Digital advertising represents an incredible opportunity for businesses to reach their target audience in Japan. Companies can set specific parameters to show ads to only their target demographic. Depending on the goals of an ad campaign, different tactics can be used to optimise performance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
PPC ads (pay-per-click ads) are the most common type of digital ad, and they allow businesses to advertise on platforms like Google and Yahoo! JAPAN. For ads to succeed in Japan, budgets, ad copy, and banner images should be customised for each ad campaign. When localising and optimising campaigns, decisions should always be informed by research and data, which is why we perform desk research and workshops with our clients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During this initial phase, it\u2019s important to fully understand the target audience<\/a> to ensure the ads will be effective. When advertising in a foreign country, it\u2019s crucial to adjust the ad\u2019s content for the target market. Because of cultural differences, audience preferences, and different levels of international brand recognition, various factors must be considered. This is especially true for the Japanese market where consumer behaviour and cultural norms are infamously unique.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This article outlines key factors to consider when thinking about how to advertise in Japan and introduces our localisation process here at TAMLO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One significant difference between Japanese and Western audiences is their device preferences. As Nanako Aramaki<\/a>, TAMLO\u2019s Chief Localisation Officer, puts it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn Japan, you often see people glued to their phones during their commute on the train. According to statistics, people in Japan spend less time on the internet per day than in Western countries. This time on the train is one of the few free times they have during the day and one of their only opportunities to browse the internet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Which device your ad will appear on plays a huge role in determining the design of the ad. For example, images taken in portrait format will look much better on a mobile device than on a desktop computer. There is less screen space on mobile devices, and both the copy and design of the ad should be adjusted to suit the space available. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTo put it into perspective, smartphone penetration in Japan is around 85%. So, if you don\u2019t optimise your content or website for mobile, you are missing out on many potential customers! That said, older generations still primarily use desktop computers when accessing the internet. If you\u2019re targeting an older demographic, make sure to optimise for desktop and include desktop banner sizes for display ads.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Western audiences value simplicity and brevity; too much information will usually scare away potential customers. In Japan, the opposite is true. According to Nanako, Japanese consumers need as many details as possible to purchase something. They need to understand exactly what they are buying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJapanese customers actually appreciate a lot of extra information because they need to learn more about the product before making any purchase decision. They\u2019re used to seeing a lot of text, and they don\u2019t get stressed out looking at a wall of information.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This difference is why Japanese websites can look overwhelming to most English speakers. While Western audiences are usually looking for bite-sized pieces of information, Japanese customers seek detailed product descriptions, which means Japanese ads contain numerous details. The more information about why customers should buy your product or service you can offer, the better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Japanese people generally consume content in Japanese, from Japanese sources. Japan\u2019s English proficiency is very low compared to the rest of the world<\/a>, and it has worsened over the past 5 years. Unlike in the West, where online content is more multilingual and offers diverse content options, Japanese websites are almost exclusively in Japanese. This means that writing ads in languages other than Japanese won\u2019t be effective. Audiences won\u2019t respond well to a piece of copy that they don\u2019t understand. But this can be a challenge. Translating copy into Japanese is difficult because the language is unique. <\/p>\n\n\n\n There are three writing systems in Japanese: hiragana, katakana, and kanji. Each writing system has different connotations depending on how it is used. For example, words written in katakana are often viewed as \u2018cool\u2019 or \u2018trendy\u2019, while words written in kanji are more formal and professional. Yukiko Matsuoka, TAMLO\u2019s Ad Strategist, explains:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf advertisements use too much kanji, they can come across as too formal and people won\u2019t take the time to read it. If they\u2019re written with too little kanji, ads can come across as too casual or simple. There\u2019s a lot of nuance involved, and balancing the tone is one of the difficulties of language localisation in Japanese.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another difficulty of localising for Japan is using honorifics appropriately. \u201cIt's really difficult to balance talking about features and benefits in copy and trying not to sound like you're talking down to people,\u201d says Nanako. CTAs (calls to action) are a normal part of PPC advertising in English, but commands in Japanese can sometimes sound condescending. <\/p>\n\n\n\n These nuances of Japanese are difficult to navigate without proper guidance<\/a>, and it\u2019s important to have native Japanese copywriters localise your digital ads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yahoo! might sound like a relic of the past to a Western audience, but to Japanese customers Yahoo! JAPAN is still highly relevant. It is constantly competing with Google to have the highest number of digital users in Japan<\/a> and the Yahoo! Japan app comes pre-installed on many smartphones sold in Japan. Therefore, Yahoo Ads is an important part of any effective marketing strategy in Japan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPeople use Yahoo! Shopping as an e-commerce platform, or they have Yahoo! credit cards, or, like me, they use their news, transportation, and weather apps on their phone. And every time you go to scroll, there are ads,\u201d says Nanako.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although Google may be the dominant or, most often, the only search ads platform in the West, companies looking to enter the Japanese market would be doing themselves a disservice if they didn\u2019t include Yahoo! JAPAN in their advertising strategy. 66% of Yahoo! JAPAN users are over 40 and 60% of all users are company employees<\/a>, making it a good option for businesses targeting older decision makers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Experts who know the platform\u2019s intricacies can help companies streamline the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n TAMLO will typically start by organising a digital strategy workshop<\/a> to onboard new clients. \u201cDuring the marketing workshop, we get to learn about their brand. It\u2019s crucial to find out the client\u2019s goals and expectations, what their KPIs are, and what their global brand strategy is already,\u201d says Nanako. Digital advertising should always go hand-in-hand with a larger strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first step in the localisation process is researching the target segment in Japan. For content creation and PPC ads, that means conducting audience research and identifying the right SEO keywords. Even in the early stages of a campaign, it\u2019s important to have Japanese speakers working on the project: the SEO keywords will be impossible to predict if nobody on the team speaks the language. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Following research, the TAMLO team then gets to work creating ad copy that sounds natural and fits the preferences of the Japanese audience. (Read our article on how TAMLO localises written content<\/a> for a more detailed look at our process).<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMany of our team members are bilingual or have lived abroad, and they can adapt global messaging into Japanese copy that sounds natural and has an appropriate tone for the target audience,\u201d says Nanako. \u201cWhat makes us different is we have copywriters. We\u2019re not just PPC management professionals or translators; our main service is content. We are content creators,\u201d says Nanako.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To learn more about the kind of work we do to localise digital advertising and the kind of PPC services TAMLO offers, read the case study about our work for ConvaTec<\/a>, a market leader in medical products.<\/p>\n\n\n\nDigital device preferences in Japan: desktop vs mobile<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Japanese consumer preferences<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Digital advertising is all about messaging: nuance in Japanese<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Digital advertising platforms in Japan: more variety than in 'The West'<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
TAMLO's process for localising PPC ads<\/h2>\n\n\n\n