Vietnam has posted GDP growth of around 6–7% in recent years and even grew 2.91% during the COVID period, showing especially strong momentum within Southeast Asia. Uniqlo and other brands have entered the market, and expectations are high that Vietnam will be the next major market after China. In Japan, however, awareness remains low, and relatively few companies are seriously considering entry.

This guide starts with a practical setup for reaching Vietnamese people living in Japan with Facebook Ads, then explains the wider Facebook, TikTok, and e-commerce landscape for companies marketing to Vietnamese audiences in Vietnam.

How to target Vietnamese people living in Japan with Facebook Ads

Meta does not provide a simple, reliable switch for Vietnamese nationality. Build the audience from selectable signals, use Vietnamese-language creative, and validate the result with separate ad sets instead of assuming that one setting identifies every Vietnamese resident in Japan.

  • Location: target Japan, or only the prefectures and cities your service can cover. Exclude areas you cannot serve so budget is not spent on unusable leads.
  • Language: test one ad set with Vietnamese selected and another without a language restriction. Many bilingual residents use Facebook in Japanese or English, so a Vietnamese-only filter can miss qualified people.
  • Audience signals: compare a broad Japan audience with relevant interests, engaged visitors, and consented first-party customer or lead lists. If you have enough conversion data, test a lookalike audience separately rather than stacking every signal into one ad set.
  • Creative and landing page: use natural Vietnamese copy, show a recognizable Japan-based situation, state the price or next step clearly, and keep the landing page language consistent with the ad. Trust signals such as a Japanese address, support language, and response time should be visible.
  • Recruitment campaigns: if the ad promotes a job, check the current Employment Special Ad Category requirements in Ads Manager and follow the targeting restrictions shown for your market and objective.
  • Measurement: keep the offer, creative, budget, and optimization event consistent across tests. Compare landing-page views, qualified inquiries, cost per lead, conversion rate, and frequency—not clicks alone—and pause segments that spend without producing qualified actions.

Start with two or three clean audience tests and one conversion goal. Once one segment produces qualified results, move budget toward it and test the next variable rather than changing audience, creative, and landing page at the same time.

Internet marketing is essentially the only option today

First, aside from large corporations such as Shiseido, the top priority for marketing in Vietnam is the internet—especially SNS. Internet marketing has become even more important in the post-COVID environment. Lockdowns in Vietnam accelerated the shift toward online channels.

Image 4

According to Hootsuite data, more than 70% of users have internet access. On video platforms such as YouTube and Facebook, large numbers of films and videos with Vietnamese subtitles (both legal and illegal) are uploaded, and the internet is stronger than television and other media.

For companies entering the market going forward, we strongly recommend starting with online marketing, where ad spend is easy to measure and much of the work can be handled in-house.

EC sites growing amid COVID

In 2020, the COVID shock and lockdowns in Vietnam drove rapid e-commerce adoption. EC malls grew significantly as a result. Global players such as Amazon have limited presence in Vietnam; local EC malls dominate. The largest are Shopee and Lazada.

Image 1

Lazada is an EC platform backed by Alibaba, while Shopee is a Singapore-headquartered EC platform founded by ethnic Chinese entrepreneurs. Shopee’s parent company, Sea, is often called one of Southeast Asia’s “BAT” alongside Grab and Go-Jek.

A distinctive feature of Shopee is that it has succeeded with a Chinese-style “super app” model rather than a Western single-app model. Vietnam’s immature app market still has room to open up many domains, and major companies are filling those gaps with various apps.

Common to both malls is that low-priced and sale items dominate volume. For women’s tops, for example, products priced under 1,000 dollars account for 67% of volume. Selling Japanese-made goods on these malls is not impossible, but price alone will not work. Many Chinese-made products are listed and tend to be cheaper, so Japanese products need value propositions beyond price.

Counterfeits are common in Vietnam—and trusted Japanese-made products

When we interview Vietnamese people, they unanimously say they fear counterfeits. Low-quality and counterfeit Chinese goods currently circulate widely in Vietnam. Especially for items under 1,000 dollars, even branded products are often fake, so Vietnamese buyers are particularly wary when purchasing higher-priced goods. Seller credibility is therefore extremely important.

As a result, Japanese-made products enjoy high trust. Cosmetics and baby products in particular are very active export categories from Japan. Japanese goods are seen as high quality with fewer counterfeits, putting Japanese companies in a highly advantageous position.

