In Japan, advertising is an essential part of doing business. Paid advertising is one of the most effective marketing tools and is used by many companies.
In order to effectively utilize paid advertising, several important points must be kept in mind. This article introduces what is required for paid advertising in Japan and provides tips for effective advertising operations.
What is Needed in Paid Advertising in Japan
Targeting.
Targeting is critical to the success of paid advertising. Targeting is the delivery of advertisements to people who need your product or service. This maximizes the effectiveness of your ads and allows you to capture more business opportunities.
Targeting in Japan includes age, gender, interests, behavior, and location. By accurately collecting and analyzing this information, effective advertising can be delivered. For example, if an item is popular among young women, you can deliver your ads to this target audience to capture more orders.
Clarify the goal
Before operating paid advertising, it is very important to be clear about what you want to accomplish. Typically, the purpose of paid advertising is to increase business sales or brand awareness, or to promote a particular product or service. Clarifying the purpose of advertising and developing a strategy to meet that purpose will lead to successful paid advertising.
For example, if you want to increase sales for your business, it is important to deliver ads that lead directly to purchases. On the other hand, if you want to increase brand awareness, you need to get more people to see your ads. By setting clear goals, you can find ways to make your paid advertising successful.
How to Select Paid Advertising in Japan
Many paid advertising platforms are available in the Japanese market. Consider how paid advertising is selected in Japan.
yahoo ads
Yahoo Ads is an online advertising platform provided by Yahoo Japan K.K. It allows advertisers to advertise using Yahoo Japan’s search engine, Yahoo! News” and “Yahoo!
Yahoo Ads are compatible with various devices, including PCs and smartphones, and offer a wide range of ad formats, including search-linked ads and display ads. It also provides tools for ad management, such as optimization of ad delivery and effectiveness measurement, enabling advertisers to manage their ads in accordance with their own marketing strategies.
Google Ads
Google Ads is an online advertising platform provided by Google that allows advertisers to advertise through Google’s search engine, Google Search, and various Google services such as YouTube and Google Maps.
Google Ads offers a wide variety of ad formats, including search-linked ads, display ads, and shopping ads. Google Ads are used around the world, and advertisers can distribute their ads globally.
Facebook Ads
Facebook ads have a highly developed targeting function that allows users to narrow down ad delivery destinations based not only on basic demographic information such as gender, age, and region, but also on detailed information such as hobbies, interests, and behavioral history.
Facebook Ads also offer a wide variety of ad formats, from simple text ads to campaign ads using images and videos, etc. Facebook Ads also provide various tools for ad management and functions such as measuring the effectiveness of ad delivery, enabling ad management in line with marketing strategies. Facebook ads can also be used to manage ads in accordance with your marketing strategy.
DSP
DSP stands for Demand Side Platform, and refers to a platform that aggregates the needs of advertisers and automatically purchases ad inventory for online ad delivery. It uses a bidding format called RTB (Real Time Bidding), which allows advertisers to bid on the most appropriate ad spaces in real time according to the target audience and ad budget specified by the advertiser.
DSPs are mainly used by advertising agencies and advertiser companies to help them manage their online advertising more efficiently.
Niche media advertising
There are many niche media in the Japanese market. Examples include magazines, websites, and blogs that specialize in hobbies, specific industries, or geographic regions. Niche media advertising is very effective because it allows you to deliver ads that are specific to your target audience. Ads placed in niche media are displayed only to specific target audiences, thus increasing advertising effectiveness.
However, when selecting niche media ads, it is important for advertisers to ensure that their target audience matches the niche media audience.
In addition, niche media ads may not receive as much exposure as other major advertising platforms, and therefore may not be able to increase the number of ads distributed. For this reason, it is advisable to use this advertising platform in conjunction with other advertising platforms to achieve more effective advertising results.
Paid Advertising Distribution Methods in Japan
Next, let us consider the distribution methods of paid advertising in Japan. There are two main methods of paid ad delivery in Japan: display ads and search-linked ads.
Display Ads
Display advertising refers to banners and text ads that appear on websites, in applications, and other content. In Japan, display ads are generally distributed through major advertising platforms such as Yahoo!
Display advertising is characterized by its high advertising effectiveness because it allows advertisers to appeal directly to their target audience. In addition, display advertising allows for real-time analysis of the number of advertisement exposures and clicks, making it possible to immediately identify areas for improvement in advertising.
search-linked advertising
Search-linked advertising refers to advertisements that appear on the search results pages of search engines such as Google and Yahoo! Search-linked advertising allows advertisers to display ads on search results pages related to specific keywords. In Japan, it is common to distribute search-linked advertising through Google Ads and Yahoo!
Search-linked advertising is characterized by a high response rate to advertisements because it displays advertisements related to keywords that search users themselves have searched for. In addition, since search-linked advertising uses a bidding system, the number of times an ad is displayed and its ranking can be adjusted according to the advertising budget.
Appropriate strategies need to be developed.
For companies and sole proprietors, paid advertising is an important means to grow their business. When utilizing paid advertising, carefully plan and effectively use targeting, goal setting, appropriate media selection, and delivery method selection.
