Twitter’s growth and success in Japan occurred very rapidly and it’s now very much established. To give you some perspective on their stronghold in Japan, statistics show Twitter’s growth between 2013 to 2019 up to over 25 million. We can see it’s now nearly at saturation point.
Source: Statistica
Number of Japanese Twitter Users
2013: 18 million
2014: 20.9 million
2015: 23.9 million
2016: 24.6 million
2018: 25.4 million
2019: 25.6 million
2020 (Projected): 25.6 million
2021 (Projected): 25.7 million
Unlike Facebook which has begun to stagnate, Twitter and Instagram continue to show growth.
Marketing on Twitter Japan still effective.
From a marketing perspective Twitter is still a great place to promote your product or brand in Japan.
Approx 40% of Twitter users have a made purchase after a recommendation by an influencer’s Tweet.
Japanese Influencers and KOL’s, are social media users who’ve amassed an enormous following, they’re now the frontlines of online business marketing. When it comes to buying online, Twitter influencers’ power of persuasion now rivals that of a friend. According to a Twitter survey, a staggering 49% of respondents reported that they rely on an influencer’s recommendation for products and services, 40% of that followthrough with a purchase. Compared to 56% of consumers on Twitter who are influenced by friends. A marketer’s average spend on influencer marketing now lies between ¥2,702,000 — ¥5,405,000 across a multifaceted campaign.
Here are some of the reasons why Twitter maintains it’s top spot
1. Japanese words say more with less
With Twitter’s character limit set at 280 characters (Previously 140 characters), it’s hard to make long statements in tweets. However when using Japanese Kanji, the Japanese alphabet characters can say things that would take us several words. With a 121 character Tweet, users can convey a fair amount compared with 410 characters in English.
2. Twitter is an essential news source for earthquakes
After Japan’s tragic Earthquake of 2011, Twitter’s user base increased by a huge 33%. As infrastructure broke down during the adversity, phone and media sources weren’t able to communicate information fast enough. The Japanese population took to Twitter to contact friends, family, and online news sources to get updates. LINE, the communication app also saw a hugh up take during that time. Earthquakes are commonplace in Japan, Twitter account @earthquake_jp regularly Tweets location, time and magnitude of Earthquakes as they occur. They’re one of the top 10 most popular Twitter accounts in Japan with over a million followers.
3. Japan loves the Privacy of Twitter
Japan as a nation are naturally reserved and prefer to keep their privacy. You can observe this from a typical booth-for-1 space in a ramen noodle restaurant to anonymous forum accounts. Twitter provides perfect privacy for Japanese users who want to follow Twitter accounts but fly under the radar. In comparison to Facebook, Twitter allows Japanese users to use an alias identity, alternative profile photos, and other identifying information. Generally speaking, the average Japanese Twitter user prefers to consume rather than create content. Twitter is an environment that allows its users to explore, navigate and discover without direct participation.
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