Doing business in any part of the world has its perks and some challenges. Regardless of whether you are just getting started in business or already run an established business, you have to continuously put a mechanism in place to help you understand your consumer base.
You need some feedback channel where you can reliably get all the information you need to make your customers happy. Dealing with a Japanese consumer is no different from all we have mentioned. However, you must ensure that you understand what makes the Japanese consumer unique – How they interact with your products or services and if they are enjoying your brand.
We will share some tips on how to engage a Japanese consumer and get them to patronize you at all times.
Psst! If you’re just starting out, check out our Doing Business in Japan guide!
Getting Your Brand Out To The Right Audience
Thanks to advancements in technology, we have seen how using the internet to market and advertise your brand can turn your business into a “money-making machine.”
Japan has a population of at least 127 million people and the economy is richly driven by technology. The Japanese consumer is always ready to do business with you if you can win their trust, and this isn’t rocket science – as we will reveal soon!
Put out Advertisements
The Japanese consumer will instantly get the first impression of your products from your adverts or promotions. This is most likely the first contact they will have with your brand. So, ensure that you invest in suitable adverts – they speak a lot about your business.
If you already have a local business running, you might think that simply translating your ads will be enough to lead your new Japanese audience down your sales funnel. This alone will most likely fail. For your advertising to truly resonate with your Japanese leads, your best bet is to invest in a company that specializes in international marketing services.
Electronic Adverts Work Well with Japanese Consumers
What is electronic advertising? Electronic advertising can be easily understood as a means of promoting your business or brands through digital media like the internet. These could be placed on the electronic billboards, in-store hologram, animated contents like videos.
At least 78.7% of the Japanese population use the internet, and with a 90% internet service available to both Japanese consumers and businesses, you can be assured of reaching a considerable number of the Japanese populace. This leads us to the purpose of electronic or digital marketing in the Japanese market.
What Are the Benefits of Digital Adverts and Promotion?
‘Static adverts’ like we use to have them are fading very fast, as many businesses and brands have taken to digital business branding and promotion. The average Japanese consumer will rather take some time to watch a product’s ads on several (social) media outlets like YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and the likes. These platforms are proven to have had a significant impact on how the Japanese consumer relates to products and services. Having a thoughtfully made video ad for your business will leave a positive and lasting impression on your Japanese customers.
Japanese consumers are known to patronize high-quality products online. If you can sell the idea and get them to understand what you are offering and why they should do business with you, then you have crossed a major hurdle.
Japanese Consumers Enjoy Video Promotions
Using video adverts to promote your brand gives you extensive customer coverage over the web. It is cost-effective and is flexible to manage. An efficient video ad can be targeted to a particular consumer base of your internet – Target Marketing!
To make the best out of using a video ad to reach your Japanese consumer, you should consider video subtitles/captions and voice-overs. Both can help maximize the impact of your advert on your Japanese consumers or clients. Here are some benefits of using Japanese subtitles.
- It helps communicate easily with Japanese consumers.
- Providing online videos with subtitles boosts user engagement and experience.
- Using subtitles help to increase your consumer base as you will be able to also interact with Japanese consumers and clients who may be having hearing problems and other disabilities that hinder easy comprehension.
- You can also communicate well in public places where there is too much noise like parks, at the airports, train stations, big halls, and the likes.
Also, using voice-overs in making promotional videos in Japanese helps to overcome communication barriers. Voice overs in your target customers’ (Japanese consumers) native language helps to provide clarity in the message you want to get across.
Other creative ways of engaging your Japanese consumer base with voice-overs are
- Using voice-overs for podcasts
- Audio E-mail promotion
- Marketing calls
- You can use a professional Japanese voice over talent to make a user guide for your products or services – this way, you are winning the heart of your Japanese consumers by solving any problems they may have with your products.
How About Using Voice Overs on Your Website?
Don’t forget that a vast number of the Japanese population use the Internet, and as such, they will appreciate ideas that will help them find what they want easily to save their time. Having a Japanese voice on your E-commerce or business website will encourage visitors to visit your page often and spend a little extra time – which is a win for you!
A real voice will boost the Japanese consumers’ confidence; it gives credibility to your business as they get to see how committed you are to customer satisfaction. Another thing is that well-utilized voice overs can increase consumer conversion rate and ultimately generate sales – hence, maximizing your profits margin. Also, having a real voice can help your clients navigate your website quickly and order items or services without wasting time – hence making the business experience pleasurable at all times. Voice overs will help you create enough buzz for your brand, and you get to also carry all of your Japanese customers along. In essence, both video subtitles and voice-overs are essential investments to consider if you intend to have a good business rapport with Japanese consumers. Have it in mind that well-written captions give Japanese consumers a better-watching experience.
Colors and Branding for Japanese Consumers
While you are at it, ensure that you pick the right colors for your product branding. Colors hold much importance in Japanese culture, and you must be careful not to send the wrong message to the Japanese consumers. You can use red and white, blue, green, silver and gold, pink (for clothing, Lingerie, and flowers), brown (for wooden objects), yellow (school children’s caps, and clothing), purple & orange (to denote civilization and knowledge). Black and white are colors for mourning in Japan. It’s best to avoid them if you can. However, they are popular colors for clothing and electronics.
There you have it, the complete guide to understanding the Japanese consumer. Maya Angelou once said, “People will forget what you said. They will forget what you did. But they will never forget how you made them feel.” Strive to create a long-lasting positive impression in the minds of Japanese consumers today.