Xiaohongshu marketing in Australia: how Chinese-Australian parents discover brands, and how a new brand gets found

ABC News reported in March 2025 that Xiaohongshu was attracting more than 700,000 monthly users in Australia. That is a big change in a short time: in the Lowy Institute's survey of 1,200 Chinese-Australians, run in late 2022, Xiaohongshu did not yet have its own line in the results. It was the most-mentioned app in the "other" group. Worldwide, the app has more than 400 million monthly active users, The Standard reported in June 2026.

For a brand selling cots, strollers, toys or home goods, the first bed is where the buyers are. These are parents who live here, need products that meet Australian standards, and ask each other where to buy locally. Students and visitors still matter: students set up flats, and 81% of visitors from China went shopping in 2025 (Tourism Research Australia). But they rarely buy a cot. Speak to the families first. Our Asian-Australian consumer service starts from the same place.

Xiaohongshu's own search white paper, reported by Jiemian in March 2024, gives four numbers that explain how the app works. Seven in ten monthly users search. Almost nine in ten searches are typed by the user rather than suggested. Nine in ten users say what they find in search affects what they buy. And 42% of new users search on their very first day.

For a brand, this changes the job. An ad is gone once you stop paying. A note that answers a real question, such as "which stroller fits a small car boot?", can keep turning up in search for the people who ask it later. So the work is less about one big launch post and more about planting many useful notes on the questions your buyers already have.

Mother-and-baby and home goods are both among the ten most-searched categories on Xiaohongshu, according to the same white paper. In our work with parents in Melbourne and Sydney, searches follow a pattern: a place, a product and the thing they are unsure about. The plant tags below are examples we wrote to show that pattern. They are not search-volume data.

Write in Chinese for this audience, but keep Australian names exact: the safety standard, the store names, the suburb. Our article on localising your brand for Australia covers how to keep both languages consistent. And if a note mentions safety, it must be true for the product you sell here. The rules are in our import compliance guide.

About 90% of the content on Xiaohongshu is made by users, not brands, according to the white paper figures reported by Jiemian. That is why a brand's own posts rarely carry a launch on their own. Think of the three ways a gardener grows new plants.

In practice, start with a small group of real families using the product. Ask them to post honestly, including what they did not like. Then look at which notes people save and which questions keep coming up in the comments. That tells you what to say on your own account, and later, which bigger creators are worth paying. Baby Island, our community platform with 10,000+ members, is one place we find those first families.

Australian consumer law applies to advertising aimed at Australians, whatever the language or app. In 2023 the ACCC checked the posts of 118 influencers on six social media platforms and found that 81% raised concerns. Xiaohongshu was not one of the six, but the same law applies to it.

The ACCC also acts against businesses, not only influencers. In March 2026, PhotobookShop paid A$39,600 in penalties. The ACCC said that on 107 occasions the business told influencers not to disclose the free products they had received, worth about A$50 to A$400 each, and it made clear that payment includes free gifted products. For a baby or home brand the lesson is simple: every sample sent to a creator comes with a request to disclose it, and you never ask anyone to remove a negative comment.

The app has rules of its own. Jiemian reported in 2022 that paid collaborations are meant to go through Xiaohongshu's official brand-collaboration channel, Pugongying (蒲公英), and that notes made that way carry a sponsored label. Rules change, so check the current ones before you pay anyone.

Most wasted budget on Xiaohongshu comes from doing the expensive thing first: paying a large creator before anyone has searched for the brand. Reversing the order costs very little. It is the same approach behind the 6 brands DAY Concept has helped enter Australia.

If you want help planting the first notes, see how we reach Asian-Australian consumers or talk to us. Our Xiaohongshu (RedNote) marketing service page explains how we run it. For where Xiaohongshu sits next to WeChat groups, Amazon and retail stores, read launching in Australia: which sales channels to start with.

Questions about Xiaohongshu marketing in Australia