Content marketing statistics for India and South East Asian Region that every marketer must know

 

Content marketing continues to evolve rapidly across the globe. On one side India is establishing itself as one of the most powerful hubs for digital content marketing, another side Southeast Asian countries like Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore are also emerging as a region of significant interest for content marketers. 

Experts and leading content marketers are witnessing unique trends and shifts in their content marketing landscapes in 2024 in India and South Asian countries. 

In this blog post, we will explore the content marketing statistics for 2024 which covers key insights and trends that are shaping the content marketing industry in Southeast Asia and India. Read on to know more. 

Overview of Content Marketing in Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia presents a wide array of challenges and opportunities for content marketers due to its rapidly growing population and cultural diversity. The region is home to a vast and digitally savvy population, making it a fertile ground for innovative marketing strategies. However, the adoption of content marketing varies significantly across different countries.

Slow Adoption of Content Marketing

Despite the potential, the adoption of content marketing in Southeast Asia has been relatively slow. According to a report by Corporate Maldives, several factors contribute to this sluggish pace, including a lack of time (45%), lack of knowledge (55%) and limitation of technology (39%) in the region. However, things are changing rapidly and many emerging trends have been observed in SEA countries in recent times. 

Differences in Content Marketing Approaches

Content marketing strategies in Southeast Asia differ significantly from those in other regions, such as Sub-Saharan Africa. A recent content marketing report points out that while both regions are developing rapidly, Sub-Saharan Africa focuses more towards leveraging digital innovations while in Southeast Asia, it is more about integrated content marketing efforts involving both e-commerce and social media platforms. 

Content marketing Statistics and Trends for South Asian countries – 2024

Rising Digital Penetration (mobile usage, increases social media users etc.)

• Stat shows that Southeast Asia has seen a significant increase of 88.9% smartphone penetration rate presenting a promising opportunity for marketers to utilize this trend.
• The Internet economy of Southeast Asia is predicted to reach $1 trillion in the year 2030. 
• As per a recent stat, in the year 2024, Southeast Asian countries have 527.23 million social media users. Bruel Darussalam is leading the chart for social media penetration with a 116.5% rate while Malaysia is in second place with a 91.7% social media penetration rate. 
• Stat shows the majority of the Southeast Asian population access the internet 10 hours per day which is higher than the global average. While 87% of the Southeast Asian population spends more than 2 hours every day on different social media platforms. As per stats, around 400-450 million South Asian people have been online in February 2024. 

Stat resource: Insg.co

Influencer Marketing Boom (Nano influencers are most popular in SEA countries)

• The influencer marketing industry in Southeast Asia was worth $638 million in the year 2016 and it is expected to reach 693.70 million USA by the end of 2024.
• Nano influencers (1,000 to 10,000 followers) are gaining traction for their high engagement rates (4.2% in the year 2020) and driving higher engagement and conversion rates. Nano influencers are preferred by brands for their authentic connections with followers.  

Stat resource: Insg. co

Mobile Advertising Trends

• Mobile advertising is another significant trend in Southeast Asia. Mobile-friendly content and short-form video content are gaining traction due to their quick nature and ability to fit into a modern hectic lifestyle. 
• According to stats, mobile advertising is set to dominate the content marketing landscape in 2024, with a focus on personalized and interactive content.

Stat resource: thedrum.com

Rise of Video Content

• Video content continues to gain traction as a preferred medium for engagement. Platforms like YouTube and TikTok are seeing exponential growth in user engagement, prompting marketers to invest more in video production. 
• Content marketers across regions found video ads and video marketing are one of the most efficient ways to raise product interest and gain audience traction. A recent report confirms that Live video streaming is one of the best ways to increase audience engagement. 

AI in Content Creation

• A recent McKinsey report says AI is revolutionizing different important aspects of life in South Asian countries and will improve work efficiency and quality of life shortly.  Marketers in Southeast Asia are using AI to Improve content liquidity, analyze customer behavior, AI-generated music, support customer experience and create personalized content 
• Stat shows Southeast Asia will invest approximately $646 million in AI solutions by the year 2026.

Personalized Marketing

• Personalization is becoming a critical component of content marketing strategies. Consumers in Southeast Asia expect tailored content that resonates with their individual preferences and needs. 
• Customers prefer to respond to their queries in a more sophisticated manner and opt for personalization through emails, SMSs or other social media chats.

