Malaysian Social Media Advertising Powers Ahead Offsetting Linear Advertising Declines

Advertising revenue growth in Malaysia is muted in 2024, with growth slowing slightly from 2023 (and expected to slow again in 2025). This is because of geopolitical uncertainty as well as a continued erosion in traditional advertising formats.

Offline media key vendors such as Media Prima and Astro Group have reported that advertising revenue declined driven by weak consumer sentiment. Global brands were affected by sentiment and the impact was most significantly felt in traditional advertising formats.

Malaysia had a GDP of $400 billion in 2024, ranking it as the 37th largest economy globally.

The population of Malaysia in 2024 was 33 million. In the context of these economic and demographic figures, Malaysia’s advertising revenues in 2024 were MYR 9.0 billion ($1.9 billion).

Digital advertising accounted for 76% of total advertising budgets in Malaysia in 2024, a significant increase from 28% in 2015.

Television captured 9% of total budgets in 2024, down from 19% in 2015. Print media represented 6% of advertiser budgets, a sharp decline from 33% in 2015. Radio garnered 3%, and OOH secured 5% of advertising budgets in 2024.

Malaysia’s largest industry vertical in 2024 was Government & Public Sector, which contributed $60 million in advertising revenues. The second-largest vertical was Personal Care & Household Goods at $50 million, followed by Retail with $40 million.

Malaysia’s top advertisers included Procter & Gamble as the largest, Kementerian Komunikasi Malaysia as the second-largest, and Astro Awani Network Sdn Bhd as the third.

SOCIAL MEDIA POWERS AHEAD, TRADITIONAL MEDIA STABLE

In 2024, Malaysia’s total advertising revenues reached MYR 9.0 billion ($1.9 billion), reflecting year-on-year growth of 8.1%.

Economic growth supported this advertising expansion, with nominal GDP rising by 9.8% (a combination of 4.8% real GDP growth and 2.8% inflation).

Digital media owners generated MYR 6.8 billion ($1.4 billion) in advertising revenues in 2024, growing 12.7% year-on-year. Digital advertising represented 76% of total advertising budgets. Within this category, search advertising revenues rose by 9.6% to MYR 2.1 billion.

Social media advertising revenues experienced the highest growth, increasing by 17.1% to MYR 3.7 billion. Digital video advertising revenues grew 9.6% to MYR 600 million.

Traditional media owners recorded MYR 2.2 billion in advertising revenues, declining by 4.1%. Television advertising revenues fell by 7.5% to MYR 800 million. Publishing advertising revenues decreased by 4.1% to MYR 500 million. Audio advertising revenues declined by 9.2%, reaching MYR 300 million.

However, OOH advertising revenues grew 6.6%, reaching MYR 500 million. A dearth of static inventory continues to plague the OOH space, and while growth is stable because of digital transformations, it is hard for digital to do more than just offset the losses in static screen counts.

MALAYSIA IN THE LONG TERM (+4%)

In 2025, Malaysia’s total advertising revenues are expected to reach MYR 9.6 billion ($2.0 billion), growing by 6.7%. Nominal GDP is forecast to grow by 7.7%, comprising 4.4% real GDP growth and 2.5% inflation.

Digital media owners’ advertising revenues are projected to grow by 9.9% to MYR 7.5 billion ($1.6 billion), accounting for 78% of total advertising budgets. Traditional media owners’ revenues are forecast to decline by 3.4% to MYR 2.1 billion ($400 million).

In the long run, Malaysia’s advertising economy is expected to increase by +4% through 2029, including digital growing by an average +6.1% and traditional ad revenue shrinking by -4.9% per year.

Digital media, specifically influencer marketing on social media, continues to drive total ad growth in Malaysia, offsetting some of the declines seen within linear advertising. In 2023, social media ad revenues increased by +19% while total digital media grew by +15%.

Stephanie Foong, Chief Investment Officer, IPG Mediabrands Malaysia, commented:

“With overall digital growth in Malaysia at 12.7% in 2024, social media advertising led the charge with a remarkable 17.1% surge, effectively bridging the gap left by traditional channels.

The increasing demand for immersive, experiential engagement is redefining how brands connect with consumers, cementing social media’s role as a cornerstone of the evolving digital ecosystem.

For traditional media to stay competitive, it must evolve beyond digital transformation, leveraging its unique assets through innovation and integration to stay relevant in the dynamic landscape.”

