Facebook sees great potential in rural Vietnam (Photo: Nikkei) Facebook is looking for a new growth approach in rural Vietnam as its advertising business gets tougher than before. According to Facebook’s assessment, rural areas in Vietnam are rapidly adapting to smartphones, especially features such as chat and video calling. Responding to the Nikkei newspaper, the social network said that Vietnam and Thailand lead the world in using chat in online sales, in terms of the volume of messages exchanged between businesses and customers. Mr. Khoi Le, in charge of Facebook business in Vietnam, revealed that many of his colleagues in the US have been “opened eyes” to this trend. Currently, Vietnam is an extremely important market for Facebook. According to Nikkei, in its financial report filed in January this year, Facebook listed Vietnam as the largest revenue engine in Southeast Asia. Globally, nearly all of the company’s revenue comes from advertising. Mr. Le said rural markets are part of Facebook’s next phase. Of the 98 million Vietnamese, 62 million live in rural areas. Even so, their spending is expected to grow faster than those of urban dwellers. Facebook forecasts that rural spending on FMCG will grow 7% annually from 2020 to 2025, compared with 2% in cities. A survey by GroupM company on 4,500 Vietnamese people living in rural areas, Facebook pointed out that if in 2018, television is still their main traditional means, by 2020, the rate of watching TV will be only 86% and remaining Internet usage rate will reach 91%. Mr. Le shared: “I used to think that rural people are not really proficient in using the Internet.” However, a Facebook survey found that 92% of rural households own a smartphone, using it to play games, shop and watch television. “They used every tool at hand extremely proficiently,” Mr. Le said. Given the growing video-watching habits of Vietnamese users, Facebook has identified several areas of focus, including live streaming, TV shows on Facebook Watch, video clips in the news feed, reposts. from Facebook-owned Instagram. For e-commerce, Le said these options will complement Facebook’s chat feature, from chatbots to allowing sellers to answer questions directly via livestream. The company hopes it will help retailers stay connected with customers, especially after Apple’s policy took effect in April, requiring iPhone owners to allow apps to track them. The change in Apple’s policy means that companies buying ads from Google or Facebook will send targeted ads to the right audience. On Monday, Apple unveiled more security features for its latest operating systems, a move expected to further disrupt online advertising. According to Phuc Ngo, Director of Strategic Planning at marketing agency Vero, advertisers are still figuring out how to adapt to Apple’s strict tracking policy. Custom ads are currently the most effective, while “community commerce” like Facebook is touting plays a small role in the translations he manages. Mr. Ngo said: “Before the policy change, you can completely depend on Facebook’s artificial intelligence because it is very smart.” While the Vietnamese countryside is getting richer, it still lags behind the cities. The minimum monthly wage in Hanoi is 4.4 million VND, compared to 3 million VND in poor provinces. Focusing on video will bring Facebook closer to competitors like YouTube, TikTok. In contrast, TikTok is also wary of Facebook and YouTube. A survey of research firms Decision Lab said Facebook is the top choice of Vietnamese users when it comes to watching short videos, but it lost 3% in the first quarter from a year ago, while TikTok doubled its market share. Although Mr. Le emphasized the role of e-commerce in helping businesses connect with rural customers, cost is still a major obstacle. With little infrastructure outside of cities, overall logistics costs equate to 16.8% of gross domestic product, higher than the Asian average, according to the Ministry of Commerce’s 2020 Vietnam Logistics Report. . Companies can advertise their products to Vietnamese farmers. But shipping those products after a successful promotion is another matter.

