MKTG1419 A1 SGS Group4 LAM S3752388 1 2019

A new social & mobile marketing trend
The root of social media phenomenon - a new social

& mobile marketing trend in Vietnam
Vietnam has a higher internet penetration rate to compare with most of its neighbours in
Southeast Asia due to the low service costs and its young population. Usage of smartphones,
social media and messaging apps has increased dramatically, which results in robust growth
of the online advertising market between the years 2013-2018. Driven by innovative
platforms to understand the consumers’ needs, the rising trend of using social media have
amplified the increase of digital advertising in Vietnam.
What’s in this article:
• Full fact about digital usage in Vietnam
• The driven force behind Vietnam’s internet penetration
• Smartphone user and social networks
• Social media phenomenon in Vietnam – where we are and what we should do
Full fact about digital usage in Vietnam

• Rising smartphone ownership and increasing 4G coverage attributes to significant growth
of mobile internet retailing
• Since 2016 more than half of the country (51.42 million) access the internet at least once a
month (Vietnam Digital Landscape 2017)
• There are 64 million users on the internet as of January 2018
• The most common device used to access the web in Vietnam is mobile phones, used by
85% of internet users ages 15 to 49.
• Neary 25 hours is the average amount spent by internet users per week online
• There are about 55 million users on social media that account for 57% of the total
population
• Vietnamese enterprises focus on social activities the most and they spend 84% of their
budget on the social advertisement.
The driven force behind Vietnam’s internet penetration

In Vietnam, the route to the internet using is via mobile devices. Mobile phones are the
device most commonly used to access the internet: 85% of internet users ages 15 to 49 said
they get online through mobile phones. Accessing the Internet via mobile phones will
continue to increase due to the growth of the smartphones market in Vietnam. In addition,
telecommunication service with an improvement in 4G coverage makes it easy for the
internet to penetrate into daily life. Many restaurants, cafes or stores offer free Wi-Fi to
customers. The affordable price of the internet on mobile phones also enable customers to
easily surf the internet at home or on the go.
A survey in May 2016 reveals that 81% respondents in Vietnam using their smartphone to
access the internet daily. That figure was higher than other countries in Asia-Pacific such as
Japan, Australia and India, which draw an overall picture of how smartphones have been
gaining internet access in Vietnam.
Smartphone user and social networks

Smartphones facilitate access to social networks. Internet users via mobile devices often
quickly join social networks. Social media app use has contributed to forming the behaviour
of smartphone users in Vietnam, creating a mobile-first market. According to a poll app
survey of W&S Group in March 2016, 84.1% of respondents said that they opened a social
networking app daily.
Among social networking apps, Facebook has gained a strong presence in Vietnam with more
than 90% of all social network users in 2016. The number of Facebook users was predicted to
increase from 32.7 million in 2016 to 43.5 million in 2020. Given the fact that Facebook has
successfully established in Vietnam, it also has to face potential threats including local
competition and government intervention. Zalo is one of the local apps which has rapidly
grown recently. While Facebook most usage is news, users tend to choose Zalo for
communications. In addition, the government used to show a willingness to block the
platform in the past for political reasons. Despite these threats, Facebook has shown its
leading position in Vietnam thanks to the continuing innovations offered by the company.
Social media phenomenon in Vietnam – where we are and what we should do

By the early 2000s, it was completely about social connections where people strengthen their
relationship through social networks. Today, social media has changed its role which is no
longer solely social.
Social media has been considered the melting pot of all communications. Numerous pictures,
videos, status updates are posting every second for the purpose of communication from
peer-to-peer, to B2B and B2C. The social media landscape is emphasised by the endless
diversity of channels, marketing online and brand communication.
From the customers’ perspective, social media has become a virtual platform to see, learn,
buy, recommend and showcase their interests and themselves. However, some users find it
overwhelmed with social features and contents, and try to reduce their time on social media
on a daily basis. This ‘downsize’ trend is prominent in the UK and US. By contrast, the social
media phenomenon in Vietnam is in the early stage. Thus, the advertising market is still
shifting from the traditional approach to digital practice.
“Among several digital marketing strategies, Vietnamese

enterprises mainly concentrate on social activities. 84% of
companies invest in social advertisement. The social
advertisement has become a marketing tool regardless of the
firm size.”
Facebook is a popular social media for companies to gain brand awareness. Large and middle
enterprises use Facebook mainly for campaigns and branding. The number of
“Likes/Followers” on Facebook is directly linked to marketing performance.
There are 30 brands in Vietnam have more than 1 million fans on Facebook. Coca-cola is one
of the soft drink companies having the largest audience with 1,778,748 fans. According to
SocialBakers, its competitor – Pepsi has much lower fans with 665,008 fans. Due to intense
competition, both Coca-cola and Pepsi invest in marketing that makes them well-known for
their excellent marketing. In Vietnam, the battle between the two has come to the social
media channels and Coca-cola is the winner on Facebook. Pepsi’s strategy aims to create
brand recall and to bring customers back. They do not focus on active communication; thus,
customer engagement is not very high. By contrast, Coca-Cola adopts a different point of
view. The company role is to inspire and build their brands in the social media community.
Coca-Cola established its social media principles to interact with the public. They also offer
training to agency partners and associates via online learning portals, as well as regularly
evaluate the training outcome.
Since 2010, promoting products through social media, website, search engines, and mobile
messages has become popular in Vietnam's e-commerce market. In fact, the ongoing digital
transformation is changing digital sales strategies. Many companies start to focus on how to
collect customer data, and how to analyze consumer trends based on social media. However,
‘lack of learning opportunity’ appears as an issue to tackle in most Vietnamese firms when it
comes to digital marketing.
In a nutshell, social media as a social connection tool is no longer the case. Social media
offers more room for brand engagement, expansion and innovation. Vietnamese enterprises
should embrace this opportunity to reach out to their customers, improve their brand
awareness. Redefining digital strategies, learning and moving quickly in the rapid change of
the social media market are fundamental steps Vietnamese companies should take into
account.
#digitalmarketing #ecommerce #onlinemarketing #socialmedia #socialmediatrend

#marketingstrategy #brandawareness #branding
References:
Vietnam: New methods for e-commerce arise. (2017, Dec 05). Asia News Monitor
Vietnam Online: Digital Usage and Behavior, 2015-2020 (2016, Nov 21), eMarketer Report
The digital marketing landscape in Vietnam Voices of Vietnam digital marketers and
agencies, Q&Me is operated by Asia Plus Inc.
Passport Euromonitor. (2019). Mobile Internet Retailing in Vietnam
Trends 19 The Trends to Know for 2019. (2019)
https://www.soravjain.com/digital-marketing-and-social-media-marketing-facts-from-vietna
m
https://www.socialbakers.com/statistics/facebook/pages/total/vietnam/brands/beverages/soft-
drink/
https://notesmatic.com/2018/10/pepsi-social-media-marketing-strategy/
https://www.coca-colacompany.com/stories/online-social-media-principles
https://research.vietnambusiness.tv/vietnamdigitallandscape2016-170221041446.pdf
https://digitalinasia.com/2018/06/18/vietnam-digital-trends-consumer-landscape/

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A new social & mobile marketing trend

The root of social media phenomenon - a new social

Full fact about digital usage in Vietnam

The driven force behind Vietnam’s internet penetration

Smartphone user and social networks

Social media phenomenon in Vietnam – where we are and what we should do

“Among several digital marketing strategies, Vietnamese

#digitalmarketing #ecommerce #onlinemarketing #socialmedia #socialmediatrend

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