China’s digital market is massive – and still growing. If you’re ignoring it, you’re missing out on some serious business. We’re talking about a market that’s hit $53.4 million in digital advertising in 2024 alone. By 2030, this figure is expected to reach a staggering $145.4 million. That’s the sort of growth most people can only dream about.
But here’s something that could transform your approach to this market. What works in the States or in Europe can’t be expected to work in China. You can’t translate content into Chinese and expect incredible results.
Why?
China’s digital world operates on completely different rules. The platforms are different. The way people interact online is different. Even what makes someone laugh or cry can be completely different.
If you’re serious about cracking this market, here’s everything you need to know.
Main Digital Marketing Channels in China
While Facebook, Instagram, and Google reign supreme in the rest of the world, China’s digital landscape revolves around platforms you’ve probably never heard of. But if you want to get anywhere, you need to familiarize yourself with these immediately.
1. Search Engine Marketing
- Baidu: China’s Google is Baidu. It’s the search king here, and if you think you can simply copy-paste your Google SEO strategy here, you’re in for a rude awakening. Chinese search engines have entirely different rules.
- Other search engines like 360 Search and Sogou exist, but have much smaller market shares. For most brands, Baidu is the top priority.
2. Social Media Marketing
Social media in China is not just a space for communication—it’s a complete digital economy. Platforms combine content, community, commerce, and services into super apps. Whether your goal is awareness, engagement, or conversion, social media marketing in China offers unparalleled reach and versatility.
- WeChat: With over 1.3 billion users, WeChat is used by users for practically everything. From chatting with friends, paying for coffee, reading news, shopping – you name it. For businesses, this is where relationships happen. You can set up official accounts, integrate payments, and even build mini-programs that can turn casual browsers into actual customers. If you skip WeChat, you’re basically invisible to Chinese consumers.
- Douyin: Douyin is the Chinese version of TikTok – but considerably bigger and more powerful. This application has about 766 million daily users in China alone. But Douyin isn’t just for entertainment anymore. It has successfully become China’s fourth-largest online seller. This means people aren’t just watching videos; they’re also buying directly through live streams.
- Xiaohongshu: Xiaohongshu, also commonly referred to as the RedNote, is China’s combination of Instagram and Pinterest. Here is where lifestyle content thrives. If you’re selling anything related to fashion, lifestyle, or beauty, this platform could make your brand a household name.
- Weibo: This application works a lot like Twitter, but with Chinese characteristics. It’s ideal for jumping on trending topics and having real-time conversations with your audience. With approximately 583 million monthly active users and two-thirds of users under 31 years old, this platform functions as China’s microblogging hub. News breaks and cultural conversations all happen in real-time. Unlike WeChat’s private messaging focus, Weibo emphasizes public discourse and content discovery through trending topics and hashtags.
3. Video Marketing & Live Streaming
Video content is one of the fastest-growing digital formats in China. Chinese users actively engage with short, entertaining, and interactive videos—and many watch them daily. In fact, around 71% of short video and live-stream viewers have made a purchase after watching, making video marketing a key driver of conversions and a critical part of most brand strategies.
- Douyin and Kuaishou are the two biggest players in this space. Douyin leans toward polished, urban content and high-end brands, while Kuaishou performs better in lower-tier cities and with grassroots influencers.
- Taobao Live (by Alibaba) is another powerful platform—especially for live commerce. Influencers and brand hosts can showcase products in real time and drive direct conversions during streams.
- Bilibili, a platform originally popular among anime and gaming fans, has grown into a Gen Z video hub. It supports long-form, community-driven content and works well for brands in entertainment, tech, and education.
4. e-Commerce Marketing
China’s e-commerce is more advanced and integrated than anywhere else in the world. Chinese shoppers are highly social, mobile-first, and brand-aware—and they expect seamless online buying experiences. Successful e-commerce marketing involves a mix of store optimization, paid search, live streaming, influencer collaboration, and customer service.
- Tmall and Taobao (Alibaba): These are two of the biggest e-commerce marketplaces. Tmall caters to premium and international brands, while Taobao is more mass-market. Both support brand stores, in-app search, banner ads, and live streams.
- JD.com: Known for logistics and product authenticity, JD is strong in electronics, appliances, and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG). Brands can use JD’s advertising tools, including search ads and branded storefronts.
- Pinduoduo: A rising star in social commerce, this app drives purchases through group buying and gamified incentives. It’s especially effective for budget-conscious shoppers in lower-tier cities.
- Douyin and RED Stores: Increasingly, social media platforms like Douyin and Xiaohongshu offer in-app storefronts, turning content into commerce instantly.
5. Pay-per-click Advertising (PPC)
PPC advertising is essential for driving quick traffic and visibility in China. Top options include:
- Baidu Ads: The go-to platform for paid search. Keywords must be localized, and compliance with China’s ad regulations is a must.
- Tencent Ads: Covers WeChat, QQ, and Tencent’s broader media network. Great for display ads, moments ads, and app promotions.
- ByteDance Ads: Includes Douyin, Toutiao, and Xigua. Offers granular audience targeting and powerful video ad formats.
- Alibaba Uni Marketing: A unified marketing solution across Tmall, Taobao, and other Alibaba platforms—great for full-funnel e-commerce campaigns.
