Japan Digital Marketing Insights

– Facts and tips of digital marketing and business in Japan by a leading digital marketing agency, Mahana Corporation

  • Free Samples of The Digital Age

    Free Samples of The Digital Age

    The strategy of attracting customers with free samples has been a cornerstone of business since the analog era. For instance, newspapers often offered the first month free to encourage subscriptions, and free samples of cosmetics, supplements, or food tastings were common ways to entice customers. This tried-and-true approach remains relevant in the digital age, where

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  • Corporate Site & Shop Site

    Corporate Site & Shop Site

    This is a question we occasionally receive from customers. Some companies that specialize in online shops only maintain their shop site without creating a separate corporate website with detailed company information. They often say that their shop site is sufficient for attracting customers and that it already includes basic company details. While this approach might

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  • Be Careful When Posting Videos on Chinese Websites

    Be Careful When Posting Videos on Chinese Websites

    Creating a website for China requires careful attention to the country’s strict regulations. It goes without saying that political or adult content is strictly prohibited, but even if your own website complies, you could still face issues if any other site hosted on the same web server violates these rules. This makes it essential to

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  • Perseverance is Important in Social Media Marketing!?

    Perseverance is Important in Social Media Marketing!?

    This phase is true: the most important thing in social media (SNS) marketing is perseverance. This applies to both free SNS tools like Facebook and Instagram, as well as blogs. When starting a business or a store, many people, actually about two out of three, consider using blogs or SNS to attract customers. They might

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  • Consulting About Anything and Everything Doesn’t Sell

    Consulting About Anything and Everything Doesn’t Sell

    When it comes to consulting, many smaller firms or solo consultants often try to attract customers by claiming, “We can handle any industry and any type of consultation!” However, this approach tends to lack impact and makes it harder to stand out or attract clients effectively. Instead, specialization can make all the difference. For example,

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  • Hard Bargaining

    Hard Bargaining

    This practice is rare in Japan but does occur occasionally in the West. In business terms, it’s referred to as “chicken.” The name comes from the “chicken game,” a contest in which two cars speed toward each other, and the first driver to swerve loses. For example, after verbally informing a subcontractor of an order

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  • Having A Strategy is Important

    Having A Strategy is Important

    This was spoken about during a mini-course at a business school. It’s simple yet so true: there is no inherently right or wrong strategy. You can’t know the outcome of any strategy until you put it into action. But one thing is clear—there’s a significant difference between having a strategy and not having one. When

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  • The Role of Business Matching Sites

    The Role of Business Matching Sites

    If you frequently shop online, you likely have a few favorite sites you always turn to. Platforms like Amazon, Yodobashi, Yahoo!, and Rakuten are incredibly user-friendly for members, so most people tend to visit those sites first, search for what they need, and make their purchase. But what about B2B? When searching for a reliable

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  • Why Your Site Isn’t Searchable Overseas

    Why Your Site Isn’t Searchable Overseas

    It’s common to hear complaints from Japanese companies that their website appears at the top of search results for their company name in Japan but not in searches from other countries. Depending on the situation and the environment of the customer experiencing the issue, one or more of the following could be the cause: 1.

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  • Brand Safety

    Brand Safety

    In the world of internet advertising, the term “brand safety” comes up from time to time. According to Wikipedia, the definition is as follows: “Brand safety is a set of measures that aim to protect the image and reputation of brands from the negative or damaging influence of questionable or inappropriate content when advertising online.”

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  • The Security vs. Ease of Use Dilemma

    The Security vs. Ease of Use Dilemma

    This is always a challenging issue to navigate. The more you strengthen security, the less convenient the experience becomes. Of course, the specifics depend on individual account settings, as well as computer and app configurations. Take online banking, for example—most of the time, you’re required to log in every time you access your account, and

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  • Guest Posting is Not Popular in Japan

    Guest Posting is Not Popular in Japan

    We often receive inquiries from overseas customers asking about websites where they can post guest articles. Guest posting is a method where an article you’ve written is published on a third-party blog or informational site. Including links and references to your own website in the article is believed to benefit SEO, and there are even

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  • Using “No. 1” in Advertising is Banned

