Walled gardens offer scale and rich engagement, but for marketers, they also create a constant give-and-take between performance, protection and efficiency. Any missteps in these environments can result in missed audiences, wasted spend and potential risks to the brand.
Vietnam Insights
- Social media plays an essential role in product discovery: Nearly half of consumers (48%) rely on online reviews before making a purchase, while 42% turn to social platforms to discover and validate products. Video content is especially influential: 39% of Vietnam consumers watch review videos or tutorial formats that dominate platforms such as YouTube, TikTok and Facebook.
- Influencer impact and community-driven purchasing: Vietnam stands out as one of Southeast Asia’s most socially influenced markets. 48% of consumers have purchased a product based on positive feedback from an online community, and 44% have bought after reading favorable comments under an influencer’s post. However, 37% place more trust in community recommendations than in influencer endorsements, underscoring the strength of affinity groups in driving conversions.
- AI content surges across social platforms: In Vietnam, 64% of consumers say they have encountered AI-generated content on social media. This reflects the growing challenge of distinguishing between human and AI content, which affects how brands assess authenticity and suitability.
- Marketers cite reach as top challenge: Marketers in Southeast Asia face mounting pressure to keep up with fast-changing content dynamics. Audience reach remains the single largest challenge at 48%, followed by difficulty in tracking rapid content shifts at 38%. To address these challenges, 52% of marketers consider audience targeting and verification essential third-party tools, while 57% prioritize media quality and post-bid measurement to enhance planning and buying across social platforms. These findings underscore the need for greater transparency and robust measurement within increasingly complex walled-garden ecosystems.
We hope these insights can help shape your advertising campaigns for the coming year and beyond. For more APAC insights, the full Global Insights: How Consumers and Marketers Use Walled Gardens report in Vietnamese is available for download here.
