How to Leverage Xiaohongshu's New Sprout Plan for 200% Higher Conversions?

In today’s competitive digital landscape, brands—especially those in the cold-start phase—face significant challenges in gaining visibility and driving conversions. Xiaohongshu (rednote), China’s leading lifestyle and e-commerce platform, has introduced the "New Sprout Plan" to help emerging brands overcome these hurdles. This initiative provides targeted support for content seeding, influencer collaborations, and conversion optimization, enabling brands to establish a strong presence quickly.

Recent success stories, such as New Oriental Smart Hardware’s "Zi Zi Tong" and Mibeier’s Blue Bandage Mask, demonstrate how strategic use of Xiaohongshu marketing’s tools—including Xiaohongshu Ads and influencer partnerships—can lead to counter-cyclical growth and industry benchmarks. This article explores these case studies, key strategies for leveraging the "New Sprout Plan," and best practices for brands looking to replicate these results.

I. Introduction to Xiaohongshu’s "New Sprout Plan" for Brand Growth

The "New Sprout Plan" is a strategic initiative tailored to support early-stage brands by integrating them into Xiaohongshu’s expansive influencer network and content ecosystem. Unlike conventional Xiaohongshu Advertising, this program emphasizes organic content seeding, enabling brands to cultivate credibility through authentic user-generated content. For cold-start brands, the advantages are significant: cost-effective exposure through Xiaohongshu’s KFS strategy, faster audience trust via high-quality influencer-backed content, and improved search visibility to drive organic traffic.

Xiaohongshu marketing’s community-driven model is particularly effective for brands targeting young, high-spending consumers, as 73.1% of users rely on the platform for luxury product research and 66.8% use it as their primary source for discovering new products. This positions Xiaohongshu marketing as a powerful tool for boosting brand awareness and conversions. Features like search ads, brand zones, and influencer collaborations have proven instrumental for brands such as New Oriental Smart Hardware, helping to streamline the conversion path and maximize ROI.

II. Case Study: New Oriental Smart Hardware’s Success with "Zi Zi Tong"

1. Marketing Background and Industry Trends in Educational Smart Hardware

Following China’s "double reduction" policy, which restricted after-school tutoring, demand shifted toward self-directed learning tools. New Oriental Smart Hardware identified this trend and launched "Zi Zi Tong", an AI-powered learning device, to meet the growing need for personalized education solutions.

2. Strategic Use of the "New Sprout Plan" for Content Seeding and Blogger Recruitment

To maximize impact with a limited budget, New Oriental leveraged Xiaohongshu’s "New Sprout Plan" to:

• Recruit parenting, education, and student lifestyle bloggers to create authentic reviews.
• Stratify audiences into parents, university students, and professionals, ensuring tailored messaging.
• Generate high-quality blogs covering product reviews, study tips, and professional recommendations.

This approach created a content ecosystem that boosted search rankings and attracted organic traffic.

3. Optimization of Conversion Paths Through Reposting and Search Ads

To address low direct purchase rates, Xiaohongshu’s commercialization team recommended:

• Reposting high-performing notes with direct purchase links.
• Running Xiaohongshu Ads (search ads) to capture users actively looking for learning tools.
• Setting up a brand zone to dominate search results for relevant keywords.

The result? A 200% higher conversion rate than the industry average, 6,000+ add-to-cart orders, and 2,000+ units sold in three weeks.

III. Key Strategies for Leveraging the "New Sprout Plan"

To establish credibility, early-stage brands should focus on batch-producing high-quality, targeted blogs to flood the platform with relevant content, as demonstrated by New Oriental’s strategy for consistent visibility. Additionally, audience stratification—tailoring messaging to specific groups like parents, students, and professionals—ensures higher engagement and relevance. To maximize reach and shorten the purchase journey, a multi-channel approach combining organic seeding (e.g., reposting top-performing notes) with paid Xiaohongshu Advertising (e.g., optimized search ads and brand zones) proves highly effective.

