Influencer marketing is reshaping Southeast Asia’s ecommerce landscape, now driving 20 percent of all online sales and projected to reach $125 billion by 2027.
As social commerce evolves across YouTube, Facebook, and emerging platforms, brands need data-driven insights to stay competitive. The 2024 Southeast Asia eCommerce Influencer Marketing Report, a collaboration between impact.com and Cube Asia, reveals how shopping habits are transforming—and what this means for your marketing strategy.
This analysis breaks down key findings from the report, offering actionable insights whether you’re launching your first influencer campaign or optimizing an existing program.
Key takeaways from this blog
- Trust drives purchases: 80 percent of Southeast Asia consumers buy products based on influencer recommendations
- Multi-platform presence matters: Successful brands engage audiences across multiple social channels
- Beyond product sales: Influencers now drive subscription services, travel bookings, and digital purchases
- Live commerce emerges: Livestream shopping becomes a key revenue driver, especially on TikTok
- Platform adoption accelerates: Brands leverage specialized tools to scale influencer partnerships efficiently
6 key Southeast Asia influencer marketing trends
The SEA eCommerce report focuses on the impressive growth of influencer marketing in Southeast Asia—tracking consumer trends across the top social media platforms. The wider ecosystem of brands, influencers, marketing agencies, and audiences keeps shifting rapidly. So, forward-thinking brands need current metrics AND data-driven predictions for the future to stay ahead of the competition.
This report combines detailed surveys (of 2,400 adults) of consumers, brands, agencies, and influencers across Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Let’s break down six of the report’s core takeaways (and how they’re affecting SEA brands currently):
1. Trust becomes the new currency in influencer marketing
Trust drives successful influencer marketing. Authentic partnerships build loyal customer bases far more effectively than chasing follower counts alone. Influencers who forge genuine connections with their audiences—through relatability and effective communication—create recommendations that truly resonate.
In Southeast Asia, audience size typically correlates with an influencer’s ability to sway opinions, but the power dynamic isn’t static. Mega-influencers (over a million followers) now leave a more favorable audience impression than traditional celebrities on social media. And nano-influencers (1,000 to 10,000 followers) are moving upward in audience trust rankings. They’ve become three percent more effective at driving purchasing decisions than last year.
Specifically, Thailand stands out as the leader in the region, with 92 percent of consumers relying on influencer recommendations. In contrast, Singapore is next at 76 percent—still a strong figure.
Brand tip:
Instead of working with the biggest names regardless of their typical content and values, find authentic content creators with strong engagement metrics and existing expertise in your industry.
These talented influencers have already built an audience potentially interested in your products. So, look for partners aligned with your brand on niche interests, style, and values—whether they’re mega-influencers or growing nano-content creators (or somewhere in between).
2. Full-funnel impact replaces single-channel approach
Many approaches to influencer marketing need to be updated. Some marketers still see influencers as a rigid part of the marketing funnel: helping raise brand awareness and nothing else. As influencer partnerships make up a bigger chunk of revenue annually in Southeast Asia, this narrow view couldn’t be further from the truth.
For brands, influencers can now play key, multifaceted roles in your customer’s buying journey:
- Mega influencers boost brands’ reach and awareness with wider audiences.
- Micro and nano influencers with niche knowledge and strong audience trust help people compare products and win shoppers.
- Partnering influencers and ambassadors share referral links and promo codes from brands—sealing the deal and converting customers into future referral partners.
Brand tip:
Think big with influencer marketing. These talented communicators, content creators, and thought leaders can be fantastic ambassadors and partners. Many influencers now play crucial roles across the entire customer journey.
3. Subscription services emerge as key influencer opportunities
As a business model, subscriptions are booming. It’s easy to see why: brands turn one-time purchases into repeat revenue and build long-term relationships with their customer base.
Trusted influencers are now a driving force behind raising awareness and sign-ups for these subscriptions. Through their posts and content, they can dive into the upsides of subscribing and encourage their followers to sign-up with a referral or discount code directly.
Across Southeast Asia, “Media & Entertainment” is the most subscribed category with 75 percent usage. However, regarding the specific impact of influencers, the “Health, Wellness, & Food” and “News & Literature” subscription categories came first.
Survey respondents in Malaysia reported the highest effect from influencers recommending subscriptions: 89 percent said influencers played a role in their purchase. By comparison, Indonesia ranked at 87 percent and Singapore at 76 percent. Even though Singapore’s metrics are the lowest for the region, they still show influencers’ massive impact on subscription sales.
