Xiaohongshu marketing for Singapore and Malaysia businesses: the organic route
Agencies sell Xiaohongshu ads and KOL campaigns. For a café, salon or attraction, the cheaper route is real customers posting honestly about their visit.
Xiaohongshu marketing for a local business in Singapore or Malaysia comes down to two routes: pay for ads and influencer (KOL) campaigns, or get your real customers to post about their visit. For a café, bakery, salon or attraction, the second route costs little, and it builds the kind of honest, detailed notes that Xiaohongshu users search for before they choose where to go.
Most pages ranking for "xiaohongshu marketing singapore" are agencies selling paid campaigns. That is one option. This guide covers the other: what Xiaohongshu is, who uses it here, what makes a good post, and how to make it easy for customers to write one.
What is Xiaohongshu, and who uses it in Singapore and Malaysia?
Xiaohongshu (小红书, "little red book", called RedNote in English) is a Chinese-language app that mixes photo posts, short videos and search. People use it like a lifestyle search engine: they type "新加坡 咖啡店" (Singapore café) or "槟城 美食" (Penang food) and scroll through personal notes from people who went.
How big is it? The Star, citing an estimate from the data firm Qiangua, put it at about 350 million monthly active users in December 2025 (The Star). That is a third-party estimate, mostly of users in China. There is no published count of Xiaohongshu users in Singapore or Malaysia, and you should be wary of any agency page that quotes one without a source.
What we can say is that local brands have noticed it. The Business Times in Singapore ran a feature on brands taking to the platform under the headline "Are you on Xiaohongshu?". Our reading of who uses it here (an inference, not a measured figure):
- Singapore: visitors from China, Chinese-speaking residents and students, and a growing number of younger Singaporeans who use it to find cafés, brunch spots and salons.
- Malaysia: Chinese-speaking Malaysians in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Johor Bahru and Ipoh, plus tourists from China planning food trips to George Town or Melaka.
If a fair share of your customers speak Mandarin, or you are on a tourist trail, Xiaohongshu is worth your time.
Why is Xiaohongshu so popular?
Because the posts feel like advice from a friend. A typical note is a set of photos with a title, a few honest paragraphs (what they ordered, what it cost, how long the queue was) and a location tag. Users trust the detail more than they trust an advert, and they search the app the way others search Google. A post about your kopi and kaya toast can keep turning up in searches long after it was written.
Paid ads, KOL campaigns or real customers?
| Route | What it involves | Cost | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Xiaohongshu advertising | Paid placements managed through the platform or an agency | Ongoing spend, plus agency fees | Brands with a budget and a product to push |
| KOL campaigns | Paying creators to visit and post | Per post or per campaign | Launches and events |
| Real customers posting | Making it easy for people who enjoyed their visit to write a note | Very low | Cafés, bakeries, salons, attractions, any shop with regulars |
Agencies sell the first two, and advertisers clearly value this audience (in our keyword data, Singapore advertisers bid around US$37 a click for "xiaohongshu marketing singapore", October 2026). The third route is slower to start, but each post is a genuine customer telling other people why they liked you, which is what Xiaohongshu users are looking for.
Setting up a business account
You can start with a normal personal account that carries your shop's name, but if you plan to post regularly, look at Xiaohongshu's business (professional) account options. The sign-up steps, verification documents and fees change from time to time and differ by country, so follow the current instructions in the app and on Xiaohongshu's official business pages rather than an old blog post.
Whichever account you use:
- Use your shop's real name, in English and Chinese if you have both.
- Write a short profile: what you sell, the neighbourhood, opening hours.
- Post your own notes now and then: a new seasonal menu, a behind-the-scenes look at the morning bake, how to find you from the MRT or LRT.
- Make sure customers can find the account. Put the handle on your counter card or menu so they can tag or follow you.
What makes a good Xiaohongshu post?
The posts that do well are specific and honest. Here is the structure most good notes follow, with an illustrative example for a small bakery in Joo Chiat, Singapore (the shop and post are made up).
| Part | What to do | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Title (标题) | Short, specific, with the place and the hook | 如切的小面包店｜咸蛋黄可颂值得早起 |
| Cover photo | One bright, clear photo of the main thing; natural light | The croissant on the counter, cut open |
| More photos | Three to six: the food, the space, the menu with prices, the shopfront | Menu board, window seat, the signboard |
| Body | What you had, the price, the wait, one honest downside, one tip | 周六早上九点到，排了大概十分钟。咸蛋黄可颂 S$4.80，外层很酥，不会太腻。座位不多，只有六张桌子，建议早点去。店员推荐了班兰蛋糕，下次再试。 |
| Hashtags | Four to eight: city, neighbourhood, type of place, the dish | #新加坡美食 #新加坡探店 #如切 #新加坡面包店 #可颂 |
| Location tag | Tag the shop's real location so others can find it | The bakery's pin in Joo Chiat |
The body translates roughly as: "Arrived at 9am on Saturday and queued about ten minutes. The salted egg yolk croissant is S$4.80, very flaky outside and not too rich. Seats are few, only six tables, so go early. The staff recommended the pandan cake; next time."
