The First 90 Days of a Chinese Tourism Campaign: Our Process
The first 90 days of a Chinese tourism campaign decide whether the next 6 months work or not. We have launched enough of these to know: months 4, 5, and 6 are built on what happens in month 1.
Days 1 to 30: setup and no shortcuts
Month one is not sexy. There are no viral posts. There is no traffic spike. What there is: a lot of setup work that clients sometimes want to skip. We do not let them.
In the first 30 days, we handle platform setup. For foreign businesses, the WeChat Official Account verification process alone takes 6 to 12 weeks. You cannot speed that up. So we start it on day one. While that runs in the background, we set up the Xiaohongshu account, begin the Ctrip listing verification if needed, and audit the client’s existing Chinese digital footprint.
We also run a content audit. What photos does the client have? Are they shot in a way that works for Chinese platforms? Xiaohongshu rewards detail and atmosphere. Douyin rewards movement and sound. Most Western tourism photography is neither. We brief the client on what content we need before we start posting anything.
Days 31 to 60: first content and first signals
By week five, the Xiaohongshu account is live and posting. We start with 8 to 12 posts in the first month, not daily blasts. Quality over volume. Each post gets a 7-day performance review: saves, shares, comments, and follower growth. These are the signals that tell us what the algorithm likes.
On Douyin, we typically activate 2 to 3 micro-KOLs in month two. Micro-KOLs with 10,000 to 100,000 followers cost between 5,000 and 30,000 RMB per post and give us better engagement than mega-KOLs for tourism content. The audience is more specific. The trust is higher. A follower of a niche travel creator trusts a recommendation more than a follower of a celebrity who posts everything.
We track two KPIs at this stage: engagement rate on content and cost per click to the booking page. Both benchmarks are set in the brief. If we are off by more than 20%, we adjust the content before the next sprint.
From the field: a Swiss ski resort that rushed month one
One client, a mid-size ski resort in the Swiss Alps, wanted results by month two. Their Chinese New Year window was coming in February and they had signed the contract in November. Two months of runway, not three.
We skipped the full content audit and went straight to Douyin KOL outreach. The content we had was nice but not adapted for the platform. Skiing videos without captions in Chinese, no price visible, no CTA. The posts got views but zero conversions. We had to redo the content in week six.
What we learned: the content audit is not optional. Even one week of prep saves three weeks of correction. The resort did not make the CNY window that year. They came back the following autumn with a proper 90-day setup and had a strong season.
What we got wrong at first
Our early campaigns treated month one as a soft launch. We would post a few things, see what stuck, and build from there. The problem is that Chinese platform algorithms need consistent signal, not occasional posts. An account that posts three times in month one and then picks up in month two looks inactive to the Xiaohongshu algorithm. It gets less distribution.
We lost one client because results did not come until month five. The account was too slow to build. Now we front-load month one with platform setup AND content strategy AND first posts in parallel. The ramp-up is faster.
What our 90-day process looks like now
- Week 1-2: Platform setup, WeChat verification submitted, Ctrip listing started
- Week 2-3: Content audit and brief, photography review, KOL shortlist prepared
- Week 3-4: First Xiaohongshu posts (3 per week minimum), Douyin account setup
- Week 5-6: First KOL activation on Douyin, content performance review
- Week 7-8: Adjust content based on data, Xiaohongshu follower milestone check
- Week 9-10: Second KOL wave if budget allows, WeChat content if account is live
- Week 11-12: Full 90-day review, KPI check, month 4-6 plan delivered
90-day milestone table
| Milestone | Timeline | Success indicator |
|---|---|---|
| WeChat verification submitted | Day 1 | Confirmation from Tencent |
| Xiaohongshu account live | Week 2 | Profile complete, bio in Chinese |
| First 10 Xiaohongshu posts | Month 1 | Average 200+ saves per post |
| First Douyin KOL post | Month 2 | 1%+ engagement rate |
| Ctrip listing live | Month 2 | Photos uploaded, pricing correct |
| First organic traction on XHS | Month 3 | One post with 1,000+ saves |
| WeChat account live | Month 2-3 | 6-12 weeks from submission |
Need help with your China campaign?
We can walk you through what 90 days looks like for your specific property or destination. Reach us on the contact page or read more about our services.
About Alex: Senior campaign manager at Chinese Tourist Agency. Specializes in Douyin and Xiaohongshu strategy for hotels, destinations and tour operators. Still learns something new every quarter.
