APAC audiences are redefining how brands show up, connect, and keep audiences coming back for more. From brand discovery to engagement, sharing and shopping, social behaviours vary significantly across markets.

In 2026, these patterns will be shaped by mobile-first consumption, creator-centric influence, cultural nuance and platform-specific habits that demand a more localised approach. 

Understanding what’s driving engagement across the region is the first step to building social strategies that bring in the desired results. Here are four key social shifts shaping how audiences engage across APAC.

Video-first rules the feed

Short-form video is an attention span’s best friend across APAC markets, accounting for over 97% of mobile-based social media activity.

YouTube’s 2025 data shows rapid creator ecosystem growth in Southeast Asia. By 2025, 7,600 channels had surpassed 1 million subscribers – with over 77,000 exceeding 100,000. Uploads from Vietnam and Indonesia rose by 85% year-on-year, and India is currently YouTube’s largest market, with around 500 million users.

Video’s share of e-commerce sales value in Southeast Asia has quadrupled to 20% in two years – reshaping how consumers discover and purchase products. This aligns with mobile-first behaviour, with users in the region spending at least four hours daily online.

YouTube Shopping adoption is also strong, with 55% of eligible creators participating, and trust in creators remaining high across key markets. YouTube’s integration with Shopee across Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines is also proving to be a success, streamlining purchase journeys and supporting video-led buying research.

Influencers: trust, relevance and local resonance

In APAC, the role of influencers in social experiences continues to evolve as trusted conduits for cultural context, community engagement, and purchase inspiration.

Influencer content remains a key investment area for marketers across the region, with brands increasingly shifting spend towards creators and connected TV. Markets like the Philippines and Indonesia continue to stand out for high levels of influencer followership and engagement, reflecting the strong cultural relevance and active role that creator content plays in everyday digital life.

The influencer landscape also overlaps closely with celebrity and idol culture, particularly in Southeast Asia, where entertainment figures play a vital role in shaping consumer behaviour and brand relevance. BTS’s exclusive ‘Arirang’ merch collaboration with the National Museum of Korea, for instance, reinterprets traditional Korean heritage through a contemporary, influential pop-cultural lens. It shows how celebrity-led campaigns can connect identity, tradition, and consumer appeal in ways that feel both locally rooted and globally resonant.

The search for new talent has increasingly shifted towards Southeast Asian countries. The rise of idols like BLACKPINK's Lisa has prompted agencies to scout Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines – leveraging Southeast Asia's digital growth and its active role in shaping global K-pop culture.

Gauging audience response in China is a more complex challenge. While Chinese Gen Z interest in K-pop remains high, geopolitical tensions and regulatory constraints limit large-scale events. Fans are shifting focus to engage through smaller signings, and a preference for travelling to hubs like Hong Kong and Macau is emerging. This highlights a fandom that is locally restricted yet regionally mobile, and is finding creative ways to bypass domestic barriers to sustain their cultural connections. 

Language and culture: local context wins

APAC spans hundreds of languages, cultures and content norms. Content that resonates requires a balance of language, cultural references and contextual relevance.

In India and Indonesia, local dialects and culturally nuanced messaging outperform generic English content. In Japan, messaging that respects nuance and subtlety, and follows platform-specific etiquette, tends to engage more deeply. This differs to Korea, where greater value is placed on quality, precision and visually refined content. In China, localised, culturally relevant, and respectful messaging resonates most strongly with social audiences. 

Similarly, in PR, journalists in APAC are more receptive to messaging that incorporates a local hook. High-awareness marketing is currently booming across the Chinese film industry, with a deeper focus on regional, culturally habitual, and dialect-based targeting. In 2025, leading brands across sectors from FMCG, luxury and automotive partnered with classic IP to pay homage to the “nation's spirits”. These campaigns tapped into patriotic pride, shared cultural heritage, and collective nostalgia, helping brands strengthen consumer affection and trust. 

In Thailand, creative execution is often as important as language nuance. For example, Thai advertising is widely recognised for its ability to combine humour, surrealism, and emotional storytelling, making even routine product messages feel genuine, fresh, and memorable. For example, Samsung’s ‘The Lost Bills’ campaign for the Thai market last year transformed a message about energy saving into a playful ‘lost and found’ narrative, reimagining electricity bills in a fun yet precise story about energy use. 

Posting times

In APAC, how audiences engage with social media varies widely, shaped by cultural norms and daily routines like commuting, lunch breaks and the after-work window.

Generally, content performs best during commuter hours (7–10 AM), lunch (12–2 PM), and evening leisure time (7–10 PM). However, there is no universal “best time” as optimal posting hours depend on local behaviours, content type, objectives and platform algorithms.

Key considerations:

• Avoid weekday working hours (9 AM–1 PM, 2–6 PM) when engagement tends to be lower.
• Choose platforms based on regional preferences. Mainland China favours WeChat, Rednote, Douyin and Weibo, while Hong Kong leans towards Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.
• Late-night browsing is common in fast-paced markets like Japan, Korea, Singapore and China.
• Mid-week evenings and weekend nights (e.g. Sunday 7–9 PM) often see stronger engagement.
  
  

Ultimately, continuous testing and performance tracking are essential. While these indicate general trends, implementing A/B testing and monitoring  post performance will be key to achieving consistent, successful outcomes.

APAC’s diversity is a competitive advantage for brands that listen, adapt and design content that meets audiences where they are. In 2026, winning social strategies will be those that blend data-fueled insights with creative execution, tailored to the nuance of each APAC market.

Keen to find out more? Email our team – hello@battenhall.com – to speak with one of our experts.