Social networks: Increasingly important marketing channel

Social networks have become an increasingly important marketing channel

Mai Huynh, a Facebook representative, said 53 million Vietnamese use Facebook monthly, 96 percent of them on smartphones, while 68 percent of Vietnamese surfed to a Facebook-based business and/or sales page. Vietnam has become the third biggest country in Asia in terms of users purchasing and/or selling goods/services through Facebook or other websites, after China and Japan. Social networks have become a very important marketing channel for businesses.

According to a survey by the Vietnam E-commerce Association (VECOM), online advertising revenue is on the rise; 67 percent of individual customers chose shopping through websites or mobile applications after reviewing related online comments, especially those on social networks. Apart from world-leading online advertising firms like Google and Facebook, a number of foreign advertising companies have expressed interest in the potential Vietnamese online advertising market.

Social networks are expected to become a good solution for small to medium-sized Vietnamese enterprises to develop marketing and join the global value chain in terms of marketing, distribution and after-sale services.

Social networks promoting business development

Phi Anh Tuan, deputy chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Computer Association, said the fierce competition between conventional and technology-based taxi service providers is strong evidence of the fourth industrial revolution’s role, and social networks are part of that revolution.

Nguyen Hoang Dung, Research and Development Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Institute for Development Studies (HIDS), said young Vietnamese startup entrepreneurs are still unsure about how to start an online business model, and have to use social networks if they are to do long-term business in accordance with the latest trends.

Companies are doing marketing through different channels and platforms to reach more customers, especially internet users. While social networks are a good way of advertising, businesses should be careful when using them as their impacts are much faster than other marketing tools.

Businesses should also find proper marketing channels to enter foreign markets. For example, companies seeking to join the North American market’s value chain should use Twitter rather than Facebook for marketing. Online businesses must also be aware of the importance of adhering to intellectual property rights protection.