How AI brings clarity to Indonesia's influencer marketing boom

Indonesia’s creator economy is experiencing explosive growth, with brands ramping up influencer collaborations as a central part of their marketing strategies. Today, according to Meltwater’s 2025 Digital Report, around 143 million Indonesians, or roughly half the population, are active on social media, while an estimated 12 million local creators collectively produce up to one million pieces of content every month.

This makes Indonesia one of the highest population-to-creator ratios globally, creating both opportunity and intense competition for attention.

Influencer ad spend is soaring too, with a 15.6% year-on-year increase pushing total spend to US$225 million in 2024. What was once a discretionary channel is now an integral one to the marketing mix.

Yet this momentum brings new challenges. Audiences are more discerning, expecting authenticity, while marketers face mounting pressure to prove investments are delivering measurable outcomes.

Moreover, the sheer scale of Indonesia’s creator community makes it harder for brands to stand out. This is where AI is beginning to reshape the landscape, helping businesses scale with efficiency while protecting trust. The question is: how can marketers use it to achieve this balance in practice?

Don't miss: Meta to use AI chats to personalise ads and content across platforms

AI as a creative partner

From a content creation standpoint, Gen AI, which can be used to create new text, images or audio from prompts, has become a co-creator for influencers. This has enabled them to produce content at a speed and scale that until very recently would have been impossible. Research from eMarketer shows more than three-quarters of marketers are already using AI for creative development tasks.

For Indonesia, this means even creators with a smaller audience can now compete with more established names, producing professional-quality content with fewer resources. The result is a more diverse, but also more crowded ecosystem of voices for brands to tap into.

Audiences too are warming up to AI’s creative role.

Meltwater’s own social listening shows that AI-generated influencers are increasingly part of online conversations, signalling a rising appetite for virtual personas and AI-driven formats.

Local examples such as Thalasya - Indonesia’s first virtual influencer that creates lifestyle content, partnerships with brands, music, and even runs her own clothing store - show how AI-driven personas can capture attention.

Yet for marketers, the challenge isn’t producing more, but ensuring content resonates with cultural nuance, delivers authenticity, and most importantly reflects shared values between brand and influencer to build genuine trust.

From discovery to measurement: Scaling with trust

With content creation less of a barrier, the next hurdle is identifying the right creators to collaborate with.

Indonesians hold influencers in high regard, with Meltwater research ranking them as the fifth most followed account type, ahead of companies and even brands they have purchased from. This authority can quickly erode however, if partnerships feel forced or if inflated metrics mask an influencer’s true reach. With millions of potential collaborators, manual selection is no longer feasible.

AI offers precision by analysing demographics, engagement behaviour, and brand alignment to recommend creators most likely to deliver impact. It also safeguards authenticity by detecting fake followers, flagging brand safety concerns, and surfacing micro or nano influencers. In this way, it goes beyond vanity metrics to calculate an influencer’s true reach and even forecast potential return on investment before brands commit to the partnership.

Still, technology cannot replace human judgement. Marketers remain critical in assessing cultural fit, tone, and alignment of values. The most effective strategies will use AI to streamline discovery while relying on human expertise to preserve authenticity. AI becomes the bridge that allows brands to scale partnerships without losing sincerity.

Measurement is the final piece of the puzzle. As influencer marketing matures, Indonesian marketers are under pressure to demonstrate business outcomes beyond likes and impressions. CMOs want to know how campaigns are contributing to sales and conversions. Here, AI is critical in connecting influencer activity to results linking content to eCommerce transactions through affiliate codes, or measuring sentiment in Bahasa Indonesia to track brand perception.

This shift empowers brands to treat influencer marketing with the same accountability as other performance-driven channels. By providing both brands and creators with clear evidence of value, AI validates investment and strengthens the trust needed for long-term partnerships. It transforms influencer marketing from an awareness-driven tactic into a channel that delivers measurable business impact.

Indonesia’s creator economy is clearly evolving. Campaigns focused largely on reach and vanity metrics are giving way to strategies that prioritise authenticity, relatability, and outcomes. AI is accelerating this shift by providing marketers with greater precision in targeting and clearer evidence of impact, while ensuring cultural nuance and human voices remain at the core.

The brands that succeed will be those that embrace AI as an enabler of trust and measurable growth.

This article was written by Ram Bojeesh, senior regional director for SAPAC at Meltwater.

Digital Marketing Asia returns to Jakarta on 15 October, bringing the hottest trends, tech, and insights to future-proof your strategies. Network with 150+ industry leaders, discover cutting-edge tools, and learn from real-world case studies – all designed to propel your brand growth. Don't miss this chance to stay ahead of the curve!

Related articles:
The Trade Desk revamps third-party data marketplace with AI-powered tool
'No longer a choice': Neil Patel makes the case for AI personalisation at scale
Content creators, agencies launch regional alliance to boost creative industry