Japan Social Media: Overview of Platforms & Strategies
Japanese social media habits are quite unique, and in this article, we provide an overview of the prevalent social media platforms in Japan.
Additionally, we will delve into how Japanese users engage with these platforms and explore the potential benefits they offer for marketing to Japanese audiences.
Facts and figures
From 2021 to 2022, the number of active social media users in Japan surged by 8.7%, a noteworthy increase. Currently, Japan has over 102 million social media users, equating to almost 82% of the population being online. The year 2022 saw a 10% increase in digital advertising expenditures and a substantial 16.3% surge in social media advertising.
The COVID-19 pandemic played a significant role in the growth of digital media, as people stayed at home, worked remotely, and sought indoor entertainment. As a result, the fast-paced digital expansion is influencing consumer behavior and changing how businesses operate.
The majority of Japanese internet users access it through their phones, and in 2022 , the top three social media platforms in Japan were LINE, Twitter, and Instagram.
LINE
With over 70% of the population accessing LINE, the Japanese chat app, it is the most popular social media platform in Japan. Aside from messaging and calling, LINE offers a diverse range of features, including a cashless payment system, birthday reminders, games, manga, and a news feed.
Companies can establish official LINE accounts to communicate with users directly via messaging. By adding them to their contact list, users can receive coupons in return, with most brands and companies on LINE offering coupons or promotions to their connections on a regular basis.
The messaging feature is particularly useful in strengthening existing client relationships, but it is essential to avoid over-messaging users. A frequency of no more than once or twice a week is ideal.
In Japan, Twitter is the second-largest social media platform, with 58.95 million users engaging on the platform in 2022.
Twitter’s largest audience consists of individuals in their 20s and 30s. One of the reasons for its popularity is that Twitter allows users to remain anonymous and express their genuine opinions on brands, products, and services.
Another factor contributing to Twitter's success in Japan is its character limit for tweets, which suits Japanese users who often use the platform during long commutes. The brevity of tweets makes it easy to consume news and other content quickly and efficiently.
Furthermore, Twitter's open platform enables users to freely express their opinions, and this feature makes it an ideal social listening tool for marketers. Brands can keep track of trends, public opinions, and key themes to guide their marketing and communication strategies.
In 2022, Instagram reached over 46 million Japanese users, primarily young people who were drawn to the platform's fashion and food content.
The visual storytelling aspect of Instagram, through the use of beautiful pictures and short videos, is well-suited for these themes.
Similar to Twitter, Instagram also allows users to remain anonymous, making it more likely for them to interact with creators and share their opinions.
With the addition of Instagram Reels, the platform continues to stay current and relevant, signaling its potential for future growth. It's expected that promotional content will increasingly become lifestyle-focused, aligning perfectly with the type of content that dominates the platform.
Facebook has become an increasingly popular platform for business networking in Japan. In 2022, Facebook ads reached 15.5 million users, and a significant 98.5% of users accessed these ads through the Facebook phone app.
While Japanese users tend to be more reserved when it comes to engaging with ads, the lack of clicks, comments, or likes does not necessarily indicate that the ads are not achieving their intended purpose. Despite this, Facebook remains the go-to platform for reaching target audiences.
Interestingly, during the pandemic, older generations in Japan joined Facebook to stay in touch with friends and family. Marketers are leveraging this trend, making Facebook the ideal platform for targeting older demographics at the moment.
Youtube
YouTube has emerged as a popular alternative to traditional TV for many Japanese viewers and has become a crucial platform in the customer journey. The platform's content creators offer an unfiltered perspective on trends and a wide variety of content, with influencers and vloggers sharing their experiences and showcasing products they enjoy.
With its massive audience reach in Japan, YouTube is a go-to source for fast and easy-to-understand business information through videos. Increasingly, Japanese brands are collaborating with influencers to showcase their products, either by sending free samples or through formal business agreements. The key to a successful partnership is finding an influencer who genuinely enjoys the product they are promoting.
YouTube is a powerful tool for advertising because audiences tend to trust influencers more than the organizations themselves. Influencers are consumers themselves, and viewers trust their opinions because they provide relatable content and updates on how well products perform months after purchase and use.
TikTok
Although TikTok currently has a relatively low number of users in Japan, data indicates that it is the ideal platform for reaching Gen-Z and teenage audiences. As a result, brands are hesitant to allocate their TikTok marketing budgets to older users.
TikTok is a rapidly moving, audience-controlled environment where paid promotional content can easily be overlooked. Nevertheless, it is projected that TikTok users in Japan will grow steadily over the next several years. TikTok is trend-centric and generates a demand for more user-generated content, necessitating a shift towards influencer marketing rather than investing in creatives, particularly because trends on TikTok evolve quickly.
According to a 2021 study by the Digital Marketing Institute, 57% of global fashion and beauty brands employ influencers for marketing on TikTok, with 21% stating they plan to add influencers in the upcoming year.
While ad reach and targeting on TikTok can be challenging to forecast and manage, its ability to rapidly foster engagement with audiences makes it appealing to marketers. TikTok is ideal for identifying influencers for niche markets and producing less expensive content compared to YouTube. Furthermore, TikTok influencers have a knack for personalizing their content and staying current with video trends and editing styles.
Future Outlook
Japan is demonstrating a strong preference for digital media advertising, with digital advertising spending now surpassing traditional media advertising.
According to a Dentsu Inc. news release from February 2022, advertising expenditures through Internet media services carried by traditional media (primarily newspaper, magazine, radio, and TV) companies have surpassed traditional means after posting double-digit growth for three consecutive years since 2018.
To successfully capture the attention of Japanese consumers, it's essential to not only choose the right platform but also create content that feels authentic and unintrusive. Instagram is used for visual storytelling and engaging with influencers; Twitter for news and opinions; YouTube for informative and entertaining content; and TikTok for trend-focused and fast-paced content popular among younger generations.
Marketers can tap into Japan's growing digital media advertising industry by analyzing and adapting their strategies to Japanese platform-specific behavior.
Based in Tokyo, An-yal is the leading independent advertising agency for global lifestyle brands in Japan and worldwide. Contact us to get ahead with your integrated marketing and creative needs.
