If you're a brand looking to tap into influencer marketing on Xiaohongshu (also known as RedNote or Little Red Book), there's one platform you absolutely need to understand: Pugongying. Officially launched by Xiaohongshu itself, Pugongying is the platform's native creator marketplace, designed to connect brands with content creators in a structured, transparent, and measurable way. For international brands trying to navigate China's social commerce landscape, understanding how Pugongying works isn't just helpful — it's essential.
Xiaohongshu has grown into one of China's most influential social commerce platforms, with over 300 million monthly active users who rely on the app for product discovery, reviews, and purchasing decisions. Influencer-driven content sits at the very heart of this ecosystem. Pugongying is the official infrastructure that makes brand-creator collaboration scalable and trustworthy. In this guide, we break down exactly how the platform works, who uses it, what it costs, and how international brands can make the most of it.
What Is Pugongying? {#what-is-pugongying}
Pugongying (蒲公英), which translates to "dandelion" in English, is Xiaohongshu's official influencer marketing platform. Launched to bring transparency and structure to the brand-creator relationship on the app, Pugongying functions as a centralized marketplace where brands can search for creators, initiate collaborations, manage campaigns, and track performance data all in one place.
Before Pugongying existed, many brand-creator deals on Xiaohongshu were handled informally, often through third-party agencies or direct WeChat negotiations. This made it difficult to verify creator authenticity, set clear expectations, or ensure that sponsored content was properly disclosed. Pugongying was built specifically to solve these problems. It brings brand partnerships into an official, regulated environment and requires that any paid collaboration conducted through the platform is properly labeled as sponsored content within the post.
The platform is accessible through Xiaohongshu's business backend and is primarily designed for brands with an official Xiaohongshu business account. International brands entering the Xiaohongshu ecosystem should treat Pugongying as one of the primary tools in their influencer marketing toolkit.
---
Why Pugongying Matters for Brand Marketing on Xiaohongshu {#why-pugongying-matters}
Xiaohongshu users are highly attuned to authenticity. The platform's community thrives on genuine product recommendations and peer-to-peer reviews, which is exactly why influencer content (known locally as KOL or KOC content) performs so well here. When a creator genuinely recommends your product, it resonates far more than a traditional ad. Pugongying is the official gateway to activating this kind of creator-led marketing at scale.
Using Pugongying also carries platform-level credibility benefits. Campaigns run through the marketplace are recognized by Xiaohongshu's algorithm, and sponsored posts created through Pugongying are handled within the platform's compliance framework. This reduces the risk of content being flagged, removed, or penalized for undisclosed advertising — a real concern for brands operating outside of official channels.
For international brands especially, Pugongying provides a structured entry point into a creator ecosystem that can otherwise feel opaque and difficult to navigate. It removes much of the guesswork around finding reputable creators, validating their follower quality, and setting clear deliverable expectations. You can explore industry-specific Xiaohongshu marketing strategies to understand how creator partnerships play out differently across verticals like beauty, fashion, and food and beverage.
---
Key Features of the Pugongying Platform {#key-features}
Pugongying is a fully featured marketplace with tools built specifically for the demands of Xiaohongshu's content ecosystem. Here are the standout capabilities brands should know:
• Creator Discovery and Search: Brands can filter creators by category, follower count, engagement rate, geographic location, and content style, making it easier to find the right match for a specific campaign.
• Creator Data Transparency: Pugongying provides verified metrics for each creator, including audience demographics, average engagement, and past brand collaboration history, reducing the risk of working with inflated or fake accounts.
• Campaign Brief Management: Brands can submit a campaign brief directly through the platform, outlining deliverables, timelines, key messages, and content guidelines for creators to review and accept.
• Contract and Payment Processing: The platform handles formalized agreements and payment transactions, giving both parties a record of the collaboration terms.
• Content Review and Approval: Before a post goes live, brands have the opportunity to review creator content within the platform's workflow, allowing for feedback or revisions where needed.
• Performance Reporting: After a campaign goes live, brands can access post-level analytics including impressions, engagement, saves, and click data to measure return on investment.
These features make Pugongying significantly more robust than informal influencer outreach, and they give international brands a transparent window into the quality and reach of the creators they work with.
---
How Pugongying Works: A Step-by-Step Overview {#how-it-works}
Understanding the flow of a Pugongying campaign helps brands plan timelines and set realistic expectations. Here's how the process typically unfolds:
1. Set Up a Xiaohongshu Business Account – Before accessing Pugongying, brands need a verified Xiaohongshu enterprise account. This is a prerequisite for using the platform's commercial tools.
1. Access the Pugongying Dashboard – From the business backend, navigate to the Pugongying marketplace. Here you can browse featured creators, search by category, or post a campaign opportunity for interested creators to apply.
1. Define Your Campaign Parameters – Submit a brief that covers your product or service, the content format required (image post, short video, or a combination), key talking points, and any hashtags or landing page links you want included.
1. Browse and Invite Creators – Use Pugongying's filters to identify creators whose audience profile matches your target customer. You can proactively invite creators or wait for applications if you've posted an open call.
1. Negotiate Terms and Confirm Deliverables – Once a creator shows interest, you can discuss specifics within the platform. Compensation can be monetary, product-based, or a combination, depending on the creator's preferences and tier.
1. Review Content Before Publishing – Creators submit their draft content for brand review. You can request changes or approve the content for publishing. Approved posts are labeled with a sponsorship disclosure that Xiaohongshu requires.
1. Track Campaign Performance – After publishing, monitor the campaign's metrics through Pugongying's reporting dashboard. Use this data to evaluate creator performance and inform future collaboration decisions.
