The Marketing + Media Alliance MENA (MMA MENA) has released the region’s first standardized framework for influencer marketing, introducing unified benchmarks for pricing, valuation, and campaign performance across the Middle East and North Africa.
Developed by the MMA MENA Influencer Marketing Committee in partnership with Inflow and Montent, The MENA Influencer Marketing Guide aims to bring transparency and consistency to one of the fastest-growing sectors in the GCC digital economy.
According to the report, the GCC influencer marketing market is currently valued at around $315.5 million and is projected to grow to $771.6 million by 2032. Despite the rapid expansion, the industry has largely operated without standardized metrics for pricing, evaluating, or measuring influencer campaigns, with negotiations often driven by follower counts rather than measurable performance indicators.
The guide introduces a regional rate card, platform-specific performance benchmarks, and a proprietary valuation framework called “Track the Power.” The methodology calculates a creator’s value using an Impact Score that combines factors such as engagement rate, content category, and creator authority.
An Influencer Budget Calculator has also been included to help brands and agencies estimate campaign budgets and projected returns on investment based on campaign requirements.
The publication additionally outlines the evolving regulatory landscape for influencer marketing in the GCC, including licensing requirements in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
Industry data highlighted in the report points to the growing role of social media in consumer purchasing decisions across the region. Around 78% of consumers in the Middle East discover new brands through social media, while 60% say they have purchased a product based solely on an influencer recommendation. The report also noted that micro-influencers now account for 45% of the GCC market share, reflecting increasing preference for niche creators with stronger audience trust and engagement.
“The MENA influencer market is one of the most dynamic in the world, yet it has operated without the benchmarks that marketers rely on in every other channel. This guide gives the industry a shared language and a data-driven foundation to evaluate, negotiate, and report on influencer investment with confidence,” said Juanes Lopez Bedoya of Inflow, speaking on behalf of the MMA MENA Influencer Marketing Committee.
Linda Kender, Regional Director at Marketing + Media Alliance MENA, said the initiative reflects the organisation’s focus on creating practical industry standards through collaboration between brands, agencies, and technology firms.
“MMA MENA’s committees are where industry expertise becomes industry progress. The Influencer Marketing Committee brought together some of the sharpest minds working in this space across the region, and this guide is the result of that collaboration. Our goal has always been to give the industry something genuinely useful: standards it can adopt, benchmarks it can measure against, and a framework that works in the real conditions of MENA markets. This is the first of what we expect to be many such outputs,” she said.
