What's truly driving conversion in performance marketing?

Performance marketing in Southeast Asia is changing fast. Instead of just focusing on small optimisations, marketers now have to adapt to bigger shifts such as new technologies, changing consumer habits, and the rise of creator-led commerce. Across large companies and small businesses, teams are turning to AI tools, affiliate programmes, and new ways of working with partners to get results they can actually measure.

The shift has been years in the making, shaped by rising digital adoption, the normalisation of short-form video consumption, and heightened pressure on budgets. But 2025 marked a decisive break from the past: performance is no longer a question of efficiency alone. It is increasingly about adaptive systems that learn, personalise, and predict at speed - and about strategies that move fluidly across content, conversation, and commerce.

According to Sandhya Devanathan, VP for India and Southeast Asia at Meta, these changes are happening everywhere in the region. “This year, we saw a real shift in how businesses approach performance marketing,” she said. “AI isn’t just a buzzword anymore, it’s something advertisers of all sizes are actually using to get better results.”

This article unpacks where the region is headed and what marketers should be prioritising in 2026.

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

Why AI became the performance engine

AI’s impact on content creation has been widely discussed, but in performance marketing its influence has been deeper - and more foundational. Devanathan described the shift simply as “speed to value.”

AI now decides, at pace, which creative resonates with which person and at what moment. It keeps relevance high and wasted spend low. Automated systems such as Meta’s Advantage+ handle the operational heavy lifting - budget pacing, creative rotation, and audience signals - allowing teams to focus on strategy and storytelling.

The shift is particularly evident in Southeast Asia, where adoption of platform-based AI tools has surged. Deloitte’s "AI for Business: APAC Trends in AI Platform Adoption", commissioned by Meta, found that Vietnam leads the region, with 93% of businesses using AI tools in platforms, primarily for customer communication (66%) and new customer acquisition (63%).

Indonesia follows at 79%, using AI largely for marketing new products (65%) and customer communication (61%). Malaysia sits at 78%, with usage driven by communication (51%) and product marketing (50%). Thailand is at 77%, leaning heavily on customer communication (69%) and discovery of new customers (51%).

Despite this, the study also highlights familiar barriers: data privacy concerns (up to 69% in Vietnam), connectivity issues (notably 50% in Malaysia and 42% in Indonesia), and, in some markets, a degree of platform scepticism.

Devanathan acknowledged these concerns: “The concerns I hear most are about data privacy, connectivity, and trust in platforms. These are real issues, and they vary by market.” Her view is that growth and governance must coexist - and that privacy-safe tools such as Conversions API and robust measurement frameworks help bridge the gap.

The performance funnel is now a loop

One of the most significant changes AI has introduced is the collapse of the traditional funnel. Discovery, validation, and purchase are no longer separate phases.

“The funnel has become a loop,” Devanathan said, noting that a single user journey can now move from Reel to product research to chat-based clarification to purchase - all within one platform and sometimes a single session.

AI makes this possible by translating signals into action instantly: it senses intent, selects the right creative, and routes the person to the next best step, whether that’s a message thread, a shop, or a lead form.

This fluidity places new pressure on creative variety and responsiveness. AI-driven personalisation means the “winning” ad is constantly refreshed, allowing campaigns to stay contextually relevant across placements and formats.

For marketers, the mandate is shifting: define objectives clearly, maintain high-quality signals, and supply a diverse creative palette - then allow automation to compound gains over time.

Lessons from Southeast Asia’s messaging-first markets

No region has leaned into conversational commerce quite like Southeast Asia. Businesses here routinely rely on chat to close sales, answer enquiries, and build trust - making AI-powered business messaging a high-impact lever for performance outcomes.

Consider the Philippines, where small and mid-sized businesses often operate with lean teams. White Coat Manila, a family-run medical apparel brand, integrated Business AI on Messenger and quickly saw operational gains. As co-founder Franco Ongkingco shared: “AI for business messaging is a true game-changer. It handles hundreds of basic inquiries from our customers swiftly and accurately. The savings for us in both time and expense have helped us focus our efforts on growing our business.”

