With one of the highest numbers of internet users, Vietnam is seeing a booming digital marketing space. As of early 2024, Vietnam had approximately 78.44 million internet users, translating to an internet penetration rate of 79.1% of the population (Source: DataReportal). The value of digital advertising spending in the country has been multiplying over the past few years and is forecasted to reach USD 476 million by 2025 (Source: Statista). Vietnam’s digital economy is projected to increase by 31% and reach USD 57 billion by 2025, indicating a massive group of digital consumers (Source: Asia Pac Digital).
Vietnam’s digital marketing landscape can be challenging yet essential for telecom brands aiming to penetrate the Southeast Asian market. Once closed off to the world, Vietnam has now emerged as one of the fastest-growing economies globally. With a population of 98.53 million, an impressive 71% of Vietnamese citizens actively use social media, spending an average of 6.5 hours per day online. This extensive internet usage is coupled with unique consumer behavior – 46.3% of individuals visit brand websites to research products and services before making an online purchase. This trend underscores the growing importance of creating and distributing high-quality digital content that engages audiences across various mobile advertising platforms, including social media, banner ads, and branded mobile apps.
For telocs to succeed in Vietnam’s digital marketing landscape, it’s essential to understand the primary platforms, which include social networks, search engines, and messaging platforms. Vietnam’s market presents a unique array of popular platforms that telecom businesses in Vietnam must leverage to reach their target audience effectively.
Video advertising platforms such as YouTube are pivotal, with 80.8% of internet users in Vietnam relying on them for information. This platform offers a robust and effective means to connect with potential telco customers and build brand awareness. Moreover, 52.9% of the population utilizes local search engines like Cốc Cốc for their online searches, highlighting the importance of a localized approach. Messaging platforms like Zalo are among the top digital marketing platforms in Vietnam, offering direct and personalized communication channels with telco customers. Additionally, telcos are now investing in breakthrough digital marketing technologies like moLotus to enhance targeting precision and nationwide reach in Vietnam.
Entry of moLotus mobile video customer interaction platform in Vietnam offers a groundbreaking approach to mobile advertising, boosting data monetization, digital transformation, video interaction, acquisition, customer engagement, and retention. It provides Vietnamese telcos with a unique competitive edge, helping them unlock new revenue streams and improve customer interactions.
By strategically utilizing these key platforms, businesses can enhance their visibility, engage effectively with their target audience, and drive significant brand recognition and customer loyalty in the Vietnamese market. This article highlights the most effective digital marketing tools and strategies, providing insights into how telcos in Vietnam can boost their digital marketing efforts to maximize revenue generation.
1. Zalo
Zalo, with its 73 million active users, offers telecom brands a unique platform for reaching customers in Vietnam. As the leading messaging app, Zalo provides an array of features for effective marketing, including multimedia messaging, targeted advertising, and official accounts for direct customer engagement.
Zalo offers various ad formats for telecom brands to reach their target audience effectively. Telcos can create official accounts to build credibility and a follower base. Zalo Video Ads and Website Ads drive brand awareness and quality traffic, complementing SEM and SEO strategies. Zalo Article Ads boost brand awareness with detailed content and call-to-action buttons, while Form Ads collect customer details for remarketing. Multimedia messaging with images, videos, and voice notes makes ads more engaging and interactive, enhancing customer experience.
The platform also enables targeted customer communication, allowing brands to segment customers by demographics or interests. This means telecom companies can share exclusive deals or loyalty program updates with specific customer groups, ensuring that the right message reaches the right audience.
Zalo Official Accounts (OAs) offer a verified presence, building trust and credibility for telecom brands. Telcos use OAs to share news, service updates, and interactive polls. Features like chatbots and customer support within OAs enable real-time assistance, enhancing customer loyalty.
Leading telcos like Viettel and MobiFone successfully leverage Zalo. Viettel shares promotions and allows phone top-ups via Zalo’s e-commerce platform. MobiFone targets specific demographics with promotions and uses chatbots for customer support.
While Zalo presents a powerful marketing tool, there are potential drawbacks to consider. Zalo’s open nature might expose users to unwanted promotional messages from unofficial brand accounts, potentially harming the brand image. Telcos are reliant on Zalo’s features and functionalities for their campaigns, which could restrict marketing creativity and prevent full advantage of emerging trends. The platform’s rapid expansion into a super app means there could be user experience issues as it continues to add more services.
