The Modern Kuchikomi: Social Media and Word-of-Mouth in Japan
In Japan, Kuchikomi (口コミ), or word-of-mouth is a key pillar of customer behavior and customer decision-making. Traditionally this was done through recommendations from family, friends, and colleagues. In the digital age, kuchikomi has vastly evolved with channels like social media. Platforms like LINE, X, and Instagram have transformed the landscape, allowing brands to drive conversations, increase social engagement, and build brand trust. In this blog post, we will analyze the changes provided by social media to give you actionable insights to grow your business in Japan with social media today.
Social Media Platforms
LINE: The King of Social Media
What started as a simple messaging platform, has blown up to become the single largest social media platform in Japan. With over 92 million users, about 77% of the population, and daily use rate of 86% it is the most used platform in Japan. It has also expanded and widened its ecosystem to include apps and features like LINE Games, LINE Manga, LINE Shopping, LINE Pay, LINE Today, and more.
These various features allow users to read their favorite manga, shop in the app, pay with the app, watch the news, and more recently with LINE Voom, share stories similar to Instagram. It is the one-stop shop for everything app and in fact, is LINE’s mission to become a “life platform.”
LINE is constantly creating localized content and collaborating with various brands to create free sticker packs that users can freely share. These are often gifted when you follow the brand’s LINE accounts offering another tool for engagement.
LINE Official Accounts also allow brands to share updates, promotional content, or a direct line of communication with their customers. The benefits of using LINE Ads for foreign companies entering far outshines Meta Suite in the reach due to the large and active user base.
X: The social listening tool
X is another pillar of the social media landscape in Japan with a user number of 67.45 million users, or about 54% of the population. It is an essential tool for news and information about Japan, especially with many politicians and thought leaders being active on the platform.
Naturally, this also provides a great platform for users to share their opinions, discuss trends, share reviews, or engage directly with the brand. For brands, this provides a great tool to listen in on what sorts of conversations people are having about their brand or discover new trends in the market.
Interestingly, some of the most followed profiles are in fact brands. Lawson, Starbucks, and Nintendo are all in the top 10 most followed accounts on X. Lawson has been particularly successful at utilizing X. For example, they will often create a buzz with new product releases with polls and hashtag campaigns. One was the voting for the next onigiri flavor (#次のローソンおにぎり) which allowed users to vote for the next flavor of rice ball. This generated a lot of engagement and helped spread the word to many users who also wanted to participate.
Instagram: Fashion and lifestyle
Instagram is also one of the top powerhouses in Japan. Boasting about 46 million users or 37% of the population and is Meta’s most popular platform. Instagram is particularly useful in solidifying existing fashion and lifestyle trends. In a country where being unique is frowned upon, many look to discover what is cool or trendy through Instagram.
A good example of this is MUJI’s Me and MUJI (#私と無印) hashtag campaign. They invited customers to share how they used MUJI products in their daily lives. These were then posted on their profile acting as real testimonials and increasing the visibility and trust of the brand.
This platform has many active domestic and international brands, with the top 10 most followed account being primarily brands. These brands have more recently also been heavily investing in influencer marketing leading to a sort of boom in the segment. This is especially effective as domestic influencers tend to have a higher sway on their audience than international influencers or celebrities.
Key Strategies
1. Engaging Content: Create meaningful and localized content that resonates with culture. This can be stories, memes, or stickers that encourage sharing.
2. Hashtags: Foster user-generated content and conversations using memorable hashtags. A great example used by Starbucks on Instagram and X is the Sakura Frappuccino (#桜フラペチーノ) which trends well during the cherry blossom season.
3. User Generate Content (UGC): Encourage reviews, images, or video sharing on social media platforms. Shiseido used this to great effect by sharing skincare tutorials using their products by users to increase reach. You can consider offering discounts or rewards to those who contribute.
4. Incentives or Rewards: Offering discount codes through LINE or offering limited edition goodies can encourage sharing. LINE offers unique stickers to those who follow and share certain brands. Many coffee companies, like Tully’s and Starbucks, have also been raffling exclusive merchandise through a raffle online generating a lot of buzz.
5. Real-Time Engagement: Actively participating in answering comments, reviews, conversations, and problems builds trust and furthers engagement. Channels like LINE offer direct-to-consumer conversations, while X provides a wider or group audience.
Potential Pitfalls
1. Negative Feedback: It can be difficult for any brand to deal with negative feedback. But it’s important to address it promptly, professionally, and with transparency. If you lose the trust of consumers, it can destroy your brand and will take a lot of time and money to recover as McDonalds learned in its 2014 Food Scandal.
2. Sensitivities: It’s important to incorporate Japanese cultural preferences and values. Overly aggressive or culturally insensitive campaigns can have adverse effects. Especially for foreign companies it can be tempting to reuse successful content or strategies from their home country. Reconsider your approach
3. Platform Differences: Some of the platforms can offer difference advantages or disadvantages depending on your goals. For example, LINE can only provide you with one-on-one conversations with customers while X provides you with more group audiences. This could be a problem if you’re looking to work with only one or a few platforms.
Tips for Foreign Companies
For foreign companies looking to enter or improve their performance should consider a couple of things. First, look to utilize localized strategies that first Japan’s values and cultural preferences. Try to be consistent, and authentic, and provide quality content. Second, engage via X and LINE. These tools provide you opportunities to hear what your audience is talking about, tap into trends, or speak with your audience. You can create culturally relevant campaigns to drive that conversation. And of course, the most important build trust. Being transparent, delivering high-quality service, and involving your customers is key to building trust.
Trust is the foundation for any successful brand in Japan. Be transparent, deliver high-quality service, and interact with your customers.
I hope this has been helpful. Sign up for my newsletter or follow me on social media to get the latest updates.