Social Media Marketing in Japan

The dynamics of social media vary based on the local culture. Different social media networks are more or less popular in certain countries and for example Japan is one of the few countries where Twitter is more popular than Facebook. Furthermore social media platforms, such as LINE (which is Japan's answer to Whatsapp), are also not really used outside of the country. Really understanding social media in Japan is necessary for effectively marketing to your target audience, i.e. it is challenging to carry out digital marketing effectively without understanding how the local market utilizes social media. If you plan to market in Japan, read on as this article gives suggestions on how to use social media the right way here.

Instagram is currently the fastest growing social media platform in Japan. For example in 2021, 48.5% of Japanese respondents aged 13 - 69 said that they used Instagram and in recent years, the market penetration rate has been steadily rising by about 5% per year. According to a split by age group, Instagram was especially well-liked by those in their teens and early twenties.(Statista 2022). Although it is especially popular amongst young people, but there are a number of older (40s-60s) people using Instagram too. As long as companies don't bombard Japanese Instagram users multiple times a day, posts from brands are typically well liked. Many Japanese consumers enjoy learning about new products, sales, and the people behind small businesses on Instagram. In addition, Instagram is a platform that allows businesses to engage with customers in fun ways. For example, by hosting Q&A sessions for owners to answer questions about their products. It's also useful in terms of market research, product-market-fit etc through the use of polls to ask customers for opinions.

Twitter is the most popular social media platform in Japan. However, surprisingly few businesses use Twitter for marketing purposes. This may be because most Japanese people don’t reveal their identities on Twitter. They usually sign up using a nickname and don’t post photos of themselves. This makes Twitter a popular place to discuss politics and social issues. So, it isn’t exactly the most advertiser friendly platform. That being said, since there’s a lot of people on Twitter, it’s a real underutilized resource when it comes to marketing.

The relative anonymity of Twitter might make customers less likely to engage with your brand than on Instagram. That being said, it can still be worthwhile to start marketing on Twitter. Tweets are a great way to get the word out about events, for example bars like to use Twitter for this reason and some stores use Tweets as a way of notifying customers about sales. Overall, Twitter’s best use in Japan seems to be for providing customers with updates. However you decide to use Twitter, don’t pass on the opportunity to advertise on Japan’s most popular social media platform.

YouTube is one of the most frequently visited websites in Japan. In fact, it is more popular than social media sites like Facebook or Instagram. Collaborating with a YouTuber who is popular in Japan can be a great way to market your brand. However, it can also be pretty expensive. Youtuber’s won’t feature your products for free or cheap, for example from our research we found that even minor Japanese Youtubers charge at least 1 million yen ($6,900) for a very limited product introduction, popular Youtubers can charge over 5 times that figure and require you to go through an agency who also takes a sizeable cut. Before you make the investment, make sure the Youtuber is genuinely interested in your brand and is enthusiastic about working with you. If their content isn’t a good fit with your company’s image, keep looking as it's a large investment. Alternatively you can create your own product videos specifically for the Japanese market and introduce your products with Japanese subtitles.

In conclusion, Instagram, Twitter and Youtube are our three top 3 Japanese social media platforms. Each have their pros and cons but we believe a mutli pronged, cross-platform approach is best. At Medusa Japan, our social media management solution is based on tens of thousands of followers across our IPs, millions in our advertising pools, and a dozen sites, provides you with the best chance of success in this niche locale.

Instagram is often used to foster business-customer relationships

Youtuber collaborations are a great way to market your product but don't expect it to be affordable