Are you planning to place your product or service in the Japanese market and are you wondering where to start? Digital marketing is now a large part of how to reach your audience in 2021, and this is no different in Japan. Having an outstanding website, creating effective search engine ads and other digital ads, and a strong social media marketing strategy will all support you in breaking into the Japanese market effectively. It is very helpful to know in which directions digital marketing is moving in your target market, so let’s have a look at trends in digital marketing in Japan!

Rise of Digital Media Marketing in Japan

Traditionally, Japan was lagging in the adoption of digital marketing strategies in ad campaigns. While Japan is known internationally as a country that is at the forefront of technological development, this isn’t true in all areas. In automotive and robotics they are indeed innovative, but in the digital realm many Japanese companies had been dragging their feet. It took the pandemic to break this trend. In 2020, overall advertising spend was down while digital ad spend maintained its growth. Companies dashed to join the digital revolution, and it looks like in 2021 digital marketing is only accelerating its rise.

Because of this large jump in digital and social media advertising, the digital marketplace has become more competitive. This means that you will need a stronger marketing strategy compared to before 2020, including a fitting budget, good media planning, and an adequate media buying strategy. Selecting the right (social) media channels and advertisement types for your Japanese target audience will be rewarding on your bottom line. If you don’t have any experience yet in the Japanese market, hiring a digital marketing agency to help you with not only localization but also with media planning and buying can pay off in the longer term.

Whether working with an agency is right for your company depends on your goals, so make sure that you ask the right questions when you are inquiring with agencies.

Most Important Japanese Digital Marketing Trends in 2021

Now it’s been established that digital marketing is on the rise in Japan, let’s explore specific trends in Japan that are happening at this moment. These are essential points to watch now;

• Video ads: online video advertising is not new, but its popularity has taken flight in 2020. Video is especially good for explaining slightly more complicated concepts and products to younger audiences who don’t have the patience to read through longer texts. Because video requires a larger time and budget investment the option is often overlooked by smaller companies, meaning you may have less competition in your niche.

• Social media marketing: the main increase in digital marketing has been in social media marketing (new: Social Media Marketing in Japan 101). Instagram, Line, and TiKTok are good channels to reach a younger audience, Pinterest is a too-often overlooked channel to reach a female audience with a great spending potential, and YouTube has a very large reach in Japan. Good social media management including social listening can significantly increase the chance of a successful  launch of your newly introduced brand, products, and services in the Japanese market.

• Influencer marketing: especially if you are looking to enter a new market and your brand isn’t yet known among your target audience, influencer marketing can give you an enormous head start. The great thing about influencers is that there’s a huge variety of them, and that you can find one for almost every niche. Interaction with their audience is especially strong if their following is smaller or mid-sized and they can create engagement with your brand easily. Collaborating with influencers also doesn’t necessarily have to break the bank, mainly if they are not famous (yet). Finding the right influencer for your brand in Japan does take some market or language knowledge, though.

• Virtual and hybrid events: when large in-person events became impossible in 2020, the industry started looking at online alternatives. Virtual events suddenly became popular, opening up a whole new world of (marketing) possibilities and giving rise to many new platforms that support virtual and hybrid events. If you hold an online event that’s interesting to your target audience, you get a great chance to communicate with them and build up brand awareness and trust, plus the opportunity to introduce your products and services. Once the pandemic subsides, hybrid events will likely be the replacement of in-person only events, giving opportunities to keep using events as a marketing means from abroad.

Digital Marketing Strategy Implications 

Incorporating new trends in your digital marketing strategy is essential to its success. This may be a bit daunting if you’ve, for example, never worked with video ads before or if you haven’t relied on social media marketing as much. Trying to enter a new market like Japan may make the challenge seem even more formidable, but good market research and an openness to trying out new things will get you far in the modern age of marketing and advertising.

If you’re not fluent in Japanese you may want to consider getting in touch with a digital marketing agency that specializes in entering the Japanese market for foreign companies. They won’t only solve the language barrier and any localization issues, but they will also be a strong partner in setting up a smart digital marketing strategy using the most up-to-date knowledge on the Japanese marketing landscape including social media. This way, you will hit the ground running with your new campaign in Japan with the highest chance for realizing your marketing goals.

Your Digital Media Partner in Japan

Hashi Media is Japan’s go-to content marketing and social media company. If you are planning on entering the Japanese market and don’t know where to start, we’ve got you covered.

• Content creation
• Social media management
• Digital marketing strategy
• Brand localization

If you enjoyed what you read today and found it valuable, contact us today and let’s talk about your project.