Ahead of writing this article, we surveyed what Vietnamese people watch for when buying on EC. The main points they emphasize are:

· Whether the price is not suspiciously lower than other shops
· Shop reviews
· Number of Facebook page followers
· Sales post videos (whether the seller’s face is visible, and whether they are well known)

In other words, designing your shop page around these points is important. The same is true for EC operations in Japan: building brand equity over time is essential.

In Vietnam, Facebook over Google

This differs greatly from Japan: Vietnamese people do not use Google much when researching. What they use overwhelmingly is Facebook—Vietnamese users can be described as Facebook-addicted. For example, 2019 data shows Google’s share of ad spend at 27% and Facebook’s at 42%. You might think 27% is still substantial, but Google ads include YouTube (and YouTube videos are popular in Vietnam).

So how do Vietnamese people research? They search on Facebook or ask questions in Facebook groups. Facebook groups are far more developed than in Japan; people ask about everything from cosmetics to business and real estate in Facebook groups.

For example, this Facebook group is a mix of all kinds of consultations and product introductions. As in the photo, people introduce homes, sell iPads, and sell Japanese-made products. Prospective buyers message sellers directly on Facebook and exchange many questions before purchasing.

Image 2

Product distribution via Facebook groups is recommended

I often use distribution through Facebook groups myself. Create a Facebook page for your products and share product posts into Facebook groups. The key is to clearly write product price and information and include attractive photos. Treat the product post itself as a kind of LP and include all the information. Interested people will then message you on Facebook. Once you receive a message, you can continue the conversation, so even if they do not buy immediately you can later send campaign information.

Facebook ads are important for building a brand quickly

Posting in Facebook groups costs nothing, but generating inquiries takes steady work. When you want to expand product reach quickly, use Facebook ads. For budget, we recommend starting at 2,000 yen or more per day. Also run follower-acquisition ads to grow your Facebook page. Use ads first to raise page awareness and gain followers, because Vietnamese people place heavy weight on Facebook follower count when judging company credibility. Driving traffic from Facebook ads to the web usually lowers conversion rates. So rather than simply running Facebook ads to a website as in Japan, advertise the Facebook page itself and grow followers. With roughly 10,000 or more followers, you can earn considerable trust.

Once you have 10,000 or more followers, shop posts stably reach 1,000 or more people, making campaign announcements easier. In Japan, lead nurturing is mainly via email; apply the same idea on Facebook and nurture leads through Facebook posts. By uploading product information, user voices, and other useful photos and videos, you can build branding in Vietnam at low cost.

What I actually do—and what I recommend first to companies entering the market—is to set up and operate a Facebook page. This can be done from Japan, so consider it first.

TikTok is more deeply embedded across all generations than in Japan

In marketing and product rollout in Vietnam, I pay even more attention to TikTok than Facebook. Unlike Japan, TikTok in Vietnam has already become nearly social infrastructure. In Japan TikTok is seen as a youth app, but in Vietnam many educational videos are already posted, and people study everything from languages to business on TikTok.

Screenshot 2021-02-24 095643

For example, the person above is a well-known business and marketing influencer in Vietnam who teaches marketing on TikTok. In the video above, they discuss how Hermès grew, and it has over 80,000 likes (views are probably around 800,000).

Selling via TikTok is also active. TikTok does not yet have EC features, but many people drive sales through Facebook integration or TikTok DMs.

Image 7

The video above introduces cosmetics. Many such videos become popular, and product search on TikTok is also active.

TikTok has also strengthened ad features since last year, and you can run ads from 2,000 yen per day. I run TikTok ads myself; cost-effectiveness is better than Facebook, and I highly recommend it. On TikTok you can target by country and language, and also segment by age, gender, and interests. Japanese and Chinese companies have not yet entered TikTok much, so if you can, I recommend running ads now.

Some people feel a barrier because they need to make videos for TikTok, but you do not need a production company. What matters more is posting a lot even if video quality is low. We always shoot and upload with iPhones ourselves and have still reached 100,000 followers. Starting is what matters.

Growth of live video streaming and live product sales

Live video streaming is popular in Vietnam, and selling products via live video is accelerating. In fact, looking at Facebook sales posts, more than one-third by feel are live video sales.