 Top Social Media Platforms

• The young South Asian population uses 7.5 platforms on average per month. 
• Facebook: Facebook is the most popular platform, with 400 million users in the region. 
• YouTube: YouTube is second on the list with 380 million users in Southeast Asian countries.
• Instagram: Instagram is growing rapidly with 190 million users in the region. It is the most preferred platform for influencer marketing campaigns (used by 68% of brands in the year 2020).  Online consumers prefer Instagram as a main source of recommendation before purchasing a product. 
• Instagram is voted as the most popular channel for Influencer marketing campaigns by 71% of the South Asian population. 
• TikTok: Explosive rise, especially among younger demographics, with 100 million users.
• Snapchat is gaining popularity with a steady pace: among all social media platforms, Snapchat is gaining popularity because of its amazing selfie filter and geo-specific features and B2B marketers are keen to use it for promoting their products.

Stat resource: Insg.co

Content Consumption Patterns

• Instagram Video content remains the dominant format, accounting for 62% of all online content consumed.
• 30.2% of Southeast Asians prefer review content by influencers while 20% of people prefer tutorials. 19% of South Asians search for unboxing videos while 20% have used catch on social feeds on Instagram. 
• Short-form videos on platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels are gaining immense popularity.
• Users spend an average of 80 minutes per day watching videos.
• Infographics are another emerging trend in SEA countries. Stat shows it in Malaysia (46%), Singapore (45%), Thailand (38%), Philippines (58%) and Indonesia (36%) audiences will likely engage with infographics due to their visual appeal and sharing of complex information (stats etc.) in an easy manner. 

Purchasing decision

• Stat shows that 25% of Southeast Asian consumers are influenced by influencers before making a product purchase. 32.7% of consumers decide to buy the product within a period of time after getting a recommendation from influencers while 70 % of Filipino consumers trust influencer product recommendations. 
• Nano influencers lead the chart with a 46% success rate while macro and micro influencers are coming next with 20% and 15% success rate. 

Increased popularity of gaming and live tournaments 

• Stat shows that Augmented reality games like Pokémon Go are gaining great popularity and 53% of marketers are observing this space and monitoring how this trend can be utilized in content marketing. 
• Stat shows SEA countries have 7 million active gamers and in February 2023, 1.67 Indonesian viewers joined 12-day goddess live tournaments
• The iFeL Southeast Asia championship livestream attracted 8.4 million views. 
• This increased popularity of inspiring brands to collaborate with popular gaming influencers. 

 E-commerce and digital Integration

• E-commerce market in Southeast Asia is expected to reach $234 billion by 2024.
• Social media plays a pivotal role and brands are using different types of content (entertaining as well as informative) to engage their audience. 
• A seamless blend of content and personalized content enhances user experience and drives higher conversion rates.

Localized Content Strategies

• In SEA countries, Localization is key to resonating with diverse audiences.
• Tailoring content to reflect local languages and cultural diversity has become a necessity for content marketers to resonate with audiences across different regions and communities. 

Sustainability and Social Responsibility

• Consumers are becoming more conscious of sustainability and social responsibility.
• Brands that align their content marketing strategies with these values see higher levels of engagement and loyalty.
• A recent report says that South Asian consumers want brands to fight for social causes and environment-related issues like climate change. 
• Content highlighting sustainable practices and corporate social responsibility initiatives resonates strongly with the audience.

Omnichannel marketing

New research shows that Omnichannel marketing is one of the highest priorities for SEA marketers to connect with target audiences

Country-Specific content marketing statistics and Insights

Thailand

• Thailand will have 97.81 million cellular mobile connections, 63.21 million internet users and 49.10 million social media users in the country in the year 2024.
• 77.7% of total internet users in Thailand have used at least one social media platform in the year 2024.
• Facebook has 49.10 million users in the country while YouTube has 44.20 million users 
• Female audience is dominating Facebook and YouTube ad viewership with 51.6% ad audience for YouTube female while for Facebook ads, it is 50.8% audience is female.
• Thailand has 18.75 million Instagram users in the country. 60.6% of Instagram’s ad audience is female while 39.4 percent is male.
• Thailand’s population has an average of 8 hours of internet usage daily.  
• Ad spending in the social media advertising market is expected to reach $0.57 billion in 2024.

Stat resource: datareportal.com ( Digital report-Thailand)

Indonesia

• Largest digital market with 204 million internet users. (consisting of 70% of population)
• High engagement on live video streaming. A recent shat shows that users spend 2 million watch hours a month to engage with their favorite content. 
• The average online spending time is 3 hours 17 minutes. 
• Instagram is the most favorite social media platform in the country with 89.891 million Instagram users and a 60% popularity rate while TikTok is second in the list with 106.52 Million TikTok users with a 27.3% popularity rate. 
• Indonesian prefers content from trusted influencers rather than a brand’s promotional content. 
• 30% of Indonesians prefer influencer accounts to get trustworthy content while 23% follow to obtain honest reviews about products.
• Nano influencers are the most popular influencers in the country and 91% of Indonesian brands are planning to increase their influencer marketing budget for the year 2024. 

