In recent years, the new mobile-first reality has dramatically shifted the paradigm of marketing strategy and customer engagement. According to a report by Adsota, at 43.7 million smartphone owners (44.9% of the population) Vietnam is among top 15 markets with the highest smartphone penetration.
Digitally-native Gen Z and millennial audiences have not only taken to searching and shopping on mobile like ducks to water, but are the driving force behind the trend. Digital space is where information flows and social interactions happen today. Those marketing professionals who are still debating the value of embracing the mobile-first mentality run the risk of being left behind in the highly competitive marketplace.
On July 2nd 2020, MoEngage, a customer engagement platform, in collaboration with Phibious, a creative agency, and Vietcetera Media hosted a panel titled #GROWTH Mixer: ‘Marketing in a Mobile-First World’ to uncover the winning marketing formula behind digitally-savvy brands.
Industry experts in product development and growth marketing from some of Vietnam’s leading tech-savvy companies such as Tiki, Pharmacity, VinID and Vexere came together at Bach Suites Saigon to compare notes and share their expertise with the audience.
Below are key takeaways from the panel.
Personalized content is king
Uyen Le, Senior Product Manager at Jobhopin, a recruitment platform, explains her company’s approach to engaging the digital natives: “Millennials and Gen Zers are highly inquisitive. Our chatbot and personalized questionnaire are developed to capture their requests right from the beginning and provide job recommendations and career advice accordingly.”
Smriti Dhingra, General Manager, Digital at Phibious Vietnam, agrees that for Millennial and Gen Z audiences content personalization is key. To communicate more effectively, marketing professionals need to stay on top of trends.
Manisha Philip, Marketing Director at Timo, a digital bank, argued that content personalization should be an ongoing exercise powered by direct feedback from the customers. “After a period of time, normally two weeks, we would update our system. It can be something as simple as adding a swipe function to our interface, all in the name of making the experience more seamless for the users.”
Discussion panelists: Timo, ShopBack, Jobhopin and Phibious (from left to right)
Decode stories behind data
As representatives of technology-powered companies, #GROWTH Mixer panelists unanimously agreed that understanding data is crucial to effective customer engagement, brand development and to driving sales.
Commercial Director at ShopBack Vietnam Jacky Ha and his team frequently run data experiments, including A/B testing to unlock success metrics for different types of customers. “Performance marketing helps reveal the most genuine insights when it comes to customer behavior. For instance, realizing that most of our quality users are referrals and organic users’, he added.
Adding to Jacky Ha’s comment about organic users, Manisha Phillip shared that Timo is building an online community for customers to have a shared Timo experience after referring another user. She also stressed: “No matter what your marketing and customer engagement efforts might be, make your customers love your product first. Don’t stray away from your product’s core values.”
An invite-only mixer that's exclusive for digital entrepreneurs, product owners and growth marketers, #GROWTH Mixer events have been hosted by MoEngage across the world starting in 2019. The Bach Suites Saigon event was the second time that MoEngage has collaborated with Phibious and Vietcetera Media to hold a #GROWTH Mixer event in Vietnam.
Stay tuned for upcoming MoEngage events here.