Taiwan Social Media: How to use LINE app for Business

Is the popular LINE app part of your Taiwan marketing strategy?

Your company should be where your customers are. If you are entering the Taiwanese market, the identification of the channels your clients use is a top priority.

Looking at Taiwan, you definitely want to consider using LINE app for business because it is used by 86% of the Taiwanese population.

Check the chart below with the most popular social media and social messaging apps in Taiwan.

Image Source. Hootsuite and We are Social

The most-used online service in Taiwan is “Instant messaging” at 94.8% and dominates across generations.

Image source. Taiwan Internet Report 2019

It is quite probable that your Taiwanese potential customers are using the LINE app. This article contains everything you need to know to start using LINE for business and how to integrate it into the buyer’s journey. Let’s start!

Why should you use LINE messaging app for Business?

LINE App is an instant messaging app produced by NHN Japan, a subsidiary of Korea’s Naver Corporation. The app was originally developed as an emergency solution for company employees during the Tōhoku earthquake of 2011.

From the humble beginnings of being a simple messaging app, it went on to replace all other modes of communication. Finally, it became the most popular instant messaging app in Japan in 2013.

Today it is not only the number 1 app in Japan with more than 79 million Japanese users, but also in Taiwan, Thailand, and Indonesia. Worldwide, 194 million users across 230 countries use the Japanese app. 

Image source. Hootsuite and We are social

Image source. Hootsuite and We are social

Who are LINE app users?

As mentioned before, instant messaging dominates across generations in Taiwan.

Image source. Taiwan Internet Report 2019

LINE app provides some insights into their users’ demographics worldwide. The app appeals to more women than men, adult users (+70%), and full-time workers.

Image source. LINE media guide 2019

LINE app is more than a messaging app. It is an ecosystem and plays a crucial role in the social infrastructure of Taiwan. The app has many capabilities that make life for the Taiwanese consumers easier: send messages, make free phone calls, make payments, gaming, read the latest news, and much more.

Besides, it has created 4 well-received mascots that represent every emotion that is well suited for Taiwanese people. It makes this brand more iconic providing an experience that no other social media app does.

Why should you consider LINE app advertising service?

Consumers are using mobile devices to consume content and shop, so the time to invest in mobile is now. According to PriceWaterhouseCoopers and IAB, digital advertising in 2019 was worth USD124.6 billion, and 24% of digital advertising was mobile. Brands need to refocus their mobile strategies.

This situation explains why advertising is one of the most LINE app profitable services. Account ads and display ads are the most important sources of ad revenues. The total Q2 2020 LINE advertising revenue came to 31.9 billion yen.

Image Source. LINE

The Basics of Using LINE for Business

Businesses can create official accounts to provide a friendly brand experience and engage with their audiences. LINE app official accounts have special features that help companies to add friends, interact with their audiences, establish in-depth relationships with one-to-one communication, and run marketing campaigns.

The interface offers a variety of message formats with rich content like the official website, full-page design presentations, and customized format messages to meet businesses’ needs.

LINE “Official Account” Plans

There are 3 types of Official Accounts to choose from:

After the Premium account and the Verified account are reviewed by LINE, the account receives a badge and will appear in searches within the app.

The unverified account is for both individuals and corporations and provides basic features.

LINE ID

The ID is randomly assigned by the system but companies can create a customized ID by purchasing a Premium ID. However, if the ID is used by another account, it cannot be purchased.

The cost goes from 720 NTD for Android applications to 1,038 NTD for IOS applications.

LINE app subscription plan

After businesses get their official account and their ID, they need to choose their subscription plan. LINE app offers three plans:

All plans offer the same functionalities, the only differences are the number of messages of each plan comes with and the price.

An overview of LINE Business

LINE account connect

LINE Account Connect is a business solution that helps to close the distance between companies and users by delivering personalized messages. Companies can target their audiences by gender, age, and living area.

