After the buzzword AI, influencers are the biggest marketing flavour of the past few years.
During Covid-19 pandemic, influencers became critical for advertisers, because they could film their own content and release it online, in an environment when shooting ads and films was banned because of fears of proximity leading to transference of the cruel virus.
This March, the incoming new Unilever global CEO Fernando Fernandez stated that he intended to spend 50% of its media budget on social channels and he planned to increase influencer marketing investment twentyfold.
That is a bold statement. EMarketer reports that worldwide, budgets allocated to influencers are below 10% for 52.5% of all advertisers, though 20.3% are spending more than 30% on influencers.
Even in Malaysia, according to Statista research, influencer marketing is slated to be the fastest growing part of ad spends.
Take a look at some of the data from Statista that pertains to Malaysia:
The Ad spending in the Influencer Advertising market in Malaysia is forecasted to reach US$77.03m in 2025.
The market is expected to demonstrate an annual growth rate (CAGR 2025-2029) of 9.50%, leading to a projected market volume of US$110.77m by 2029.
The average ad spending per internet user in the Influencer Advertising market is projected to be US$2.24 in 2025.
When compared globally, China is anticipated to generate the highest ad spend on influencers (US$21.55bn in 2025).
So is influencer marketing really the bees knees?
On the positive side, there are some benefits to influencer marketing:
Increased Brand Awareness and potential Reach:
Influencers can connect with and influence large, engaged audiences, potentially leading to a significant boost in brand visibility and reach.
If one can trick the algorithms or create engaging content, of course.
Building Trust at speed:
Influencers often have strong relationships with their followers, and their endorsements can build trust and credibility with a brand’s target audience. Malaysians will queue up to meet their influencer idols, and many are more famous than movie stars.
For instance, one can safely hazard that Khairul Aming, a leading food influencer and entrepreneur, can draw a larger crowd than most A list actors, with over 4 million Instagram followers. He has sold over RM 42 million worth of products in 2024, growing 110% from RM 20 million in 2023.
Targeted Marketing:
Influencers can reach specific demographics and interests, allowing brands to focus on the most relevant audiences.
Unilever has put its CEO’s strategy into action, and early results from its hair are product TRESemmé’s debut campaign, fronted by Bravo personality Paige DeSorbo, show a 42% increase in positive sentiment towards the advertiser and a 60% Instagram engagement boost, underscoring the ROI potential of Unilever’s influencer-first revamp.
Fast-tracked Growth:
Influencer marketing can provide a faster path to growth, particularly when paired with already established, engaged audiences.
Calpis Chewy Grape, a drink from the Etika Group of Companies, used AINA, an AI Radio DJ, as its brand influencer, and featured her in ads across TV, DOOH and online. Net result? 16% growth.
What are the cons of using influencers?
High Costs:
Collaborating with influencers can be expensive, especially for high-profile individuals. Some won’t get out of bed for less than RM 100,000-200,000, and then with usage rights and so on, you would be looking at a significant creative campaign cost.
Challenges in Measuring ROI:
Tracking the return on investment (ROI) of influencer marketing can be difficult, as it’s hard to attribute sales directly to specific influencer campaigns. Some brands use affiliate codes and so on.
Lack of Authenticity and Transparency:
Some influencers may not be genuine or transparent, which can erode consumer trust and negatively impact brand perception.
Potential for Misalignment with Brand Values:
Influencers may not always align with a brand’s values or messaging, leading to potential negative consequences. Furthermore, many of this breed have a varied feed, with limited brand loyalty.
Difficulty in Managing Campaigns:
Influencer marketing campaigns can be time-consuming and require a dedicated team to manage communications, contracts, and performance tracking. Not all will be responsible to respond fast to requests, and their managers can be bigger divas then they themselves are.
Questionable reach, dependent on platforms’ algorithms:
The algorithm of platforms like FB/IG/TT is designed to get brands to advertise, and organic reach can range from 0.5% to 3%. Organic reach is thus usually limited unless the content is truly engaging or has potential to go viral.
That means even if an influencer has 1 million followers, only 30,000 may be exposed to their content for a brand, organically. Hence brands have to pump in money to get the “Influencer’s content” to a wider audience.
Therefore, with all these caveats and cautions, should you, as a client, engage with influencers? The answer, as always, is “It Depends!”
If you have a great creative idea, and the influencer matches your brand’s values, and is affordable and easy to work with, and you have budgets to enable you to get reach, then by all means proceed.
If not, be wise and prudent and work your way through the pitfalls and perils of pursuing these personalities.
Sandeep Joseph is the CEO and co-founder of Ampersand Advisory, which offers services in Media, Creative, PR and data analytics. The agency has won over 300 awards and has been recognised as one of the Financial Times 500 High Growth Companies Asia Pacific 2023-2025. He can be reached at [email protected]
The APPIES is an annual event that presents a rare opportunity for creative, media, digital and marketing agencies or brands to present their best campaigns to the industry.
This is the only event where Live Presentations meets Live Judging.
Similar to TED Talks, The APPIES is the chance for great presenters with outstanding work to show it off to some of the industry’s most important industry leaders.
This year’s winners will receive Gold, Silver or Bronze trophies for 21 categories, and 6 special Best of Best categories (red trophies) that require no submissions!
Campaign entries must have run between June 2024 to May 2025