Stat resource: Insg.co

Malaysia

• Malaysia has 33.59 million internet users in the country in 2024. Among these 28.68 million are active users of social media platforms (which is 83.1% of the total population) 
• 78.3% of the Malaysian population uses the internet for obtaining information on different topics while 68.3% use it for keeping themselves updated about news and events. 
• 58.7% of the Malaysian population perform online research about products and brands before making their final purchase. 
• Social media networks (52.6%) are the main sources for brand recovery for consumers and consumer reviews (43%) are one of the important factors for brand reputation and purchasing decisions. 
• Mobile apps are gaining popularity and 33.7% Malaysian population uses them. 
• Surprisingly, WhatsApp is the most popular platform with 26.8% engagement while TikTok (21.9%), Facebook (18.8%) Instagram (14.0%) and X (Twitter) with 3.8% come next in terms of popularity and overall engagement.  
• Strong preference for video content, with the rising popularity of a new social media platform named XioHongshu (which has similar features to Instagram) 
• Influencer marketing, AI-driven automation and a focus on sustainability are some other trends that are dominating the Malaysian content marketing market. 

Stat resource:

•  icat.co.th/en/ 
• datareportal.com( Digital 2024 report Malaysia)

Vietnam

• The rapid increase in internet and mobile users in the country. In 2024, Vietnam has 168.5 million cellular connections, 78.44 million internet users and 72.70 million social media users in the country. 
• 92.7% of Vietnam’s total internet users have used at least one social media platform in the year 2024. 51% of Vietnam’s social media users are female while 49% are male. 
• Facebook had 72.70 million users in Vietnam and Facebook’s ad reach is equivalent to 73.3% of the total population of Vietnam in 2024. 
• 51% of the Facebook ad audience in Vietnam was female while 49.0% was male. 
• YouTube has 63 million users in Vietnam in the year 2024 while Instagram has 10.90 million users in the country in the year 2024. 
• In Vietnam digital media market growth is strong and expected to reach a value of $920.90 million by 2024. 

Stat resource:

• datareportal.com ( Digital report 2024-Vietnam) 
• statista.com (Digital media Vietnam)

Singapore

• Singapore’s internet penetration is expected to grow by more than 94% by the year 2026. 
• The country has more than 5.08 million active social media users currently. 
• Instagram is the most beloved social media platform in the country with 3.278 million Instagram users in the year 2023. 
• 78% of the Singapore population prefer Instagram while TikTok (11%), Facebook (6%) and YouTube (4%) are next in the list. 
• 77% of brands are incorporating nano influencer marketing for promoting their products in the year 2024. 
• Nano influencers are the most popular influencers in Singapore. 
• 67% of Singapore Brands are planning to increase their budget on influencer marketing 
• 72% of the Singapore population prefers businesses with positive reviews for purchasing their products. 

Stat resource: Insg.co

Content marketing statistics and insights-2024 India

Content marketing has become an essential component of digital marketing strategies in India. With the rapid growth of internet penetration and the increasing use of digital devices, businesses are leveraging content marketing to reach and engage their target audiences. 

Mobile connections stats 

• In the year 2024, India will have 1.12 billion cellular mobile connections in the county. 
• Mobile connections in India were equivalent to 78% of the total population in the year 2024. 
• Mobile connections have increased by 23 million (+2.1%) between the year 2023 to the year 2024. 

Internet and Social Media Usage

Internet Penetration

India is the second-largest online market worldwide. As of January 2024, India has 751.5 million internet users, representing a 52.4% penetration rate.  internet users’ number increased in India by 19 million in one year from January 2023 to January 2024 (with a growth rate of +2.6%). 

Social Media Users

• India boasts 462 million active social media users, accounting for 32.3 % of the total population. 
• In the year 2024, 61.5% of India’s total internet users used at least one social media platform regularly. 

Daily Time Spent Online

On average, Indian internet users spend 6 hours and 59 minutes online each day.

Content Consumption Trends

Popular Content Formats

• Video content is the most popular format, with 462 million active YouTube users in country. 
• Blogs and articles are also widely consumed, with 25-30%of users reading online blogs regularly. 

