Xiaohongshu is not hard because of the marketing. It is hard because of the walls foreign brands hit on the way in.
01
The payment wall
Overseas cards and foreign bank accounts cannot fund Juguang directly. Ad budgets route through agency top-up with cross-border remittance and invoicing.
02
The paperwork wall
Trademark authorization has to chain completely from holder to operator, and an unclaimed brand profile (品牌认领) means creators cannot even find you on Pugongying.
03
The detection wall
Undeclared creator deals get flagged by AI plus human review, product link or not, and throttled. 'Only links count as ads' is the classic foreign-brand mistake.
This is our daily work. We run these walls so you don't learn them by trial.
Process
How we work
1
Fit and audit
Category check first (some industries face review gates or higher thresholds), then a search and competitor read inside the app.
2
Setup
Professional account verification, brand claiming, ad account opening through the agency path.
3
Campaigns
种草 zhongcao seeding with creators, then amplifying the winning notes through Juguang instead of running the two in silos.
4
Reporting
Pugongying campaign data, ad performance and in-app search visibility, reported in plain English.
Proof
Run by the China-based team behind Gentlemen Marketing Agency (GMA).
Team seats
Photo pending
RED Campaign DirectorShanghai
Photo pending
Juguang Media BuyerShanghai
Photo pending
Ecommerce Operations LeadShanghai
Case studies
Case studyBeauty
Case studyF&B
Case studyLifestyle
Due diligence
How to choose an agency
Four checks before you sign, ours or anyone else's.
Ask who actually operates Juguang and Pugongying. If campaigns are subcontracted, you are paying two margins.
Get their baobei compliance stance in writing. An agency relaxed about undeclared deals is gambling with your account.
Demand itemized budgets: platform fee, heating spend and payment costs visible, not folded into a flat number.
Check the team is bilingual and in China. Platform rules move fast and English recaps of last year's rules are not enough.
FAQ
Straight answers
Do foreign brands need an agency to run Xiaohongshu ads?+
For ad accounts, yes in practice: Juguang has no self-serve path for foreign entities, so accounts open through authorized agencies. With complete documents the opening takes 3 to 5 working days, longer where category whitelisting applies.
Can we sell on Xiaohongshu without a Chinese company?+
Yes, through the cross-border store: overseas entity documents and an overseas trademark (US, EU, JP and others accepted), with a complete authorization chain when the holder differs from the operator.
What does a Xiaohongshu agency cost?+
For cross-border brands, agency service fees typically run 8 to 12% of ad spend, and retainers vary with scope. The full breakdown, with what should be included at each price, is on our pricing page.
Book a consultation
Tell us where you are with Xiaohongshu and what you want it to do for your brand.