· 3 min read · Jason Youngjin Koh
Patients who read Korean or Vietnamese
A patient who reads Korean or Vietnamese first scrolls past English clinic ads without noticing them. In their own language, the same clinic stops them.
Clinics in Sydney and Ho Chi Minh City sit near large Korean and Vietnamese speaking communities that English only ads mostly miss. Advertising in those languages, with landing pages, staff and follow up that match, reaches patients competitors are not talking to. We run clinic campaigns in English, Korean and Vietnamese, including for Kims Korea Beauty Clinic in Thao Dien.
Why do language specific ads work for clinics?
Health decisions are personal, and people want to understand every detail. A patient who is comfortable in English for daily life may still prefer to read about a procedure, its risks and its costs in their first language. An ad in that language signals that the clinic will explain things properly, which is what a nervous patient most wants to know.
What changes beyond translation?
| Element | What to adapt |
|---|---|
| Treatments in demand | Ask what each community enquires about most, and lead with that treatment |
| Channels | Korean speakers use KakaoTalk and Naver alongside Meta; Vietnamese speakers rely heavily on Zalo and Facebook |
| Tone | Formality, how practitioners are addressed, and how directly cost is discussed |
| Proof | Staff who speak the language, named on the page, matter more than any claim |
Do advertising rules change by language?
No. AHPRA and TGA rules apply to advertising in any language in Australia, and regulators can review ads in any language. Literal translation creates risk: a cosmetic phrase in English can become a medical claim in Korean or Vietnamese. Every translated ad needs checking by someone who knows both the language and the rules.
What does the patient need after clicking?
- A landing page in the same language as the ad.
- A way to message in that language, on the app they use.
- Confirmation that someone at the clinic speaks the language.
- Follow up messages and reminders in that language.
An ad in Vietnamese that leads to an English form loses the patient it just earned.
How does this work in Ho Chi Minh City?
The audience mix is reversed. Clinics in areas such as Thao Dien and Phu My Hung serve Vietnamese families, Korean families and English speaking expats side by side. One clinic needs three versions of each campaign, each with its own creative and landing page, all feeding enquiries to the same front desk.
How we run clinic campaigns in all three languages. Marketing for dental and beauty clinics