Southeast Asia’s digital economy continues to expand, reaching an estimated size of $263 billion GMV with $122 billion in revenue, according to a new report by AnyMind Group. The “2025 Southeast Asia Digital Landscape” report reveals how fragmentation across marketing and e-commerce channels is transforming consumer journeys and creating new challenges for brands.
Digital Infrastructure Across Region
The report highlights significant disparities in digital readiness among Southeast Asian nations. Singapore leads the region with a Network Readiness Index score of 76.94, ranking second globally, while the Philippines trails at 49.93, placing 63rd worldwide.
Despite these differences, the region maintains strong mobile penetration at 117.8% and internet penetration of 78.2%. With over 659 million people and a collective GDP of $2.5 trillion, Southeast Asia is on track to become the world’s fifth-largest economy by 2025.
“Driven by a young and tech-savvy population, Southeast Asia is quickly becoming the world’s fastest growing internet market,” the report states, noting that 55-65% of internet users spend on digital products.
Marketing Funnel Across Fragmented Touchpoints
The traditional marketing funnel has transformed into what AnyMind describes as “a dynamic and unpredictable network of interactions” spanning multiple platforms and formats. The research identifies optimal channel combinations across awareness, consideration, and conversion stages.
At the awareness stage, a combination of three to four channels unlocks a reach of over 40% across Southeast Asian markets. Social media ads, in-game advertising, and OTT/streaming ads emerge as the most effective digital channels, with traditional media still playing a supporting role in the mid-funnel.
“In-game advertising is emerging as a top-of-funnel powerhouse in Southeast Asia, ideal for brands seeking early recall,” the report notes. “Social media and YouTube offer consistent performance across the entire funnel—valuable for holistic campaigns.”
Video Content Preferences
Video formats consistently outperform other content types throughout the consumer journey. At the awareness stage, influencer videos and short-form content achieve the highest engagement, with Singapore and the Philippines showing particularly strong responses to influencer-led content.
For the consideration phase, demonstration videos (59%), user reviews (56%), and influencer videos (54%) are most preferred by consumers. The report finds that “video dominates the consideration game—from short influencer-led clips to product demos, SEA consumers lean heavily into dynamic formats.”
This trend continues at the conversion stage, where video ads remain the most effective format (32%), followed by sponsored product ads (24%) and shoppable videos/livestream ads (20% each).
Time-Sensitive Ad Exposure
The research reveals distinct timeframes between ad exposure and purchase decisions. Most Southeast Asian consumers need to see an ad 3-5 days before moving into the consideration stage, with only a fraction making in-the-moment purchase decisions.
Indonesia and Vietnam are noted as exceptions, showing higher ratios of consumers making immediate purchase decisions after seeing advertisements.
At the conversion stage, approximately 35% of consumers respond best to ads viewed 1-3 days before purchase, while 20% make decisions after seeing ads 5+ days prior.
Mobile & Digital Marketing Performance
The report provides detailed channel-specific insights based on data from AnyMind’s platforms:
For mobile marketing, interstitial ads achieve the highest clickthrough rates (CTR) across most markets, though video formats generate more impressions overall. Time-of-day analysis shows interstitial ads perform best between 4-5 p.m. and 9-10 p.m., while video ads maintain steady performance throughout the day.
In digital marketing, in-stream video ads lead all formats, with CTRs approaching 9%, significantly outperforming traditional formats such as banners and native ads. However, the report notes that “formats like Video Blend, Slider, and Mobile Scroller deliver the highest average view rates (~65%), making them ideal for awareness and upper-funnel campaigns.”
E-Commerce Platform Performance
The research compares performance metrics across major e-commerce platforms in Southeast Asia, finding that Shopee generally achieves higher click-through rates than Lazada in most markets, particularly in Vietnam, Singapore, and the Philippines.
For return on ad spend (ROAS), Shopee delivers stronger performance in Indonesia and Thailand, while Lazada shows competitive or slightly better ROAS in Singapore and the Philippines.
Meanwhile, conversion rate analysis reveals different strengths: “Lazada delivers stronger conversion rates than Shopee in key markets like Thailand and Singapore, despite Shopee consistently driving higher CTR and ROAS.” This suggests Lazada has “a more efficient checkout funnel or higher purchase intent among users.”
Influencer Marketing Size and Engagement
The analysis of influencer marketing reveals that nano-influencers (1,000-10,000 followers) generate the highest engagement rates across Southeast Asia at approximately 25%, significantly outperforming other categories. Micro-influencers (10,000-50,000) follow at around 5%, while mid-tier (50,000-500,000) and macro-influencers (500,000-1 million) generate the lowest engagement rates at approximately 1% and 0.08% respectively.
However, the report cautions that “engagement rates should not be used as a sole benchmark when deciding which type of influencer to work with,” noting that absolute reach, context, and sales conversion ability are equally important considerations.
Recommendations for Brand Strategy
Based on the findings, the report offers several strategic implications for marketers:
Implement channel-specific approaches aligned with marketing funnel stages, combining digital-first strategies with market-specific traditional media
Prioritize video content across all funnel stages, with format optimization based on objectives
Allocate e-commerce advertising budgets dynamically by platform based on regional performance trends
Consider Shopee for upper and mid-funnel campaigns focusing on traffic and ROAS, while using Lazada for bottom-funnel, ROI-focused efforts in specific markets
Time ad exposure strategically, with most markets requiring several days between initial ad exposure and conversion
The report concludes that businesses will “continue to ramp up digital monetization within their core offerings, whilst expanding revenue streams to drive future growth” across Southeast Asia’s digital economy.