2. moLotus
moLotus represents a pioneering advancement in digital marketing for Vietnamese telecom operators, fundamentally reshaping how they interact with customers. At its core, moLotus leverages GSM-based technology to deliver low-cost mobile video interactions directly to users’ handsets, eliminating the need for them to download specific apps or active data packs. This direct approach enables telcos to instantly reach a vast customer base nationwide, enhancing communication efficiency and immediacy.
A standout feature of moLotus is its ability to personalize content at a granular level. By leveraging subscriber data, moLotus sends personalized videos with unlimited text resonating with individual customer preferences and behaviors. This personalized approach not only boosts customer engagement but also strengthens customer loyalty by delivering relevant messages that leave a lasting impact.
The platform empowers telcos to orchestrate interactive video campaigns seamlessly. Automated response options like call-back requests, SMS replies, interactive links, and more can be integrated into campaigns tailored to specific demographic segments. This flexibility ensures that ad campaigns are not only targeted but also responsive to customer actions, thereby optimizing engagement and conversion rates.
Automation plays a pivotal role in enhancing operational efficiency for telcos using moLotus. Automated processes for service reminders, loyalty programs, customer onboarding, and more streamline operations, reduce manual effort, and drive cost savings. This efficiency not only improves customer satisfaction through timely and personalized interactions but also frees up resources for strategic initiatives.
Scalability is another critical advantage of moLotus. The platform is designed to handle large volumes of messages and interactions, making it suitable for delivering personalized experiences at scale. This capability is particularly valuable as Vietnamese telcos seek to expand their customer base nationwide and deepen engagement across diverse industries in Vietnam.
moLotus is entering into strategic partnerships with telecom brands across Vietnam. These partnerships facilitate access to extensive data assets, enterprise-grade infrastructure, and mobile marketing opportunities, positioning moLotus as a strategic tool for telcos to navigate competitive landscapes and capitalize on emerging market trends, such as the transition to 5G.
Moreover, moLotus’s introduction of AI brand avatars represent a forward-thinking approach to customer engagement. These virtual spokespersons leverage customer insights to deliver personalized interactions, drive sales, and foster stronger connections between telcos and their customers. By enhancing customer service capabilities and enriching subscriber data insights, moLotus empowers telecom operators to boost Average Revenue Per User by two to four per cent and maximize customer lifetime value.
In 2024 and beyond, moLotus continues to redefine the landscape of digital marketing for Vietnamese telcos.
3. Cốc Cốc
Cốc Cốc, founded by Vietnamese students Nguyen Thanh Binh, Le Van Thanh, and Nguyen Duc Ngoc, aims to optimize the digital experience for Vietnamese users. It has grown into a leading search engine and browser with a mission to enhance the digital potential of Vietnamese people.
Cốc Cốc excels in understanding the complexities of the Vietnamese language, using advanced algorithms to handle tonal nuances and grammar. It indexes a wide range of local content, including news, entertainment, and e-commerce, ensuring relevance for users. Voice recognition technology allows convenient voice searches in Vietnamese, especially for mobile users. Beyond search, Cốc Cốc offers a comprehensive ecosystem with services like Cốc Cốc Browser and Cốc Cốc Ads, benefiting both telcos and advertisers.
In May 2023, Cốc Cốc launched dual products incorporating ChatGPT 3.5 – Cốc Cốc AI Chat and Cốc Cốc AI Search. These products are part of the Cốc Cốc AI Lab ecosystem, aimed at developing AI-driven solutions to further enhance the platform’s capabilities.
Cốc Cốc Ads offers a variety of targeted advertising options that are highly beneficial for telecom brands. They can place their ads on relevant search queries, ensuring visibility to users actively seeking their services. Display Ads appear on popular Vietnamese websites frequented by the target audience. For example, MobiFone could target users searching for “sim data khủng” (unlimited data sim) with display ads showcasing their latest data plans.
With over 25 million monthly active users, Cốc Cốc offers a vast customer base. Telecom brands can leverage local search results, knowledge panels, and listings to showcase their offerings. Cốc Cốc’s market insights enhance campaign effectiveness, while AI Chat and AI Search enable personalized customer interactions.
Despite its growing user base, Cốc Cốc still has a smaller reach compared to global giants like Google. Telcos may have reservations about sharing customer data or relying heavily on a third-party platform. It might be difficult for them to accurately measure the performance and ROI of campaigns on Cốc Cốc.
