Latest Research Unravels the Impact of Creator Economy on a Consumer’s Shopping Behavior
In a booming creator economy micro-influencers on TikTok are an untapped opportunity for APAC brands
Independent and agency-backed creators are the backbone of modern creator economy around the globe. The rapid rise of YouTube, TikTok and Instagram as top-ranked user-generated content platforms have allowed brands to take notice of the recent trends in creator economy. 2022 is the year of micro-influencers with a strong creator lineage. A new report from Meltwater titled ‘The Rise of the Creator Economy: A New Opportunity for Brands in Asia-Pacific’ has found that micro-influencers are emerging as APAC brands’ top choice for collaboration.
Amid financial and geopolitical uncertainties and a potential global recession on the horizon, marketing budgets which are still recovering from record lows in 2021 are likely to shrink even further. However, CMOs are still expected to deliver results within this challenging environment. Some brands in APAC have been successfully leveraging micro-influencers to connect with consumers and drive growth.
In 2021, micro-influencers represented 91% of all sponsored post engagements – including likes, shares and comments, within APAC. With pressure to show ROI for marketing budgets, this could be an effective approach. The cost to engage micro-influencers in APAC is considerably lower, at an average rate of USD200 per Instagram post, as compared to engaging famous influencers. The report also found that these influencers see the strongest engagement rate on TikTok, where they experience 32x and 4x greater engagement than on Facebook and Instagram, respectively.
Insights from the social and media intelligence firm show that brands in APAC are in a strong position to tap into the growing creator economy. According to Meltwater’s Social Influencer Platform, outside of China and India’s established influencer economy, APAC countries have a sizable influencer population with Japan (600,00) topping the list, followed by Australia (400,00), Indonesia (400,000), Thailand (100,000) and Singapore (70,000).
A good example of a successful influencer campaign came from Talika, a French beauty brand looking to promote an anniversary limited version of their hero product in Hong Kong. Combining influencer discovery, influencer relationships management from invitation to content curation, and performance ROI tracking, Meltwater centralised the workflow of influencer marketing management on one fully integrated platform. Talika co-produced authentic localised testimonial video content with the influencers distributed over 3 weeks. Ultimately, the campaign succeeded in generating over 40,000 organic impressions on Instagram stories, and driving over 1,000 profile visits on Talika’s official Instagram account through the influencers’ stories.
Mimrah Mahmood, Senior Director & Partner at Meltwater Asia Pacific, said: “Whether you call them influencers, content creators or key opinion leaders (KOLs), brands can benefit from tapping into the booming creator economy. An increasing number of consumers across Asia-Pacific are turning to digital spaces and influencers to form their opinions and make purchase decisions. While many brands turn to celebrities for brand partnerships, micro-influencers with higher engagement and stronger connection to their audience, can offer stronger ROI. It is likely we will see more global brands collaborating with them for hyperlocal marketing.”
Meltwater is a social and media intelligence company that helps brands stay on top of evolving trends and leverage on insights provided by data analytics.
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