Notice what makes it useful: a price, a wait time, a small downside and a tip for the next person. That honesty is why people trust it. A Malaysian version might be a char kway teow stall in George Town with the price in RM, the stall number in the hawker centre and which day it closes.
Things that put readers off
- Posts that read like an advert, full of superlatives and no detail.
- The same caption copied across many accounts.
- Stock photos or photos that are not from the visit.
- Hashtag lists of thirty unrelated tags.
Why paid "brand cooperation" must be disclosed
If you pay a creator, give free meals or treatments in exchange for a post, or offer a discount to customers who post, that is a paid collaboration, not an independent review. Paid collaborations should be clearly labelled as such and follow Xiaohongshu's own rules for commercial content, which the platform updates from time to time. Consumer-protection laws on misleading conduct also apply across the region, and in Singapore fake reviews have been treated as an unfair trade practice (more on that in honest reviews: what Google and Tripadvisor allow).
For everyday customers, keep it simple:
- Ask every customer the same way, not only the ones you think are happy.
- Don't offer a free drink or discount for a post.
- Don't ask staff, friends or family to post as if they were customers.
- Don't write the post for them. You can remind them what they had; the words are theirs.
How to get customers posting about their visit
- Ask at the high point. When a customer photographs their cake, that is your moment: "If you post it on Xiaohongshu, please tag us!" Our guide on how to ask customers for reviews has scripts, including one in Chinese.
- Make your shop easy to photograph. A window seat with good light, a neat counter, a signboard with your name in Chinese.
- Put your handle where they sit. A small card on the table with your Xiaohongshu name and a QR code.
- Help with the blank page. Many customers would post but don't know what to write, especially in Chinese if it is not their first language. A prompt like "What did you order? How long did you wait? One tip?" goes a long way.
- Ask for a Google review as well. Many of the same people also check Google Maps. See how to get more Google reviews.
What about Dianping (大众点评)?
Dianping, owned by Meituan, is China's big restaurant review app, and many visitors from China open it to find food in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. Meituan has been building its presence here: according to a company release, Dianping held its first overseas Black Pearl restaurant guide ceremony in Singapore in April 2025 (Kyodo PR wire).
For a restaurant on the tourist trail in Chinatown, Bugis, Petaling Street or George Town, it is worth checking that your listing on Dianping is correct and asking Chinese-speaking diners for a Dianping review alongside Xiaohongshu. The same rules apply: ask everyone, offer nothing in return.
How reviewus helps
reviewus puts Xiaohongshu on the same QR card as Google and Tripadvisor (new locations start with all three, and Dianping can be added). The customer scans the card with their phone camera, gives stars and taps what they had and loved. If they choose Xiaohongshu, the draft starts in Chinese and comes as a title, a body and hashtags, written as a personal post about the visit, built from only what they tapped and noted. They can change every word, then one tap copies it and opens Xiaohongshu so they post it themselves. reviewus never posts anything.
On Plus and Pro, the customer can add their own photos and AI composes one picture from them, with labels from what they tapped, in your colours, without changing the photos. You can set a seasonal theme such as Chinese New Year, Hari Raya, Deepavali or National Day. Your Xiaohongshu account can also sit on the customer page as a follow link. Plans start at S$10 a month per location, and setting up is free. Try the demo or set up your business.
Frequently asked questions
Do Singaporeans use Xiaohongshu?
Yes, though nobody has published a reliable count. Visitors from China and Chinese-speaking residents are the obvious users, and the Business Times has reported local brands taking to the platform. Treat any precise Singapore user figure without a source with caution.
Why is Xiaohongshu so popular?
Because its posts read like honest advice from a friend: photos, prices, wait times and tips, all searchable. Users treat it as a search engine for places to eat, shop and visit, so a good post about your shop keeps being found long after it goes up.
Do I need an agency for Xiaohongshu marketing?
Not for the organic route. An agency helps if you want paid ads or KOL campaigns. For a café, salon or attraction, a clear account, a shop that is easy to photograph, and customers who are asked to post about their visit will get you most of the way.
Can I give customers a discount for posting on Xiaohongshu?
We advise against it. A post made in exchange for a discount or free item is a paid collaboration, not an independent note, and paid collaborations should be labelled and follow the platform's rules. Ask every customer the same way and offer nothing in return.
Is Xiaohongshu the same as Dianping?
No. Xiaohongshu is a lifestyle app of personal posts and videos; Dianping is a restaurant and shop review app owned by Meituan. Chinese-speaking diners often use both, so it is worth being findable on each.