4. YouTube
YouTube’s user base in Vietnam is projected to reach 75.44 million by 2025 (Source: Statista). The platform is highly popular, significantly influencing Vietnamese youth. Marc Woo, Google’s managing director for Vietnam and Asia Pacific, notes that Vietnamese passion for YouTube has made it the leading video social network in the country for content diversity.
YouTube has reported that it reaches over 50 million adults in Vietnam, with 73.5 percent of the adult population using the platform. This data, derived from Google’s internal statistics and a Kantar survey, underscores YouTube’s dominance as a video-sharing platform in Vietnam. The survey, conducted from May 26, 2023, to June 13, 2023, found that if users in Vietnam could only use one service for a year, they would choose YouTube.
YouTube leads in Vietnam for content diversity, offering short videos, long videos, and live streams. It adapts to viewer preferences, showing strong growth in content and engagement. This extensive user base allows telecom operators to reach diverse, especially younger, audiences. Advanced targeting options enhance ad relevance and engagement.
Data from Google’s ad planning tools indicates that YouTube’s potential ad reach in Vietnam increased by 500 thousand (+0.8 percent) from the start of 2022 to 2023. Telecom operators in Vietnam have leveraged YouTube’s targeting and video ad capabilities to enhance their digital marketing efforts and reach a wider audience.
Vietnam’s telecom market is highly competitive, and YouTube’s ad space is crowded. Telcos must create engaging, well-targeted ads that capture attention quickly to avoid being skipped. Tracking metrics like click-through rates, website visits, and brand sentiment is essential to assess ad effectiveness.
5. TikTok
As of January 2024, TikTok boasts approximately 67.7 million active users engaged in Vietnam, marking a significant increase of nearly 18 million users from the previous year (Source: Statista). TikTok has rapidly become one of Vietnam’s most popular social media platforms.
Data from ByteDance’s advertising resources reveals that TikTok had 49.86 million users aged 18 and above in Vietnam at the beginning of 2023. This represents a substantial reach, equivalent to 64.0 percent of the local internet user base across all age groups (Source: Datareportal).
TikTok’s appeal extends beyond “being just a passing trend”, especially among Vietnamese Gen-Zs known for their short attention spans. In Vietnam, TikTok has been downloaded by up to 30% of all mobile users, highlighting its pervasive influence.
Recognizing its growth in Vietnam, TikTok introduced TikTok for Business in 2020, aimed at enhancing both inbound and outbound marketing strategies for businesses. The platform’s emphasis on video content aligns well with the preferences of Vietnamese internet users, with 97.6% of those aged 16-64 regularly consuming online videos.
Viettel, a prominent Vietnamese telco, leverages TikTok’s influence by employing influencer marketing strategies. Collaborations with major Vietnamese influencers like Bich Phuong, a renowned singer, and Quang Hai, a popular football player, have successfully amplified brand visibility through TikTok hashtag challenges. This approach has effectively raised awareness and engagement for Viettel among TikTok’s vibrant community.
Given the popularity of video marketing in Vietnam, TikTok advertising presents a compelling opportunity for telecom brands to enhance their digital marketing strategies. Kantar’s research indicates that 92% of TikTok users are likely to take action after viewing TikTok videos, underscoring its effectiveness in driving user engagement and conversion.
TikTok presents significant advantages for telecom brands in Vietnam, including high user engagement and effective influencer marketing opportunities. However, challenges exist, such as the fast-paced nature of content trends and user interests, necessitating continuous adaptation of content strategies. Brand safety and reputation management are crucial due to the unpredictable nature of user-generated content. Additionally, measuring ROI can be complex, requiring diligent tracking of metrics like engagement rates and conversions to optimize ad spending effectively.
Conclusion
The dynamic digital marketing landscape in Vietnam offers telecom operators unparalleled opportunities to connect with their target audiences. Key platforms like TikTok, YouTube, Zalo, Cốc Cốc, and moLotus each provide unique strengths for driving engagement, increasing brand visibility, and boosting revenue. Telecom operators must invest in these platforms to leverage their vast user bases, advanced targeting capabilities, and innovative features.
By embracing these tools, operators can enhance revenue, and customer engagement, build stronger relationships, and stay competitive. Now is the time to innovate and invest in robust digital marketing strategies to maximize market potential and drive business growth.
