Global Spotlight: Event-driven engagement strategies for Vietnam

We’re back with another AdSense Global Spotlight to help you succeed as a publisher in Vietnam. The big takeaway here is that building content that takes advantage of seasonal and viral events is key to engaging with Vietnamese audiences.

Get into the minds, and hearts, of your target audience. What do they want and need in terms of relevant information, ideas, inspiration and entertainment? Remember, content that carries emotion is more likely to resonate with your audience and evoke a response.

Seasonal Content

Seasonal content can be based on events taking place locally, regionally, or even globally. In Vietnam, the Tet holiday season, Reunification Day, Mua Vu Lan, Independence Day and the wedding season are just a few of the feature dates that can generate timely content. While timely articles are great for generating instant buzz, having content that maintains its importance over time may yield higher traffic rates overall. Evergreen content is information that stays relevant no matter when it is consumed. Make sure to interlace trendier content with evergreen pieces every so often. For instance, evergreen topics for the upcoming wedding season could focus on key cultural wedding traditions, or the most unique wedding locations, or even the top ten destinations for newlyweds to spend their honeymoon.

Use the events listed above as a starting point for creating a content calendar, an essential tool for any publisher looking to harness online buzz precipitated by big events.

Alongside the traditional calendar, have a look at Google Trends to find which upcoming events can lend the most buzz and relevance to your site’s content. Big events that generate global interest – especially sporting events – can create huge surges in web traffic. Look closely and you can anticipate when the spikes are coming, then create the right content to capture that crowd. Squall Le, Head of Web at YAN, suggests focusing on images for the maximum effect. 

Providing a great example of a viral moment, Haynhucnhoi’s mascots Ms Nhuc and Mr Nhoi appeared in a cartoon showing how children behave when visitors visit during Tet. During the visit the kids, mind their own business. But as the visit draws to its end, they approach guests with puppy-dog eyes in the hope of receiving hong bao money. Inspired by this commonly shared experience, they created their own videos on the brand’s YouTube channel.  

Viral Content

By being unique and noteworthy, viral content creates a sensation and compels users to share it. The conventional way for a website to improve its search ranking is to publish content over time that attracts attention and interest. Viral content accelerates that process, by helping a site rack up inbound links in a hurry. 

Knowing what will make a piece of content go viral is a whole science in itself. Successful viral content often features a few key characteristics, tending towards topics that are newsworthy, surprising, positive, and simple to share and understand. Not surprisingly, broad areas of interest typically have broader appeal than anything too niche.

Of course, some of the most successful viral news comes from sporadic incidents that can’t be predicted. There are ways you can keep abreast of these trends though. Take for example the use of the phrase Tha Thu by Vietnamese singer Son Tung MT-P. Depending on pronunciation, it can mean both “tattoo” and “tolerate.” An online social movement quickly sprang up around this phase through viral clips, photos and memes. Simply paying attention to what’s making a sensation can lend inspiration to your viral content creation efforts. Follow the topic as it develops from the convenience of your inbox with Google Alerts, and consider establishing your own unique hashtag to propel the conversation. 

According to the team at Haynhucnhoi, a rising Vietnamese social site, spending time on social media is a vital way to source potentially viral stories and understand how to capitalize on them. For example, when Euro 2016 was a trending topic, they created memes based on the hottest football clips. If a musical artist is making headlines, they’ll mine music for fans to listen to. If something funny has happened in the news, they’ll produce funny videos that tie in with the event or situation. 

They’ve gone even further by creating their own characters and using them to illustrate seasonal sentiment. Even conventional dates – such as Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, or the traditional Vietnamese calendar – provide inspiration for sharable cartoons. With this approach, Haynhucnhoi is able to produce new content every 15 to 20 minutes!

In light of inspiring examples like these, it seems there’s never been a better time for publishers to serve user demand for great content in Vietnam. With 68 million native Vietnamese speakers in the world,¹ offering localized content provides a great way to extend your user numbers. And don’t forget that monetizing that content is straightforward when you sign up with AdSense.

Get started today and sign up for AdSense, let’s turn your #PassionIntoProfit. 

_{1 Simons, Gary F. and Charles D. Fennig (eds.). 2017. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Twentieth edition. Dallas, Texas: SIL International. Online version: www.ethnologue.com}