Are you considering a market entry in Japan? Having a solid marketing plan in place before you start paying for ads is fundamental, and your social media strategy is going to be a large part of that marketing plan. Nowadays, you can’t get around the power of social media in digital marketing anymore; social media ad spend in Japan is projected to reach $5,965 million in 2021. But advertising is only a part of any marketing plan, and there are many other things to consider, especially if you are entering a new market. Let’s go over the most important details of a social media strategy as a part of a marketing plan in Japan!
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Social Media Strategy for Japan
The best marketing plans start with a strong overall strategy. Knowing where you want to get and how to get there will help you keep tabs on your progress along the way and adjusting your course where necessary. Here are the steps to go over when creating your social media strategy for Japan:
- Set your goals: you should set goals that are attainable and measurable. For example, you want to get at least 100 followers on your company’s new Instagram page by the end of the next month.
- Get to know your audience: don’t just think of your audience as a uniform crowd of a certain age and gender, but go a bit deeper. What is their income, what type of household do they live in, what are their interests, and what are current trends they love?
- Learn where to find your audience: social media are used a bit differently in Japan compared to other countries in terms of who uses which channels and what do they use it for.
- Learn from your competition: who are your competitors in the Japanese market? Are there similar (foreign) companies with similar products or services? Don’t reinvent the wheel but see what they are doing and base your strategy on theirs with some slight tweaks to make yours better. Fit your company’s specific strengths into your strategy.
- Think about your social media calendar: learning about the ideal timing of when to post content before you make the calendar is important for not missing chances. Get familiar with Japanese national holidays, seasonal trends, and special events in Japan that can give your posts and ads a free boost if you post them at the right time.
Social Media Marketing Plan
After setting up your strategy, it is time to start working on your social media marketing plan. First, you are going to create your company’s social media accounts on different channels. It is important to make sure that your company profiles are consistent across the various social media platforms and that you have a clear house style.
This will increase trust among your followers, and it will make it easier for your audience to find you and tell impostor profiles from the real thing. Keep your message clear, and don’t forget to write a strong piece for the ‘About us’ part. And of course, your profile picture would ideally be your logo. If there is a cover photo as well, make sure that it is a great picture that either shows your service or product or creates an atmosphere that is in line with your products or service.
Next, you are going to search for inspiration for creating content for posts and ads. Besides checking out your competitors, you can also have a look at social media channels’ success stories or award winners. You shouldn’t simply copy what they do, of course, but gather inspiration and implement elements of what they do into your own content that is based on your products or services. If you already have social media accounts up and running, you can also ask your followers what they would like to see on your (new) pages. Also, it is good to familiarize yourself with what is currently trending in your industry in Japan if you want to hit the ground running.
Showing that you know what is going on will make it more likely that your target audience will understand that it is worth following you and give you credibility. Another way to find your audience is with ads to spread the word about your business. Because advertising on social media is mostly inexpensive it allows you to experiment with different market segments easily. You can also be creative with the content of your ads, and try out different texts and images to see what works better.
Social Media Marketing Tools
Once your social media accounts are up and running, knowing what is being said about your brand online is incredibly valuable. Monitoring not only your own communication with your customers on social platforms but also which messages are left on your pages and mentions of your brand, products, or services on online review sites or forums provides you with important information. When negative opinions are expressed, if you find them on time you will be able to mitigate the damage and find a good solution if there are any problems. What’s said about your brand and industry on social media is also a great resource for inspiration and market research.
You don’t have to manually trawl all social media channels, thankfully there are tools available that can help you monitor social media at a macro and micro level by indexing all social media mentions and presenting it to you in a way that is easy to read and interpret. Even general sentiments can be gauged by some tools, so you will know whether your brand is mostly talked about in a positive or negative way. Larger players in the world of digital marketing tools such as Hootsuite and Sprout Social often have international versions of their tools.
If you want to use these professionally there will be a monthly subscription fee. Depending on your business needs, it may be better to hire a digital media agency that’s specialized in the Japanese market whose services also include social media monitoring. They have access to the best tools for social media monitoring and can provide you with a full-service package including content creation, localization, and full social media management.
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.
