Market guide
Influencer Marketing in Vietnam: The Complete Guide for Foreign Brands
Influencer marketing in Vietnam runs on short video, social commerce and a deep bench of everyday creators known as KOCs, not just celebrity KOLs. For a foreign brand, the creative is rarely the hard part. The hard parts are choosing the right creator mix, selling where the content is watched, following the advertising and e-commerce rules that changed in 2026, and paying creators correctly. This guide covers what you need decided before your first brief.
Short answer
How does influencer marketing in Vietnam work?
Brands in Vietnam combine a few KOLs for reach with many KOCs for reviews and sales, mostly on TikTok, Facebook and YouTube, and increasingly sell through TikTok Shop, Shopee affiliate and livestreams. Since 2026, influencers must disclose ads and campaigns need written contracts, and creator payments carry tax withholding duties.
- Short video and social commerce drive most campaigns
- KOCs build reviews and conversion; KOLs add reach and credibility
- Law 75/2025/QH15 (from 1 Jan 2026): ad contracts and influencer disclosure
- E-commerce Law and Decree 248/2026 (from 1 Jul 2026): livestreamer identity checks
- Decree 253/2026: 10% withholding on many creator payments of 5 million VND or more
- Decide objective, sales channel, claims and payment route before the first brief
1. What makes influencer marketing in Vietnam different?
Influencer marketing in Vietnam is closer to commerce than to classic brand advertising. A review video often sits one tap away from a TikTok Shop cart or a Shopee affiliate link, so the same creator content is expected to build awareness and sell. That shifts how brands brief, pay and measure creators.
Three features stand out for foreign teams. First, the KOC layer: large numbers of everyday users who post honest-looking reviews and often work for product, a small fee or commission. Second, social commerce and livestream selling are mainstream campaign formats, not experiments. Third, the rules changed in 2026, with new duties for influencers, livestreamers and anyone paying them.
2. Which social platforms matter for creator campaigns?
Most creator campaigns in Vietnam run on TikTok, Facebook and YouTube, with Instagram used for fashion, beauty and lifestyle audiences and Zalo used for direct, community and customer-care follow-up rather than public creator content. Shopee and TikTok Shop are where many viewers actually buy.
Choose platforms by the job each one does in your funnel rather than by habit from your home market. Ask candidate creators for audience location and age breakdowns from their own dashboards; do not rely on third-party estimates alone.
- TikTok: short video reviews, trends, TikTok Shop affiliate and live
- Facebook: community groups, longer posts, Reels and livestreams
- YouTube: long reviews, tutorials and comparison videos
- Instagram: visual categories such as fashion, beauty and travel
- Zalo: Official Accounts and groups for retention and customer care
- Shopee: affiliate links and in-app livestreams where purchase happens
Sponsoring Vietnamese YouTubersVietnam creator marketing glossary
3. KOL, KOC and creator tiers
Vietnamese marketers split creators into KOLs (key opinion leaders: celebrities, experts and large creators) and KOCs (key opinion consumers: real users with smaller, engaged audiences). KOLs bring reach and authority; KOCs bring volume, trust and conversion.
A common sequence, also recommended by several agencies that advise Korean and international brands, is to seed KOCs first so that search results and product pages are full of real reviews, then add KOLs once there is something for their audience to find. The right ratio depends on your objective, category and budget.
KOL vs KOC: roles and operationsKOC marketing guideProduct launch with creators
4. Social commerce: TikTok Shop, Shopee affiliate and livestream
Social commerce lets a creator sell directly from content. On TikTok Shop, sellers set affiliate commission plans and creators add products to their videos and lives. Shopee runs its own affiliate programme and in-app livestreams. Livestream selling ranges from a brand's own daily sessions to booked sessions with well-known hosts.
Before you plan sales content, confirm which entity can legally sell your product in Vietnam and on which platform. Foreign brands often sell through an importer or distributor's shop, through a local entity, or through a cross-border programme; the route affects who controls pricing, vouchers and affiliate plans.
TikTok Shop Vietnam guideLive commerce in VietnamTikTok Shop affiliate with KOCsFour e-commerce entry routes for foreign brands
5. The 2026 advertising law: what influencers and brands must do
Law No. 75/2025/QH15, which amends the Law on Advertising, took effect on 1 January 2026 and is the main rule for paid creator content. Article 6 requires cooperation in advertising activities to go through an advertising contract.
New Article 15a sets duties for anyone who carries advertising, and extra duties for influencers: they must verify the reliability of the advertiser, check documents about the product, not introduce products they have not used or do not understand, and announce the advertisement immediately before and during it. Article 23 adds that social media users who advertise must clearly distinguish advertising or sponsored content from their other content.
In practice, give creators product documents, enough time with the product and an exact disclosure format, and keep evidence of all three. This is general information, not legal advice.
6. E-commerce rules for livestream and affiliate selling
The Law on E-commerce No. 122/2025/QH15 and Decree 248/2026/ND-CP both took effect on 1 July 2026. According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade's briefing on the new rules, platforms must verify sellers' identities, and individuals who sell by livestream, including KOLs, KOCs and other people engaged to promote products, must complete identity verification before broadcasting sales sessions.
The same briefing says product presentations must not mislead consumers about function, quality, origin, price, warranty or availability, and that everyone involved in affiliate marketing must be transparent about their roles, affiliate links, referral codes and responsibilities. Build verification status into your livestream booking checklist and make link and code disclosure part of the brief.
