Southeast Asia (SEA) is often painted as a single, fast-growing market. But a closer look reveals a fragmented reality where consumer behaviours, platform preferences, and cultural dynamics vary sharply from country to country.
According to Impact.com’s and Cube Asia’s 2025 E-Commerce Influencer Marketing Report, Facebook and Instagram are surging in Malaysia, while YouTube leads in Singapore. TikTok is now used by over 80% of SEA consumers, catching up to the more established social platforms.
The Risks of a Single-Platform Strategy
Today’s digital landscape demands that brands need to diversify their presence across multiple social media platforms. Over-indexing on one channel limits brand visibility and risks alienating audiences that are engaging elsewhere.
In Singapore, a YouTube-first approach may drive strong awareness, but it may miss the mark in Malaysia, where Facebook continues to dominate. The real risk isn’t just choosing the wrong platform, it’s failing to adapt your message to each platform’s culture while keeping the brand consistency intact.
Consumer intent also shifts dramatically across platforms. TikTok is increasingly where consumers go to discover new products and trends, often driven by Key Opinion Sellers (KOS), influencers who combine content creation with direct selling. YouTube, meanwhile, remains the go-to platform for influencer-led content, with 43% of user time spent on influencers and celebrities, up 3% year-on-year.
Each platform also calls for its own content playbook – distinct formats to achieve specific objectives, and this often depends on the product type. YouTube’s long-form content is well-suited for in-depth reviews, like in the tech or finance space. TikTok’s short-form, snappy videos work best for beauty or F&B product discovery.
And if you want to foster peer-to-peer conversations, especially in lifestyle and parenting, Facebook groups are the best way to go. Ultimately, misreading these dynamics risks wasted spend, mismatched content, and disengaged audiences.
Southeast Asia is often painted as a single, fast-growing market. But a closer look reveals a fragmented reality where consumer behaviours, platform preferences, and cultural dynamics vary sharply from country to country.
Lastly, there’s platform volatility. Algorithm shifts and platform policy changes can jeopardise ROI overnight – whether it’s TikTok’s algorithm changes, Instagram doubling down on reels, or Facebook tightening ad policies.
The takeaway is clear: Brands that rely heavily on a singular platform approach risk disruption on campaigns, inflated costs, and lost audiences. A diversified, multi-platform approach isn’t just smart; it helps brands stay resilient and connected, even when the rules change.
Actionable Steps for Marketers: Rethinking Multi-Platform Engagement
To succeed in Southeast Asia, it’s not enough to know which platforms your audience is on, but to also understand how and why they use them. In Malaysia, YouTube is still the go-to for discovering new products, tutorials and entertainment with 91% usage. In Singapore, Facebook continues to drive community-led discussions, while TikTok is quickly becoming the top choice for younger customers looking for quick inspiration and product discovery.
Audiences also move fluidly between platforms depending on intent: they might first discover a beauty product on TikTok, turn to YouTube for deeper validation, and join a Facebook group for peer recommendations. This cross-platform journey is exactly why brands can’t afford to only double down on a single channel.
The real risk isn’t just choosing the wrong platform, it’s failing to adapt your message to each platform’s culture while keeping the brand consistency intact.
For marketers, the takeaway is to select the right creators and design campaigns that mirror this journey – aligning each content format to the channel’s strengths. That means snackable videos on TikTok for discovery, in-depth storytelling on YouTube for validation, and community-driven engagements on Facebook to build loyalty.
Before scaling, brands can also pilot small cross-platform campaigns to test which combinations work best in their chosen market. For instance, audiences in Malaysia may respond strongly to short-form discovery content paired with long-form reviews, while others engage more with community-driven discussions, which will help identify where to double down, and to ensure budgets are optimised while campaigns stay relevant to consumer behaviour.
The Path Forward
For marketers, the message is clear: a “one size fits all” approach to social and influencer marketing no longer works. Winning strategies must reflect platform nuances, cultural context, and hyper-local consumer expectations – all while keeping the consumer journey at the core.
The way forward isn’t about being on every platform, but knowing where your audience is, understanding their intents, and meeting them with relevance and authenticity.
Adam is Managing Director (APJ) at impact.com.
Featured image: Hanoi by Florian Wehde