---
Types of Creators Available on Pugongying {#creator-types}
Pugongying hosts creators across a wide spectrum of follower sizes and content niches. Understanding the different tiers helps brands allocate budgets strategically.
Mega KOLs have millions of followers and deliver broad reach. They're best suited for product launches or brand awareness campaigns where maximum visibility is the goal, though they command premium fees.
Mid-tier KOLs typically have between 100,000 and 1 million followers and often specialize in a particular category such as skincare, fitness, or parenting. They offer a strong balance of reach and audience trust.
Micro-influencers and KOCs (Key Opinion Consumers) are creators with smaller but highly engaged communities, typically ranging from 1,000 to 50,000 followers. These creators often deliver higher engagement rates and are perceived as more authentic voices by their audiences. For many brands, especially those in niche categories, a campaign involving multiple KOCs can outperform a single mega KOL activation.
Pugongying covers all of these tiers, which allows brands to build a diversified creator strategy rather than putting all their budget into a single high-profile partnership. Our free Xiaohongshu resources include guides on choosing the right creator tier for different campaign goals.
---
Pricing and Campaign Budgeting on Pugongying {#pricing}
Creator fees on Pugongying vary enormously depending on follower count, engagement quality, content format, and category. As a general reference:
• Nano and micro-creators (under 50K followers) may charge anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand RMB per post.
• Mid-tier creators (100K to 500K followers) typically range from 5,000 to 30,000 RMB per post.
• Top-tier KOLs (over 1 million followers) can command 50,000 RMB or significantly more per collaboration.
Beyond creator fees, brands should also factor in potential Pugongying platform service fees, content production costs if you're providing product samples, and any paid amplification budget if you plan to boost high-performing posts through Xiaohongshu's advertising tools.
For international brands new to the platform, starting with mid-tier or micro creators is often the most cost-effective approach. It allows you to test messaging and product positioning with real Xiaohongshu audiences before committing to larger, higher-stakes partnerships.
---
Challenges International Brands Face on Pugongying {#challenges}
While Pugongying is a powerful tool, international brands do face some specific hurdles when using it. First, the platform interface and all creator profiles are in Chinese, which creates an immediate language barrier for teams without Mandarin capability. Campaign briefs, creator communications, and reporting dashboards all require fluency or reliable translation support.
Second, registering for a Xiaohongshu business account as a foreign entity involves a verification process that can be time-consuming and sometimes requires a local business registration or a Chinese entity as an intermediary. This is a prerequisite for accessing Pugongying at all.
Third, creator relationship norms on Xiaohongshu differ from those on Western platforms. Creators often have specific preferences about how they present sponsored content, and overly prescriptive briefs can lead to less authentic-feeling posts. Brands need to strike a balance between brand safety and giving creators the creative latitude that makes their content effective.
Working with a knowledgeable partner who understands both the technical requirements and the cultural nuances of Xiaohongshu creator marketing can make a significant difference. AllXHS expert marketing services are specifically designed to help international brands navigate exactly these kinds of challenges.
---
Tips for Running a Successful Pugongying Campaign {#tips}
Getting the mechanics right is only part of the equation. Here are practical strategies to maximize your results on Pugongying:
• Prioritize engagement rate over follower count. A creator with 80,000 highly engaged followers in your product category will almost always outperform a 500,000-follower account whose audience isn't aligned with your niche.
• Localize your brief. Your campaign messaging should be adapted for Chinese consumers, not simply translated from English. Tone, cultural references, and product benefits may need repositioning.
• Seed with product samples first. Before a paid campaign goes live, sending product samples allows creators to genuinely experience your product, which leads to more authentic and persuasive content.
• Repurpose top-performing content. If a creator's post performs exceptionally well, you can amplify it further through Xiaohongshu's paid promotion tools to extend its reach beyond the creator's organic audience.
• Build longer-term relationships. One-off collaborations can drive spikes, but ongoing partnerships with a core group of creators build sustained brand recognition and audience trust over time.
---
Is Pugongying Right for Your Brand? {#is-it-right}
Pugongying is the most structured and officially supported way to run influencer campaigns on Xiaohongshu, which makes it the right starting point for most brands. Whether you're in beauty, fashion, food and beverage, or mother and baby products, the platform gives you access to a vast creator ecosystem with the data transparency and compliance infrastructure needed to run campaigns responsibly.
That said, Pugongying works best as part of a broader Xiaohongshu strategy that includes a well-optimized brand profile, high-quality organic content, and an understanding of how the platform's algorithm rewards engagement. Influencer content that drives users back to a compelling brand account compounds in value over time. Without that foundation, even the best Pugongying campaign will underdeliver.
Getting Started with Xiaohongshu Influencer Marketing
Pugongying is Xiaohongshu's official answer to the growing demand for structured, transparent creator collaboration. For international brands serious about building a presence on one of China's most dynamic social commerce platforms, understanding how this marketplace works is a foundational step. From discovering the right creators to managing content approvals and tracking performance, Pugongying provides the infrastructure to run influencer campaigns that are both effective and compliant.
The complexity lies not in the platform itself, but in the strategic and cultural decisions that surround it: which creators to partner with, how to position your product for a Chinese audience, how to write a brief that inspires genuine content, and how to build on each campaign's learnings. Those decisions require a deep understanding of the Xiaohongshu ecosystem — and that's exactly what AllXHS is built to provide.
Ready to Launch Your Xiaohongshu Creator Strategy?
AllXHS is the #1 English-language resource hub for international brands marketing on Xiaohongshu. Whether you're looking to run your first Pugongying campaign or scale an existing influencer program, our team combines platform expertise with cultural fluency to get you results.
**Get in touch with our experts today** and let's build a creator strategy that works for your brand.