Paid Media & Performance Marketing
From Baidu, WeChat and Douyin to office-building lift ads: channels chosen by audience, creative and landing pages built for each, every lead tracked — and, for Europe, media and production resources from our French headquarters.
What to get right before advertising in China
According to China's State Administration for Market Regulation, online advertising revenue reached RMB 1.357 trillion in 2025 — 66.2% of all advertising revenue. Most spend is online, but platforms are fragmented: search on Baidu and Bing, social and content on WeChat, Douyin and Xiaohongshu, plus offline lift media and trade fairs.
International brands often copy their global channel mix, run creative and landing pages that miss Chinese users' intent, see clicks but not lead quality, and optimize too slowly as acquisition costs climb.
How we work
Media strategy, creative, landing pages and tracking run as one system, so every yuan can be traced to a result:
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01
Goals and audience
First decide whether the campaign is for leads, awareness or sales; then use personas to define who to reach, on which platforms, at which stage of their decision.
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02
Channel mix
Channels follow the audience and the goal, not the latest trend: search for high-intent demand, social and content platforms for awareness, lift media and other offline placements for specific contexts.
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03
Creative and landing pages
Video, image and ad copy made for each platform's formats, with dedicated landing pages or WeChat forms so every click has a clear next step.
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04
Tracking and optimization
UTM parameters, forms and SCRM bring lead data back, so we optimize for lead quality and cost per lead rather than clicks alone, with regular reports.
Channels we run
- Search ads: Baidu and Bing search ads and brand zones (see SEO and SEM)
- WeChat ads: Moments and official-account ads leading to your account, Channels or Mini Program
- Short video and content platforms: Douyin (Ocean Engine) and Xiaohongshu for awareness and seeding
- Offline media: office-building lift ads that reach white-collar professionals
- Trade media: B2B industry sites, vertical platforms and trade-fair opportunities
Channel choice is always driven by audience, goals and measurable return.
Our French headquarters: media and production in Europe
Dékuple Group is headquartered in France, has been in business for more than 50 years, employs 1,200+ people in 11 countries and works with more than 750 key accounts and international mid-caps. For brands advertising in Europe, or Chinese brands expanding there, we can draw on headquarters' resources:
- Media in Europe: digital advertising, promotions and influencer campaigns planned and run with local European teams
- Outdoor and creative advertising: OOH, and FOOH — fake out-of-home creative made for social media
- Content production: 150+ creative staff and a 1,500 m² creative and production space in Paris with 3 TV studios and 5 editing rooms
- European auto shows and fairs: marketing support for exhibiting brands
Our China team handles your coordination; execution in Europe is done by headquarters' teams.
Paid media work we've done
- Italian food brand, 618 shopping festival: nationwide Douyin video ads delivered 1,415,883 impressions and 23,465 clicks in one week, a 1.66% click rate, alongside lift ads in office buildings across major cities, driving traffic to the brand's Tmall store.
- International testing, inspection and certification group (B2B): promoted a new service in China in three phases — targeting, analysis and execution — generating qualified leads through digital marketing.
Better together with our other services
- Before spending, use personas and a Digital Footprint audit to decide who to reach and whether your own channels are ready to receive the traffic
- Send ad traffic to a brand environment you control, then nurture leads with SCRM
- Use strong content from social media management as ad creative
What to have ready before we start
The better prepared you are, the sooner campaigns go live. Anything missing we can sort out together in the first call:
- Campaign goal: leads, awareness or sales, and how success will be measured
- Audience and regions: priority audiences, industries, cities or countries
- Budget and timing: overall budget range and campaign period
- Accounts and documents: existing ad accounts and the company documents needed to open new ones
- Material: brand guidelines, product information, images and videos you can use
- Follow-up: landing page or official account, forms, and how sales will follow up leads
Key Data & Sources
| Data | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| China online advertising revenue in 2025 / share of all advertising revenue | RMB 1.357 trillion / 66.2% | www.stdaily.com |
| Combined MAU of Weixin and WeChat (30 June 2026) | 1.439 billion | www.tencent.com |
| China search engine market share, all platforms (Sept 2026): Baidu / Bing | 46.65% / 21.76% | gs.statcounter.com |
FAQ
Where should an international brand start advertising in China?
It depends on the goal: for B2B leads with clear intent, start with Baidu search and WeChat ads; for awareness and affinity, Douyin, Xiaohongshu or lift media. We recommend a channel mix based on your personas.
What do we need to open ad accounts?
Platforms generally require a company registered in China and supporting documents, with extra licences in some industries. We list what's needed before kickoff and help with the setup.
What's the minimum budget?
There's no single number — it depends on channels, competition and goals. We first estimate keyword volume, cost per click or cost per impression, then recommend a budget that fits your targets.
How do you judge lead quality from ads?
UTM parameters, landing-page forms and SCRM record each lead's source and follow-up status, so we optimize for lead quality and cost per lead, not just clicks.
Can you run advertising in Europe?
Yes. With our French headquarters' teams we can plan and run digital, outdoor and creative advertising and content production in Europe, with our China team coordinating.
Do you run e-commerce platform ads?
Our paid media focuses on B2B lead generation and brand awareness — search, WeChat, Douyin and lift media. Large-scale in-platform e-commerce sales ads aren't our focus; where needed we work alongside your e-commerce team or partners.
Related services
Digital Footprint (DFP) Audit for China
Dékuple China's Digital Footprint (DFP) audit uses a 100-point scoring framework across core channels, content, and search & AI to measure how your brand and its main competitors really show up in China's digital ecosystem — with prioritized recommendations and a pilot plan.
Learn more →Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)
Dékuple China's GEO service gets international brands into the answers of Doubao, DeepSeek, Qwen and other AI assistants: questions chosen by user intent, in-depth content from a brand knowledge base, publishing where AI looks, and ongoing visibility tracking.
Learn more →SCRM & Marketing Automation in China
Dékuple China helps international brands select, set up and run SCRM (social CRM) in China: we compare vendors against your business needs, build profiles, tags, lead scoring and automated journeys, run the system ourselves first, then train your team to use it — with dashboards that show how people, traffic and content drive leads and conversion.
Learn more →Want to see this service in action?
Whether you are an enterprise seeking a new perspective on the Chinese market, or a professional company looking to improve marketing performance, we provide expert services and insights.
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