PHD Malaysia & Nuffnang released the country’s first influencer playbook, here are 5 key takeaways

PHD Malaysia and Nuffnang have teamed up to create Malaysia’s first-ever influencer playbook as influencer marketing spend is expected to grow up to USD15 billion by 2022.

The playbook includes a framework meant to provide brand marketers a foundation to build on when planning their influencer marketing initiatives such as influencer selection, phasing approaches and budgeting.

“PHD Malaysia has always been about challenging the norms, and the agency consistently pursues innovation, creativity, and thought leadership in its approaches and solutions,” said COO of OMG Malaysia, Eileen Ooi. “This partnership is a match made in heaven because both companies shared the same  values in terms of innovation and being a thought-leader in the industry.”

According to a statement released by both companies, Malaysian industry players have been bringing influencers lower down the marketing funnel, working on conversion, loyalty and advocacy.

However, according to General Manager for Strategy and Platforms of PHD Malaysia, Kiron Kesav, what the industry should be doing instead is make influencer  marketing a turnkey solution covering the entire marketing funnel. “This playbook identifies where influencer marketing is  strongest and most effective in Malaysia and that is at the top of the marketing funnel, for creating  awareness and education,” Kiron said. 

“Nuffnang inculcates the  start-up mentality as well, and as a result, we have a track record of experimenting with different  influencer marketing angles to deeper our understanding of creating impactful influencer-led  campaigns,” said country m for Nuffnang Malaysia, Kausern Hieu. “We were very pleased to collaborate with PHD Malaysia on this playbook to help move the  influencer marketing industry in Malaysia towards a strategic’ direction”. 

The influencer playbook was recently launched virtually on PHD Malaysia’s Facebook page with key  leaders from PHD Malaysia & Nuffnang sharing their thoughts on the state of influencer marketing in Malaysia. 

Here are 5 key takeaways for from the influencer marketing playbook:

Audience First 

It is important to understand and deliver what your audience would want to know  and that which interests them, as opposed to content that would only best serve the brand. 

Integrated Approach

Influencer marketing works best when it works in tandem with the overall  marketing & communication objectives, rather than in silos. 

Categorizing Influencer Marketing Campaigns

The influencer weightage grid, developed by  PHD Malaysia and Nuffnang, helps classify influencer marketing campaigns by mapping it against the role and priority of influencer marketing for any given campaign.  

Test & Learn, Always

What worked in the past in influencer marketing could have deviated  depending on updates in algorithm, development of technology and shifts in consumer behaviour so always test & learn. 

Fair Compensation

Influencers themselves are evolving from an individual to a brand in  themselves, where great content creation requires multiple stakeholders and significant investment  on their part. 

The full playbook is currently only available to PHD clients.