Why You Should Use a Japanese Influencer Agency

So you have decided that influencer marketing is going to be a part of your marketing strategy to break into the Japanese market. This is a good choice, as Japanese influencer marketing is only set to grow larger and forecast to increase expenditure by nearly 150% in the next 3 years. But because Japan is a notoriously difficult market to enter for foreign companies who have to deal with a language and cultural barrier, which includes working with Japanese influencers. Too many have given up while there is much to gain in the world’s 3rd largest economy. The way to greatly increase your chance of success of finding and collaborating with Japanese influencers is to work with a Japanese influencer agency. Here are some great reasons to work with a influencer agency in Japan!

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Rules Around Influencers in Japan

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If you are new to the Japanese market, you are not going to know about all the (unwritten) rules around influencer marketing in Japan. Even when there are no strict laws surrounding influencer marketing that lead to criminal prosecution, a company can still be shunned or even sued if they go against certain Japanese influencer etiquette rules.

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One very important rule is that influencers should always use #pr hashtags when they are promoting a product or service. This is because there is a great dislike of Japanese audiences across the board when it comes to stealth marketing. Where making commercials without disclosing that it is a commercial is acceptable in many other countries, this is a huge faux pas in Japan. Working with a Japanese influencer agency will protect you from making such mistakes.

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Cultural Differences of Japanese Influencers

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Working with influencers in Japan means that there will be cultural differences in your interaction with the influencers themselves, and on the audience side there are localization challenges to consider. What are some of the more pronounced cultural differences to keep in mind when working with influencers in Japan?

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• Preference for trusted partners: businesses in Japan often take a conservative approach and prefer to work with familiar companies. An agency can be that trusted partner, making your interactions with influencers much easier
• Modesty is appreciated: throughout the ages, Japanese culture has placed value on modesty. Standing out from the crowd is not encouraged in this collectivist culture, and this spills over to how products are marketed in Japan. An influencer agency can advise on campaigns’ content that works well in Japan
• Design style differences: what is considered visually attractive differs per country, and Japan has its very own preferences when it comes to ads that attract attention. A Japanese influencer agency can advise on effective design of an influencer campaign
• Communication style: when potential customers interact with the influencer, Japanese companies and consumers expect a certain communication style. For example, too direct communication can be off-putting in Japan. An influencer agency in Japan can mediate between the influencer and the client on how to communicate with potential customers

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Database Japanese Influencer Agency

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A very obvious advantage of working with a Japanese influencer agency is that you will have direct access to trusted, reliable influencers who are in their database. All influencers in the database are vetted and are willing to work with foreign and/or unfamiliar companies, so the choice will be up to you. Because the influencer world is in constant flux, with new influencers hitting the scene all the time while other formerly strong influencers become less active, going through an agency helps you to find the best of who are currently available.

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The agency will advise you on which influencer may be a good fit for your product or service. Influencers are divided into specialty categories to make it easy to find a good fit, and the number of their followers is mentioned. There are all kinds of influencers on the books ranging from small grassroot influencers with less than 10.000 followers to larger influencers with more than half a million followers.

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A good point to keep in mind is that the number of followers may not carry as much weight as elsewhere. Most Japanese influencers don’t have a following as large as some influencers in the rest of the world, but they have a much stronger relationship with their loyal followers. This can translate into a high conversion rate, meaning that influencers with a smaller following may still be very interesting for your campaign if they get high engagement and whether these engagement moments are high-value.

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Choosing Influencer Marketing Platforms in Japan

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While social media users in Japan are mostly on the large platforms that are used around the world, choosing the best social media platform for your influencer campaign takes some market knowledge. YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitch are platforms that cover a large part of the Japanese social media users who follow influencers. Influencer agencies have influencers on various platforms in their database and know which platform will have the most impact on your specific campaign, so they can do a targeted search for a fitting influencer. 

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It is also good to realize that many Japanese influencers are usually not present on various social media. Instead, they tend to focus on only one social media platform. So you should consider both the influencer’s niche as well as the type of audience that is the main demographic on a certain social media platform. 

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Bilingual Japanese Influencer Agency

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Beating the Japanese language barrier is easy when you work with a bilingual Japanese influencer agency. Not only can they help you communicate smoothly with influencers themselves, even when the influencer only speaks Japanese, but they can also help with follow-up communication with Japanese customers who react to the campaign. 

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Furthermore, an agency is up-to-date with which hashtags are currently popular and trending in Japan. The Japanese language has 4 ‘alphabets’ that can be used, and it is easy to get this wrong when you can’t read at a native level. Many terms that are used in hashtags can’t simply be translated by a translation machine as context needs to be taken in consideration and new ‘katakana terms’ pop up regularly. An agency can assist you with using optimal Japanese hashtags to maximize the reach of your campaign.