Vietnam · 5 min read
Why Vietnamese customers expect Zalo, what a Zalo Official Account needs, how to connect it to your website, and how to keep enquiries from getting lost.
By Chris ·
Foreign-led businesses in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Da Nang often run on WhatsApp and email, because that is how their international clients work. Vietnamese customers mostly message on Zalo. A website aimed at both needs both, and Zalo needs a little more preparation than a WhatsApp link.
Use a Zalo Official Account
A Zalo Official Account (OA) is Zalo’s business account: several staff can answer, it has a business profile, and it does not depend on one person’s phone. Integration guides describe the basics:
- Creating an OA is free, but you start from a personal Zalo account with a Vietnamese phone number.
- The account has to be verified by Zalo before you can use its business features.
- Enterprise accounts are for businesses with a Vietnamese legal entity.
Zalo’s own policies are the authority on eligibility and verification, and they change, so check them for your business before you plan around the OA.
Connect it to the website
The simplest connection is a clear “Message us on Zalo” link or button on the contact page, booking pages and mobile header. Integrations for common website platforms add a floating Zalo chat button that opens the Zalo app on mobile, or Zalo on the web on desktop, using your OA’s ID from the Zalo Developers portal.
Place it alongside, not instead of, your other channels: Zalo for Vietnamese customers, WhatsApp for international ones, and a short structured form for enquiries that need detail.
Make the conversation start well
- Hours and an automatic reply, so customers know when to expect an answer.
- A welcome message that says what you can help with and links to prices or booking.
- Guidance on what not to send, such as identity documents. Vietnam’s data protection rules apply to what customers send you.
Do not lose the enquiries
Messaging enquiries disappear easily: a staff member answers on their phone, nobody else sees it, and there is no record of who followed up. Decide who owns the OA inbox, track clicks on the Zalo button in your analytics, and if volume grows, connect the OA to your CRM or helpdesk through its API or an integration partner.
Write the Vietnamese pages properly
A Zalo button on an English-only site works, but Vietnamese customers who arrive from it will look for Vietnamese pages. If you add them, give them their own URLs, metadata and a native translator, and use fonts with full Vietnamese diacritic support so tone marks are not clipped or set in the wrong typeface.
More on building for Vietnam and on messaging apps across the region, or ask us about your set-up.
