New Paradigms of Brand Marketing in the AI Era: How Chinese Overseas-Focused Enterprises Can Engage Key Global Buyers

2025-09-08

Driven by both globalization and digitalization, Chinese enterprises are expanding into overseas markets at an unprecedented pace. A growing number of Chinese brands have come to realize that relying solely on price advantages or product technology is no longer sufficient to win the trust of international customers. The key to global brand building is shifting from “information dissemination” to “trust establishment”.

In the current era of information overload—especially against the backdrop of rampant AI-generated content—building long-term trust for a brand in the minds of target audiences has become an increasingly challenging task, and the solutions to this challenge have also evolved. According to the latest research from LinkedIn, people are increasingly turning to their own communities or social networks to seek more trustworthy voices and information. Seventy-seven percent of B2B marketing leaders report that target audiences no longer rely on a company’s owned channels to evaluate brands; instead, they increasingly gather brand information from their social networks to form judgments.

Vianne Cai, Head of Marketing Solutions, LinkedIn China, commented: “The essence of brand communication is shifting from content delivery to authentic dialogue, and from one-way dissemination to two-way interaction. To further succeed in overseas markets, Chinese enterprises must adhere to new marketing paradigms and languages to influence the new generation of global buyers.”

Winning Trust: The Passport for Brands Competing in Global Markets as Gen Z Becomes Decision-Makers

In an era of information explosion, when professionals are faced with massive amounts of content, their top source of trust is not search engines or AI tools, but their professional networks. LinkedIn data shows that 43% of professionals worldwide regard their social networks as their first choice for work-related advice.

This trend is particularly pronounced for B2B enterprises. Seventy-one percent of global B2B buyers are Millennials and Gen Z, and they are more inclined to obtain decision-making information from trusted individuals rather than brand channels. Seventy-five percent of young people aged 18-24 say that no matter how advanced AI technology becomes, it cannot replace the intuition and insights from colleagues or industry experts.

For Chinese enterprises, building a brand in overseas markets requires deeper engagement with local audiences. By gaining insights into the cultural backgrounds and consumption habits of different markets, enterprises can encourage employees, customers, and industry experts to participate in co-creating content. Leveraging video formats to stimulate dialogue on LinkedIn allows brands to convey their propositions and values to target audiences’ minds in a more flexible way, enhancing emotional resonance and willingness to engage.

As the world’s largest professional social platform, LinkedIn hosts over 1.2 billion members with verified professional backgrounds. It is not only a channel for Chinese enterprises to disseminate information to overseas markets, but also a key venue for building brand trust.

Collaborating with Overseas KOLs to Create Original Content: A Key Strategy to Engage Global Buyers

Influencer marketing has become a crucial trend in B2B brand marketing. LinkedIn data reveals that 87% of B2B buyers are more likely to trust reliable industry experts or key opinion leaders (KOLs), and 80% of marketers say they will continue to increase investment in influencer-generated content. Converting customers’ trust in KOLs into trust in the brand has become a top priority for Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs).

However, for Chinese enterprises going global, collaborating solely with local influencers is far from enough to engage overseas audiences. Only by partnering with industry experts in target overseas markets can enterprises accurately reach their intended markets, enhance brand influence, and improve conversion efficiency in those regions.

LinkedIn brings together high-quality industry influencers from around the world, who hold significant trust and authority in their professional fields within their respective countries—especially in major target markets for Chinese overseas expansion, including Southeast Asia, Europe, North America, and the Middle East. By collaborating with these overseas KOLs, Chinese enterprises can effectively reach overseas audiences and influence local buyers. With the support of AI technology in LinkedIn Marketing Solutions, marketers can identify the most ideal collaboration partners more quickly and accurately.

Audrey Chia, aLinkedIn creator in brand marketing, noted: “Unlike the entertainment-focused content on other social platforms, LinkedIn is a social network dedicated to the professional and business sectors. My followers expect content that is not just entertaining or novel, but high-value information focused on business insights, industry knowledge, and professional development. This attribute provides enterprises with ample space to showcase their brand value, expand business partnerships, and attract potential customers. Therefore, LinkedIn also helps brands convert professional content into business opportunities.”

From Content Sharing**to Sparking Conversations: Original Video as the New Language of B2B Branding

In an environment of information overload, brand communication is shifting from “content sharing” to “sparking conversations”. LinkedIn data shows that 80% of global marketers believe that the most effective brand moments stem from inspiring authentic conversations.

When it comes to stimulating such authentic dialogue, video has emerged as the mainstream format for global brand marketing. Eighty-one percent of marketers consider video the “new language of the internet”. On LinkedIn, video uploads have increased by over 20% year-on-year, and video views have grown by more than 36% year-on-year.

Since 2024, some pioneering Chinese overseas-focused enterprises have begun to innovate their marketing strategies by collaborating with overseas KOLs on LinkedIn. Through highly immersive short videos, they accurately target overseas audiences and transform “hardcore technical jargon” into authentic brand experiences. For example, Trip.com, a world-renowned travel brand, partnered with Tianyu Xu—a Singapore-based KOL in the AI knowledge field—to create a series of creative short videos showcasing its AI product innovations and global employer brand. The videos covered topics such as how Trip.com uses AI to enhance user service experiences, promote sustainable development from multiple perspectives, and achieve the optimal balance between globalization and localization in terms of cultural values. These videos garnered significant attention and interest from professionals in the AI technology sector on LinkedIn, helping Trip.com further expand its base of overseas target audiences.(By Fran)