    Using “No. 1” in Advertising is Banned

    In Japan, it’s well known that terms like “No. 1,” “the best” and “the largest” in advertising are regulated. These expressions aren’t outright banned, but when used, they require solid evidence that must be available for verification. This is why many ads on the streets use phrases like “one of the largest in Japan” or

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  • Phishing Hit New All-Time High

    Phishing Hit New All-Time High

    According to a report by the Anti-Phishing Working Group, 2024 saw phishing incidents surpass the annual record set in 2023, making 2024 the highest number ever recorded. One reason for this increase is the growing recognition of the working group, leading to more people reporting incidents. Another factor is the continued expansion of Internet use

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  • Be Careful About Reusing Passwords

    Be Careful About Reusing Passwords

    A lot of people find passwords annoying. Honestly, most people probably feel that way. One of our friends once set the admin password for a blog site she created to “000000,” and three months after launch, the site was hacked, completely destroying her important work. When I heard her story it turned out that, as

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  • Forcing Password Changes is Counterproductive

    Forcing Password Changes is Counterproductive

    We came across an interesting, somewhat paradoxical story about this a while ago (unfortunately, we can’t find the original article anymore…). The idea is that when users are forced to change their passwords frequently, it becomes a hassle, and they start rotating and reusing the same few passwords. Eventually, as security requirements tighten and previously

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  • Why is LinkedIn Not Popular in Japan

    Why is LinkedIn Not Popular in Japan

    We often get asked by overseas clients why LinkedIn, so widely used by professionals in the West, isn’t as popular in Japan. There are a few likely reasons: Japan’s Unique Business Culture Japan has a strong tradition of lifetime employment, where people place a high value on building connections within their own companies rather than

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  • The Various Effects of Digital Advertising

    The Various Effects of Digital Advertising

    When running paid digital ads, like Google search ads, you can track various metrics that reflect the campaign’s performance. One major advantage of digital advertising is the visibility of results—something much harder to achieve with traditional, non-digital ads. There are numerous metrics to monitor, such as: Impressions Clicks Click-through rate (CTR: clicks / impressions) Cost

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  • Declining Ad Click-through Rates

    Declining Ad Click-through Rates

    While there’s no exact stats, it’s generally believed that click-through rates on internet ads have been declining, similar to open rates for email newsletters. Twenty years ago, when people were new to the Internet, many would click on ads at the top of Google and other search results without much hesitation. But as people became

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  • Using Personal SNS for B2B Business

    Using Personal SNS for B2B Business

    This continues the previous article, where we shared examples of B2B companies successfully using official Facebook and Twitter (now X) accounts. Today, let’s look at how social media—typically seen as a personal space—can also be leveraged for business. Even Facebook, often viewed as a platform for personal interests, can be surprisingly effective for work. Firstly,

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  • Is Social Media Not Suitable for Japanese B2B Business?

    Is Social Media Not Suitable for Japanese B2B Business?

    In Japan, social media—especially Facebook—has traditionally been viewed as a platform mainly for personal hobbies, not for work or B2B business. It was generally thought to be effective for promoting consumer products but less suitable for marketing large-scale services or industrial equipment for companies. However, the reality is that many B2B companies in Japan are

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  • Three Points About Video Avertising

    Three Points About Video Avertising

    According to Facebook’s guidebook for advertising agencies, there are a few key strategies for creating effective videos. First, it’s essential to use a 9:16 aspect ratio for videos to fit smartphone screens. Since most people use their phones in portrait mode, a vertical layout prevents blank spaces at the top and the bottom, or the

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  • Request for Unified Image

    Request for Unified Image

    When working in marketing for large Western companies, there’s often a strong emphasis on maintaining a unified brand image. This is especially true for high-end fashion brands, but it also applies to B2B IT companies. In these companies, there are strict rules about logo usage, color schemes, photos, and layouts. For instance, when a European

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  • Marketing Business Problems

    Marketing Business Problems

    In the early days of the Internet, many businesses offered performance-based SEO for Google and Yahoo, charging only based on results, like ranking in the top 10 or top 3. However, as Google and Yahoo evolved and their ranking criteria changed frequently, it became increasingly difficult to achieve those results, making performance-based models unsustainable. Looking

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