As influencer marketing expands across the Gulf, the growing emphasis on reach may be giving way to a more performance-led approach centred on engagement, relevance and measurable influence.
For years, influencer marketing in the GCC has been closely associated with celebrity reach. But as the region’s creator economy matures, consumer packaged goods (CPG) marketers may increasingly need to look beyond follower counts — and towards the quality of engagement generated by smaller creators.
Industry data cited by regional marketing consultancy The Hovi suggests that micro-influencers generate 3.5 times higher engagement than mega-influencers in MENA. The consultancy also reports that a significant share of influencer investment continues to favour larger creators. The Hovi’s MENA influencer marketing analysis points to a potential disconnect between audience scale and engagement efficiency.
The opportunity is emerging as the regional market expands. According to P&S Intelligence’s GCC influencer marketing market research, the GCC influencer marketing market was valued at $315.5 million in 2025 and is projected to reach $771.6 million by 2032, representing a compound annual growth rate of 13.9%. Saudi Arabia is currently the largest country market, while the UAE is forecast to be the fastest-growing.
Consumer behaviour also underlines the growing importance of creators. YouGov research found that 77% of UAE consumers notice influencer endorsements when purchasing healthcare products and food supplements, the highest proportion among the markets covered in that study. In another YouGov study, 72% of UAE consumers said they notice influencer endorsements when purchasing cosmetics and beauty products.
The UAE also has an unusually deep influencer-following culture. YouGov data found that 75% of UAE consumers followed influencers, the highest proportion across the 17 markets examined in that research.
For CPG brands, that makes smaller creators particularly relevant. A micro-influencer focused on food, beauty, wellness, parenting or lifestyle can offer a highly concentrated audience around a particular category, potentially giving brands greater relevance than a celebrity whose following spans multiple interests.
The implication for agencies is significant. Instead of treating follower numbers as the primary measure of influence, creator selection could increasingly be based on audience relevance, engagement quality, authenticity, brand fit and conversion performance.
That creates an opportunity for agencies to move beyond traditional influencer brokerage and build creator-intelligence capabilities: category-specific databases, engagement-rate scoring, audience-quality analysis, fraud detection and campaign-performance tracking.
The competitive pitch may therefore shift from who can secure the biggest creator to who can identify the right creators for the same budget — and demonstrate what they delivered.
For GCC CPG marketers, the next phase of influencer marketing may be less about buying fame and more about buying measurable influence.
