Influencer marketing has become an important segment of the marketing market in Japan. The spread of smartphones and the increasing amount of time people spend online, particularly on video websites and social media, has made online advertising in general more attractive to businesses in recent years. Analysts point out that there is an ongoing reallocation of marketing budgets from traditional to digital media, a trend that was further accelerated by the COVID pandemic. The
was estimated to amount to 74.1 billion Japanese yen in 2023, with forecasts expecting strong growth in the coming years. Although influencer marketing is not yet a large segment when compared to the
, it constitutes an attractive avenue for advertisers due to the personal link between influencers and their audiences.
The social media landscape
Japan has a high internet penetration rate and consequently also a large
social media user base. Many Japanese consumers rely on the messaging app LINE to stay connected with friends and acquaintances. YouTube is the most popular video-sharing service, while Instagram and Twitter (which was rebranded to X in July 2023) both enjoy a higher popularity than Facebook. As is the case in many other countries,
TikTok is embraced particularly by young people. Depending on user demographics and features, each service offers different opportunities for advertisers. A
breakdown of the annual expenditure on influencer marketing by segment shows that YouTube accounts for the largest share of influencer marketing in Japan, followed by Instagram and Twitter.
Major and minor influencers
Rankings of the most popular accounts on each social network also indicate differences between audience preferences. While the
most popular Japanese accounts on Instagram predominantly belong to celebrities, the
most popular Japanese accounts on Twitter are a balanced mix of brands and famous people. The most-followed accounts are not the only ones attractive to advertisers, however, as influencers with a smaller following usually have a closer connection with their audiences and therefore higher engagement rates. Furthermore, micro and nano influencers can cater to niche audiences with highly specific tastes. One trend observed in Japan in recent years are
virtual influencers, which are sometimes designed from the outset for marketing purposes.
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