As two of the earliest Chinese tech companies to establish a serious presence in the Middle East, ByteDance and Tencent's localization paths offer lessons that smaller brands can apply at a fraction of the scale.
TikTok built the ecosystem before chasing growth
Rather than leading with paid advertising, TikTok invested heavily in supporting local creators first — through creator funds, region-specific challenges, and deep partnerships with local influencers — letting the platform's content ecosystem come alive before pushing user acquisition and ad revenue.
Localization goes well beyond translation
Whether it's TikTok's challenge themes or Tencent's approach to localizing its gaming products, both companies invested significant resources in understanding Gulf audience preferences — avoiding content themes that clash with local values, and adjusting campaign timing around Ramadan and other religious calendars.
Long-term creator relationships, not one-off placements
Across TikTok and Tencent-linked product launches, the same creators are often seen working with the brand for months or years, not single campaign bursts. That accumulated trust is difficult to replicate with short-term placements.
What smaller brands can take from this
Most brands entering the region don't have ByteDance or Tencent's budgets, but the same principles apply: prioritize local creator ecosystem investment, take cultural detail seriously rather than relying on translation, and build long-term rather than one-off influencer relationships.
Our influencer marketing team runs local creator networks in Dubai year-round, helping smaller brands apply the same localization logic on a leaner budget.