One of the major things to know when exploring new business markets is understanding your brand’s target audience. This includes aspects like purchasing power, preferred mode of purchase (whether online or in-store), demographics, and the best method for businesses to connect with consumers.
CHANGE WITH THE TIMES
It is not hard to conclude that we are now in the ever-evolving social media era. In the past decade, advertising via traditional television, radio, print media like newspapers or magazines have steadily declined. With current digital versions of those media allowing consumers to opt out of ads, it is no longer viewed as a good method for a vast audience reach – especially in countries with heavy social media usage. Most social platforms do not let you opt out of seeing ads on your feed.
Recent data findings indicated that internet users in Nigeria spend over four hours a day on social media, while Brazil, South Africa, the Philippines, and Kenya spend over three hours a day – making them the top five countries in the world that spend most time on social media in a day.
INFLUENCERS HELP BRAND AWARENESS
As the pandemic forced many businesses to embrace online platforms, it led to a surge in social media users and usage of ecommerce platforms as well. In Southeast Asia, Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia spend the highest amount of their waking time per day on social platforms.
Influencers and social media marketing has been growing at a rapid pace in Asia, so it is no surprise it will help your brand break into the market with better ease. Many brands in Asia turn to local or well-established international influencers and celebrities when advertising their brands as it has shown to result in sale conversions.
Funny, quirky, or family-oriented marketing content have shown good success rates for brand awareness in Asia as these types of content themes often gets shared and easily goes viral, leading to successful brand awareness endeavours. Take the 2003 Petronas Deepavali ad in Malaysia for example which is still talked about and remembered in 2024 – it had the perfect balance of humour, relatability, and family values.
It is also important to remember that while many consumers speak and understand English across the region, reaching consumers using country specific languages and preferred platforms within that country is important too, especially in the initial stages when you are trying to convey your brand identity. While it may be slightly different for well-established brands, using influencers, even nano ones, will help build a brand community with the locals to help you get started.
AFFILIATE PROGRAM
Many e-commerce platforms in Southeast Asia realised the potential for expanding their brand’s reach for minimal costs through influencers as well. Platforms such as ZALORA, Lazada, Tokopedia, and Shopee that dominate the e-commerce industry created community affiliate programs allowing users to recommend products on social media via a unique link. Users then get paid a percentage of the sale price for each product sold.
Everyday people, even nano influencers who have less than 1000 followers, signed up immediately when the program was made available. This way brands are not burdened by pay-per-click structures that do not always return the investment, but instead brands only pay when clicks convert to sales.
TRENDS AND COMMUNITY REACH
The other perk of social media marketing is if you produce the right kind of content, especially interactive unique ones, it is easy to go viral to get your business marketed for free. For example, the hashtag #tiktokmademebuyit made Tik Tok users buy products on Tik Tok Shop and share videos of the items they bought – often tagging the brand while sharing their purchase experiences, how they like the product, and even how to use it.
Since trends are quite popular in the Asian market (especially in categories like beauty, fashion, and lifestyle), online shoppers can get persuaded to buy things they see through a single video recommendation from someone they trust. So, it is important to build a brand community as well through social media.
In conclusion, most Asian countries love their social media and are influenced by what they see, hear, or read on it. Using local influencers is key in helping your brand awareness efforts get past the cultural differences and language barriers. You can reach more audience with less investment and the algorithms usually help show ads to the right target audience too.
If you are interested in opportunities with us, contact us at: contact@melchers.de
German 
English