Vietnamese internet users have a high tendency to engage with brand messages on social media platforms, according to survey data from GlobalWebIndex. This creates big opportunities for digital marketers that want to help brands succeed online, but Vietnam’s social media landscape has some nuances that must be considered. 

Like almost everywhere else in the world, Facebook is the dominant social network in Vietnam today. 94% of Vietnamese internet users have a Facebook account and more than half use it actively (at least once per month). Although several other social networks have large user bases, none have achieved a comparably high level of active usage. 

In addition to Facebook, ZingMe also has a large number of account owners in Vietnam, but active usage is quite low. High account ownership numbers are mostly a legacy of past glory. A locally-grown social network developed by VNG Corporation, ZingMe was more popular than Facebook in Vietnam until 2012, when Facebook’s popularity exploded. Since then, account ownership in ZingMe remained high, but relatively few active accounts still exist. 

ZingMe still manages to attract users today because it connects with other popular Zing-branded sites that provide games, music and other entertainment applications that are popular with younger users, particularly those ages 14-21. It also has a social networking platform that strongly resembles Facebook, but this does not get much use. Many people prefer Facebook because it’s better built and connects them to a global network. VNG still operates Zing, but now focuses on developing Zalo, a popular messaging app with some social media functions. 
 
Account ownership for Twitter is lower than for Zing, but active usage is higher. Even so, it’s significantly lower in Vietnam than it is in other Southeast Asia countries and generally not very popular. Part of the problem is that the site is not available in Vietnamese, so it’s not particularly useful for communication between people and staying updated on news. Most use it to subscribe to the accounts of celebrities in Korea, the United States, Europe and elsewhere. 

Compared to Facebook, active usage of LinkedIn, Instagram or Pinterest is also quite low, but all three sites serve their niches well and present strong digital marketing opportunities for a wide range of brands. Pinterest recently launched a Vietnamese-language version of the site, which should bolster usage. 

Technically speaking, account ownership for Google+ is high as well, but that’s because anyone with a GMail account is automatically signed up for the service. Active engagement with Google+ tends to be quite low, however, so it was omitted from the chart above.