Indonesia Deep Dive: Rethinking the Omnichannel Consumer Journey

With one of the largest online populations in the world, Indonesia’s digital boom shows no signs of slowing down. This includes a rapidly growing ecommerce market with 30 million people transacting online today. 

As Indonesian digital usage grows, marketers need to rethink the customer journey and be adaptable to their changing needs and preferences. The traditional linear consumer journey is no longer applicable in the modern age of digitalization. Magnite’s audience research “Decoding the Connected Indonesian Consumer” with Milieu Insights dived into key consumer media behavior and ad preferences in Indonesia to inform marketers on the best way forward. 

Reach Indonesian Audiences Where They Are

Consumer-centric marketing is about reaching the right consumers where they are most engaged. An omnichannel strategy entails understanding your audience and each channel’s unique characteristics to create a cohesive brand experience. 

Magnite’s research revealed 88% of Indonesian internet-connected consumers are active open internet users across OTT streaming, gaming, music streaming and digital news/ magazines. This translates to an estimated 197 million Indonesians active on the open internet.  Furthermore, they are heavy users spending at least 10 hours across these channels, with OTT streamers spending 20.7 hours per week streaming videos and gamers spending 19.2 hours per week gaming. Even active user-generated content (UGC) video and social media users widely use the open internet. 

Multiple channels clearly stood out during specific times of the day – digital news during breakfast, music streaming while commuting, and OTT/CTV video streaming at night. Understanding channel usage and reach these audience segments when they are online is key to maximizing marketing outreach. 

Mobile First, CTV Next 

The average Indonesian spends four hours a day accessing the internet on their mobile device – twice the USA average, according to McKinsey. Indonesians remain mobile first, where 88% of video streamers are streaming via smartphone, 96% of digital readers are browsing digital news/ magazines on mobile, and 93% of gamers are playing mobile games. 

Mobile is also used as a complementary device by consumers to engage in actions related to show content when watching TV. More than half (56%) are messaging friends and family about the show, and 47% search online for products from the shows or ads. However, there is a growing interest in CTV which (26%) has overtaken free-to-air TV (20%) as the preferred TV device among video viewers. Having a mobile strategy is table stakes, but it’s important to take note of the growth in big-screen adoption, especially digital screens. 

Multi-Channel, Relevant Ads Deliver Greater Impact

Mass marketing is no longer the solution; marketers need to leverage one-to-one personal messaging for more meaningful interactions that add value to the consumer ad experience across multiple touchpoints. Ad experience matters, where relevance and non-repetitiveness ranked highly for watchable ads.

56% of Indonesians better recall ads that include products relevant to them. Even among gamers, the importance of quality triumphs getting rewarded when it comes to ads. Ad relevance (51%) was the most important factor in increasing gamer willingness to view an in-game ad, higher than the ability to exchange for gaming rewards (33%). 

Ad performance remains top of mind for advertisers where ad impact is still a key metric of successful reach. Indonesian consumers are ad receptive across all channels, with more than half engaging in some form of post-ad action. Across post-ad search and purchase behavior, a multi-channel ad impact is stronger than a single channel. 67% of Indonesian online users search for the product advertised online, while 57% make a purchase after viewing an ad across multiple platforms.  

The Future in Indonesia: Data-Driven Omnichannel Advertising 

What does this mean for advertisers and brands? The need to craft valuable relationships with consumers by being relevant will only grow. Buyers need to select the right platforms to form their media mix and leverage data for better addressability in a privacy-proof way to enhance the consumer buying journey. However, this does not have to be an extensive effort. Buyers can scale it with programmatic activation to access a wide range of digital formats and tap on its precise targeting, measurement and optimisation capabilities for real-time ad personalisation and messaging to the right audience. 

Ultimately, advertisers should tailor their strategies to the multi-channel era and collaborate with media owners to reach audiences wherever they are. With informative, entertaining and relevant content, brands can craft a positive association, with the help of data and tech to create personalized experiences and meaningful interactions.