(Source: https://pltfrm.com.cn)
Entering China without a data-backed budget allocation model is one of the costliest mistakes overseas brands make. In 2025, the gap between top-performing brands and average ones lies in how precisely they distribute spend across awareness, consideration, and conversion stages. Here are the five allocation principles that leading overseas brands are following right now.
1. Adopt the 20-30-50 Funnel Allocation Rule
1.1 Top-of-Funnel Awareness: 20% of Budget High-reach, low-frequency placements on Douyin information flow, WeChat moments, and Bilibili launch videos remain essential for new overseas brands. The goal is brand exposure to at least 15-20 million unique users within the first 90 days.
1.2 Mid-Funnel Consideration: 30% of Budget Xiaohongshu species notes, Douyin search ads, and Baidu content marketing receive the largest mid-funnel investment. These channels excel at turning curiosity into preference through authentic user-generated content and detailed product explanations.
2. Prioritize ROI-Measurable Channels First
2.1 Performance-First Mindset Overseas brands achieving over 4.5 ROAS allocate at least 60% of budget to channels with closed-loop attribution (Douyin shop ads, Taobao alliance, Dewu SEM). This ensures every yuan spent can be directly tied to sales.
2.2 Brand Building as Calculated Investment The remaining 40% goes to long-term equity building on Xiaohongshu, WeChat, and offline-digital integrated campaigns where ROI is measured through brand lift studies rather than immediate sales.
3. Seasonal and Festival Budget Spikes That Actually Work
3.1 618 and Double 11 Still Matter Top overseas brands increase budget 3-5× during 618 and Double 11, but 70% of the spike now goes to Douyin and Taobao Live rather than traditional banners. Pre-warming two months in advance with Xiaohongshu species content has become standard practice.
3.2 Emerging Festivals: 520, 818, 99 New shopping festivals created by platforms receive 15-25% extra budget from agile brands, often delivering higher ROAS than traditional big promotions due to lower competition.
4. Regional Budget Allocation Beyond Tier-1 Cities
4.1 Lower-Tier City Surge Brands targeting mass-market categories now dedicate 35-45% of budget to Kuaishou, Pinduoduo, and regional KOLs in Tier 3-5 cities where CPI remains 40-60% lower than in Shanghai or Beijing.
4.2 Localized Creative and Language Successful campaigns use regional dialects, local memes, and city-specific pain points, achieving 2-3× higher engagement than nationally standardized creatives.
Case Study: European Luxury Cosmetics Brand L’Occitane From January to October 2025, L’Occitane adopted a 25-35-40 allocation model (awareness-consideration-conversion) with heavy emphasis on Xiaohongshu (38%) and Douyin livestream (42%). The precise regional split and festival timing resulted in 318% YoY growth and top 3 ranking among overseas beauty brands on Tmall flagship store.
PLTFRM is an international brand consulting agency that works with companies such as Red, TikTok, Tmall, Baidu, and other well-known Chinese internet e-commerce platforms. With more than 10 years helping overseas brands crack the China code, we turn complex budget decisions into predictable growth. Contact us, and we will help you find the best China e-commerce platform for you. Search PLTFRM for a free consultation!
