Xiaohongshu and Lemon8 Marketing in Singapore: A Practical Guide
How Singapore F&B, beauty, renovation and retail brands can use Xiaohongshu (RED) and Lemon8: searchable notes, KOCs, disclosure rules and honest measurement.
Frequently asked questions
Is Xiaohongshu (RED) worth it for a Singapore business?
Xiaohongshu is worth testing if your customers make researched, visual decisions and include Mandarin-speaking locals, new citizens, PRs, students or visitors from China. It works best for F&B, beauty, renovation and interior design, retail and tourism-facing businesses, because people use it to search for recommendations before they buy. It is a weak fit if your buyers are mostly English-only or your product is not visual.
Should I post on Xiaohongshu in English or Chinese?
Write the title and first lines in Simplified Chinese if you want to reach the core RED audience, because that is how most users search the app. You can add a short English line for bilingual readers, and keep Singapore place names in English where people search that way, such as Tiong Bahru or Jewel. Posting in English only will limit how often your notes surface in search.
Can Singapore businesses run ads on Lemon8?
Yes, according to TikTok's own Ads Manager help centre, Lemon8 is available as a placement for performance auction ads in Singapore, with Traffic, App Promotion, Lead Generation and Sales objectives. Ads can appear in the For You feed, search results and the immersive feed. Lemon8 results are included within TikTok reporting and are not separated unless you set up custom reporting.
Is it legal to pay for reviews or post fake reviews on Xiaohongshu or Lemon8 in Singapore?
Posting fake reviews is treated as an unfair practice under Singapore's Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act, and the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore has taken action against businesses that did it, including one that used ChatGPT to write fake reviews. Paying or gifting creators is allowed, but the ASAS social media guidelines say any commercial relationship must be clearly disclosed in the content. Both platforms also prohibit fake engagement.
What is the difference between a KOL and a KOC on Xiaohongshu?
A KOL (key opinion leader) is an established creator with a large following who is paid for reach. A KOC (key opinion consumer) is an ordinary user with a small following who posts genuine-feeling experiences, often in exchange for a product or a hosted visit. For most Singapore SMEs, several KOCs who actually visit and write detailed, searchable notes do more than one KOL post, but every one of them still needs to disclose the arrangement.
An insight from Rampage Connect — a Singapore digital marketing and web studio. Contact: hello@rampageconnect.com