With more than 84 million monthly users in Japan*1, LINE boasts an overwhelming reach, and with more than 3 million corporate accounts*2, it has become an integral part of every company’s social media strategy. On the other hand, there are many accounts that are struggling to attract customers. This article introduces some measures that can be used to attract new friends on LINE Official Accounts.
*1: Source: LINE for Business “LINE Business Guide July – December 2020”
*2: Source: LINE for Business ”Opening a LINE Official Account”
1. What is a LINE Official Account?
— What is a LINE Official Account?
With over 84 million monthly users, LINE is a critical communication infrastructure in Japan. LINE Official Accounts are LINE accounts used by companies.
LINE Official Accounts allow companies to open their own official accounts on LINE. By using LINE, which is used by users on a daily basis at a high frequency, companies can expect high open rates immediately after broadcasting their messages. In addition, messages can be targeted according to “deemed attributes,” which are estimated based on user trends on LINE. Furthermore, by using the “Messaging API,” the account can be connected to in-house data as well as external systems to further optimize communications by sending messages one-to-one or to a specific segment of users.
*3: Source LINE for Business “LINE Business Guide July – December 2020”
In 2019, the services for corporate accounts were integrated, and the five menus were consolidated into what is now known as the LINE Official Account. With the integration, the pricing structure also changed significantly, which lowered the barrier to entry for companies. In addition, with the recent trend of low open rates for e-mail newsletters, the use of LINE Official Accounts has been attracting even more attention as an effective way for companies to address their challenges.
—What you can do with a LINE Official Account
The main difference between LINE and other social media platforms is the ability to engage in one-to-one conversations. This allows users to deliver the most appropriate message at the right time to each individual user. In addition to delivering personalized messages, users can expand the features of the account to make it more convenient.
Another strength of LINE is its ability to implement full funnel measures, which include acquiring new users, expanding awareness, promoting conversions, and even customer retention.
2. Attracting friends with your LINE Official Account
—Measures to attract customers for each purpose
How much you should focus on attracting customers depends on the purpose of your LINE Official Account. Of course, it’s most effective to launch a large-scale customer acquisition campaign when you open the account, but for now, we’ll show you what can be done on a low budget.
—Attracting customers to reduce storefront operations
Adding the ability to reserve a visit or check waiting times on the account can lead to a reduction in storefront operations. This can be effectively achieved by displaying signboard displays and posters and having the staff make promotions. In particular, thorough promotions of accounts by staff members are expected to attract a considerable number of customers. Of course, the initial operation costs will increase, but it’s cost-effective and will ultimately lead to storefront operation reductions and CX improvement, so it’s one of the first measures that companies with physical stores should take. In addition to in-store measures, it’s also important to appeal to customers through websites and e-mail newsletters.
—Attracting customers to execute OMO (Online Merges with Offline) measures
One of the strengths of LINE Official Accounts is that they can be used for both online and offline activities. For example, by connecting with the customer base and adding membership functions, purchase data for online and offline purchases can be managed centrally.
Another method of acquiring friends that is highly compatible with OMO measures is social logins, which allows users to log in using their personal LINE account when logging in to a website. This will automatically add them as friends to the LINE Official Account. Implementing social logins not only increases the number of friends on the LINE Official Account, but is also beneficial for users and contributes to lowering the block rate.
—Attracting new customer bases
If you’re looking to attract new customer bases through your LINE Official Account, we recommend using LINE ads. The reason is because doing so will allow you to use the ad menu to attract new customer bases that can’t be reached through physical stores or your website. Although it’s more expensive than other methods, it’s possible to attract a large number of customers at once, making it an effective option to make your account take off swiftly. We also recommend this measure because expanding your customer base will lead to higher sales in the future. Low-cost options available as well, so create a plan according to your budget to efficiently attract customers and acquire new customer bases.
*4: Source LINE for Business “LINE Business Guide July – December 2020”
3. Summary
When using LINE Official Accounts, it’s crucial to design measures that’ll actually attract customers. Consider measures to acquire customers according to your objectives and budget and link them to the continuous operation of your account. Irep Inc. offers support for operating LINE Official Accounts, so feel free to contact us if you have any questions or would like to learn more.
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Irep Inc. is an award-winning global digital marketing agency based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Our headquarters are in Tokyo and our network spans more than 20 countries. In Japan, we are ranked No. 1 for performance-based marketing. We also offer highly specialized market entry, as well as integrated marketing and localization services. Since 1997, our data-driven solutions have effectively led our diverse international clientele to continuous success in Japan, Asia, and beyond.
Irep Inc.
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