Image 9

The advantage of live video sales is direct communication with the seller. People interested in a product can comment casually, and the seller explains products and answers questions while watching comments. That builds consumer reassurance and leads to purchase. In China, a live video sale that generated about 7.8 billion yen in revenue in the first hour made news and became a topic even in Japan; it is also important in Vietnam. If you have the capacity for live video, you absolutely should do it.

In practice, even unknown shops often exceed 100 concurrent viewers on live video, making it among the strongest forms of unpaid marketing. Facebook also promotes live video, so live streams tend to rank higher. On TikTok as well, live video tends to rank higher, and among TikTokers live video is a must-have tool.

However, some staff dislike appearing on live video, so when hiring Vietnamese staff it is wise to ask whether they are OK appearing on live streams. Whether you can do live video makes a big difference in product marketing. Live video requires Vietnamese staff, so plan from the hiring stage.

Local SNS Zalo is relatively difficult

Another SNS deeply used by Vietnamese people is Zalo.

Image 3

Unlike other major SNS, it is operated entirely within Vietnam. It is closer to LINE in feel—more a communication tool than SNS. In practice, people often use Zalo to contact family and close friends.

From a corporate perspective, however, I do not recommend Zalo.

· The ad console is mainly in Vietnamese and hard to use
· Cost-effectiveness is worse than Facebook
· Vietnamese certificates are required before running ads

As above, the effort is high and it is hard to outperform Facebook. It can be a good marketing plan after you have fully leveraged Facebook, but do not start here first.

Supplement: other SNS

Because Vietnam aims to become an IT nation, unique Vietnamese SNS and web services keep appearing. With government support for domestic SNS development, many SNS launched especially from 2019 onward.

One that has made news even in Japan is GAPO. Developed by a Vietnamese company, its UI is essentially a Facebook clone combined with TikTok, and according to announcements it has surpassed 6 million users.

Screenshot 2021-02-24 095100

I logged in and tried it briefly; user numbers are indeed large, but active users seem few and groups are not very lively. They have probably focused too much on user acquisition and not enough on internal activation.

Many other SNS are competing, but for now none deserve more attention than Facebook or TikTok. Depending on future political and economic conditions, these clones could grow significantly. If something like India’s TikTok ban occurred, traffic could flow to them.

Is a local legal entity needed for product sales?

A question I often hear in consultations is whether you need an office or local legal entity in Vietnam for market expansion.

Bottom line: for SMEs with limited budgets that only sell products online, you do not need a local legal entity or office from the start. Many companies handle import/export, legal research, and market-entry support in Vietnam, so partnering with a local firm is enough.

Setting up a legal entity in Vietnam is quite difficult. In Singapore you can set one up easily online, but unfortunately Vietnam’s incorporation and legal systems are more complex and slower than Japan’s. Foreign investment restrictions also apply, and legal research takes time. An office brings operating costs and local staff costs—several million yen is not unusual. Tax issues such as transfer pricing also apply, so caution is needed. For selling Japanese products in Vietnam, partnering with a local company is faster.

If you rely on a Vietnamese company, trustworthiness of that partner is an absolute condition. Decision-makers should travel to Vietnam to negotiate and visit partners. (COVID has made travel very difficult, though…)
Asking Vietnamese people in Japan to research local partners is also effective. Vietnamese researchers uncover many things Japanese people would miss, so it is very useful for due diligence. Many Vietnamese people are in Japan now—consider hiring them, or using part-time or contract arrangements for research. Using JETRO is also recommended.

Of course, for full-scale expansion, an office or legal entity is absolutely advantageous for credibility, legal compliance, and offline expansion. If budget allows, I recommend establishing a local entity.

Leverage Vietnamese talent in Japan

Japan has many international students, and Vietnamese students are second only to Chinese. Many of these students have personal sales experience and a strong sense for selling.

Image 8

Amid COVID, many international students struggle to find jobs, and many return home. Asking them to handle sales work leveraging Japanese language skills can make them strong assets.

In practice, I am often inspired by their ideas. Understanding a culture different from Japan’s is a major step toward successful entry into Vietnam.

Summary

Vietnam is an exciting market with energy reminiscent of China some years ago. Many technical intern trainees and international students are returning home, and many people love Japan. I hope this article encourages even one more person to consider entering Vietnam.