Time to get into LINE: how are you using Japan’s favourite social networking app?
In today’s market, making the most of social media is vital. But with so many channels to consider, where do you start? Well, to reach Japanese consumers it has to be LINE!
LINE boasts over 94 million users in Japan (as of December 2022), making it the top social networking service in terms of user numbers. In fact this represents more than 70% of Japan's population. Furthermore, an astounding 85% of users engage with the app daily! Its widespread usage cuts across demographic groups, so it is an incredibly powerful tool to reach your audience.
LINE is less familiar in Europe, but understanding its functionality and potential for marketing purposes in Japan is crucial if you wish to reach these consumers.
So, what is LINE and how can it help your business grow?
More than a messaging app
With its overwhelming user base and extensive reach, LINE has become much more than just a messaging and social application. As well as free messaging and calls between users, it offers various engaging features and functional services. The company itself describes LINE as part of life’s infrastructure. That’s a bold claim, but with services from news headlines and music streaming, to telemedicine and payment systems, it really does reach into a lot of day to day life.
For businesses it offers a variety of opportunities to support marketing efforts. These include official accounts for brands, easy online shopping and LINE ads.
Why is LINE so popular in Japan?
There are a number of reasons why LINE is so popular with Japanese consumers. Understanding some of these can help brands to find the best ways of utilising the app to grow their businesses.
Diverse functionality
LINE offers more than just free messaging. It provides features like free voice and video calls, a timeline for sharing updates, stickers and emojis, official accounts for businesses, payment functions and a wide range of games and useful services within the app. This means consumers don’t need lots of different apps taking up space on their phones, as LINE can offer access to all their friends, favourite brands and useful services in one place.
Cultural factors
Japanese culture emphasises strong social connections and LINE's interactive features enable users to express themselves in ways that align with this cultural value.
One of the big attractions of LINE is the stickers. LINE stickers are digital emoticons, which can be bought or found for free. They are created by LINE, by official brand accounts and by individual artists. As a user, sharing your favourite stickers with family and friends adds a personal touch and fun to your conversations. They are incredibly popular and allow users to express their personalities and enhance their own digital personas. For example, you can use stickers promoting your favourite sports team or band, or showing your favourite animated characters or manga series. You can even use them to promote your own art.
The app has also made the process of getting stickers engaging. It is possible for users to accumulate ‘coins’ by using various services within LINE and then use these coins to buy stickers. There are also free stickers provided by companies for promotional purposes. These can be downloaded for a simple engagement such as adding the company's official account as a friend or signing up to alerts.
User-friendly interface
Despite the complexity of the offering, LINE's user-friendly interface, intuitive design, and a wide range of customisation options make it accessible and appealing to users of all ages. Few instructions are needed when signing up to LINE or when using the various functions. This may go some way to explaining how it has been so successful across such a wide range of demographic groups.
How can LINE help your business to grow?
LINE has multiple tools which could help your business to grow and reach new audiences. Understanding the app and the motivations of Japanese consumers is key to getting the most out of this platform.
Develop a LINE Official Account
Companies and businesses can create LINE Official Accounts allowing users to add them as friends on the platform. This enables one-on-one communication between users and businesses. Regularly sharing information through this account can potentially convert users into loyal customers. Push notifications can deliver campaign updates, product information, and coupons. This engagement can in turn lead to increased purchases or reservations. The account main page can also be customised to resemble a website homepage, enabling businesses to add bespoke content.
LINE ads and flyers
LINE provides the capability to distribute advertisements and flyers within the app. Ads can be displayed in various locations such as on Smart Channel, LINE NEWS, and LINE Wallet. LINE flyers utilise user’s personal data, such as age, gender and interests, to deliver tailored information. This makes it possible to approach customers with information of high interest and relevance. However, it's important to carefully manage the content and frequency of these communications to avoid the account being blocked.
LINE promotional stickers
By registering as friends with a LINE Official Account, users gain access to their LINE stickers. Distributing stickers increases brand recognition and can convert users into customers. When users send messages using these stickers, the recipients are likely to take interest, which can result in the spread of company information.
LINE mini apps
LINE mini apps provide a platform for companies and stores to offer their services within the LINE app. These apps are specialised for various industries, such as restaurants, hair salons and retail stores. Users can easily make reservations, place orders, make payments and present membership cards. The user behaviour data collected through the mini apps can be linked to the user's account data, enabling its use for other marketing methods, such as LINE ads.
Let us get you on LINE!
LINE's ability to facilitate smooth one-to-one communication makes it an attractive tool for businesses to engage with customers in a chat format, and to provide personalised and attentive support. From a Japanese user's perspective, LINE is a familiar, trusted and convenient tool for making inquiries and seeking assistance.
The marketing support features offered by LINE extend beyond the tools and methods mentioned here. Pointblank Promotions can support companies by providing assistance in using LINE for marketing purposes. Please feel free to contact us to discuss your needs using the enquiries link below.
Contact us — Pointblank Promotions Ltd
This article was created in partnership by ChatGPT and humans from Pointblank
For more information about the use of social media in Japan, please refer to our previous blog: https://pointblankpromo.com/en/news/en/2022/0525/sns-marketing