All images are credited to AnyMind Group. The full report is available here.
Southeast Asia’s digital economy continues to expand, reaching an estimated size of $263 billion GMV with $122 billion in revenue, according to a new report by AnyMind Group. The “2025 Southeast Asia Digital Landscape” report reveals how fragmentation across marketing and e-commerce channels is transforming consumer journeys and creating new challenges for brands.
Digital Infrastructure Across Region
The report highlights significant disparities in digital readiness among Southeast Asian nations. Singapore leads the region with a Network Readiness Index score of 76.94, ranking second globally, while the Philippines trails at 49.93, placing 63rd worldwide.
Despite these differences, the region maintains strong mobile penetration at 117.8% and internet penetration of 78.2%. With over 659 million people and a collective GDP of $2.5 trillion, Southeast Asia is on track to become the world’s fifth-largest economy by 2025.
“Driven by a young and tech-savvy population, Southeast Asia is quickly becoming the world’s fastest growing internet market,” the report states, noting that 55-65% of internet users spend on digital products.
Marketing Funnel Across Fragmented Touchpoints
The traditional marketing funnel has transformed into what AnyMind describes as “a dynamic and unpredictable network of interactions” spanning multiple platforms and formats. The research identifies optimal channel combinations across awareness, consideration, and conversion stages.
At the awareness stage, a combination of three to four channels unlocks a reach of over 40% across Southeast Asian markets. Social media ads, in-game advertising, and OTT/streaming ads emerge as the most effective digital channels, with traditional media still playing a supporting role in the mid-funnel.
“In-game advertising is emerging as a top-of-funnel powerhouse in Southeast Asia, ideal for brands seeking early recall,” the report notes. “Social media and YouTube offer consistent performance across the entire funnel—valuable for holistic campaigns.”
Video Content Preferences
Video formats consistently outperform other content types throughout the consumer journey. At the awareness stage, influencer videos and short-form content achieve the highest engagement, with Singapore and the Philippines showing particularly strong responses to influencer-led content.
For the consideration phase, demonstration videos (59%), user reviews (56%), and influencer videos (54%) are most preferred by consumers. The report finds that “video dominates the consideration game—from short influencer-led clips to product demos, SEA consumers lean heavily into dynamic formats.”
This trend continues at the conversion stage, where video ads remain the most effective format (32%), followed by sponsored product ads (24%) and shoppable videos/livestream ads (20% each).
Time-Sensitive Ad Exposure
The research reveals distinct timeframes between ad exposure and purchase decisions. Most Southeast Asian consumers need to see an ad 3-5 days before moving into the consideration stage, with only a fraction making in-the-moment purchase decisions.
Indonesia and Vietnam are noted as exceptions, showing higher ratios of consumers making immediate purchase decisions after seeing advertisements.
At the conversion stage, approximately 35% of consumers respond best to ads viewed 1-3 days before purchase, while 20% make decisions after seeing ads 5+ days prior.
Mobile & Digital Marketing Performance
The report provides detailed channel-specific insights based on data from AnyMind’s platforms:
For mobile marketing, interstitial ads achieve the highest clickthrough rates (CTR) across most markets, though video formats generate more impressions overall. Time-of-day analysis shows interstitial ads perform best between 4-5 p.m. and 9-10 p.m., while video ads maintain steady performance throughout the day.
In digital marketing, in-stream video ads lead all formats, with CTRs approaching 9%, significantly outperforming traditional formats such as banners and native ads. However, the report notes that “formats like Video Blend, Slider, and Mobile Scroller deliver the highest average view rates (~65%), making them ideal for awareness and upper-funnel campaigns.”
E-Commerce Platform Performance
The research compares performance metrics across major e-commerce platforms in Southeast Asia, finding that Shopee generally achieves higher click-through rates than Lazada in most markets, particularly in Vietnam, Singapore, and the Philippines.
For return on ad spend (ROAS), Shopee delivers stronger performance in Indonesia and Thailand, while Lazada shows competitive or slightly better ROAS in Singapore and the Philippines.
Meanwhile, conversion rate analysis reveals different strengths: “Lazada delivers stronger conversion rates than Shopee in key markets like Thailand and Singapore, despite Shopee consistently driving higher CTR and ROAS.” This suggests Lazada has “a more efficient checkout funnel or higher purchase intent among users.”
Influencer Marketing Size and Engagement
The analysis of influencer marketing reveals that nano-influencers (1,000-10,000 followers) generate the highest engagement rates across Southeast Asia at approximately 25%, significantly outperforming other categories. Micro-influencers (10,000-50,000) follow at around 5%, while mid-tier (50,000-500,000) and macro-influencers (500,000-1 million) generate the lowest engagement rates at approximately 1% and 0.08% respectively.
However, the report cautions that “engagement rates should not be used as a sole benchmark when deciding which type of influencer to work with,” noting that absolute reach, context, and sales conversion ability are equally important considerations.
Recommendations for Brand Strategy
Based on the findings, the report offers several strategic implications for marketers:
The report concludes that businesses will “continue to ramp up digital monetization within their core offerings, whilst expanding revenue streams to drive future growth” across Southeast Asia’s digital economy.
All images are credited to AnyMind Group.
The full report is available here.