How to make a killer Facebook strategy for Vietnamese audiences
More than 66 million people are on Facebook in Vietnam. Here’s how you can attract them to your brand’s page.
Facebook reigns king in Vietnam.
It’s got the highest number of users of any social platform in the country. It’s how you communicate with your grandma, and how you buy your shoes.
But Vietnam’s tastes can be hard to nail down, and many foreign businesses are struggling to make the most of the platform’s huge potential.
Here’s what we’ve learned from four years of Facebook marketing in Vietnam.
Localizing your content
This is the first mistake businesses make when entering Vietnam.
They recycle the same content that worked for them abroad.
English proficiency in Vietnam is low, so posting your content exclusively in English won’t work.
And unfortunately, Google Translate just won’t cut it either. Vietnamese is full of unique idioms and phrases, and Google Translate remains woefully clueless in this arena (although it does seem to be getting better with time).
So grab yourself a copywriter who is fluent in both languages. We have them. They’re fantastic. They’ll make your life immeasurably easier and help you increase those engagements and followers in Vietnam.
Posting in multilingual options will also help to display different versions of each post based on a users’ default language settings. This is key for long posts.
If your caption is short and sweet, you can post the English version below the Vietnamese copy.
Here’s how we did it for Ruou Son Tinh.
Creating meaningful content
Since early 2018, Facebook’s manifesto has been, ‘bring people closer together and build relationships’.
This means filling your News Feed with posts from friends and family, and less public content.
Algorithm changes affect everyone. We’ve learned this the hard way!
But if your content is good, it can still be found. You just need to make content that people want to share it.
If you want to be found on Facebook, always consider these three rules when making you content:
- Does it cater to your target audience’s pain points / or is it entertaining for them?
- Does it get people talking?
- Is it relevant and timely?
The algorithm also looks fondly on Facebook Live videos and local events, especially if they generate conversation.
Investing serious effort into nailing your content is well worth the time. Just because it’s tough, doesn’t mean it impossible.
Optimizing Facebook ads
If you’re not being found organically, you could consider paying for Facebook ads.
But be careful. You don’t want to end up throwing your money down the Facebook wishing well.
Here’s how to optimise your Facebook ads so they actually work for you:
- Spend a small amount of money to boost each post. This makes sure that it can overcome the algorithm and get shown on the News Feed.
- But instead of hitting “Boost Post” directly on your page, go to your Facebook Ads Manager — it does exactly what it says on the tin.
- A/B test your ads with different visuals and copy.
- Give Instant Experience a whirl. It helps generate leads, direct purchases and direct messages, along with a few more snazzy features.
- Distribute your ads on Instagram to target younger audiences, but don’t forget to optimize the posts.
- Run Facebook Dynamic Ads to re-engage with people who have interacted with your business previously — remember to make posts relevant to move potential customers down your sales funnels.
Leverage engagement from Facebook groups
There’s more than one way to game the algorithm.
Facebook groups help you speak to your audience directly, without battling against all the noise of the Feed.
There are two approaches to this:
1. Create your own group
Your own group is a community where your fans share values and experiences with your brand. It also works as a platform for your customers to find help and discuss solutions.
Your audience can opt-in to the group and actively look for information and assistance.
Just be sure to keep up a meaningful conversation with your group. Users will only feel compelled to join if there’s something genuinely interesting going on. Be a part of the conversation and keep your members active and engaged.
It’ll take some work, but it’s worth it.
Look through community building guides to help you get started.
2. Engage with industry-related groups
Building your own community takes time and effort (but very worth it). You could choose to skip the hard work and join the conversation in large, pre-existing communities.
In Vietnam, it’s not uncommon for businesses to do content-seeding within community groups.
Make sure you only share valuable and relatable content and don’t post too often.
No one likes spam.
If the group doesn’t ban you for doing it, the audience may just hide your posts or think you’re rubbish.
Play this one safely.
Consistency is key
Whenever we put together a proposal for a new client we kick things off with a Facebook page audit.
Most of the time we see a lack of consistency in their content or visuals. It could be that different designers or writers have worked on the same channels.
These inconsistencies may seem inevitable, but with firm brand guidelines or social playbook in place, you’ll have visual and style guides to keep your brand on point. The next designer or writer to come along can use these guidelines to maintain consistency.
As your brand grows, you’ll find these guidelines becoming truly invaluable as one source of truth for social media activities, so go ahead and draft them up early.
TLDR;
You simply can not run a business in Vietnam without grappling with Facebook.
But this social behemoth is always changing, so use it as a part of a bigger strategy, rather than relying on it 100%.
Remember to treat Facebook for what it is, a platform for channelling audiences towards your owned channels, and eventually, into your CRM (customer relationship management) system.
Do your best to be relevant and entertaining. Aim to nurture customer relationships and retain long-term clients and you’ll find your business staying far more relevant on social.
If you’re looking to start building your brand through Facebook content creation, shoot us a message. We’re always looking to channel our creativity and strategic thinking into new businesses’ success in Vietnam.
Originally published at https://wecreatecontent.asia on January 12, 2021.
