How To Choose a Japanese Influencer Marketing Agency

Setting up a marketing campaign in Japan in general and an influencer marketing campaign in Japan in particular comes with its unique set of challenges. Going it alone can mean running into communication issues or not even getting any replies to your inquiries. But if you want to reap the benefits of having access to the world’s 3rd largest economy, you have to find a way to close the cultural and language gap. Going through a Japanese influencer marketing agency will make a huge difference in the ease of setting up and carrying out collaborations and results. How can an influencer agency in Japan help you, and how do you choose the right agency for your budget and needs?

‍

Why Work With an Influencer Agency in Japan

‍

Why would you work with an influencer agency and not simply go it alone? There are various factors that make it challenging to make contact and collaborate with Japanese influencers. Here are some of the most pesky challenges and how an influencer agency in Japan can help you tackle them:

• The language barrier: the most obvious challenge you will face is the language barrier. An agency can make this a non-issue by facilitating communication through bilingual staff
• Finding fitting influencers for your campaign: if you use Google to look for Japanese influencers, you may hit a wall quite soon, especially if you can’t search in Japanese. Agencies have a ready-made database of influencers from where you can choose influencers based on their specialties and number of followers
• Getting a reply: Japanese influencers are notoriously picky about who they want to work with, and for unknown foreign companies it is especially difficult to gain their trust. Going through an agency means that you don’t have to waste time contacting influencers who will never reply as they have a database of trusted collaborating influencers who are happy to work with you
• Cultural differences: whether it comes to communicating with the influencer or potential customers or making a campaign that will be a hit with Japanese audiences, hitting the right tone and reading the room are important when you want to have a successful campaign in Japan. An agency can guide you by helping with communication and giving hints on dos and don’t regarding campaign contents
• Creating an appealing campaign: also when it comes to the visuals, texts, and style of your campaign, things can works just a bit different in Japan. Agencies can help you get the maximum out of your collaboration with Japanese influencers

‍

Trends in Japanese Influencer Marketing

‍

‍

Trends in social media land tend to move fast, and it is sometimes hard to stay abreast of what is the latest. While larger, international agencies do plenty of research to stay up-to-date, they tend to focus on large influencers and macro trends. Local influencer agencies have their feet on the ground every day working with (smaller) local influencers, making it especially easy to stay up to date with current trends in the minute world of influencer marketing in Japan.

If you decide to work with a boutique agency, you are assured of the backing by a dedicated team of people with a passion for the themes they specialize in. Because they follow various Japanese influencers out of their own interest, they can see from a customer’s perspective and help you create a stronger campaign that follows current trends and is truly interesting to followers.

‍

Japanese Influencers

‍

Influencers in Japan come in all kinds of guises just like anywhere else. There are large celebrity influencers whose main activity is not being an influencer but being in acting, music, or other kinds of entertainment. Examples of the most famous influencers in Japan are Naomi Watanabe (comedian), Rola (model), and Kento Yamazaki (actor/model). They are costly to work with and their agencies are strict on who they work with.

There are also many mid-tier influencers whose main profession is being an influencer and who became famous on social media like Instagram and YouTube or on a reality show first like Momoka Nanbu (cosmetics), momo.official (lifestyle), and Shuhei Nishiguchi (fashion). And the power of so-called tamago influencers (micro influencers) should also not be underestimated, as these niche influencers tend to have enthusiastic followers and great engagement. They are, however, harder to find by yourself if you are not familiar with the niche in Japan. 

Influencer agencies can help you find and come into contact with influencers of all sizes, including grassroot tamago influencers. While some agencies are working exclusively with large-sized influencers, other agencies focus more on mid-tier or micro influencers. 

‍

Choosing an Influencer Agency in Japan

‍

An agency’s area of focus when it comes to influencer size is an important consideration when you choose an influencer agency. Depending on factors like your budget, the type of products or services you offer, and what the purpose is of your campaign, you can narrow your search down to a few agencies.

Larger agencies that mainly have celebrity influencers and macro influencers on their books are the best fit if you have a larger budget and the aim of your campaign is to raise awareness of your products or services amongst a large part of the Japanese population. Campaigns via influencers with millions of followers don’t pinpoint a certain type of audience, but for some companies this can be the introduction they need to conquer the Japanese market.

If your budget is smaller and you have specific target audiences in mind, going through a smaller agency with relationships with micro and grassroots influencers is the way to go. Boutique agencies delve a bit deeper and can find Japanese influencer(s) for your campaign in areas like gaming, technology, and lifestyle.