How Indian YouTube Influencers Find Brand Deals in Vietnam

When it comes to YouTube influencers, India has one of the largest and most active circles in the world.

In numbers, this means nearly 250 million people follow local influencers on YouTube. In terms of brand deals, this means that millions of Indian influencers are always searching for lucrative opportunities to promote brands on their channels.

While the Indian influencer scene in and of itself is enormous, it’s out there looking for more deals and opportunities on the international stage, and Vietnam, in particular, has proven to be a lucrative opportunity for many Indian influencers.

Essentially, influencers in India are moving into Vietnam’s emerging influencer space and making a lot of money in the process.

Now, some of you reading this may have likely heard of this phenomenon, but you may not know how it works.

In the following article, I am going to explain how Indian influencers are finding brand deals in Vietnam.

TikTok led the way

In the last few years, a significant number of Indian influencers have moved to Vietnam to promote brands on behalf of Indian clients.

The influencer phenomenon in Vietnam is not new. It emerged together with the rise of social media in the country. However, it has taken on a whole new meaning in the wake of TikTok’s meteoric rise.

Much like the emergence of influencer culture in the West, TikTok was really the catalyst that propelled influencer culture forward in Southeast Asia. People saw local influencers promoting brands on TikTok, and they wanted their own brand promoted by those influencers.

The result was that Vietnamese brands started looking for influencers to promote them on TikTok.

Today, India’s influencers have heard the siren call of Vietnam’s burgeoning influencer scene.

How do Indians find brand deals in Vietnam?

Influencers from India are making the rounds of social media platforms. They are searching deep and wide for opportunities to promote Vietnamese brands.

As it stands right now, most brand deals that Indian influencers are finding in Vietnam are through Instagram.

And it’s not just any Vietnamese brands they are looking for. Indian influencers appear to be particularly interested in promoting beauty and wellness brands in Vietnam.

From skin-care brands to wellness supplements, beauty/vitamins brands are the most lucrative opportunities for brands to partner with influencers in Vietnam.

Indian influencers have a whole world of beauty products and wellness supplements they can choose to promote.

In fact, if you’re an Indian influencer yourself, it might be a good idea to partner with a Vietnamese beauty or wellness brand.

Why Vietnam?

When you think about it, it doesn’t take much to understand why influencers are looking to Vietnam to promote brands.

For one thing, Southeast Asia is notorious for having influencer culture that is very distinctive from the West.

In Vietnam, brands are able to receive influencer marketing for a fraction of the price compared to local influencers in India.

This disparity in price is what makes it lucrative for Indian influencers to promote Vietnamese brands over Indian ones.

In India, the market is saturated and the competition is tough. To get a fraction of the opportunity that Indian influencers have in Vietnam, they would have to pay many times more than they would pay in India.

Vietnamese brands are smart and they know it

It’s no accident that Indian influencers are having all the success they are in Vietnam.

Marketing in Vietnam, in general, has been ahead of the curve when it comes to online marketing. They’ve made the leap into influencer marketing sooner than their counterparts in India.

In particular, Vietnamese brands and marketers have learned a lot from Western brands and marketers.

When influencer marketing started to take hold in the West, brands had a tendency to go after the biggest influencers they could find. It was a big name or nobody at all.

Slowly, brands began to realize that this was not the most effective way to do influencer marketing. What worked best was to use a variety of influencers known as a micro-influencer strategy.

Vietnamese marketers seemingly learned this lesson faster than their Indian counterparts. As a result, Vietnamese brands are more prone to partner with an influencer with just a few thousand followers.

Selling in bulk

What’s more is that this strategy doesn’t just apply to one influencer at a time.

Vietnamese brands have mastered the art of influencer marketing by using multiple influencers to promote their brand at the same time.

This is essentially a bulk package of influencers.

Instead of securing just one influencer at a higher price, Vietnamese brands have learned to partner with ten, twenty, sometimes even thirty influencers at a time for the same price.

More than that, these influencers are generally receiving a much higher payout than they would if they were to work with a local brand in India.

Payment challenges

That’s not to say that it’s all roses and sunshine for Indian influencers promoting Vietnamese brands.

Even though they can expect to earn higher payouts, they also have to navigate a very challenging payment landscape in Vietnam.

For one thing, wire transfers from India to Vietnam can be slow and subject to fraud.

What’s more, many Indian influencers who have worked with Vietnamese brands have found that they have had to navigate the payment landscape themselves.