7. Regulated products need their documents first
Some product categories cannot be advertised until their permits or notifications exist. Article 20 of the amended Law on Advertising lists them: for example, cosmetics advertising requires a cosmetic product notification, medical devices need a circulation number or import licence, and advertising for food, food additives and nutrition products for children up to 36 months requires a registered or self-declared product declaration under food safety law.
For cosmetics, Circular 06/2011/TT-BYT says the organisation responsible for placing the product on the market must be licensed to trade cosmetics in Vietnam, and imported products need a letter of authorisation from the manufacturer or owner. Check these documents with your importer before any creator receives a sample.
8. How creator campaigns are run day to day
Running a campaign is a sequence of small, trackable steps. Teams that treat each creator as a record with a status, an owner and a next action finish on time; teams that run campaigns out of chat threads lose drafts and payments.
Example: a European personal-care brand plans 30 KOCs and three KOLs for a launch. Each creator moves through the same stages, and the brand's local manager approves drafts within two working days so that posting lines up with the launch weekend.
- Brief: objective, key messages, approved claims, disclosure format, deliverables, dates
- Sourcing and shortlist with audience data
- Offer, negotiation and written confirmation
- Contract signed and product documents shared
- Sample shipped, received and used
- Draft, review against the brief and claims, revision, approval
- Posting, link and code check, monitoring
- Payment, tax documents and reporting
Creator brief checklistKOC booking pipelineInfluencer launch events and pop-upsTet creator campaigns
9. Paying Vietnamese creators: contracts, invoices and tax
Creators are usually paid in VND by a local entity, either your own company, your distributor or your agency. Decree 253/2026/ND-CP, applied from 1 July 2026, requires an organisation paying a resident individual without a contract, or with a labour contract under three months, to withhold 10% personal income tax when the payment is 5 million VND or more per payment, according to Thu Vien Phap Luat's summary of Article 50.
Whether that rule applies depends on how the creator is engaged, for example as an individual, a household business or through a management company. Agree in the contract who withholds, which documents the creator provides and who files. Ask a Vietnamese tax adviser to confirm your setup.
10. Budgeting: cost drivers rather than price lists
Creator rates in Vietnam vary widely, and published price lists date quickly, so build budgets from cost drivers instead. The main drivers are audience size and quality, category, platform and format, number of deliverables, usage rights and exclusivity, timing (mega-sale days and Tet are busier) and whether the creator also earns commission.
Remember the costs around the fees: product and shipping, paid amplification, tools, tax handling and the time of whoever coordinates the campaign.
11. Measuring influencer marketing in Vietnam
Measure what the objective needs and agree it before booking. Awareness campaigns look at reach, views and engagement quality; review campaigns at the number and quality of usable reviews; commerce campaigns at orders and revenue through affiliate links, codes and TikTok Shop data.
Capture metrics at fixed times after posting, keep live links for every deliverable and separate organic from paid results. A creator-level scorecard tells you who to book again.
12. What to decide before your first brief
Most failed first campaigns in a new market fail on decisions made too late. Settle these points before you contact a single creator.
- One primary objective and its KPI
- Where people will buy: TikTok Shop, Shopee, retail or your website
- Which entity sells, holds product documents and pays creators
- Approved claims in Vietnamese and the documents behind them
- Disclosure format for videos, posts and livestreams
- Creator mix and budget split
- Who approves drafts locally and within how many days
- How results will be reported to your head office
Multi-market creator campaigns in Southeast AsiaRegional creators in VietnamVietnamese shopper behavior on socialVietnam creator marketing trends 2027
13. Run it yourself or work with a local partner?
You can run creator campaigns yourself if you have Vietnamese-speaking staff, a local entity to contract and pay creators, and time to manage dozens of people at once. Many foreign brands start with a local agency for sourcing, contracts, logistics and payments, and keep strategy and approvals in-house.
Whichever route you take, keep the creator data, contracts and results in one system so that what you learn stays with your brand.
Influencer marketing agency in VietnamInfluencer CRM software
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Which platform is best for influencer marketing in Vietnam?
There is no single best platform. TikTok is usually central for short video reviews and TikTok Shop sales, Facebook for communities and livestreams, and YouTube for long reviews. Pick platforms by the role each plays in your funnel and by where your buyers actually purchase.
What is a KOC in Vietnam?
A KOC, or key opinion consumer, is an everyday user who reviews products for a smaller but engaged audience. Brands use KOCs at volume to build reviews and drive sales, often through product seeding, small fees or affiliate commission.
Do Vietnamese influencers have to label sponsored posts?
Yes. Law No. 75/2025/QH15, in force since 1 January 2026, requires influencers to announce the advertisement immediately before and during it, and requires social media users who advertise to distinguish advertising or sponsored content. Agree the exact format in the brief and contract.
Can a foreign company pay Vietnamese influencers directly?
It is possible, but most foreign brands pay through a local entity such as their distributor or agency, because contracts, VND payments, invoices and tax withholding are simpler to handle locally. Get tax advice for your specific structure before you start.
Do livestream hosts in Vietnam need to be verified?
Under the Law on E-commerce and Decree 248/2026/ND-CP, in force since 1 July 2026, individuals selling by livestream, including KOLs and KOCs, must complete identity verification before broadcasting sales sessions, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade. Check verification status when you book a host.
