7 Mistakes “Burning Money” When Running Facebook Ads in Vietnam That Experts Rarely Share

Introduction: Why running Facebook Ads in Vietnam is easy to “burn money”?

Facebook remains the top advertising channel for Vietnamese SMEs with over 70 million monthly active users. However, many businesses lose hundreds of millions of dong due to basic mistakes. This article analyzes 7 rarely shared errors by experts, based on real data from over 5,400 campaigns at DPS.MEDIA from 2017.

According to the Facebook Advertising Benchmarks 2023 report by Databox, the average CPC cost in Vietnam reaches 3,500-5,000 VND, 20% higher than last year due to increased competition. You will learn how to identify and fix each specific error.

Mistake 1: Not researching Vietnamese audience in depth

Vietnamese user behavior is distinctly different

Vietnamese people often scroll Facebook from 7-9am and 8-10pm, different from international markets. Many businesses copy settings from the US or EU without adjustment. The result is CTR below 1% despite high costs.

Real example: Fashion brand Juno ran ads during international peak hours (2-4am VN) in 2022, wasting 45% of budget. After switching to Vietnamese hours, ROAS increased 2.7 times.

Ignoring local cultural and language specifics

Copying English headlines or using overly formal language makes Vietnamese ignore it. Content needs to be approachable, using popular slang like “chill”, “xịn sò”. According to Nielsen Vietnam 2022 research, 68% of users prefer casual Vietnamese content.

Checklist for audience research check

• Identify peak online hours via Facebook Insights
• Analyze competitors in the same industry via Facebook Ad Library
• Test A/B at least 3 local language versions
• Check interaction rate by specific age/city
• If ROAS below 1.5, adjust audience immediately

Mistake 2: Setting up Facebook pixel incorrectly

Basic pixel is not enough for effective retargeting

Many SMEs only install pixel tracking for view content, skipping AddToCart, Purchase events. This prevents Facebook from learning real purchase behavior. According to Meta Business 2023 report, websites with full events achieve 37% lower CPA.

Meta Business Suite reports: “Websites with 8+ standard events achieve 3x higher conversions” – Meta, 2023

Real example from Shopee Partners case

Shopee once faced pixel conflict issues when integrating multi-platform in 2021. They took 3 months to clean data, affecting 15% of ad revenue. SMEs need to verify pixel via Facebook Pixel Helper before scaling.

Standard pixel setup framework for VN

1. Install Google Tag Manager before Facebook Pixel
2. Set up 8 standard events: ViewContent, AddToCart, InitiateCheckout, Purchase
3. Test on 100 real sessions before running ads
4. Compare Standard Events vs Custom Events performance
5. Monitor data discrepancy weekly

Mistake 3: Ignoring iOS 14+ tracking limitations

67% of Vietnamese SMEs still use old attribution

Since 2021, Apple ATT framework cuts 30-50% tracking data on iOS. However, many agencies still report fake ROAS based on 7-day click attribution. Facebook recommends switching to Aggregated Event Measurement (AEM).

Vinamilk Case 2022: Switch from 7-day to 1-day view + 7-day click, discovered actual ROAS only 1.2 instead of 2.8. Adjusted budget allocation in time.

Comparison table of attribution models

Mistake 4: Scaling budget too fast without a system

20-50% weekly budget increase rule is ignored

Meta recommends only increasing 20% budget every 3 days when CPA is stable. Vietnamese SMEs often double budget after 2 days of profit, leading to learning phase reset. Result: CPM increases 60%, CPA surges 2-3 times.

Highlands Coffee Example 2023: Scaled from 50m/day to 200m in just 4 days. CPA rose from 45k to 128k/lead. Had to pause campaign for 7 days to reset.

Safe ads scaling methodology

• Only scale when >50 conversions/7 days
• Increase max 20-30% every 72 hours
• Duplicate ads into new ad set instead of editing
• Assess ROAS stability before scaling
• If CPA increases >15%, pause immediately