Preferred Social Media Platforms

YouTube stats:

• In the year 2024, YouTube leads with 462 million users, making it the most popular platform for video content consumption.
• In 2024, YouTube’s ad reach is equivalent to 32.3% of India’s total population and reached 61.5% of India’s total internet user base. 
• YouTube’s ad audience is dominated by males, 67.6% of the ad audience was male, while 32.4% audience was female. 
• YouTube users – male- 54.4% while 45.6% is female.

Facebook stats: 

• In the year 2024, Facebook had 366.9 million users in India, being a key platform for content distribution.
• Facebook’s reach increased by 52 million (+16.6% per cent) between January 2023 to January 2024. 
• Facebook’s ad reach in India is equivalent to 48.8% of local internet users in January 2024. 
• Facebook’s ad audience is dominated by male audience, comprising 74.5% male audience and 25.5% per cent of female audience. 

Instagram stats: 

• In early 2024, Instagram had 362.9 million users in India and 32.1% of the eligible audience (age 13 and above) uses Instagram in India. 
• Instagram’s ad reach is equivalent to 48.3% of the local internet user base. 
• Instagram ad audience is 67.2% male and 32.8% female. 

LinkedIn stats: 

• In the year 2024, India will have 120.0 million LinkedIn users
• In India, LinkedIn’s audience is equivalent to 8.4% of the total population and 11.9% of the eligible audience (18 and above) uses LinkedIn. 
• LinkedIn’s ad reach in India is equivalent to 16% of the local internet user base. 29.7% of Linkdin’s ad audience is female while 70.3% is male. 

Snapchat stats:

• India has 201.0 million Snapchat users in India. 
• 17.8 per cent of the eligible audience (13 and above) uses Snapchat in India. 
• Snapchat’s ad audience in India was equivalent to 26.7% of local internet users. 35.9% of Snapchat’s audience was female while 61.9% was male. 

X (Twitter) stats:

• India has 26.08 million users in India in early 2024. Also, 2.3% of the eligible audience (age 13 and above) in India uses X. 
• X’s ad reach is equivalent to 1.8% of the total population and 3.5% of the local internet user base in 2024. 
• 85.5% of X’s ad audience was male while 14.4% was female. 

Digital Marketing Market Overview

Market Size

The Indian digital marketing market was valued at USD 5.15 billion in 2023 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 30.2% from 2024 to 2032. 

Content Marketing Spend

In 2024, Indian businesses are projected to spend approximately USD 2 billion on content marketing, reflecting a significant increase from previous years. (in the year 2021, it was INR 88,334 crores) 

Impact of Mobile Usage

Mobile App Usage: Social networking apps are the most used, with 91% of internet users accessing them on mobile devices.

Search Engine and Video Platform Usage

Search Engine Preferences: Google remains the dominant search engine. As per Statista stats, it is used by 86% of internet users for finding information.

Video Streaming

Stat shows online video market is gaining rapid popularity in India. YouTube and Short-form video content are the most popular while Netflix and Amazon Prime are also gaining equal traction as a preferred video streaming platform. 

E-commerce and Online Shopping

Statistics show that the Indian e-commerce market was valued at USD 123 billion in 2024, with expectations to reach USD 300 billion by 2030.

Online Shopping Behavior

As per Statista stats, India has 250 million online shoppers all across India and this number is expected to grow to 450 million by 2027. 

Key Takeaways

Growth Opportunities

• The increasing internet and social media penetration provide vast opportunities for businesses to reach and engage their audiences through content marketing.
• Video content remains a dominant format among audience making platforms like YouTube crucial for content distribution.
• Mobile optimization is essential for businesses considering the increasing number of mobile internet users in the country. 

Strategic Insights

• Businesses should invest in diverse content formats, including videos, blogs and social media posts, to cater to the varied preferences of Indian internet users.
• Leveraging popular platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram can enhance content visibility and engagement.
• Understanding and adapting to the mobile-first behavior of Indian users can significantly improve content marketing effectiveness.

Stat resources: https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2024-india

https://www.expertmarketresearch.com/reports/indian-digital-marketing-market

Conclusion

The content marketing landscape in Southeast Asia and India are dynamic and full of opportunities. Thus, marketers must stay attuned to rising digital penetration, social media influence and the importance of localized and authentic content. Leveraging data-driven strategies, influencer collaborations, and integrating e-commerce can help brands connect with their audiences effectively. 

In a nutshell, staying informed about the latest statistics and trends is crucial for content marketing success in Southeast Asia and India. 

If you are looking for effective and affordable content marketing services for growing your brand in India and South Asian regions, please visit our website contentspire.in. We offer high quality content marketing services at an affordable rate. We are highly specialized in serving small and mid-sizes businesses. Contact us today at contact@contentspire.in.