Online marketing strategies differ across Southeast Asian markets
SAMA Alliance by Content Shifu outlines leading platforms in eight Southeast Asian markets and the need to tailor strategies to local consumer behaviour.
- Online marketing strategies in Southeast Asia require a country-specific approach because consumer platform preferences and popularity vary significantly across the region.
- While Facebook and TikTok are leading platforms in many ASEAN countries, they do not dominate every market uniformly.
- Specific markets show strong preferences for alternative platforms, such as LINE in Thailand, Zalo in Vietnam, and WhatsApp in Malaysia and Indonesia.
- Singapore's market is distinct, with Google and the B2B-focused platform LinkedIn playing major roles alongside Meta's platforms.
Southeast Asia (SEA) is one of the regions with the world’s highest levels of social media use.
Social platforms have become part of daily life, from following news and accessing entertainment to discovering products and making purchasing decisions.
As a result, brands are continuing to increase their advertising spending on digital platforms.
The trend is reflected in advertising expenditure across Southeast Asia, which was projected to reach US$4.75 billion in 2025.
This shows that social media is no longer solely a communications channel but has become a major competitive arena for businesses.
Consumer behaviour has also changed markedly.
Whereas searches previously tended to begin with a search engine, many people now turn to social media to read reviews, explore products or seek inspiration before making a purchase.
Although Google continues to lead the search market in many countries, including Thailand, relying on search alone may no longer be sufficient for marketing today.
Several research organisations also indicate that Southeast Asia has one of the world’s largest TikTok user bases.
Consumers are spending increasing amounts of time on social platforms, making it necessary for effective marketing strategies to balance search and social channels to reach them at every stage of the purchasing journey.
Most recently, SAMA Alliance by Content Shifu compiled data and analysed trends in online market expansion across ASEAN.
It also identified popular online platforms in eight Southeast Asian countries to help businesses and marketers plan expansion strategies and reach consumers in each market, as follows:
Thailand
- Approximately 63 million internet users, or 88% of the population
- 56.6 million social media users, or 79%
- Popular platforms: LINE, TikTok and Meta platforms Facebook and Instagram
Indonesia
- 230 million internet users, or 80.5%
- 180 million social media users
- Popular platforms and channels: WhatsApp, TikTok, social commerce and Shopee
Vietnam
- Approximately 79 million internet users, or 78%
- Social media users account for 76% of the population
- Popular platforms: Facebook, Zalo and TikTok Shop
Philippines
- Approximately 90 million internet users, or 79%
- One of the countries with the world’s highest levels of social media use
- Popular platforms: Facebook and TikTok
Malaysia
- Approximately 30 million internet users, or 97%
- Approximately 28 million social media users
- Popular platforms: Meta platforms Facebook and Instagram, WhatsApp and Google
Singapore
- Approximately 5.5 million internet users, or 96%
- Approximately 5 million social media users
- Popular platforms: Google, Meta platforms Facebook and Instagram, and LinkedIn for the business-to-business market
Myanmar
- 33.4 million internet users, or 61%
- 19.6 million social media users, or 36%
- Popular platforms: Facebook and TikTok
Cambodia
- 10.8 million internet users, or 61%
- 12.9 million social media users, or 72%
- Popular platforms: Facebook and TikTok
The data show that Facebook and TikTok remain leading platforms in many ASEAN countries.
However, other platforms carry different levels of influence in individual markets, including LINE in Thailand, Zalo in Vietnam, WhatsApp in Malaysia and Singapore, and LinkedIn, which plays an important role in Singapore’s business-to-business (B2B) market.
Online marketing strategies therefore cannot follow the same approach in every country.
Platforms must be selected in line with consumer behaviour and platform popularity in each market to improve reach among target audiences, strengthen engagement and support long-term business growth.
