How Brands Can Grow on Xiaohongshu (XHS)

If your brand targets Chinese-speaking consumers in Malaysia and you're not on Xiaohongshu yet, you're sitting out one of the most high-intent platforms available to marketers right now.

Xiaohongshu, known as XHS, Little Red Book, or RedNote, has grown into one of Malaysia's most influential platforms for product discovery, especially among Chinese-Malaysian consumers. With over 3 million active users in Malaysia and counting, XHS has become a serious channel for fashion, beauty, and lifestyle brands looking to build trust and drive real purchase intent, not just impressions.

This guide breaks down how brands are actually using XHS to grow, the strategy, the content approach, and what it takes to get real results on the social media platform.

Why Xiaohongshu can help your brand grow?

XHS works differently from Instagram, TikTok, or Facebook, and that difference is exactly why it's valuable. On most social platforms, people scroll for entertainment. On XHS, people show up already in decision-making mode.

That intent is what makes XHS so powerful for branding. Content on the platform doesn't just build awareness, it directly influences purchase decisions. XHS users are highly engaged, spend meaningful time researching before they buy, and treat the platform as both a search engine and a community, closer to how people use Google paired with peer reviews than how they use a typical social feed.

For Malaysian brands specifically, this matters because XHS reaches an audience that's harder to access through Western platforms, Chinese-Malaysian consumers, Mandarin-speaking households, and increasingly, Chinese tourists researching Malaysia ahead of their trip.

Dododots, a Malaysian pimple patch brand known for its fully-coloured, behind-the-scenes-driven content, has built traction on XHS alongside its other platforms, tapping into a platform increasingly used by Malaysian and regional Chinese-speaking consumers to research skincare products before buying. For a product where trust and comfort are the main barriers to purchase, the platform's review-driven, peer-validated culture is a natural fit.

How Xiaohongshu fits into a marketing strategy?

Getting results on XHS isn't about posting and hoping. It comes down to understanding a few platform-specific mechanics and building them into your broader influencer marketing strategy.

Community seeding (种草)

The defining concept on XHS is what's known as community seeding, or 'planting grass.' It refers to recommending a product so naturally and convincingly that the desire to buy it grows organically in the viewer's mind , the opposite of a hard sell. Done well, seeding doesn't feel like an ad. It feels like advice from someone you trust.

This is achieved by distributing authentic, story-driven content across a wide base of users, not by relying on a single big-name endorsement. XHS's audience capitalises on community aspiration, which is why user-generated content consistently outperforms celebrity-fronted campaigns on the platform.

XHS as a search engine, not just a feed.

Search behaviour is central to how XHS works. Users actively type in queries, best clinic in KL, recommended skincare for combination skin, where to eat in Bangsar, much like they would on Google. That means your content needs to be built around the questions your audience is actually asking, with keyword-rich titles and captions, not just visually appealing posts.

This search-first nature is also what makes XHS such a strong fit for fashion marketing and beauty marketing specifically, categories where consumers do heavy research before buying, and want to see real opinions before committing.

Authentic, native-style content over polished ads

XHS content that performs well tends to look unscripted. Studio-polished, clearly branded content tends to underperform because it breaks the platform's trust dynamic. Brands that succeed on XHS shift their content approach accordingly: less production perfectionism, more real opinions and lived experience.

Common mistakes brands make on XHS

Treating XHS like Instagram
The single biggest mistake Malaysian brands make is repurposing Instagram content for XHS without adapting it. XHS rewards authentic, less polished, search-optimised content.

Leading with paid influencers instead of earned content.
Jumping straight to big KOL partnerships without first building organic-feeling buzz through KOCs tends to underperform. XHS audiences are good at spotting content that feels purely transactional/sponsored.

Not localising for the Malaysian market
Content built for mainland Chinese audiences doesn't always translate directly to Malaysian XHS users. Local context matters for resonance and trust.

How Tinker Society approaches XHS marketing

We're a creative content agency based in Malaysia, and XHS is a platform we're increasingly building into client strategies as Malaysian consumer behaviour shifts toward it, particularly for fashion and beauty brands targeting Chinese-Malaysian audiences.

Our approach centres on platform-native content, not repurposed posts. XHS has its own culture, aesthetic, and content language, so nothing we create is recycled from other channels; everything is built specifically for the platform, designed to feel organic, earn trust, and perform in the feed.

Connecting with XHS's audience also takes more than translation. Our team includes Chinese-speaking creatives who understand the platform's nuances, trending formats, and community expectations, so your brand shows up authentically rather than awkwardly.

Ready to grow your brand on Xiaohongshu?

If you're a brand that wants to show up on Xiaohongshu in a way that actually resonates with Malaysian audiences, that's exactly what we do. We have our very own dedicated social media experts and production team to implement the best strategies for your brand's advertising, social media marketing and content creation needs.

DM us on Instagram @tinkersociety or drop us an email at wink@tinkersociety.com to find out how you can get started.