Be Limitless with Rakuten Viber: Event Recap from Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh City, September 21st, 2022 – At the Capella Parkview Convention Center, Rakuten Viber organized a special event for industry professionals titled "Be Limitless with Viber: Building Stronger Connections with Customers”. During this day-long event, the Rakuten Viber executive team shared the current vision, plans, and business direction of the global messaging app with the media, business owners, and brands in Vietnam. 

As part of our presentation, we introduced features and solutions that take brand-user interaction to a whole new level, making it more effective and convenient for both brands and users.

Channels: the ultimate broadcast platform for content creators

One of the solutions introduced at the event was Rakuten Viber Channels. Channels are a "one-to-many" communication tool that allows content creators to engage with an unlimited number of members from anywhere in the world. Channels offer advanced moderation options to Admins and Superadmins, including manual posting and custom scheduling. Users can interact with and comment on the posts, which generates excellent interaction rates for content partners such as influencers, media companies, sports clubs, and more. Rakuten Viber Channels are searchable, which allows wider reach. Users can choose to create an alias and their phone numbers are hidden from others for security.

Rakuten Viber for Business solutions for each step of the customer journey

Using free messaging apps as a way to connect with your family, friends, and colleagues has become commonplace, and consumers have grown to expect the same convenience when dealing with brands, often preferring to communicate through their favorite messaging apps. 

“Recent surveys show that 71% of consumers want to have convenient access to communication with a business, and 95% of leaders say that providing a good customer experience is a top strategic priority,—says Berina Tanovic, Senior Partnership Manager at Rakuten Viber.—We believe that Rakuten Viber can be an effective tool to "bridge" the gap between brands and consumers, so we design our business solutions with both brands and users in mind.”

Aware of the shift in consumer expectations from brand-user interaction, Viber develops solutions that help companies reach their audience at each step of the customer journey—in a way that’s convenient for users and effective for brands. Today, Rakuten Viber offers branded Stickers and Lenses, Ads, Business Messages, and Chatbots that help build awareness, influence consideration, drive conversion, and nurture loyalty. 

Rakuten Viber Advertising Solutions, including native, non-intrusive Viber Ads and branded Lenses & Stickers, continue to gain popularity with brands that want to increase their visibility and attract new users. In the first half of 2022, the volume of monthly Rakuten Viber Ads impressions in Vietnam reached more than 210M, where IT and telecom, finance, entertainment, retail (including fashion & cosmetics), hospitality, and travel became the top-performing verticals. At the same time, more than 60M stickers were sent and more than 3,3M Rakuten Viber Lenses were viewed by users in Vietnam.

Rakuten Viber Messaging Solutions are a versatile tool that enables brands to make use of Business Messages and Chatbots to strengthen their communication with customers. 

• Business Messages bring brands closer to customers via a single channel that has everything one needs for a fruitful interaction: driving purchases via personalized promotional messages, delivering important notifications via transactional messages, and providing around-sales customer support via conversational messages.
• Chatbots let businesses offer automated, round-the-clock support without the additional costs that come with human agents—and free up the human service agents to deal with more complex customer care needs.

Today, globally, more than 8,500 brands rely on Rakuten Viber Messaging Solutions to communicate with their customers. Our figures in Vietnam reflect the brands’ growing interest in Viber Messaging Solutions and users' utility—as of the first half of 2022, we recorded:

• about 500 business accounts registered (and this number continues to grow);
• an 18% increase in the number of brands opening new business accounts;
• a 21% increase in delivered business messages of all types;
• a 41% increase in promotional business messages;
• 54% growth in the number of chatbot subscribers.

One of the many successful examples of using Rakuten Viber for Business is the Primer Group of Companies, which wanted to provide an alternative and safer avenue for customers to buy essentials during the pandemic. With the help of Viber’s official partner Infobip, they enabled online purchases with digital vouchers using codes with discounts sent through Rakuten Viber Business Messages. The results were quite telling: the brand achieved a high conversion rate (53% code redemption), and a 401% uptick in total sales.

“We wanted to significantly increase our presence in Vietnam to show local businesses how the app and strong local partnerships can help them adapt to the ever-evolving demands of the customer base. Beyond simple phone conversations and text messages, Rakuten Viber has become an indispensable part of their daily routine. Our goal for the event in Vietnam was to help businesses of all kinds and sizes, from corporations to SMEs—expand their customer base, engage their target audiences, and boost profits without limits,” remarked David Tse, Rakuten Viber's Senior Director for the Asia Pacific region. 

Watch the video for the highlights of our event in Vietnam:

If you would like to learn more about how Rakuten Viber can benefit your business, feel free to contact us.