Red has grown to become an essential marketing platform in China. However, evaluating Red’s impact on sales has been a longstanding problem. There is now a solution : Red Star (Xiaohongxing / 小红星) enables to connect Red traffic with Tmall sales.

What is Xiaohongxing ?

Xiaohongxing is a tracking system that enables to know :

• # of store visits coming from Red
• # of add to carts
• # of Red-related purchases

The system enables tracking orders both on Tmall and JD. In some ways, you can see Xiaohongxing as an equivalent to Meta’s pixel: it enables connecting data between your online store (which in China will happen on Tmall/JD) and social channels.

How to use Xiaohongxing ?

Which requirements ?

There are requirements to be able to use Xiaohongxing:

• Influencer campaigns have to be launched through the Red backend (“Sponsored notes”)
• The campaign has to include at least 2 KOLs

Red charges 10% for sponsored campaigns, but using Xiaohongxing doesn’t cost anything additional. Sponsored campaigns can also be boosted through ads, and get more traffic.

What kind of products to promote via Xiaohongxing ?

Because Xiaohongxing relies on Red audience, target products will be the ones fitting Red users’ typical purchasing profile :

• Mid-range products (200–1,000 RMB)
• Skincare
• Jewelry
• Fashion

What conversion window should you use on Xiaohongxing ?

Conversions in China can take extremely long. Indeed, Chinese users tend to use several touchpoints before making a purchasing decision.

• RED x Tmall: 40% conversions occur after 7 days (T+7)
• RED x JD: 40% conversions occur after 15 days (T+15)

We therefore recommend monitoring conversions for 30 days post-campaign.

What kind of ROI can you expect from Xiaohongxing ?

ROI from Xiaohongxing varies for different industries:

• Beauty: Top-50 ROI 150%
• 3C Electronics: Top-50 ROI 200%
• Fashion: Top-50 ROI 250%
• Home & Decor: Top-50 ROI 200%

However, some top brands used Xiaohongxing to achieve outstanding ROI:

• Chopard indicated they doubled their ads ROI by using Xiaohongxing
• Cosmetics brand Kans reached 800% ROI via Xiaohongxing campaigns

Conclusion

Xiaohongxing is already an essential tool in China marketers’ toolkit. It brings a refreshing wind of transparency into Red campaigns, and helps brands achieve better results. Although Red ads are competitive today in China, brands managed to double their ad returns by leveraging these increased targetting capabilities.