I’m as patriotic as anyone (born in Dayton, Ohio), but not blind to what China is doing.

They’re building systems for e-commerce and infrastructure– Belt and Road Initiative is a $4-8 trillion dollar investment,

Huawei 5G is way ahead of us, so we have to ban them– even backed by billions from the Chinese government.

Singles Day in China was $38.4 billion dollars, while our Black Friday was $7.8 billion.

And in digital marketing, they’re systematically building influencer networks like the Russians developed athletes, instead of hoping brands would sponsor celebrities.

Now it’s time for us to build better systems unless you’re okay with Chinese brands being dominant in America– like McDonald’s is elsewhere.

TikTok, Lenovo, and Alibaba are Chinese– and I’m okay with it. Even Burger King has been a British company until bought by a Brazilian holding company– but markets natively in each country, so we wouldn’t know.

Now it’s time for us to catch up, instead of being stubbornly patriotic and complacent.

I’m spending a lot of time in Asia this year to understand manufacturing and marketing– want to join me?

The Future of Influencer Marketing Is in China

Dennis Yu

Dennis Yu is co-author of the #1 best selling book on Amazon in social media, The Definitive Guide to TikTok Ads. He has spent a billion dollars on Facebook ads across his agencies and agencies he advises. Mr. Yu is the "million jobs" guy-- on a mission to create one million jobs via hands-on social media training, partnering with universities and professional organizations. You can find him quoted in major publications and on television such as CNN, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, NPR, and LA Times. Clients have included Nike, Red Bull, the Golden State Warriors, Ashley Furniture, Quiznos-- down to local service businesses like real estate agents and dentists. He's spoken at over 750 conferences in 20 countries, having flown over 6 million miles in the last 30 years to train up young adults and business owners. He speaks for free as long as the organization believes in the job-creation mission and covers business class travel. You can find him hiking tall mountains, eating chicken wings, and taking Kaqun oxygen baths-- likely in a city near you.

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