KEY TAKEAWAYS: GLOBAL

1. The winter update of MAGNA’s “Global Ad Forecast” published Monday December 9^th reveals that media owners’ ad revenues reached $933 billion in 2024, up +10%, in line with mid-year expectations.
2. The advertising revenues of traditional media owners (TMO) – from the cross-platform television, radio, publishing, out-of-home, and cinema media owners – grew by an estimated +4% to $274 billion – the best performance in 14 years (if we exclude the post-COVID recovery of 2021).
3. TMO ad sales were boosted by a record number of cyclical events (elections in the US, Mexico, and India, as well as the Summer Olympics, Football Euro, Copa America competitions) and a +12% growth in TMO’s non-linear ad sales (e.g. ad-supported streaming +18%) that now account for 25% of total TMO ad revenues.
4. The advertising sales of Digital Pure Players (DPP) (Search, Retail, Social, Short-Form Digital Video) increased by +13% to reach $659 billion, driven by Search/Commerce ad formats (+12%) Short-Form Video (+12%) and Social Media (+18%).
5. DPP ad sales were boosted by organic growth factors including competition in ecommerce (e.g., Temu and Shein now targeting European consumers), the rise of retail media networks ($144 billion), AI targeting and placement algorithms, and better monetization of short vertical videos in social and video apps.
6. After a strong first half (global ad spend +12%), the ad market slowed in the second half (+8%). TMO ad sales slowed noticeably in Europe in the second half, while political advertising kept TMO growing in the US. DPP ad sales grew by double-digits through the year despite tougher comps in the second half.
7. Among the most dynamic ad markets this year: France and the US (both +12%), India and the UK (both +11%). Growth was more subdued in Japan and Canada (both +8%), China (+7%), Germany and Australia (both +6%). The US market remained the largest with $380 billion, ahead of China ($155bn).
8. CPG/FMCG, Government, Betting, and Finance were among the fastest-growing industry verticals in 2024, while Tech recovered, driven by “AI-Powered” marketing, and Travel slowed down. In 2025, MAGNA expects Auto, CPG and Tech to be dynamic, but Auto is vulnerable to trade and incentive policies.
9. As the “Big Three” digital media owners (Google, Meta, Amazon) outperformed market growth in 2024 – with ad revenues growing by +11%, +22%, and +21% over 1Q-3Q resp. – their combined market share grew to 51% reach of global ad revenues, and 61% outside China.
10. Looking at 2025, the stabilization of the European economy and the continued impact of organic growth drivers will keep the global ad market growing: MAGNA forecasts the global marketplace to grow by +6.1%, to approach the trillion-dollar mark ($990 billion) (DPP: +9%, TMO: -2%) while the US market grows by +4.9% to flirt with the $400bn milestone.

Vincent Létang, EVP, Global Market Research at MAGNA, and author of the report, said:

“The strong growth of advertising spending in 2024, despite a challenging economic environment, was of course driven by an unusually high number of major cyclical events but, more fundamentally, media innovation is what attracts a growing share of marketing budgets into advertising formats.

Digital Pure-Play ad formats (Search, Retail Search, Social and Short-Form Video) are fueled by the rise of Commerce Media redirecting billions of dollars from trade marketing into digital formats. The growing reach of ad-supported CTV streaming makes cross-platform long-form video more attractive to advertisers as it now offers scale on top of addressability and brand safety.

With no major cyclical drivers in 2025, MAGNA expects ad spend growth rates to slow, but the organic factors will remain at work, stabilizing TMO ad revenues, and growing DPP ad sales.”

Leigh Terry, CEO IPG Mediabrands APAC, commented:

“The APAC advertising market is thriving, growing by 7.5% in 2024 to reach $289 billion. This growth is fueled by digital advertising, with search and social media leading the charge. While traditional media is seeing modest growth, digital pure players are driving the majority of the market share.

The future is bright for digital advertising in APAC, with its share of total budgets projected to reach 82% by 2029. Despite some economic uncertainties, the overall market remains stable and poised for continued growth.”

KEY FIGURES

ABOUT THE RESEARCH

The MAGNA market research is media centric. It estimates net media owners advertising revenues based on an analysis of financial reports and data from local trade organizations; other ad market studies are based on tracking ad insertions or consolidating agency billings.

The MAGNA approach provides the most accurate and comprehensive picture of the market as it captures total net media owners’ ad revenues coming from national consumer brands’ spending as well as small, local, “direct” advertisers.

Forecasts are based on economic outlook and market shares dynamic. The full Ad Forecast report (80 pages) and dataset contains more granular media breakdowns and forecasts to 2028, for 70 markets.