Automation Marketing (Automation Marketing) helps businesses reach potential customers, automate the process of nurturing those potential customers to be ready for sales in the future. By owning an ecosystem of automated marketing solutions, businesses can easily operate a traditional marketing department like before. Digital conversion in marketing or will “number” convert? Is it mandatory for businesses to apply digital transformation in marketing? The answer here is no. Enterprises themselves can still continue to conduct their own promotional activities through traditional marketing forms. However, in terms of effectiveness, the message in traditional marketing tends to be one-way, so it is easy to annoy the receiver. This is somewhat inconsistent in the stage that prioritizes the interaction between buyers and sellers today. Chatbot with the help of technology makes a dry tool communicate like a human. According to research from Artic, by 2021 more than 70% of businesses have been applying Automation Marketing in their operations. It can be said that the digital transformation in marketing in every business seems to be a matter of time. To help maintain a competitive advantage, either businesses will need to adapt to the changes or they will be left at the end of the track. Automated marketing is like increasing the resistance of every business to negative market influences. In the time of fierce competition, which business owns many advantages, that business will have a formidable position on the industry map. It is not simply a trend in itself. Instead, it really completely changes the way marketing activities in businesses operate. Automation – An important link in digital conversion Marketing automation helps businesses easily reach potential customers using support tools combined with tactics. Instead of needing a powerful marketing team like before, with automated marketing with only a few specialized personnel, businesses can operate marketing strategies on a global scale. The shadow of technology crept into marketing Today, the vast majority of users are “overwhelmed” by dozens of different messages. The consequences of this make it more difficult than ever to create a standout marketing campaign. To be effective, businesses have been under increasing pressure to come up with more innovative ideas than changing competitors. Sadly, doing this with traditional marketing activities is not easy. By applying technology, marketing activities can easily “target” to the right potential customers of their own. There will always be an automated system that helps businesses chase and maintain interaction with customers. Everything is set up to operate completely automatically, which is difficult to do with traditional marketing paradigms. Simulate human behavior Ignoring the human factor in customer communication is what automated marketing tools like chatbots can do. It is no longer a rigid tool, responding to customers based on what humans have pre-configured as before, but has the ability to analyze and predict factors that sometimes make it difficult for users to recognize I’m communicating with an automated tool. Moreover, these “artificial people” help optimize a lot in terms of cost. When using the business itself, it will not need to worry about the working regime, salary and bonus. They only need to invest once and can still have for themselves absolutely loyal employees. Enterprises can use solutions such as chatbot (Bizfly chat) or Email Marketing (Bizfly Email) to help maintain interaction and regularly chat with customers. Digital transformation is a long-term investment direction Digital transformation in marketing is an inevitable trend in the era of technology 4.0. Vietnam currently has an information technology infrastructure that is gradually improving with 5G technology or the popularization of WiFi. At the same time, there are qualified names in providing digital transformation solutions in Marketing and online sales such as VCCorp. With only the two above factors, Vietnamese businesses are already at a high level of readiness for an era of automated marketing. An ecosystem of automated marketing solutions is also gradually forming and improving. Automated solutions appear on all needs, different aspects. Enterprises can use solutions such as chatbot (Bizfly chat) or Email Marketing (Bizfly Email) to help maintain interaction and regularly chat with customers. Or collect customer data in the same place with a CRM solution (Bizfly CRM) to facilitate the management and thorough exploitation of that data. Interested readers can refer to Bizfly’s ecosystem of automated marketing solutions here .

Talking with enterprises participating in the course, Mr. Nguyen Viet Long said that digital transformation in enterprises is the integration and application of digital technology to improve business efficiency, management efficiency of enterprises and create new values. Digital transformation activities can range from digitizing business management data, applying digital technology to automating, optimizing business processes, management processes, and manufacturing. business, reporting processes, coordinating work within the business to transforming the entire business model, creating new value for the business.

According to Mr. Long, the breakthrough development in digital technology has allowed to provide a variety of solutions for businesses in digital transformation. As an evidence, Mr. Long said, an artificial intelligence-based chatbot in e-commerce can serve 3.5 million people / day, replacing the unmanned device that can collect and analyze resolution images. prize for oil and gas exploration in just 5 days, while before it took 8 weeks in the traditional way …

The fundamental course in digital transformation has attracted the attention of many businesses

It is forecast that about 800 million jobs will be lost due to automation by 2030, but only about 10,000 employees worldwide have enough skills for research in artificial intelligence. According to analysis from the BBC, 35% of jobs will face the risk of being replaced by robots in the next 20 years.

Therefore, Mr. Long said that digital transformation should be considered as the top priority of businesses. Enterprises also need to build a digital transformation strategy associated with the business strategy, ensuring it is consistent with the actual situation and the transformation capacity of the business.

Suggesting about building a digital transformation roadmap for businesses, Mr. Long said that, in the preparation phase, it is necessary to define strategic goals and digital transformation visions, develop a digital transformation strategy integrated into the strategy. An overview of the business is based on an assessment of the enterprise’s readiness and goals, and at the same time defining the overall architecture of the business.

Phase 1 is transforming the number of business models, in which the focus is on the application of digital technology to expand the distribution, marketing, sales channel system and improve the efficiency of customer care. In addition, it is also necessary to step by step deploy digital technology for the supply chain, apply digital technology to accounting, finance …, develop security policies.

Phase 2 is to complete and transform the number of management models, focusing on optimizing and improving management capacity, focusing on ERP, HRM systems, planning systems, job management, report…

Stage 3 is to connect business and administration, innovate and create new products and services.

Evaluating solutions, technology solution providers that help businesses transform digitally, Deputy General Director Ernst & Young Vietnam said that enterprises can prioritize to learn and use first domestic solutions, Especially, the auxiliary solutions, small and medium, solutions with the management regulations of the state.

