Hiip Rises Expansion, Fighting For “Influencer Marketing” Market That Is Increasingly Interested

Hiip is a marketing startup from Singapore that develops digital platforms to bridge owners brands with influencers on social media. In addition to their home countries, they have also officially announced their presence in Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand.

In the midst of the pandemic, they recently announced the latest funding from the Vulpes Special Opportunities Fund in bridge funds, continuing the previous funding supported by 500 Startups and a number of other investors. Fresh funds are focused on strengthening businesses in their expansion countries.

To the media, Founder & CEO Hiip Phi Nguyen said that so far they have facilitated 500 . marketing activities brand and connect them with about 10 thousand choices an influencer. In Indonesia, Hiip has been operating since 2019, and at the end of the first half of this year Hiip Indonesia claimed to have recorded a 65% increase in revenue compared to the previous year.

"Our businesses in Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand have recovered quickly after experiencing a slight decline due to the pandemic. We will use the investment funds to continue to strengthen the company's position through expansion in other countries in the Southeast Asia region," said Nguyen.

Other players who are already present

Not so long ago, Partipost platform an influencer New from Singapore too ripen expansion to Indonesia, after obtaining series A funding led by SPH Ventures. To DailySocial COO Benjamin Ramli explained, they are quite optimistic brand would welcome this marketing model. Because the usual digital advertising model is increasingly less effective.

"People have mindset to avoid ads, they use adblock, YouTube ads in-skip, and trust in billboards has also decreased. After conducting surveys and research, we got the answer that they are more confident if the recommendation from an influencer trustworthy," he said.

Some local players also peddle similar services. For example Verikool, they present the platform endorser influencer and analytics. Companies or SMEs can choose an influencer relevant to their needs, make payments, to evaluate content. While the shape of marketplace there are also some, for example SociaBuzz, IconReel, and Allstars.

Market share growth trend

Menurut report "Influencer Marketing Benchmark Report 2020", this year based marketing an influencer will reach a value of $9,7 billion globally. Last year, it was recorded that around 1120 platforms and agencies had started working on the landscape.

Then from a business perspective, still from the same research results, 91% of brand the respondent said influence marketing is an effective way to achieve their goals. From there, 78% said they would increase spending on these needs.

Then regarding the expected output expectations are still quite diverse, some expect sales conversions, some others engagement, more impressions of brand.

For comparison, the results other research released by Mediakix mentioned 2020 budget which is issued brand for influence marketing will increase by 65%, as much as 33% will still allocate the same value as last year. Even 17% of marketers say they will allocate half of their funds to influence marketing. While 98% of respondents said this approach was the same and/or better than their previous marketing model, in terms of achievements return on investment.

Regarding the budget issued, it is quite diverse, because it adapts to the scale of each business. As is known, this service is now starting to be used by micro-scale businesses to corporations.

Regarding platforms, two studies have shown similar findings, Instagram being the most in demand. Followed by Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, TikTok and others.