/advertising

name: advertising
description: Use when running paid advertising campaigns on Xiaohongshu, setting up promoted posts, managing ad budgets, optimizing ad performance, or scaling growth through paid promotion

Advertising (广告投放)

Overview

Advertising is the use of Xiaohongshu's paid promotion features to boost content visibility, reach targeted audiences beyond organic discovery, and accelerate account growth and business outcomes through strategic paid campaigns.

When to Use

**Use when**:

• Accelerating account growth beyond organic reach
• Promoting products or services
• Targeting specific demographics
• Testing content performance with paid boost
• Running brand awareness campaigns
• Scaling validated content offerings

**Do NOT use when**:

• Content quality is poor (ads won't help bad content)
• No clear objective (wasting money)
• Not ready for scale (systems can't handle growth)
• Limited budget (better to invest in content creation first)

Core Pattern

**Before** (organic only):

❌ "Growth plateaued at 5k followers"
❌ "Content only reaches existing followers"
❌ "Takes months to reach new audience"
❌ "Can't scale what's working"

**After** (strategic advertising):

✅ "Spent ¥2000, reached 100k+ new people"
✅ "Follower growth accelerated 3x"
✅ "Targeted ideal customers (demographic + interest)"
✅ "R/O positive: spent ¥2, made ¥10"
✅ "Scaled successful content to wider audience"

**5 Ad Types**: 1. **Feed Ads** - Promoted posts in discovery feed 2. **Search Ads** - Appear when searching keywords 3. **Banner Ads** - Top/Bottom of screen 4. **Story Ads** - Full-screen vertical video 5. **Product Carousel** - Multiple product showcase

Quick Reference

| Ad Objective | Best Ad Type | Budget Range | Expected Result | |--------------|-------------|--------------|-----------------| | **Follower Growth** | Feed ads, Profile visits | ¥2000-5000 | 500-2000 new followers | | **Brand Awareness** | Feed ads, Banner ads | ¥5000-10000 | 100k-500k impressions | | **Product Sales** | Product carousel, Feed ads | ¥3000-8000 | 50-200 conversions | | **Content Testing** | Feed boost | ¥500-1000 | Data on performance |

Implementation

Step 1: Define Advertising Objectives

**Set Clear Campaign Goals**:

Objective Setting Framework:

1. Follower Growth
   Goal: Acquire new followers

   Metrics:
   - New followers acquired
   - Cost per follower (CPF)
   - Follower quality (engagement rate of new followers)
   - Follower retention (still following after 30 days)

   Example Objective:
   "Acquire 1,000 new followers interested in skincare,
    maintaining engagement rate above 5%, with CPF under ¥3"

2. Brand Awareness
   Goal: Introduce brand to target audience

   Metrics:
   - Impressions (times ad displayed)
   - Reach (unique people reached)
   - Brand recall (survey or social mentions)
   - Share of voice (vs. competitors)

   Example Objective:
   "Generate 500,000 impressions among women 20-35
    interested in skincare, achieving 2% brand recall"

3. Engagement Boost
   Goal: Increase content performance

   Metrics:
   - Engagement rate (likes, comments, saves)
   - Video completion rate
   - Profile visits
   - Follows from promoted content

   Example Objective:
   "Boost top-performing post to reach 50k+ people,
    achieving 10%+ engagement rate"

4. Website Traffic
   Goal: Drive traffic to owned properties

   Metrics:
   - Link clicks (click-through rate)
   - Website visits
   - Time on site
   - Conversion (email signups, purchases)

   Example Objective:
   "Drive 5,000 visitors to website with 20% conversion
    to email signup, achieving under ¥2 cost per acquisition"

5. Direct Sales
   Goal: Generate immediate revenue

   Metrics:
   - Product sales
   - Revenue generated
   - Cost per acquisition (CPA)
   - Return on ad spend (ROAS)

   Example Objective:
   "Generate 200 product sales through Xiaohongshu ads,
    achieving CPA under ¥50 and ROAS above 3.0"

Step 2: Set Up Ad Account

**Configure Advertising Tools**:

Account Setup Process:

1. Xiaohongshu Advertising Platform
   Access Options:
   - Xiaohongshu Business Account (required)
   - Advertising platform: ad.xiaohongshu.com
   - Account verification: Submit business license

   Requirements:
   ✅ Business account (not personal account)
   ✅ Business license (营业执照)
   ✅ Advertising budget (minimum ¥5000 to start)
   ✅ Landing page (website or Xiaohongshu shop)
   ✅ Compliance documentation (if required)

2. Campaign Structure
   Organize by Objective:

   Campaign → Ad Sets → Ads

   Campaign:
   - Highest level (organizes by objective)
   - Example: "Q1 Follower Growth Campaign"

   Ad Sets:
   - Within campaign (organizes by targeting)
   - Example: "Women 20-35, Interested in Skincare"
   - Budget: ¥1000, Duration: 30 days

   Ads:
   - Within ad set (individual creatives)
   - Example: "Boost Post #123"
   - Creative: Image or video from post

   Example Structure:
   Campaign: Brand Awareness - March 2026
   ├─ Ad Set 1: Women 20-35, Skincare Interest
   │  ├─ Ad 1: Boost carousel post
   │  └─ Ad 2: Boost video post
   └─ Ad Set 2: Men 25-40, Beard Care Interest
       ├─ Ad 3: Boost single image post
       └─ Ad 4: Boost carousel post

3. Budget Allocation
   Determine Spend:

   Daily Budget:
   - Minimum: ¥200 per day (varies by account)
   - Typical: ¥500-2000 per day
   - Maximum: No limit (based on account status)

   Total Campaign Budget:
   - Test phase: ¥5000-10000 (2-4 weeks)
   - Scale phase: ¥20000-50000 (ongoing)

   Budget Allocation Strategy:
   - 60% Feed ads (main content promotion)
   - 20% Search ads (targeted interest)
   - 10% Banner ads (brand awareness)
   - 10% Testing new creatives

4. Payment Setup
   Payment Methods:
   - Alipay (支付宝)
   - WeChat Pay (微信支付)
   - Bank transfer (对公转账)

   Billing:
   - Prepay: Deposit funds into ad account
   - Post-pay: Some accounts qualify for post-pay billing
   - Threshold: Minimum deposit