Meanwhile, with solutions from foreign suppliers, Mr. Long said that these solutions have optimal design, good performance, scalability, but sometimes the features are not close to the market. , high costs associated with support services will be slower than domestic solutions.

Therefore, it is advisable to choose solutions that have been deployed by partners in Vietnam for better support, and at the same time take advantage of open source solutions to reduce costs.

Digital Transformation Fundamentals is an activity in the Digital Transformation Business Program for the period 2021-2025 of the Ministry of Planning and Investment in cooperation with development partners, to help businesses apply the public digital technology to improve the efficiency of production and business activities, enhance capacities and competitive advantages, and create new values ​​for businesses. The program aims that 100% of businesses will have access to information, 100,000 businesses will receive support from the Program …

Ms. Nguyen Thuy Duong – President of EY Consulting Vietnam, Vice Chairman of Fintech Club, Banking Association: Scale as a venture capitalist

Survey results on digital transformation in the Vietnamese banking industry show that 42% of commercial banks are building a digital transformation strategy; 28% of commercial banks have been implementing digital transformation strategies integrated with business strategies; 11% of commercial banks have approved and are implementing their own digital transformation strategy; 70% of credit institutions (CIs) are willing to deploy from an average level or higher with the following technologies: Mobile devices, open data connections according to application program interfaces; data analysis, standardization of electronic information according to the international financial electronic information standard ISO 20022; customer support (chatbot, virtual assistant …). In which, data analysis is the most widely used technology in credit operations (over 53% of credit institutions).

In the digital age, every credit institution needs to think like a strategist, innovate like a startup, design like a technology corporation, scale as a venture capitalist.

Mr. Pham Xuan Hung – Head of Supervisory Policy Research and Coordination Committee, National Financial Supervisory Commission: There are still many legal gaps

The development of digital banking in Vietnam is facing a number of limitations and difficulties such as: The legal gaps for digital banking development remain many; legal bases only focus on non-cash payment activities, such as digital signature authentication; identify customers; protecting consumers’ interests in financial services; protect user data privacy. The legal framework often lags behind technological developments.

In addition, the strategy for investment in the financial foundation technology is slow and inconsistent; There are still many shortcomings in sharing data between fields. There are still many limitations on information technology resources in digital banking development; Communication and consumer awareness raising (between regions) have not been strengthened.

Overview of the Forum “The future of digital banking strategy in Vietnam”

In order to accelerate the digital transformation process, state management agencies need to soon complete the legal framework in the areas of: Limited Online Customer Identification (eKYC); the bank’s trust agent system for non-cash payment services, digital banking services; policies on information safety and confidentiality in electronic transactions to protect the legitimate interests of customers; electronic banking process, supervise digital banking activities.

Commercial banks need to study and build a digital transformation roadmap; appropriate resource allocation for investment in new technology; promote banking digitization and develop pure digital banking.

Mr. Pham Xuan Hoe – Former Deputy Director of Banking Strategy Institute: Risk management, security, confidentiality

Digital technology is gradually changing the forms of providing financial and banking services. Digitalization helps commercial banks save 60-70% of costs and access more and more to digital banking services, integrating multi-dimensional in providing full financial services.

Digitalization has created a big change in the banking industry in terms of customer experience, more difficult banking, less loyalty; The increase in non-intermediary activities, in other words, the intermediary role of commercial banks will no longer be a unique position in the market, but will be replaced by online provision on technology platforms (the platform of P2P lending or P2P payment).

The emergence of huge data sources and integrated automatic collection processing and analysis by Bigdata technology will create a turning point in revenue development on a large scale. Technology development requires a change in the legal environment (open perspective) to reasonably support the development of new financial-banking business models.

Vietnamese commercial banks are mostly in the second stage (digital transformation), having implemented digital banking at the transition level in terms of processes and communication channels, while converting to new data platforms. deployed at some pioneering commercial banks. In order to develop digital banking in the future, it is necessary to have an open and balanced view that encourages innovation in policy making; National database and connection is the foundation for digital financial services.

Commercial banks need to strictly implement solutions to risk management, security, confidentiality, and consumer data assurance; take advantage of technology in capacity assessment and training to retain talent; need a database strategy. In addition, the Government’s support for policy is indispensable.

Survey results on digital transformation in the Vietnamese banking industry show that 42% of commercial banks are building a digital transformation strategy; 28% of commercial banks have been implementing digital transformation strategies integrated with business strategies; 11% of commercial banks have approved and are implementing their own digital transformation strategy …