China’s ‘Marketing, a trillion-scale industry, serves as both a core driver of corporate growth and a barometer of economic development. On December 26, the renowned marketing research institute, Miaozhen Marketing Science Academy, in collaboration with the Global Digital Marketing Summit (GDMS) and the marketing think tank M360, officially released the “2025 China Digital Marketing Trends Report”.
Based on a two-month survey of 228 marketing advertisers across more than 20 industries, including food and beverage, beauty and personal care, healthcare, apparel, automotive, and 3C, the report forecasts the development trends of China’s marketing market in 2025.
The report reveals that in 2025, overall confidence in China’s marketing investment is relatively weak. The growth rate of corporate marketing expenses (including traditional and digital) is expected to be 8%, maintaining growth but showing a significant year-on-year decline. The average growth rate for social marketing investment is 10%, also experiencing a year-on-year drop.
Mobile and outdoor advertising remain key areas for increased investment, with platforms for “grass-planting” (user-generated content), short videos, and in-platform searches seeing the highest investment growth. On social media, the focus is on KOL content, brand live streaming, and influencer marketing. The conflict between brand building and sales performance is intensifying.
Tan Beiping, Dean of Miaozhen Marketing Science Academy, stated that 2025 will be a crucial watershed for China’s digital marketing industry. While digital marketing technology has reached unprecedented maturity, marketing seems to have strayed from its original purpose of “profitably meeting demand.” Many issues that were once considered the responsibility of CMOs have now evolved into CEO-level challenges.
The “China Digital Marketing Trends Report”, based on surveys of 228 advertisers and interviews with 12 marketing scientists, objectively reflects the latest investment and development trends, opportunities, and challenges in China’s marketing industry. Although the data in the report does not provide uplifting answers for the industry, it highlights many thought-provoking issues. It is hoped that this detailed report will guide marketing professionals as they navigate the challenges of 2025.
Average China’s Marketing Budget Growth of 8% in 2025, the Lowest in Five Years
Investment Confidence Shifts, 54% of Marketers Express Negative Sentiment
The report shows that 54% of advertisers believe that overall China’s marketing investment will decrease in 2025, an increase of 11 percentage points year-on-year. Among them, 13% expect a significant decrease, while 41% anticipate a slight reduction. Only 22% of advertisers believe marketing investment will increase, indicating an overall negative sentiment toward digital marketing investment in China.
In 2024, the actual growth rate of corporate marketing expenses was 8%, the same as in 2023. The projected growth rate for 2025 is also 8%, maintaining growth but down by 3 percentage points from last year’s 11%, marking the lowest level in five years.
By sample type, management-level professionals, those in local and content-driven business models, and those in the beauty industry are more optimistic. In contrast, execution-level professionals, those in lead-generation business models, media advertising roles, and the automotive industry are more pessimistic. Emerging brands are pessimistic about industry-wide marketing investment but very optimistic about their marketing spending.
Growing Divide Between Brand Building and Performance
56% Believe the Brand is Important, but 53% Continue to Cut Brand Spending to Boost Performance
In terms of China’s marketing challenges, measuring marketing effectiveness and improving ROI remain the primary difficulties for advertisers. The challenge of intensifying industry competition has risen in importance, moving from sixth place in 2022 to third this year. The lack of high-quality brand traffic resources has also become more significant.
In 2024, the main measures marketers took to address growth challenges included more pragmatic KPI management (73%, especially in the beauty and personal care industry), enhanced cross-departmental collaboration (60%, particularly in local business models), establishing rapid response mechanisms (53%, notably in the automotive industry), and strengthening data-driven marketing systems (52%). Creative and content teams faced more pragmatic performance metrics and increased cross-departmental collaboration.
Faced with the prospect of reduced budgets in 2025, 70% of marketers plan to allocate more resources to higher-ROI media, ranking first. 53% intend to reduce brand spending and increase performance-driven investments, up 11 percentage points from last year. 48% aim to innovate products to find market opportunities. However, when asked about growth opportunities in 2025, 56% of advertisers identified increased brand building as the top priority. The divide between brand building and performance continues to widen.
55% and 26% Increase in Investment in Mobile and Outdoor Advertising
Grass-Planting Platforms, Short Videos, and In-Platform Searches See Highest Investment Growth
In terms of China’s media investment trends, mobile internet and outdoor advertising are the primary areas for increased investment in 2025, with growth rates of 55% and 26%, respectively. Smart TV and PC investments are expected to grow by 8%, with a high proportion of “maintained” investment levels. Traditional media and smart devices are primarily seeing reduced or no investment.
On the internet, grass-planting platforms (87%), short videos (67%), and in-platform searches (52%) are the top areas for increased investment. In-platform search investment intentions far exceed those for general search engines, while video platform investments surpass those for social media feeds, and interest-based e-commerce investments outpace social commerce.
In terms of ad formats, KOL and performance advertising see the highest growth, with investment increases of 68% and 53%, respectively.
China’s Social Media Marketing Investment Expected to Grow by 10% on Average, the Lowest in Five Years
Focus on KOL Content, Brand Live Streaming, and Influencer Marketing
In 2025, consistent with the overall slowdown in marketing investment growth, corporate spending on social media marketing is also expected to slow, with an average growth rate of 10%. While this is relatively optimistic compared to the overall growth rate, it is still the lowest in five years.
Social media investments will focus on KOL content marketing, live streaming (brand-owned), and influencer marketing, with 74%, 47%, and 37% of advertisers prioritizing these areas, respectively. In short video marketing, advertisers are increasing investments in influencer content, live streaming, and push traffic, with 65%, 46%, and 37% of advertisers boosting these resources.
China AI Marketing Applications Still in Early Stages
Advertisers’ Top Expected Scenarios: AI Ad Placement, User Insights, and Product Innovation
AI-driven generative marketing is currently one of the fastest-growing areas in marketing technology. According to the *2024 China Digital Marketing Ecosystem Map* jointly released by Miaozhen Marketing Science Academy, the Digital Marketing Committee of the China Advertising Association, and the Tiger Awards, the number of AI marketing suppliers has increased by 55% year-on-year, reaching 200.
The 2025 trend survey data also shows that 54% of advertisers use AI tools weekly. However, AI applications are more concentrated in office settings, with AI marketing adoption still relatively low at 28%.
Nevertheless, there is significant growth potential for China’s AI marketing, with 41% of advertisers indicating they will use AI marketing in the future, ranking first among 18 options. They expect AI to address key areas such as AI-driven ad placement and optimization, user insights and data analysis, product innovation, and content distribution.