Malaysia’s Creator Economy Runs on Trust, Not Clicks, Says AnyMind Influencer Report

In an era where marketers obsess over conversions, clicks and measurable outcomes, Malaysian brands appear to be taking a different path. Here, trust still trumps transactions.

New findings from AnyMind Group’s Influencer Marketing in Malaysia 2026 Report reveal that while much of Asia races toward performance marketing, Malaysia’s creator economy remains firmly anchored in awareness-driven storytelling, suggesting local consumers still need reassurance, community validation and repeated exposure before opening their wallets.

The report, based on three years of first-party data (2023–2025) drawn from AnyMind’s influencer marketing platform, AnyTag, paints a revealing picture of a creator landscape that is evolving rapidly but in distinctly Malaysian ways.

If marketers were hoping for a straightforward formula, the data suggests something more nuanced: Malaysians may love scrolling, but they are not necessarily buying at first sight.

Malaysia’s Trust-First Consumer Mindset

Across APAC, influencer marketing is increasingly shifting toward performance-led campaigns focused on measurable outcomes such as engagement, conversions and clicks.

Malaysia, however, continues to lean heavily into awareness and brand-building.

According to the report, awareness-driven campaigns accounted for a dominant 70% of influencer marketing activity in 2025.

Performance-focused campaigns, defined by AnyMind as initiatives designed around measurable benchmarks such as engagement rates and link clicks, dipped to 21% in 2024 before recovering to 30% in 2025.

The numbers suggest a market that is experimenting with accountability while remaining deeply rooted in storytelling.

For Malaysian consumers, trust appears to be earned gradually, not impulsively.

This may explain why brands continue to invest heavily in long-term creator relationships, community-building and authentic recommendations rather than hard-selling through creators.

It is less about instant gratification and more about familiarity.

Consumers want to see products repeatedly, hear recommendations from trusted voices and watch others validate purchases before making decisions themselves.

In short, Malaysian consumers are still asking one fundamental question before buying: Can I trust this?

TikTok’s Explosive Rise Changes The Rules

While consumer behaviour remains relatively steady, the platforms shaping attention are shifting dramatically. Perhaps the report’s biggest headline is TikTok’s meteoric rise.

In just three years, TikTok’s share of influencer campaigns surged from a modest 8% in 2023 to a staggering 44% in 2025, placing it almost neck-and-neck with Instagram, which still narrowly leads at 48%.

The shift signals the end of Malaysia’s once Instagram-centric creator economy. Instead of choosing one platform over another, brands are increasingly running dual-platform strategies.

Instagram continues to serve as the polished storefront for aspirational visuals, premium storytelling and lifestyle positioning.

TikTok, meanwhile, thrives on velocity, virality and highly digestible short-form content capable of generating mass visibility at speed.

The smartest marketers are not treating them as rivals.

They are treating them as complementary engines. TikTok sparks discovery. Instagram deepens aspiration. Together, they create the modern consumer journey.

XiaoHongShu Quietly Becomes The Dark Horse

Yet perhaps the most intriguing development in Malaysia’s creator landscape is happening outside the mainstream social media spotlight.

Enter XiaoHongShu.

Often viewed as a niche platform, XiaoHongShu has quietly emerged as a powerful third force in influencer marketing, now accounting for over 7% of official brand influencer campaigns in Malaysia.

More strikingly, it commands more than 28% of campaign spend in the Lifestyle & Home category.

That number matters.

Unlike entertainment-heavy platforms where trends move at dizzying speed, XiaoHongShu is emerging as Malaysia’s platform of intent where consumers go not simply to be entertained, but to research, compare and seek trusted recommendations before making considered purchases.

Its content behaviour looks fundamentally different. Lifestyle & Home dominates at 31% of activity, followed by Travel at 23%, alongside Fashion & Beauty at 25%.

By comparison, legacy platforms remain dominated by broader, high-energy categories such as Entertainment (23%), Fashion & Beauty (23%) and Food & Drink (14%).

In other words, XiaoHongShu is becoming less of a social platform and more of a recommendation engine.

For marketers selling products that require deliberation from home furnishings and beauty to travel experiences, the implications are profound.

Consumers are no longer simply scrolling for fun. They are actively researching how to spend.

The Age Of “Always-On” Influence

For brands, the findings point to a bigger strategic shift.

The old playbook of seasonal influencer bursts around launches and promotions may no longer be enough. Instead, influence increasingly looks like a long game.

Lee Chin Chuan, Country Manager for Malaysia at AnyMind Group, says the Malaysian influencer landscape continues to operate on a foundation of long-term validation rather than passive scrolling.

He argues that brands are seeing continued value in awareness-led storytelling as a means of building real consumer trust, even as measurable outcomes gain importance.

That means marketers may need to rethink how they define success.

Rather than chasing one-off virality, brands could benefit from cultivating trusted nano-and micro-influencer ecosystems, sustaining creator partnerships and maintaining a continuous presence across platforms.

The formula emerging from the data is increasingly clear: mass awareness through TikTok, aspirational storytelling on Instagram and high-intent recommendation through XiaoHongShu.

But the bigger lesson may be this.

Malaysia’s creator economy is maturing, not by following regional trends blindly, but by evolving around a deeply local truth.

In a market where consumers remain cautious, sceptical and heavily influenced by peer validation, trust is still the ultimate currency.

For brands hoping to win hearts. and eventually wallets, influence is no longer a campaign. It is a commitment.