Your window to Japan: reach one of the world’s most savvy online consumers

Your window to the world is Microsoft Advertising’s educational cross-border series to help advertisers scale their advertising into markets across the globe.?

Author: Ryo Nakaizumi, Head of Marketing at Microsoft Advertising?Japan

On the milestone of Microsoft Advertising’s 6-month anniversary since launching in Japan, we are shining a spotlight on this one-of-a-kind market. A land of fast-moving, transformative consumer trends, Japan is a tech-savvy nation, with a GDP per capita on par with major e-commerce markets such as the UK and France.[1]?

In this article, we highlight 3 insights unique to Japan and our recommendations on how to succeed in this market:??

1. Japanese shoppers crave information?

Japanese shoppers have an interest in foreign brands and goods but require a lot of information before they make a purchase, so it is important for overseas retailers to create info-rich websites to cater for their needs.?

The top source for new brand discovery in Japan is through online search.[2] While Search has been traditionally used as a performance tool by brands, leveraging search for branding can help distinguish the hierarchy-of-effects created by a campaign.?

Pro Tip: Leverage Microsoft Advertising’s powerful visual ads (such as Multimedia Ads and Shopping Ads enabled catalogue display) to truly impact the top-of-the-mind recall of Japanese shoppers who are constantly having an overload of information on the internet.

2. Shopping peaks are shaped by Japan’s unique retail calendar??

E-commerce spending tend to increase when workers receive their annual bonuses. Additional gift-giving peaks that are uniquely Japanese include White Day (March 14), Children’s Day (May 5), Respect for the Aged Day (Mid-September) and Oseibo (a year-end gift in the mid-to-late December).?

International shopping events and holidays such as Black Friday, Christmas and New Year are also increasingly becoming more popular in Japan. With global inflation and a depreciated yen creating dual pressures on Japanese purchasing powers, consumers are shifting to become more price conscious.?

Pro Tip: Capture price-conscious shoppers by using promotion extensions to highlight deals for holidays and other special occasions. If you, want to highlight a Christmas Sale using promotion extensions, you can include a promotion code along with the offer and expiration date. On the other hand, shoppers can join Microsoft Rewards to earn points by searching with Microsoft Bing in the Microsoft Edge browser or purchase products at Microsoft Store, etc. Earned points can be redeemed for online gift cards or donated to a cause of your choice.

3. Local language vs English: 98% searches in Japan are in Japanese[3]

Japanese language is spoken by most of the population of Japan. Written in 3 types of characters - “Hiragana”, “Katakana” and “Kanji”, Japanese keywords can comprise of several combinations and interpretations. Brands can also take it a step further by colloquializing their keyword list and including nicknames and unofficial names for your products.?

Pro Tip: Harness Microsoft Advertising’s Dynamic Search Ads (DSAs) to increase search term coverage using customized ad experiences by matching a brand’s ad keywords to users’ queries. Building out comprehensive keyword lists can be time-consuming and can miss the ways customers search, but Dynamic Search Ads expands search marketing to connect with customers looking for products and services.??

Japan is a dynamic market with massive opportunities where unique foreign products can enjoy tremendous success. Learn how Japan delivered high-value audience reach for global travel provider, trivago.?

Or if you’re ready to start scaling your ads into Japan, reach out to your account team today.?

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Source:?

[1] Worldometers.info, 2020. ‘GDP per Capita.’ Accessed March 2020

[2] GWI (Q3 2021)

[3] Microsoft internal data, 2022