TikTok Vietnam's Lead Of Client Partner On Effective Advertising Solutions And Brand Storytelling

On June 26th, TikTok, the world's leading short video sharing app, introduced TikTok For Business — a new global platform designed to help businesses convey their brand’s image in a more creative and engaging way.

To learn more about TikTok For Business and what value the platform brings to brands and marketing executives, Vietcetera talked with Thanh Nguyen, the Lead of Client Partner, Vietnam-SEA with TikTok.

A seasoned strategist and digital marketer with an in-depth knowledge of Vietnam’s media and television industry, Thanh spearheads TikTok's Sales Team’s efforts to promote innovative advertising solutions. 

TikTok Vietnam officially launched in April 2019. What has the journey been like?

After only one year in operation, TikTok Vietnam is not only diverse in terms of content but also in terms of its audience. Our platform serves three main communities: TikTok viewers; content creators; and brands and marketing strategists (including those from top-20 advertising agencies that account for about 75% of the advertising industry in Vietnam).

At TikTok Vietnam, our focus has been on optimizing the user experience, so that they can seamlessly create, record and share memorable moments of their everyday lives. Specifically, we want to spotlight a varied and engaging content created locally for the Vietnamese audience. 

Can you share with us the role of brands in TikTok’s user experience? 

Brands play an important role in TikTok’s user experience. Not only do they contribute to the diversification of content on the platform, but they also help build a community based on shared interests, values and beliefs. Community engagement on a truly global scale is made possible thanks to brands-driven initiatives that include hashtag challenges and campaigns, such as “Vũ Điệu Xua Nóng” hashtag challenge that generated over 541 million views. 

What is the overarching objective in introducing TikTok For Business? What type of businesses is the feature catered to? 

The intention behind the launch of TikTok For Business is to help brands and marketing strategists in Vietnam tell their brand stories more creatively. With a slogan “Don't Make Ads, Make TikToks”, the platform enables brands to generate content that starts a conversation and encourages participation, thus engaging users more effectively.

TikTok For Business caters to all types of businesses, regardless of their size and regardless of where they are on their journey. Whether they are in the process of learning about trends, creating a loyal customer base/community, or strengthening the brand’s awareness and identity, they can benefit from TikTok For Business.

TikTok For Business' slogan: "Don't make ads. Make TikToks."

What are the values that TikTok For Business brings to brands? 

With TikTok For Business, brands can discover trends and connect with users seamlessly. They will be able to effortlessly interact with their target audience through resources and tools only found on TikTok, such as:

• Scale and creativity: As a fast-growing entertainment and video-sharing platform, TikTok gives brands and users the power to spread their stories. 
• Visuals, motion and sound: TikTok is a mobile platform filled with energy. There are endless opportunities to be creative, with the options of adding background music, sound effects, voice-over, reactions and more to your videos. 
• Community spirit: When we talk about TikTok, we talk about a community. This community is accessible to marketers and their advertising campaigns. TikTok users often find themselves inspired by brands’ campaigns and in turn create their own versions and take on the brands’ messages. This allows brands to clearly see the impact of their marketing strategies on users. 
• Culture formation: TikTok is an open platform where anyone and any brand can be discovered. The opportunities to learn what is happening all over the world are limitless. Culture is created in an open and inclusive way on TikTok, every day.
• Seamless and simple solutions: Our products deliver across all marketing touchpoints and allow for rich and immersive storytelling. All are seamless, full-screen video stories that appear natively with the user experience. Working with many of the industry's leading third-party providers, we are building our suite of measurement solutions.

With the features mentioned above, brands have the opportunity to completely change how they approach advertising. Brands can engage users, encouraging them to be their own TikTok creators, as opposed to being a passive consumer of traditional advertisements.

What features and advertising tools are included in TikTok For Business? 

Under the umbrella of TikTok For Business, brands have access to five forms of advertising:

Three out of five fall under the Standard Ads group:

• TopView — advertising displayed immediately when users open the app
• Brand Takeover — short ads appearing on user's feed
• In-feed Ads — advertising appearing in between user's subscribed videos, as native videos.

The remaining two fall under our Content Ads group: 

• Hashtag Challenge — advertising through inviting the TikTok community to create content around a hashtag of the brand's choice. Hashtag is advertised across the platform.
• Brand Effects — advertising through being involved in the content creation process. Brands can create stickers that serve their campaign and that can be added to users' videos. 

Alongside these five forms of advertising, TikTok is also introducing a new AR effect called “Brand Scan,” a feature that allows users to interact with brands in virtual reality. 

In Vietnam, TikTok is also experimenting with a platform called Creator Marketplace, a space that will allow brands to learn and collaborate with other content creators for their brand advertising campaigns.  

How does TikTok plan to support SMEs who are in the process of recovery and growth post-pandemic? 

First of all, TikTok’s self-serve advertising feature allows businesses of all sizes to connect with potential customers through a simple and easy-to-use interface. The feature includes innovative tools designed to be compatible with both small- and medium -sized businesses, such as: Creative Tools, Flexible Budgeting, Goal Settings, and Business Account.

In recognition of the fact that small businesses are the most vulnerable enterprises economically in the face of a pandemic such as covid-19, TikTok has also re-introduced its Back-to-Business program. The program has a budget of US$100m to support small businesses in bouncing back and growing.

Under the program, businesses automatically get 350 USD deposited into their advertising budget when they first create an account. After businesses have used up the money, their next deposit is doubled. 

For example, if a business deposits 500 USD into their advertising budget, their actual advertising budget would be 1,000 USD. Businesses can gain up to an additional 2,000 USD in their advertising budget. This program runs from the 7th of July to the 31st of December 2020.

By providing financial resources and advertising tools for businesses to reach their audiences, TikTok hopes to become a trusted partner supporting local SEMs through these hard times.

Learn more about TikTok's Self-Serve Feature: