Marketing in Japan

Beginners

Everything About Japanese Culture for Businessmen

If a foreign company wants to enter the Japanese market, learning the language is not enough. Even if you speak really well, faux pas slow down your business and harm your credibility. Whether you want to create a website, post on social media or meet professionals, there are a few things you should pay attention to. You can also read about the Japanese business etiquette to know the dos and don’ts when participating in professional meetings. Colors Color meanings change depending on countries and sometimes regions, so it is important to know them in order to avoid delivering the wrong message. Black: both positive and negative, it represents elegance, sexuality…

Crowdfunding in Japan

How to Write & Submit a Press Release in Japan

Press releases are not to be overlooked since it is a basic way to make your product known – whether you are doing crowdfunding or want to sell a good or service. Basically, you write all the essential information and send your text to press companies to attract new customers. It must be catchy and make readers want to buy your product, but not only. Here are the best tips for you to succeed! Benefits of Press Releases Why should you write and send a press release? It is a marketing method really effective, the cost is not very high but the impact on your sales is big. It will also…

Beginners

How to Successfully Promote Your Crowdfunding Campaign in Japan

Choosing crowdfunding as a way to raise funds has many benefits, you can achieve a lot without asking a lender to back you. But the fear of failure prevents many entrepreneurs to jump in at the deep end. Is it your case? This is why we gathered the best tips to successfully promote your campaign.  Advertise Your Product Using SNS Social media networks take a bigger and bigger place over the years, in Japan like in the rest of the world. Check out what platforms are popular among Japanese, and let’s get started. The main point when using SNS for a crowdfunding campaign is to generate enthusiasm and confidence in…

Marketing in Japan

How to Use Hashtags on Social Media in Japan

Hashtags are extremely useful to attract new followers, so potential new customers. Nowadays, you cannot find success without creating an account on (the right) social media networks and without knowing how to get new followers. So let’s get right into this! What Is a Hashtag? “Hashtag” is the name of the hash symbol # and is mainly used to classify or categorize posts on social media. Someone who is looking for posts on a specific subject (technology, an event, a person, etc.) will find many by adding this symbol before keywords (#tech, #olympics, #trump, etc.). If he/she doesn’t choose popular keywords, however, he/she won’t find anything very interesting. This is…

Marketing in Japan

Japan – The Most Popular Social Media Networks in 2020

In this digital era, SNS marketing is essential – and even vital for companies. But a social media popular in 2019 will not necessarily be popular in 2020. We saw what the trends were in 2018, here is the situation nowadays. Don’t overlook one of those platforms, your (potential) customers love them! Overview From 2016 to 2019, there is a general growth of monthly active users (MAU), except on Twitter (who did not communicate any official data from 2017 to 2019) and Facebook (loss of 2 million MAU, from 28 to 26 million), according to Gaiax. Facebook Even though Facebook is less popular in Japan, at a world scale, Facebook’s…

Marketing in Japan

The Best Methods of Payment for Your Japanese E-Commerce Site

Japan is a cash-is-king society, with under 20 percent of contactless transactions (credit cards, rail passes, smartphone apps, etc.). Even when purchasing on e-commerce sites, cash payments remain frequent. While in the West, you don’t always have the choice but to pay by card, many Japanese websites offer several options. If you want to enter the Japanese market, you must understand that and meet customers’ expectations. Companies who don’t make this effort have a higher rate of shopping cart abandonment and lose many customers every day.  Online Shopping in Japan Statistics In Japan, the largest online market is fashion, but others such as the travel, electronic devices, food and beauty markets…

Marketing in Japan

YouTube Marketing in Japan: Tips & Tricks

Do you think your audience is not on YouTube? Let me tell you that you are wrong. More than 2 billion users watch or upload videos, which represents almost 1/3 of the Internet. 95% of the world’s population can create an account since it is accessible in 80 different languages and 100 countries. But what about Japan specifically?  YouTube in Japan: Data YouTube was launched in Japan in 2007. A decade later, it had a penetration rate of over 90% among Japanese aged 13 to 29 years old (2019, Statista). However, the rate was 41% for people in their 60s – which is almost half of them, when we think…

Marketing in Japan

Marketing to Seniors in Japan: a Golden Opportunity

Japan is experiencing a super-aging society, in every area. In 2017, 35.2 million inhabitants were 65 or older. In 2020, it is supposed to grow to 36.2 million (according to Statista). It represents a huge opportunity for marketers, should they find the right way to reach out to the elderly. Nowadays, advertising campaigns which target seniors are quite offensive and aim at solving problems related to age only, like safer bathtubs or adult diapers. But people don’t stop living and having fun after 60 years old, they do more than just staying at home and playing go. Situation in Japan Japan has a huge amount of data concerning the elderly,…

Marketing in Japan

The Best Japanese Website Design

The characteristics of a good website design are not the same depending on countries. Making the right decisions will increase traffic and improve your company’s image. A great website in Europe will be seen as sad in Japan, colors don’t have the same meaning, numbers neither… If users are familiar with your design, they will trust the brand better and stay longer. So let’s see what the best websites look like in Japan and how to improve yours. Case Study: Starbucks English version As we can see, the style is more refined, whitespace filled. There is less text, almost none. A big font size is used for the main information…

Marketing in Japan

Offer the Best Customer Service in Japan

Everyone knows that the customer is king. But it is pushed to extremes in Japan – the customer is not king, but God. Hospitality is an essential value, you must satisfy people’s needs and avoid offending them. When entering a store, every employee shouts, ‘irasshaimase!’ (which can be translated as ‘welcome’) and bows a little. Hierarchy is omnipresent in the Japanese society, in all kinds of relationships (a senpai should be respected by his/her kouhai, the eldest child by his siblings, a teacher by his/her students, etc.). But in business, not showing respect or not giving of your best to your customers – or at least not pretending to –…