Introduction
Welcome to the world of LINE, a popular messaging platform with a vast user base and immense marketing potential. As businesses strive to connect with their target audience in a digital landscape, leveraging the power of LINE has become a crucial aspect of successful marketing campaigns.
In this article, we will explore the various marketing strategies that can be implemented on LINE to effectively reach and engage users. Whether you aim to increase brand awareness, drive engagement, or boost sales, this article will provide valuable insights and practical guidance on leveraging LINE for marketing success. Let’s unlock the potential of this versatile platform and dive into the world of LINE marketing.
Line, ranked first among Japan’s Top 10 SNS, is a popular messaging and social media platform, presenting a powerful marketing opportunity in the Japanese market. LINE users reach 95 million people monthly, with a steady of 86% users reporting that they use LINE more than one time per day (Line Campus)
LINE, renowned for its comprehensive range of features beyond simple messaging, provides users with an array of services such as voice and video calls, interactive stickers, captivating games, and a secure digital wallet. Its widespread appeal can be attributed to its intuitive interface, impressive functionality, and seamless connectivity with friends, family, and businesses alike.
LINE Marketing Potential
Official Account
LINE Official Account is the most popular tool for businesses to utilize LINE platforms for their business. It is a service that creates points of contact between users and companies/stores while blending into everyday life, just like communicating with family and friends on LINE.
With official accounts, businesses can reach out to their followers with targeted messages and updates, keeping them informed about promotions, product launches, and other important announcements.
What makes the official account feature even more effective is the ability to leverage LINE’s rich media features. In the rich menu, users can easily access the most frequently-used features like point cards, coupons, account update,..etc. In a unique market that prioritizes convenience like Japan, this feature of LINE Official Account helps businesses in providing customers with convenience.
Depending on the price plan, the available functions of Official Accounts differ. Make sure to choose a suitable price plan based on your budget:
Stickers and Emoji
Stickers and Emoji are also one of the unique features from Line Official Account. Culturally, as Japanese tend to avoid direct confrontations, the use of cute stamps and stickers helps soften the tone of messages and reduce the risk of coming across as overly assertive or serious. It allows individuals to convey their thoughts and feelings in a gentle and lighthearted manner.
Also, with the preferences of adore “kawaii” or cute aesthetics, Japanese brought that to their style of text communication. Ranging from famous characters from manga or cartoons like Maruko or Usagi to thousands more, cute and expressive stickers are very popular in Japan, whether it’s paid or free.
To expand their audience, businesses have the option to utilize Sponsored Stickers, which are featured in the “new” and “free” categories of the Sticker Shop and remain available for 90-180 days.
Another option is Mission Sponsored Stickers, which require users to complete specific tasks to unlock the sticker. Additionally, businesses can distribute Direct Stickers exclusively without listing them in the Sticker Shop.
However, when running an Office Account in LINE platform, business also needs to pay attention to some firebacks in customer engagement. A survey of Poster in 2020 reveals most users block their subscribed official accounts majorly due to excessive notifications (53.5%) and benefits did not meet customers’ expectations (18.3%). The survey also revealed that most users (39.8%) decided to block the channel from the 5th notifications in a week. This shows that despite Japanese consumers prefer a fulfilling information source and interactive service, too many notifications will cause firebacks and make them turn their back on the brand.
LINE Ads
Line Advertising in Japan offers businesses a powerful platform to reach their target audience. With diverse ad formats, advanced targeting options, and a large user base, businesses can create effective campaigns and boost brand awareness.
Location of ad placements can be chosen from various options like Talk Channel, LINE News, LINE Wallet. By targeting customers who made recent similar purchases and specifically target gender and age group through Line Analysis, marketers can achieve efficient ads placement.
LINE Flyer
Line Flyer is a feature of Line Advertising that enables businesses to create visually appealing and interactive digital flyers. The feature allows for rich media content, including images, videos, and links, making it an engaging tool to capture the attention of Line users.
Flyers are distributed based on users’ living area information, by segment delivery or push delivery through placement in LINE Wallet or Flyer Main Page.
LINE Shopping
LINE Shopping is a shopping service that allows users to purchase over fashion and miscellaneous goods, sports, interiors, home appliances, and cosmetics, from the LINE app. Started in June 2017, this service is getting bigger in numbers of products, shops and customers, reaching 3 million users in 2019 (Line Business)
Understanding the passion of Japanese consumers to save up loyalty points, LINE Shopping offers very generous points per transaction, and double or triple it if users make payment through LINE Pay. By building a point system, LINE encourages users to participate in a wide range of services to get points.
When to Utilize LINE in Marketing
When it comes to leveraging their brand and reaching their target audience effectively, businesses have a wealth of opportunities available on LINE. This popular platform offers a wide range of potential for businesses to tap into, making it highly recommended for the following targets:
Conclusion
LINE offers a unique platform to connect with users, promote products or services, and drive business growth. By leveraging strategies such as official accounts, sticker advertisements, and targeted messaging, businesses can effectively reach their target audience, enhance brand visibility, and foster meaningful customer relationships.