Brand tip:
If you’re a subscription business, you must keep shoppers engaged and coming back, so, invest in your influencer partners. They can be strong advocates for getting their followers to take the leap and try your subscription service (especially compared to a basic ad with limited information).
4. Travel decisions shift toward influencer recommendations
Whether recommending destinations, airlines, or resorts, influencers are fantastic ambassadors and partners for travel brands. Consumers look to influencers for advice and inspiration on where to go, how to get there, and how to pass the time. Plus, gorgeous influencer posts and fun travel videos are the perfect content format for showcasing the best places to eat, stay, and explore. With the right social media partners, your brand will look better than ever.
The report shows how significantly influencers are swaying travel purchases across Southeast Asia. Currently, 78 percent of people say influencers impacted their flight bookings, and 80 percent reported making accommodation choices based on influencer content.
Brand tip:
Online searches, family and friends, and travel review sites are Southeast Asia’s top resources for travel bookings. However, the impact of influencer recommendations keeps multiplying. By teaming up with influencers, travel brands can highlight unique, culturally rich experiences and boost interest in local tourism.
5. Platform adoption accelerates influencer success
What is live commerce? It’s a fun, engaging livestream format where a host features products and hands-on demos. Live commerce has taken Southeast Asia by storm, especially in the “Fashion & Beauty” product category. The other fastest-growing live commerce categories (particularly on TikTok) are “Food & Beverages,” “Home Goods,” and “Electronics.”
Across the region, 88 percent of people reported watching live commerce within the last year (and 25 percent watch daily).
TikTok is the most popular live commerce platform, with 75 percent usage, followed by Shopee, at 61 percent, and Facebook, at 47 percent, respectively. Live commerce audiences reported being mainly motivated by:
- “Good Deals” at 71 percent.
- “Product Reviews” at 66 percent.
- “Entertainment” at 50 percent.
Brand tip:
Live commerce is the perfect content format for detailed, influencer-led product reviews. These creators can highlight your products and showcase their unique features and selling points in real time. This can significantly boost your brand’s conversion rates, as seen by 64 percent of Malaysian shoppers buying because of live commerce reviews.
6. Tools and platforms for influencer marketing success
Sustainable influencer programs require investment in influencer discovery and vetting, performance tracking, contracting, payments, and other features. Otherwise, you’ll always struggle to keep your partners informed, supported, and rewarded accurately. It’s tough to track new trends, give partners actionable feedback, and make the most of new marketing opportunities without accurate data all in one place.
Southeast Asian brands are solving these logistical challenges in different ways: from starting a system from the ground up to fully outsourcing to an agency.
Brand tip:
Using impact.com’s powerful influencer platform, your brand can focus on what really matters without reinventing the wheel yourself. With powerful automation, detailed reporting tools, customizable contracts, and more, impact.com helps you forge (and maintain) thriving influencer partnerships. With impact.com’s offices in Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia, the team also offers regional expertise and local support to the SEA brands.
FAQs
Brands are realizing how successful influencer partnerships can be, no matter where a potential customer is in the sales funnel. Instead of pigeonholing influencers into a separate, rigid channel, many companies are making these partnerships a core part of their marketing strategy.
While some influencers become brand ambassadors, there are often key differences. Influencers often collaborate with brands on short-term campaigns, leaning more on their own voice and style, while brand ambassadors typically build long-term relationships with brands they genuinely love and work on multiple campaigns. While both roles involve promotion, brand ambassadors tend to have a deeper, ongoing connection with the brand.
Rewarding people for recommending your products creates a positive feedback loop that boosts sales, increases brand awareness, and builds customer loyalty. It also encourages current customers to recommend your products and earn rewards for themselves, turning your customer base into advocates for your brand.
Why influencer partnerships drive growth in Southeast Asia
Influencers are now integral to how brands market products and keep customers returning. You can collaborate with these talented creators through mutually beneficial partnerships to boost your name recognition, industry authority, and consumer trust. With the right tools, you won’t have to waste time and resources chasing these trends. Instead, you can start collaborations with influencers today, which will become the core of your marketing plan.
Here’s an important takeaway on the state of influencer marketing in Southeast Asia today:
“Our latest report reveals a powerful truth: influencers are driving conversions not just in physical goods, but also in high-growth sectors like online travel and subscription services.
The recommendation power of influencers is reshaping the way brands connect with audiences across SEA. The time to act is now. Brands that fail to pivot to influencer marketing risk being left behind.”
Adam Furness, Managing Director, impact.com APJ
To dive into the details and find out more about SEA influencer marketing success, check out the full report here!
