# ADS AUDIT — SEA VARIANT

> **Region:** Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia (also: Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar)
> **Currency:** USD-equivalent (local: VND, THB, IDR, PHP, SGD, MYR)
> **Primary platforms:** Meta (FB+IG, Messenger), TikTok (very strong), Google (Search+YouTube), Zalo (Vietnam), LINE (Thailand), Shopee/Lazada Ads
> **Key regulations:** Vietnam PDPL (Decree 13), Thailand PDPA, Indonesia PDP Law, Singapore PDPA, Malaysia PDPA, Philippines DPA
> **Major attribution platforms:** GA4 (heavy), Triple Whale (growing in Singapore/Malaysia), Hyros (limited adoption), platform-native dashboards dominate

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## HEALTHY BENCHMARK RANGES (SEA, 2025-2026)

### Meta Ads (Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines)

| Metric | Poor | Average | Good | Excellent |
|--------|------|---------|------|-----------|
| **CPM (Conversion, USD)** | >$3.50 | $2-3.50 | $1.20-2 | <$1.20 |
| **CPM (Conversion, VND)** | >85K | 50-85K | 30-50K | <30K |
| **CPM (Conversion, THB)** | >120 | 70-120 | 40-70 | <40 |
| **CTR (link click)** | <1% | 1-2% | 2-3.5% | >3.5% |
| **CPC** | >$0.40 | $0.20-0.40 | $0.10-0.20 | <$0.10 |
| **CP-Mess (Vietnam, message-to-Page)** | >40K VND | 25-40K | 18-25K | <18K |
| **CPL (B2C)** | >$3 | $1.50-3 | $0.70-1.50 | <$0.70 |
| **CPA (DTC e-com, AOV $20-40)** | >$15 | $8-15 | $4-8 | <$4 |
| **ROAS (DTC, prospecting)** | <1.5x | 1.5-2.2x | 2.2-3.0x | >3.0x |
| **ROAS (DTC, blended)** | <2.0x | 2.0-2.8x | 2.8-4.0x | >4.0x |
| **Frequency (cold)** | >5 | 3.5-5 | 2-3.5 | <2 |

### Meta Ads (Singapore, Malaysia — premium tier)

Singapore + Malaysia CPMs are 2-3x higher than VN/TH/ID/PH due to higher purchasing power.

| Metric | Average | Good |
|--------|---------|------|
| **CPM (SGD)** | S$8-14 | S$5-8 |
| **CPM (MYR)** | RM12-20 | RM7-12 |
| **CPC (SGD)** | S$0.60-1.20 | S$0.30-0.60 |

### TikTok Ads (SEA — extremely high adoption)

| Metric | Poor | Average | Good | Excellent |
|--------|------|---------|------|-----------|
| **CPM (USD)** | >$2.50 | $1.50-2.50 | $1-1.50 | <$1 |
| **CTR** | <1.2% | 1.2-2% | 2-3% | >3% |
| **CPC** | >$0.30 | $0.15-0.30 | $0.08-0.15 | <$0.08 |
| **CPA (DTC, AOV $15-40)** | >$10 | $5-10 | $2.50-5 | <$2.50 |
| **ROAS (Spark Ads)** | <1.3x | 1.3-2x | 2-3x | >3x |
| **VTR (6s view rate)** | <12% | 12-22% | 22-35% | >35% |

### Google Ads (SEA)

| Metric | Poor | Average | Good | Excellent |
|--------|------|---------|------|-----------|
| **CPC (Search non-brand, USD)** | >$1.50 | $0.70-1.50 | $0.30-0.70 | <$0.30 |
| **CTR (Search non-brand)** | <3% | 3-6% | 6-10% | >10% |
| **Quality Score** | <5 | 5-6 | 6-8 | 8-10 |
| **CPA (DTC e-com)** | >$25 | $12-25 | $6-12 | <$6 |
| **ROAS (PMax DTC)** | <1.8x | 1.8-2.5x | 2.5-3.5x | >3.5x |

