Influencer Marketing in Japan

The market size of influencer marketing has been steadily increasing since its digital inception in the early 2000s, with money spent on this form of marketing rising sharply between 2016 and 2022 globally. Japan is no exception, and also in this famously hard to crack country in marketing terms, influencer marketing is big and growing to reach a predicted 70 billion JPY expenditure in 2025. What are some of the things to keep in mind when you’re looking into using influencer marketing in Japan as one of your marketing strategies?

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Why Influencer Marketing?

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Influencer marketing goes back a lot further than you might expect, albeit the digital version of it on social media has only emerged in the new millennium with a meteoric rise in online influencers after 2015. 

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Social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and Tiktok have given the younger generation wide access to an array of influencers, some of whom are known by a large general audience, some of whom service their own tiny niche, and everything in between. No matter what your product or service is, there is always an influencer that suits your narrative and has a connection with the audiences that you are looking for. With this type of marketing, you get to control much more precisely than with most regular ads who gets to learn about you. It is also easier to extensively show your intended audience how your product or service could benefit them by having an influencer use it and review it. Moreover, influencers have a lot of goodwill from their followers, who are often fans of their favorite influencers.

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Japan Influencer Marketing VS Other Countries

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So how does Japan differ from other countries when it comes to influencer marketing? Here are a few important points where Japan differs when it comes to marketing strategies using influencers:

• Most popular social networks: while Facebook, Instagram and Tiktok are leading the social media usage statistics in the US, in Japan it is Line, Twitter, and Instagram that are the most popular social media. YouTube is not in these statistics, but the video channel is also extremely popular with a regular user base of 35% of Japan’s population. Pinterest also has an enthusiastic following, especially amongst women in their 30s and 40s with spending power
• The use of talent agencies: influencers with an audience that is over 100.000 followers usually have a talent agency behind them, making them much more expensive to work with. It can pay off to find influencers who haven’t been snapped up yet, as they are not only much cheaper but also tend to have the strong, high-quality followings that is characteristic of micro influencers
• Instagram over Tiktok: in Japan, Tiktok is mainly used for entertainment while Instagram is also used to get inspiration before making purchases. When you are trying to increase sales in Japan, using influencers on Instagram is often a better bet than influencer marketing via Tiktok

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And what are the similarities in influencer marketing between Japan and elsewhere? Here are a few points where marketing using influencers in Japan doesn’t differ from elsewhere:

• Trusted opinions: the opinion of influencers is felt similarly to the opinion of friends, making it an extremely effective means of marketing. Instead of an ad that simply pops up, people seek out influencers that resonate with their interests and attach value to their opinions.

• Reaching niche audiences: an influencer usually has a specific subject that they are passionate about, which is also how followers find them. They are often highly knowledgeable about their niche and seen as specialists in their subject.
• Appeal to the younger generations: while it is also possible to reach Generation X and Babyboomers through influencers, it is mainly Generation Z and Millenials who follow influencers on Instagram, Twitter, and Youtube, also in Japan

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Influencers in Japan

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Influencers with a large following (>200.000) are often first celebrities like TV personalities, actors, musicians, or models, and then go on to also become social media influencers. They work under talent agencies who manage their image and schedules and can be extremely costly to work with. Famous examples of such influencers are comedian Naomi Watanabe, model Rola, and multi-talented Kiko Mizuhara, each of whom have millions of followers across various platforms.

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Besides the famous influencer crowd who often endorse large international brands in lucrative deals, there is a whole other subset of influencers that is likely of interest to smaller brands and companies who try to crack the Japanese market. Micro influencers with a following between 10.000 and 100.000 people hit the sweet spot for those who are looking to reach more specific target audiences and don’t want to pay high fees. These smaller influencers often have very dedicated followers who respect their opinions and who are likely to look positive upon any brand or product that is endorsed by the influencer, provided that the brand fits the influencer’s image.

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Influencer Agency in Japan

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So you’re convinced, going the influencer route in Japan is something you would like to try. How do you start planning your strategy and campaigns? And how do you find and start working with influencers in Japan as a (prospective) new foreign player in the Japanese market? It is a well-known fact that English levels are generally not high in Japan, and that it can be hard to first of all find the influencer(s) that fit your brand and second of all to communicate with them smoothly if you don’t speak Japanese fluently. This is especially true for micro influencers. Using foreign influencers if you want to market to the Japanese (speaking) market may not get you the results you are hoping for, but how to bridge the cultural and language gap if you want to use smaller Japanese influencers?

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This is where an influencer agency that is based in Japan would come in very handy. They can not only help you find the best influencers who fit your product or service perfectly, but they can also make communication a breeze and facilitate the best results from your campaign. A bilingual influencer agency who is specialized in the Japanese market will make your venture into Japan a much smoother experience.