At a glance
- Chinese New Year 2026: 32 KOCs, 1,096,224 views and 964,677 reach for a heritage beverage brand's limited-edition festive packaging.
- Cooltopia: 20 seeder creators with 2,000 to 10,000 followers drove an 18% average engagement rate, about 4.5 times the typical 4%.
- Estimated cost per view of about RM0.02 on the CNY campaign.
- Both campaigns used small creators, not celebrities, and both worked.
Why Xiaohongshu matters in Malaysia
Xiaohongshu (小红书, also called RED) is where many Chinese-speaking Malaysians search before they buy: food, travel, beauty and festive shopping. Posts keep showing up in search long after they go live, so a good post keeps working. Read our full guide to Xiaohongshu KOL marketing in Malaysia.
Case 1: A heritage beverage brand's Chinese New Year campaign
A heritage Asian beverage brand released limited-edition Chinese New Year packaging and wanted Chinese-speaking Malaysians to see it before the festive shopping rush.
How we ran it
- 32 KOCs (key opinion consumers) with 1,000 to 26,000 followers, focused on lifestyle and food & beverage.
- 27 carousel posts and 5 videos. Every creator submitted drafts on time and all content went live before Chinese New Year.
- Festive, not just product. Creators showed the packaging in real festive settings, with cute, seasonal captions.
Results
| Metric | Result |
|---|---|
| KOCs | 32 |
| Views | 1,096,224 |
| Reach | 964,677 |
| Engagement rate | 1.89% |
| Estimated cost per view | ~RM0.02 |
The top three posts came from creators with 6,500 to 13,000 followers, and each passed 44,000 views. The best one, from a creator with 6,471 followers, reached 54,656 views at a 4.5% engagement rate. She turned the planned carousel into a video on her own initiative, put the full caption in the comments and used a curiosity-led title. Every comment on it was positive.
What we'd do next time
Views and reach were very cost-efficient, but engagement was the weak spot: the cost per engagement came in above benchmark. Next time we would:
- Keep carousels as the backbone. They're the format Xiaohongshu users prefer. Add a few videos where a creator has a strong idea, not as a replacement.
- Lean into festive emotion. Family moments and reunion stories, not just product shots.
- Add clear prompts. Questions, festive calls-to-action or a simple giveaway to invite comments and saves.
- Phase the content: teaser, peak festive, then post-CNY, to keep momentum going.
- Add family and home creators alongside lifestyle and food creators.
Case 2: Cooltopia on Xiaohongshu
Cooltopia, a herbal cooling water brand, tested Xiaohongshu with a small budget and 20 seeder creators with 2,000 to 10,000 followers each.
The posts reached an 18% average engagement rate, about 4.5 times the typical 4% benchmark, and earned around 1,100 likes, high for creators at this tier. Xiaohongshu doesn't have a settled industry benchmark for cost per view yet, so engagement rate was the clearest measure of success.
The lesson: small creators work very well on Xiaohongshu when the goal is real interaction on a modest budget. To reach further, we'd add one or two creators with bigger followings to carry the content to a wider audience.
Carousel or video? Why carousels win on Xiaohongshu
Many brands still ask us for Reels-style short videos on Xiaohongshu, because that's what works on TikTok and Instagram. But Xiaohongshu works differently. Friends and marketers in China tell us the same thing again and again: carousel posts (图文笔记, image-and-text notes) are the format users prefer, and the most effective one.
People open Xiaohongshu to search, read and save, more like a lifestyle search engine than a video feed. A swipeable set of photos with a useful caption is easy to scan, easy to save and easy to come back to before buying. That's why we plan Xiaohongshu campaigns carousel-first: 27 of the 32 posts in the CNY campaign were carousels. We still use video when a creator has a strong idea for it, but as a supporting format, not the main one.
What both campaigns show
- Small creators win on XHS. In both campaigns, the best results came from accounts with under 15,000 followers.
- Plan carousel-first. 27 of the 32 CNY posts were carousels, and together they reached nearly a million people.
- Measure the right thing. Use views and reach for awareness, and engagement rate where Xiaohongshu benchmarks are still forming.
Planning a Xiaohongshu campaign?
We work with 200+ Xiaohongshu KOLs in Malaysia across beauty, food & beverage and travel. See our Xiaohongshu KOL marketing service or browse more case studies.
Frequently asked questions
Does Xiaohongshu work for brands in Malaysia?
Yes. A Chinese New Year campaign with 32 KOCs reached 1,096,224 views and 964,677 people on Xiaohongshu, and Cooltopia's 20 seeders achieved an 18% average engagement rate.
Should Xiaohongshu content be video or carousel?
Carousel first. Xiaohongshu users search, read and save posts, and carousel posts (image-and-text notes) are the format they prefer. Use video as a supporting format when a creator has a strong idea, not as a replacement.
Should I use big or small KOLs on Xiaohongshu?
Start with small creators. In both campaigns, the best posts came from accounts with under 15,000 followers. Add one or two bigger creators if you need wider reach.
How do you measure Xiaohongshu campaign success?
Use views and reach for awareness, and engagement rate (likes, comments, saves and shares) for interest. Xiaohongshu doesn't yet have a settled cost-per-view benchmark, so engagement rate is often the clearest measure.