Peculiar Eyewear in the Philippines has reported similar outcomes, citing the ability to manage surges in customer questions while maintaining conversion momentum.

Across the region, the logic is consistent: the faster a question is answered, the less likely a basket is abandoned.

Automation that compounds, not replaces

Some of the strongest traction in Southeast Asia is coming from AI systems that turn complexity into sustained performance advantage.

Devanathan pointed to several examples. Advantage+ automation has been a standout, with Singapore’s Allies of Skin demonstrating how automated creative selection, flexible audience expansion and signal-driven optimisation can deliver measurable results without the need for constant human intervention.

Conversational AI is also reshaping the path to purchase: Business AI on Messenger and WhatsApp is closing the gap between interest and conversion, a pattern seen repeatedly among local businesses.

Meanwhile, generative AI creative tools are helping marketers feed the system with the diverse creative assets required to uncover new audience pockets - a shift that is quickly becoming central to modern performance playbooks.

Yet Devanathan stressed that automation doesn’t replace human talent. Execution may be automated, but the strategic decisions remain deeply human.

AI excels at scale, speed, and pattern recognition. Humans excel at judgment, ethics, and meaning.

Affiliate partnerships take centre stage

If 2023-2024 was the era of creator commerce, 2025-2026 is shaping up to be the era of performance-driven creator commerce - powered by affiliate models.

Meta’s newly announced affiliate partnership with Shopee marks a meaningful step in this direction. The integration allows creators to share trackable links and earn based on outcomes, tying content directly to sales.

Devanathan explained the logic: “We followed the consumer. In Southeast Asia, discovery is social and purchase is increasingly immediate.”

The model connects audiences, creators, and brands into a measurable loop. Consumers encounter content they like; creators earn from what converts; businesses see transparent performance data. It also pairs naturally with Meta’s existing commerce tools, including Collaborative Ads and enhanced Facebook Live commerce experiences.

Industry observers note that affiliate marketing is shifting from a peripheral channel to a mainstream performance lever - especially as marketers demand more accountability from creator spend.

What brands must examine in 2026

With budgets under scrutiny and competition intensifying, brands need to ask sharper, more structural questions about their performance marketing setups.

Devanathan suggested focusing on incrementality, creative depth, signal quality, and measurement truthfulness: Are you reaching new customers or retargeting the same base? Is your creative diverse enough for AI to find new performance pockets? Are you validating results through lift studies or MMM - not just last-click? Is your data foundation clean and privacy-conscious? Are you allowing automation to work by simplifying structures?

Make learning an operating rhythm, not a one-off project - just as the strongest case studies in the region have done.

For small businesses feeling overwhelmed, the path forward is surprisingly clear. Start by defining the outcome you truly want - whether that’s sales or leads - and allow automation tools such as Advantage+ to do the heavy lifting in finding conversions efficiently. Make sure your signals are clean, using Pixel or the Conversions API with standard events to give the system the data it needs.

Resist the urge to overcomplicate your creative testing; focus instead on a handful of distinct ideas that can meaningfully differentiate performance. Keep business messaging open to address customer questions in real time, and whenever possible, validate your results through small lift tests to ensure the impact is real, not accidental.

“Begin with clarity of outcome and simplicity of setup,” Devanathan advised.

Customer journeys across Southeast Asia will only grow more fluid. AI will deepen its ability to understand creative, signals, and intent. Commerce will sit even more tightly inside content and conversations. Affiliate partnerships will intertwine more closely with creator ecosystems and live shopping environments.

But the region’s competitive edge will not be technology alone - it will be the marketers, founders, and creative talent who know how to orchestrate these systems with discipline, cultural intelligence, and brand stewardship.

“The businesses that win,” Devanathan said, “will be the ones that pair AI’s compounding advantages with human creativity, governance, and vision - because growth at speed matters, but growth with meaning endures.”

This article was written in collaboration with Meta.

Related articles:
Meta tackles scam ads with updates on brand rights protection
The new personalisation paradox: Can Meta balance AI chat relevance with privacy?
Meta doubles down on creative automation in latest AI push