Social Media
Social Media Marketing in Japan
Social media has opened a new avenue of marketing, and innovative businesses understand the utility of social media marketing when broaching new markets. If your business is new to Japan, using an experienced digital marketing company for social media marketing in Japan can save you a lot of money and generate impressive revenues even within the initial years of operation.
Custom Media is a human-centered creative agency that helps international clients to break into the Japanese market. Our knowledge of Japan’s social media advertising can help your business effectively use social media marketing in Japan.
Popular Social Media Platforms in Japan
Social media (known as “SNS” or “social networking service/site”) usage in Japan is different from that in the US and Europe. Thus, your company needs to look beyond social media platforms popular in the west to succeed in Japan’s social media advertising.
Below are some of the social channels we’ve found most effective for launching social media campaigns in Japan.
LINE
A messaging app called LINE is Japan’s most popular social media platform, so marketing with LINE promises lucrative returns for D2C businesses operating in the country.
About 80 percent of Japan’s social media accounts are on LINE, and the platform has more than 84 million monthly active users. Most LINE users are employed and capable of making purchasing decisions, which enhances the chances of success for a digital marketing strategy.
You can send promotional messages on LINE with a guarantee that at least 70 percent of your audience will read them. And unlike platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, LINE can accommodate online banking transactions, which means your target audience can swiftly act based on the ads you place on the platform.
YouTube
YouTube competes with LINE for the Japanese market’s most popular social media platform. Surprisingly, only 15 percent of Japanese social media users are active on TikTok, with the majority being teenagers. Young professionals under 30 make up more than 98 percent of users on YouTube, with men in the 16–29 age group making up 61 percent of active users on the platform.
YouTube ads in Japan generate more than $100 million annually for businesses. Creating relevant ads or using Japanese influencers to push your products on their YouTube channels are suitable methods for getting Japanese customers.
Twitter is Japan’s third most-used social media platform, with about 59 million registered users. Japanese consumers use Twitter to find new products and learn about other people’s experiences with different brands.
Businesses can use Twitter to get discovered by the Japanese market. Aside from placing ads, you can use Twitter to interact directly with your target audience, which helps customers identify more closely with your brand.
Trends in Japanese Social Media Advertising
Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing is one of the top trends in Japanese marketing. International lifestyle brands and new social media platforms like TikTok and other types of businesses have used influencer marketing to find potential customers among the Japanese population.
There are influencers for every marketing niche in Japan, so it’s easy for companies to find the right influencer support to reach different Japanese users.
Shorter Videos
Creating valuable content is one of the cornerstones of social media marketing. As with social media users in other countries, the Japanese population responds better to shorter content. Given YouTube’s popularity in the country, your business can use YouTube Shorts to promote products and deliver important information in less than 60 seconds.
Interactive Marketing
Social media has opened up a way for brands to communicate directly with their consumers. A creative social media strategy used by international and Japanese businesses is engaging directly with current and potential customers.
Various forms of interactive marketing keep your business in the minds of consumers. For example, attaching polls to your business’s daily social media posts can garner interactions from users who rarely comment.
Asking followers to tag a specific number of accounts to win free products or rewarding people who follow, like and comment on your posts with discount links are ways of utilizing interactive marketing to your advantage.
Custom Media Social Media Marketing
The team at Custom Media consistently uses the latest trends in social media in Japan to refine our approach to social media marketing in Japan. From helping you choose the proper channels to creating engaging content and activating memorable paid social campaigns, we’ll spread the word about your business through media platforms that never sleep, maximizing your reach and engagement and building and managing your community. Contact us today to see how you can benefit from the services of our next-generation media company.