IV. Measuring Success and Achieving Counter-Cyclical Growth

New Oriental’s campaign demonstrated exceptional results, achieving 200% higher conversion rates than competitors, which validated the effectiveness of Xiaohongshu marketing’s seeding strategy. The post-Singles’ Day sales surge further reinforced the platform’s long-term impact, as outperformed other e-commerce platforms in sustained performance. This success not only set a new benchmark for educational hardware marketing but also inspired similar brands to adopt innovative strategies, highlighting its influence in reshaping industry standards.

V. Additional Case Insights: Mibeier’s Blue Bandage Mask Campaign

Mibeier effectively utilized Xiaohongshu data to implement scenario-based marketing by analyzing top skincare trends (brightening, hydration, repair) and strategically linking its Blue Bandage Mask to the popular user behavior of "staying up late to watch dramas." This approach was further amplified through traffic and trend integration, particularly by collaborating with top influencer Li Jiaqi during the 618 shopping festival, which significantly boosted brand visibility and solidified its position as the #1 ranked mask. Additionally, Mibeier adopted an integrated operational strategy, combining data-driven content optimization with targeted Xiaohongshu Ads. This resulted in a 50% increase in Xiaohongshu searches and a remarkable 186% surge in e-commerce searches, showcasing the brand's ability to adapt and optimize in real time.

VI. Best Practices for Cold-Start Brands

For cold-start brands on Xiaohongshu marketing, adopting best practices is crucial for success, and partnering with an experienced operational team like Topkee can significantly accelerate this process. Early-stage content accumulation and niche targeting form the foundation, as brands need to build a solid content base before scaling paid efforts. Topkee addresses this through customized theme scheduling, where their team creates social articles that align with both brand uniqueness and industry relevance. By strategically combining timeliness with platform features, they ensure regular content releases that enhance brand exposure while maintaining a balanced mix of corporate and non-corporate topics. This systematic approach to content planning helps brands establish credibility and visibility during the critical cold-start phase.

To maximize ROI, Topkee implements data-driven optimizations across its comprehensive Xiaohongshu operational services, ensuring every marketing dollar is spent efficiently. By leveraging performance metrics (CTR, add-to-cart rates, engagement analytics), Topkee guides strategic budget allocation and campaign adjustments. The platform's real-time user engagement capabilities, including proactive comment management and @me responses, foster trust and amplify conversion efficiency.

Topkee’s precision advertising combines diversified ad formats (images, short videos, live streams) with advanced targeting to capture high-intent users. The team's data insight analysis monitors KPIs like fan portraits and market trends, enabling dynamic optimization of note content and ad strategies. For high-conversion notes, Topkee employs spotlight interaction plans—crafting viral-worthy titles, platform-aligned visuals, and storytelling-driven videos to boost engagement.

Additionally, social customer service enhances performance through systematic private message/comment management, transforming interactions into sales leads. The integration of e-commerce shopping features with Xiaohongshu Advertising creates seamless purchase pathways, while clue collection from user behavior analysis refines targeting. These tactics, rooted in Topkee’s expertise in theme scheduling and trend-driven content, collectively drive higher-than-average conversion rates and sustainable traffic-sales growth.

Conclusion and Future Outlook

Successful campaigns on Xiaohongshu highlight key strategies such as content seeding for cold-start brands, multi-channel approaches (e.g., reposting, Xiaohongshu Ads, and brand zones) to maximize conversions, and data-driven optimizations for long-term growth. The platform’s adaptable "New Sprout Plan" strategy can be replicated across diverse industries, from education to skincare, demonstrating its broad applicability. As Xiaohongshu’s influence in brand marketing and e-commerce expands, early adopters leveraging its tools will secure a competitive edge, fueled by growing user trust. For brands aiming to achieve similar results, partnering with experts is a recommended step to ensure success.

Appendix:

• New Oriental Smart Hardware Case Study
• Mibeier Blue Bandage Mask Campaign
• Xiaohongshu Luxury Consumer Insights