### Zalo Ads (Vietnam-specific)

| Metric | Average | Good |
|--------|---------|------|
| **Read rate** | 40-60% | 60-80%+ |
| **CTR (broadcast)** | 2-4% | 4-8%+ |
| **Cost per follower** | 8-15K VND | 4-8K VND |
| **Unsubscribe rate** | 3-5%/broadcast | <2%/broadcast |

### ROAS targets by business model (SEA)

| Model | Break-even ROAS | Healthy ROAS | Scale ROAS |
|-------|-----------------|--------------|------------|
| **DTC e-com (40-50% margin)** | 2.0-2.5x | 2.8-3.5x | 3.5x+ |
| **Local service (spa, F&B, dental)** | 3-4x first-touch | 5-8x | 8x+ |
| **Real estate (BĐS) lead → consult** | Cost-per-consult <$15 | <$10 | <$5 |
| **Course / info-product** | 1.6-2x | 2.2-3x | 3x+ |
| **Dropshipping (cross-border to SEA)** | 2-2.5x | 2.5-3.5x | 3.5x+ |
| **Shopee/Lazada in-platform Ads** | 2.5-3x | 3.5-5x | 5x+ |

---

## COMMON RED FLAGS (SEA)

### Account stability (the #1 SEA failure mode)

1. **Ad account ban risk** — VN, TH, ID accounts have higher ban rates due to:
   - Cash-on-delivery (COD) cancellation rates raising spam reports
   - Misleading claims in beauty/health verticals
   - Cloned creative from viral organic content
   - Use of multiple Business Managers from same identity
2. **Backup ad accounts NOT prepared** — when primary banned, no warm backup → 14-30 days of zero spend.
3. **Payment method instability** — local debit cards declining mid-campaign, unstable bank routing.
4. **Currency / billing in USD vs local** — accounts billed USD with local card create 2-3% conversion fee leak.
5. **Page quality score < 4** — Meta penalizes pages with high spam reports common for COD models.

### Tracking gaps

1. **Pixel-only, no CAPI** — most SEA accounts lag 12-24 months behind US in tracking maturity.
2. **No event deduplication** — duplicate Purchase events inflate reported ROAS 30-50%.
3. **Multi-platform attribution mess** — running on FB Page + Zalo + TikTok Shop + Shopee Ads with no unified MMP. Triple Whale rare in SEA.
4. **TikTok Shop / Shopee / Lazada in-platform attribution opaque** — platform-reported ROAS is the only source; no GA4-equivalent visibility.
5. **WhatsApp Business / Messenger conversion tracking** — common in SEA, but few accounts properly track Click-to-Message → Sale.

### Creative

1. **Sound-off creative** on TikTok — fatal in SEA where TikTok adoption is highest globally.
2. **English-only creative** for non-Singapore markets — must be local language (Vietnamese, Thai, Bahasa Indonesia, Tagalog).
3. **Cultural mismatch** — direct US-style copy translated to local language ≠ effective. Need native creators.
4. **Creative volume too low** — successful SEA dropship/DTC stores run 15-25 creatives/week minimum.

### Compliance / Vertical-specific

1. **Health/beauty claims** — VN, TH, ID have strict cosmetic/supplement claim rules. Must avoid "treats," "cures," "guaranteed."
2. **Financial services / lending** — heavily regulated, requires platform pre-approval.
3. **Crypto / forex** — banned or restricted in VN, TH, ID.
4. **Gambling / betting** — banned everywhere except Cambodia, Philippines (with license).

### Local payment issues

1. **COD failure rate** — VN, ID, PH commonly 15-35% COD rejection. Audit must check if "Purchase" event includes only successful deliveries, not COD-confirmed.
2. **e-Wallet attribution** — MoMo, ZaloPay (VN), GCash (PH), TrueMoney (TH), GoPay (ID), GrabPay — all have different webhook integrations with Pixel/CAPI.

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## REGION-SPECIFIC AUDIT RULES

### Tracking peculiarities (SEA)

- **CAPI mandatory** for any DTC store, even small spend, due to high mobile / iOS share.
- **Server-side tracking** (Stape, GTM SS) emerging but not yet standard.
- **GA4 + Looker Studio** is the most common analytics stack.
- **Cross-platform reconciliation** — must align Meta, TikTok, Shopee/Lazada, GA4, Shopify/local CMS into a daily MER report.