Companies can benefit from multiple ways to attract followers: They can use the add friends button to increase the number of followers, create sponsored stickers, use short term campaigns with LINE points and reward users by doing some tasks, and use the ads platform to launch long term marketing campaigns.

Marketers can use the LINE API and connect the LINE official accounts with their enterprise systems. The app will be a part of the company’s customer support and will make communication easier and more personal with the company’s clients:

Send customized messages
Schedule auto-replies based on the FAQ database
Establish one to one communication through LINE chat or LINE call
Offer exclusive discounts and membership cards
Send payment updates, order confirmations, shipping and deliver notifications, etc.

LINE ads platform

This solution can help companies to control and set their advertising budget, schedule their marketing campaigns, target their audiences, design, and deliver ads through the management interface of the ads platform.

Companies can show their campaigns on different channels: Smart Channel, LINE Today, LINE posts, LINE points, and LINE wallet.

Image source. LINE

LINE sales

LINE sales helps companies to promote activities and attract a large number of users in a short period of time. Marketers can reward consumers with coupons and points on the app.

Image source. LINE

LINE Media portal

The Media portal offers many platforms to advertise products and help businesses achieve their goals of awareness and targeting.

Companies can publish ads on the home page of LINE Today, sponsor news and reach specific target groups, and publish native ads and native videos.

LINE TV also provides many possibilities for advertisers, audio-visual ads, native ads, and cover ads. Advertisers can also make self-made dramas or name the dramas.

LINE POINTS

This is one of the most popular services. It is widely used in Taiwan and is the best choice to help companies to promote their products and reach their goals.

Consumers earn points by participating in some tasks: Download an app, go to a website, watch a video, or invite a friend to follow an account.

LINE NOW

It uses beacon technology and participants can join the LINE NOW activities as long as they turn on the Bluetooth and GPS of their mobile phones.

After completing the task at the event site, they will get exclusive event-limited stickers, coupons, points, and other gifts.

Image source. LINE

Other functions of LINE Business

Companies can use official accounts to:

Send Messages to followers with text, images and videos. The average open rate is around 70%.

Post on the company’s timeline feed. These posts will appear on the followers’ timeline.

Chat with users with the chat function.

Create promotional stickers that users can download for free by doing some task, for example, follow the account. 80% of the users, use stickers on a daily basis.

How to integrate LINE app into your marketing strategy

There are many ways to advertise products on LINE app. The strategy will depend on the goals of the company.

If the company is about to launch a new product, marketers can use the app to run polls and make market surveys among potential customers. After that, marketers can identify the most preferred features of the new product and highlight them during the promotional campaign.

Depending on the results of the survey, companies may go ahead and launch a presales campaign. For this critical stage, the app offers coupons that businesses can use for preorders.

During the product launch, companies can run ad campaigns on the app by targeting the right audience by gender, age, and location.

Critical mass for a product is the point at which it becomes self-sustaining and profitable. There are some features of the app that can help achieve a critical mass, for example, the points and coupons.

Companies can also improve their brand awareness by offering free corporate stickers to their potential followers. Once a user starts to follow a company, they can receive notifications from the company.

Final thoughts

To sum up, LINE app can be integrated into the buyer’s journey. In the awareness stage, companies can promote products with ads and stickers. In the consideration stage, marketers can offer personalized communications. Finally, in the conversion stage, businesses can trigger sales with coupons and points.

I hope this article gave you a basic understanding of the digital landscape in Taiwan. To learn more about this topic and plan a successful digital marketing campaign in Taiwan, you can download for free the full report: 7 Facts on Taiwan Digital Marketing and Social Media.

P.S. Before you go, you may also be interested in the following articles:

Taiwan’s Best Online Marketplaces to Sell

How can WhatsApp Help Grow Your Business?

POST WRITTEN BY

Jose Maria (Chema) Lopez

A Madrid Polytechnic University International MBA has worked as a global marketing director in B2B and B2C international leading companies implementing global marketing and communication strategies to ensure business objectives and to optimize brands’ reputation and visibility on a global level.

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