IndaHash enters Asia-Pacific

Global influencer-marketing company IndaHash has officially launched its Asia-Pacific operations, with a new Singapore office.

With a network of more than 280,000 ‘mid-tier’ influencers—those with between 1,000 and 100,000 followers—IndaHash was founded in January 2016. It already has seven offices worldwide and operates in 54 markets, including APAC, and has worked with clients including Coca-Cola, L’Oreal, Google, McDonald’s, Samsung and P&G.

The company says its technology platform allows automated influencer marketing at scale on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter. Marketers plug in the specifics of their campaigns on the platform, including pricing and campaign details, and IndaHash then connects the right target audience through its network.

Barbara Soltysinska, CEO and co-founder of IndaHash, told Campaign Asia-Pacific that the APAC region was an obvious target for expansion because of the huge mobile penetration and the fact that, while being diverse in many ways, consumers in the region share a high activity level on social media.

“Social media growth penetration rates are among the global highest in this part of the world,” she said. “As a result of this, there is a growing demand for companies who can provide the right technology that gives access to influencers.”

Barbara Soltysinska

When asked to respond about scepticism regarding the value of influencer marketing, and return on investment for brands, Soltysinska said a lot of the criticism is focused on value regarding top-tier influencers, who are expensive and whose appeal may wane because they are constantly advertising for different brands.

“We work with mid-tier influencers, who retain their authenticity because they focus on specific categories that they are personally interested in, such as travel, beauty or food,” she said, adding that fewer than one in five influencers that apply are accepted onto the platform.

Soltysinska also pointed to IndaHash’s campaign results. Against an industry average of less than 1 percent engagement for digital advertising, the company’s campaigns range between 4 and 12 percent engagement, by using technology that saves time and money and "makes a previously complex marketing platform automated, frictionless and highly effective”, she said.

“Marketers are seeing huge return on investment in influencer marketing, and IndaHash is ideally placed to help them take advantage of this and to conduct campaigns across multiple markets simultaneously,” she said.

With its new APAC operations, Soltysinska said IndaHash’s immediate priority markets are Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan and Australia.