### Privacy / Consent

- **VN PDPL (Decree 13/2023)** — Vietnam's first comprehensive personal data law, effective July 2023. Cross-border data transfers require dossier filing.
- **TH PDPA** — operational since June 2022. Consent management required.
- **ID PDP Law** — passed 2022, effective fully 2024. Penalties up to 2% global revenue.
- **SG PDPA** — mature, similar to GDPR-lite.
- **MY PDPA** — applies to commercial data; less strict than EU but enforcement strengthening.
- **PH DPA** — National Privacy Commission active in enforcement.
- **Consent banner adoption** much lower than EU; many SEA sites still missing CMP.

### Bid strategy maturity

| Stage | Recommended |
|-------|-------------|
| New account | Lowest Cost / Maximize Conversions |
| Stable (50+ conv/week) | Cost Cap (Meta), Target CPA (Google), Target Cost Per Result (TikTok) |
| Mature (100+ conv/week) | Bid Cap, Target ROAS |

> **Note:** Lower per-event spend in SEA means hitting Learning Phase exit (50 conv/week) is harder for high-AOV products. Consider lower-funnel events (Add to Cart, View Content) as optimization signals.

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## SEA-SPECIFIC QUICK WINS

1. **Set up CAPI / Events API** if missing — recover 15-30% of iOS-blocked conversions.
2. **Prepare backup ad accounts** — at least 2 verified BMs, agency accounts as insurance against bans.
3. **Localize creative** — translate + culturally adapt; not just Google Translate.
4. **Implement event deduplication** — set unique event_id; eliminates 30-50% phantom ROAS inflation.
5. **Add Zalo OA / LINE OA / WhatsApp Business broadcast** — owned-channel revenue 15-30% boost typical.
6. **Audit COD success rate** — only count delivered orders as "Purchase," not COD-pending.

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## DROPSHIPPING IN SEA

### SEA-specific dropshipping rules

| Check | Pass criteria | Severity |
|-------|---------------|----------|
| Local 3PL / fulfillment vs cross-border | <7 days delivery for in-country | Critical |
| COD vs prepaid offer mix | >50% COD = high cancellation; mix in prepaid discount | High |
| Local language customer service | Native speaker, response <24h | Critical |
| Local payment integration (MoMo, GCash, TrueMoney, GoPay, ZaloPay) | At least 3 methods per market | Critical |
| Compliance with local consumer law (VN Law on Protection of Consumer Rights, TH Consumer Protection Act) | Refund + 7-day cooling-off | Critical |
| Live chat / Messenger active and responsive | Response <30 min during business hours | High |
| Refund window clearly visible | Mandatory by local law | Critical |

### SEA dropshipping benchmarks

- **Winning product CPA**: $4-8 for AOV $15-30 USD-equivalent.
- **Mature winner ROAS**: 2.5-3.5x.
- **COD net realized rate**: 65-85% (after cancellations).
- **Creative testing budget**: 25-35% of total ad spend (SEA accounts test more aggressively due to lower CPM).
- **Hero product lifecycle**: 14-45 days (faster than US due to creative virality + smaller market).
- **Email/Zalo OA/LINE/Messenger revenue contribution**: 10-25% (Messenger marketing dominates over email in SEA).

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## OUTPUT NOTES (SEA)

- Use USD for cross-platform comparison; show local-currency benchmarks alongside.
- VN clients usually prefer VND-denominated reports — provide both.
- Account ban prevention is a Critical theme in every SEA audit; mention even when not currently triggered.
- Reference major SEA events: Tet (VN, late Jan-Feb), Songkran (TH, mid-April), Ramadan/Eid (ID, MY, varies), Christmas (PH), 11.11 / 12.12 / Black Friday e-commerce sales.
- Acknowledge that Meta-reported ROAS often misses Messenger conversions (CPMess model) — audit must capture full funnel beyond Pixel events.
- ROAS gaps Meta-vs-Shopify in SEA can be wider than US due to COD non-delivery; reconcile against delivered, not ordered.