In other words, Vietnamese brands are requiring Indian influencers to research payment services such as Wise, Payoneer, and PayPal to figure out how they can receive their funds.

Unbanked influencers

In India, influencer marketing has become a legitimate avenue for many people to earn a living.

That being said, a significant number of influencers in India are still unbanked.

According to reports, the Reserve Bank of India stated that in 2018, nearly 190 million adults in India still did not have access to a bank account.

As a result, a significant number of Indian influencers are relying solely on cash payments when they receive a brand deal.

This is part of the challenges that many influencers have faced in securing their payment from Vietnamese brands.

Marketing in Vietnam has long been 3rd-party based

One of the first things Indian influencers will notice when they start looking for brand deals in Vietnam is that nearly every brand deal that involves influencers is mediated by a third-party agency.

In the West, it has often been the case that brands will go through a third-party agency to find influencers, but they are finding that they can save time and money by going directly to the influencer.

This is why we have seen the emergence of platforms dedicated to connecting brands with influencers.

In Southeast Asia, specifically Vietnam, influencer marketing has yet to adopt a more direct approach like it has in the West.

As a result, influencers from India looking for influencer marketing deals in Vietnam will need to search for agencies that provide this service.

How to find a brand deal agency

Finding agencies that can connect you with brands for influencer marketing is not difficult for the most part. However, it can be a little bit more tricky for Indian influencers looking to break into the Vietnamese market.

While many of the agencies that connect influencers with brands will boast being able to help influencers find brand deals in different countries, many are simply not able to deliver on that promise.

My recommendation is to search for agencies that are based in Vietnam and have the ability to connect influencers with brands.

Once you narrow it down, simply reach out to them and start establishing a relationship.

This is how to find a brand deal agency that can help you get brand deals in Vietnam.

Tactics when pitching to brands

Once you find an agency that can help connect you with brands in Vietnam for influencer marketing deals, you will want to make sure that you pitch yourself effectively.

Here’s how:

1. Know your rate and stick to it

One of the things that Vietnamese brands have become known for is haggling.

Not unlike the markets in India, many brands in Vietnam will try to haggle influencers to get them to agree to a lower rate.

The best way to deal with this is to know your worth.

Before you start reaching out to brands, do your research. Check out how much engagement you have and what other influencers get for the same amount of engagement.

Then calculate your rate based on that. Once you know your rate, stick to it.

2. Show your statistics

When pitching yourself as an influencer to a brand, it’s important to show proof of your track record.

The best way to do this is to show your statistics, such as your engagement rate, reach, etc.

The more statistics you can provide to demonstrate your influence, the better your chances of securing a brand deal in Vietnam.

3. Have a good portfolio

Having a portfolio of previous brand deals you’ve done is essential for establishing your credibility in the influencer marketing game.

Agencies, as well as brands, want to know that you are experienced and can get the job done.

If you don’t have any brand deals under your belt yet, consider doing some free brand promotions to establish your portfolio.

The future looks bright

The influencer marketing future looks bright in Vietnam for Indian influencers.

In fact, the market is still only in its infancy. This means that there is still plenty of room to grow.

In India, social media marketing statistics show that 57% of brands are already using influencers. That number is expected to grow to 63% by 2025.

This is likely to reflect the growth of influencers marketing in Vietnam, as many brands in Vietnam are also expected to start using influencers.

As brands in Vietnam start to invest more money into influencer marketing, Indian influencers will have an even greater opportunity to secure more brand deals in Vietnam.

Why brands work with influencers

Let’s take a look at what some influencers have to say about why brands work with them in Vietnam.

One influencer named Tuan Anh stated that brands work with influencers because they can reach a larger target audience.

“They can reach customers better than traditional advertising, such as TV programs and newspapers,” said Tuan Anh.

He went on to say that “the main reason brands work with influencers is that they want to reach their customers effectively.”

Another influencer, Huong Giang, stated that social media influencers now account for about 45% of total advertising budgets for many brands.

According to Huong Giang, brands are still learning how to work with influencers.

She maintains that brands still have a tendency to regard influencers as “hired models”, and that it will take more time for them to realize how to best utilize them.

The bottom line

As we can see, influencer marketing is massive in Vietnam, and it’s not going anywhere.

If you’re an Indian influencer, it’s time to get on board with this emerging trend.

You’ll be glad you did.

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