The trick to acing digital marketing in China is simple: stop trying to be everywhere. It’s important that you pick your battles based on where your actual customers are and what you’re trying to accomplish. While most consumer brands need to be on multiple platforms, B2B companies might be just fine focusing on WeChat and Baidu.
How to Succeed with Digital Marketing in China
Make Your Brand Feel Native
Here’s where most brands fall short: they think marketing in China is simply running their English content through Google Translate and calling it a day. But that’s not how it works.
When you invest in proper marketing translation, not only are you getting words right, you’re creating genuine connections. When consumers sense that you get them and their troubles, that’s when remarkable things happen.
Learn How China SEO Really Works
If you think SEO is just SEO everywhere, you’re going to have a difficult time wrapping your head around Chinese SEO. China SEO is a lot like learning a new language, even if you’re an SEO expert.
Baidu controls over 70 % of searches in China. The first thing you need to know is that speed is everything. Chinese internet users have no patience for slow websites – a lot like most users around the globe. So, if your site is taking more than a few seconds to load, people are bound to bounce.
When it comes to keyword research, forget everything you already know. Chinese people are searching differently. They’re using longer phrases, including more context and thinking about their problems in ways that might surprise you. Which brings us to our initial point: you can’t be translating English keywords and calling it a day.
Work With Influencers People Actually Trust
Trust in China is everything. And that’s where Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) and Key Opinion Consumers (KOCs) come in. Over 765 million people in China watch live streams, and shopping content is the most popular category.
KOLs are simply your big-name influencers with massive followings and professional content creation skills. KOCs are regular people whose honest reviews can make or break your product launch. The smartest brands? They’re working with both. Use KOLs to get on people’s radar, and KOCs to actually convince them into buying.
Build Your Own Audience
What most people fail to understand is that the goal isn’t merely reaching people. It’s owning the relationship. Building private domain traffic, audiences that you can talk to directly without paying platform fees every single time.
Think of WeChat mini-programs, exclusive communities, and membership programs. Instead of constantly paying to reach the same people over and over again, you give them a reason to join your private space. Then, you take care of them. By offering them exclusive content, early access to products, and personalized services that make them feel extra special.
Yes, it’s more work upfront. But the payoff? It’s huge. Lower costs, higher customer lifetime value, and relationships that actually stick around.
Create Content That Fits The Platform
What works on one platform will probably flop on another. Douyin content needs to be fast, entertaining, and on-trend. This means catchy music, visual effects, and cultural references that Chinese users actually care about.
WeChat is different. It’s more thoughtful, relationship-focused. People follow your WeChat account because they want to hear from you specifically, so your content better be worth their time.
Understanding these differences will save you from creating boring, generic content that doesn’t work anywhere.
5 Digital Marketing Trends in China to Look Out for
AI Personalization Is Revolutionizing Everything
The AI-powered personalization in China is absolutely incredible. Chinese consumers expect recommendations that feel perfectly tailored to their needs and interests. When you nail personalization, you create unforgettable experiences for your customers.
The platforms use AI for everything, content recommendations, product suggestions, and shopping experiences that make customers feel truly understood. Brands that master AI-driven customer segmentation and predictive analytics are creating the kind of customer experiences that build lasting loyalty.
Live-Stream Shopping Is Creating Amazing Opportunities
Live-streaming commerce continues to explode, and the opportunities are incredible. Douyin holds about 47% of the live e-commerce market, and this isn’t just about showing products on camera. The best live-streamers in China are masterful entertainers who create engaging, interactive shopping experiences that customers absolutely love.
They tell compelling stories, connect with viewers in real-time, and create genuine excitement that turns browsers into buyers on the spot. If you’re ready to embrace live-streaming as part of your China strategy, you’re positioning yourself at the forefront of where retail is heading.
Search and Social Are Becoming One
The boundaries between search, social, and shopping are disappearing fast. People discover products on social media, research them through peer recommendations, and buy without ever leaving the platform.
This means you can’t think about social media platforms in China and search as separate things anymore. Your content strategy needs to work across all these touchpoints, and it needs to be consistent everywhere people might find you.
Private Domain Traffic Is the New Gold
As advertising costs keep going up, brands are getting serious about building their own audiences. This means investing in WeChat mini-programs, exclusive communities, and direct relationships that don’t depend on paying platforms every time you want to talk to your customers.
This requires patience. You’re not optimizing for quick wins; instead, you’re building relationships that provide value over months and years.
Values and National Pride Matter More Than Ever
Chinese consumers are increasingly choosy about which brands they support. They want brands that respect Chinese culture and genuinely appreciate Chinese achievements. But here’s the thing, it has to be real.
The brands that get this right find authentic ways to connect with Chinese values without looking like they’re just trying to make a quick buck.
So, Are You Ready for This?
Social media marketing in China is incredible, but it’s not for everyone. The brands that succeed are the ones willing to do the hard work of really understanding this market instead of just seeing it as another box to check on their global expansion list.
The opportunity is massive, but you need to choose the right platforms based on real data, invest in proper localization, build authentic relationships with the right influencers, and stay ahead of trends that actually matter to Chinese consumers.
Ready to do this right?
At EC Innovations, we help international brands navigate China’s digital landscape without the expensive mistakes. We don’t just translate your content, we help you connect with Chinese consumers in a way that feels authentic and drives real results.
Understanding what languages are spoken in China and the cultural nuances is just the beginning. Contact us today to see how we can help you turn your China marketing strategy from a translation project into a real growth opportunity.
