Hanoi (VNA) – The Vietnam OnlineMarketing Forum 2017 came to Hanoi on August 17, aiming to boost onlinemarketing and e-commerce in Vietnam and introduce the latest digital marketingtrends to local businesses.
A similar event was held in HCM City onAugust 15.
According to Nguyen Thanh Hung, President ofthe Vietnam E-commerce Association (VECOM) – the event’s organiser, Vietnam’se-commerce market has seen robust growth since 2016 but the industry still hasmany problems, including a lack of consumer trust in online shopping andweaknesses in online payment, shipping and marketing services.
The forum,focusing on marketing trends, discussed affiliatemarketing trends and search engine marketing, programmatic marketing,multichannel marketing, mobile marketing, social marketing and contentmarketing.
During the event, speakers discussedopportunities for partnerships in online marketing and advised enterprises onadopting the right marketing strategy and improving marketingeffectiveness, Hung said.
TheVietnam e-Business Index 2017 reported by VECOM indicated that social networkssurpassed search engines to become the most popular online advertising mediumin 2016 used by 47 percent of businesses while the number using search enginesand emails are 41 percent and 36 percent respectively.
Socialnetworks were not only the most used channels but also considered moreeffective than search engines. Forty-six percent of businesses said socialnetwork advertising was highly effective while 44 percent are confident withsearch engines.
Despite social network advertising, havingonly one marketing channel may not guarantee business success.
The most effective way to do business onlineis to have a website together with a social media presence to spread thecompany’s message and nurture relationships with customers, said Founder ofOrion Media Tran Chi Hieu. The website can be the centre of the firm’s brandcommunication while social media can be used to engage and direct customers tothe website.
According to a recent survey, 59percent of businesses that own a website said their business grew once theybuilt their website.
Another survey on onlineconsumers also showed that 67 percent of consumers shopped online afterchecking reviews and comments from social media. Some 47 percent rely onrecommendations from friends and family members before making purchases while33 percent were influenced by advertisements on newspapers and television.
But up to 17 percent of firmsparticipating in the survey said don’t perform any online marketing.-VNA