As digital channels multiply and consumer behaviors diversify, marketers in Vietnam face increasing pressure to demonstrate clear business outcomes from their campaigns. Traditional reach-based attribution models, which emphasize impressions and broad exposure, are no longer sufficient in capturing the complexity of today’s customer journey. With interactions spread across social media, e-commerce, messaging platforms, and physical stores, brands need deeper visibility into what truly drives conversions. This is where people-based measurement steps in, offering a more precise and accountable approach to understanding marketing impact at the individual level.
What is Reach-Based Attribution and Why Is It No Longer Enough?
Reach-based attribution focuses on how many people were exposed to an advertisement, providing a high-level view of potential awareness. In the past, this approach was useful for brands aiming to generate visibility. However, in Vietnam’s current digital ecosystem, shaped by strong social media adoption, e-commerce platforms like Shopee and Lazada, and widespread mobile usage, consumer behavior is highly fragmented.
For instance, a single purchase decision might involve exposure to a Facebook ad, followed by reading an influencer’s review, engaging with a retargeted ad on a news site, and finally visiting a product page on Tiki. Reach-based models are not equipped to account for such multi-step journeys. This limitation makes it difficult for marketers to understand what truly drives conversions.
Why People-Based Measurement Matters for Vietnamese Marketers
People-based attribution offers a solution by linking marketing interactions to real individuals across devices and platforms. For marketers in Vietnam, this method provides several key advantages:
Greater Accuracy
It enables a clearer understanding of which touchpoints, from social media interactions to in-store visits, actually influence consumer decisions.
Smarter Budget Allocation
With precise data on performance by channel, marketers can make informed decisions about where to invest. This could mean choosing between influencer collaborations, retargeted ads, or content on local platforms based on real impact.
Better Personalization
Understanding the unique journey of each customer allows for more relevant communication. This leads to improved engagement and long-term loyalty.
Enhanced Accountability
As marketing departments face growing pressure to demonstrate ROI, people-based attribution provides reliable data to share with business leaders and finance teams, supporting more strategic discussions around marketing value.
Challenges in Implementing People-Based Attribution in Vietnam
Despite its benefits, the transition to people-based measurement comes with challenges:
Data Integration
Customer data is often spread across different systems including social media, CRM tools, website analytics, and e-commerce platforms. Consolidating these into a unified view is a technical and operational challenge.
Privacy and Consent
Vietnam, like many countries, is seeing a shift toward stricter data privacy expectations. Marketers must ensure that tracking is transparent and compliant, and that consumer trust is maintained.
Technology and Skills
Implementing people-based attribution requires specialized tools and analytical capabilities. Building internal expertise or partnering with experienced local providers can be essential.
Changing Consumer Behavior
New platforms and digital habits are constantly emerging. Attribution strategies must be flexible and adaptive to remain effective.
Recent findings from MMA Global’s State of Attribution, drawing insights from senior marketers in North America, may echo many of the same concerns now surfacing in Vietnam. Despite technological advances, 80% of marketers remain dissatisfied with their ability to reconcile results across fragmented measurement tools. As marketing teams attempt to patch together solutions, the lack of integration continues to hinder actionable insights. Furthermore, two-thirds of respondents worry about the long-term viability of their attribution systems in such a rapidly evolving environment. These challenges highlight the urgent need for scalable, flexible, and well-integrated measurement solutions as a priority that Vietnamese marketers must also begin to address as they shift toward more people-based attribution models.
Practical Steps for Vietnamese Marketers
Here are some recommended actions for teams beginning this journey:
- Define Customer Identifiers
Use consistent identifiers such as phone numbers, emails, or loyalty program IDs, ensuring compliance with privacy policies. - Invest in Data Integration Tools
Platforms like Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) can help bring fragmented data together into a single, actionable profile. - Choose the Right Attribution Models
Explore different models including first-touch, last-touch, linear, time-decay, or U-shaped, and select one that reflects your industry and consumer journey. - Build Analytical Capabilities
Equip your team with the tools and training necessary to interpret data and generate insights that can guide strategy. - Ensure Data Quality
High-quality, clean data is essential. Establish processes for maintaining data accuracy across channels. - Start Small, Then Scale
Begin with a pilot campaign or a single business unit to test and refine your approach before expanding across the organization.
Global Signals and Local Implications
While the shift to people-based attribution is just gaining ground in Vietnam, global marketers are already contending with the growing pains of implementation. MMA Global’s Marketing Attribution Think Tank (MATT) has tracked this progression over the past eight years. The 2024 report reveals a paradox: marketers express greater economic optimism, yet this has not led to increased media budgets. Instead, there’s a sharper focus on accountability and outcome-based metrics, reducing reliance on reach as a primary KPI.
Adoption of Multi-Touch Attribution (MTA) has reached 52%, with companies leveraging MTA reporting higher overall satisfaction with their marketing measurement efforts. However, the net promoter score for MTA providers remains negative, indicating that many solutions still fall short of expectations. Additionally, while some marketers are new adopters, others are stepping back from MTA, suggesting a recycling of maturity levels across the industry.
AI and machine learning are seen as promising solutions, with half of marketers expecting these technologies to play a major role in improving measurement and attribution efforts within the next year. Yet expectations are focused primarily on operational benefits, such as faster performance and tighter integration with bidding systems, rather than strategic innovation.
For Vietnam, this offers both a warning and an opportunity. The shift to people-based models must be paired with thoughtful technology choices, organizational alignment, and a focus on building long-term measurement resilience.
The Future of Marketing Measurement in Vietnam
The move from reach-based to people-based attribution reflects a broader transformation in Vietnam’s marketing landscape that prioritizes effectiveness, accountability, and strategic value. As businesses increasingly demand clarity on how marketing drives growth, the ability to measure impact at the individual level will become a core capability for competitive brands.
Vietnamese marketers who invest in people-based measurement today will be better positioned to lead in a market that values not just visibility but results.
