In parallel with the spread of smartphones and tablet devices, the number of users of the LINE app is increasing day by day. In today’s world where various applications are rapidly growing, the demand for SNS advertising using SNS platforms such as Instagram and Facebook continues to increase.
In the SNS advertising market, LINE, which boasts a huge user rate in Japan, has become an indispensable part of the advertising market, and with daily updates, it has grown into a popular application. LINE has naturally blended into our lives, and for many users it has become a part of their daily communication tools. The LINE app is popular among a wide range of age groups and offers a wide variety of other noteworthy services, including free chat and calls. Thanks to the development of LINE’s unique cutting-edge technology, LINE advertisements are displayed on pages that people come across every day, making it possible for marketers to accurately provide services and products by understanding users’ interests.
In this article, we will explain in an easy-to-understand manner what LINE ads are, and introduce the characteristics of LINE ads, how ads are displayed within various services, and the effects they have.
What is LINE advertising?
LINE is a communication tool that allows you to use voice calls and chat functions for free on computers, smartphones, etc. Many users and companies use the LINE app, and it has grown year by year into a huge platform with 89 million monthly active users in Japan alone. LINE advertising refers to performance-based advertising that can distribute ads within such communication apps. The LINE app has a large number of monthly active users and is expected to increase the number of opportunities for users to interact with advertisements, so it continues to gain attention.
About the characteristics of LINE ads
Below are three points about the characteristics of LINE ads.
Reach a wide range of users
Several studies have shown that LINE captures over 80% of SNS users. The feature is that it is possible to reach a wide range of users with advertisements by utilizing various segments such as age, gender, user interests, region, etc. Since there are users who do not use Twitter or Instagram, but do use LINE, you will be able to reach new users who have been difficult to reach with SNS advertising.
Wide range of advertising destinations
LINE ads are basically displayed at the top of the timeline screen or chat screen, but
It is also possible to distribute advertisements to many other services such as LINE NEWS, LINE Manga, LINE BLOG, LINE Point Club, and LINE Shopping.
Regarding the advertisement distribution on the basic timeline screen, it is possible to distribute advertisements using images, videos, and text, and the feature is that women account for the majority of users at 54%. The timeline screen and talk screen have particularly high numbers of active users, so we can expect large-scale promotions.
The publication fee will be decided in an auction format.
Since LINE advertising is a programmatic type of advertising, the price of advertising space is determined by auction.
Therefore, when distributing advertisements to a user group with high demand, there is a high competition rate, and if you bid with a low bid amount, you will not be able to win the auction and it will be difficult to display the advertisement to the target users, so be careful. is required.
Distribution aspect of LINE ads
We will introduce how advertisements are actually distributed based on various related contents.
Display advertisement on talk list
LINE’s talk list is the core part of the app, and is the main content where you can check your recent talk history with friends, as well as call and message notifications. Ads can be displayed at the top of the list, and clicking on the ad will take the user to the desired page. Since this is the screen that LINE users see every day,
You can expect to expand your reach to a large number of users.
Display advertisement on LINE NEWS
LINE NEWS is a popular service that allows you to enjoy various genres such as trending news, entertainment, sports, economics, fashion, and overseas information all at once. The number of monthly active users exceeds 75 million, and it is possible to display advertisements on pages where articles are published by over 300 media outlets. Users browse pages for the latest information, so you can maximize advertising effectiveness by linking your ads to trending content such as new items and services.
Display advertisement on LINE BLOG
LINE BLOG is a blog service provided by LINE, and is used by over 2,500 official bloggers, including athletes, celebrities, models, and other influential people.
In addition to writing, it is possible to create a blog using photos and videos, which increases the expectations of viewers, and many users are likely to enjoy updating their blogs on a daily basis.
The core user demographic ranges from people in their 20s to 40s, with women accounting for approximately 70% of all users. It can be said that it is the best place to distribute advertisements to accurately promote products and services aimed at women in their 20s to 40s.
Ad display on LINE Shopping
LINE Shopping is a shopping service that can be accessed from within the LINE app.
The store has a wide selection of fashion items, as well as household goods such as furniture and home appliances. The latest fashion snapshots and great sale information are introduced mainly through images. The main user group is women in their late 20s to early 40s, who tend to be sensitive to trends. Since large images are used to display advertisements, the design has good visibility and makes it easy for interested users to move to the desired page.
Display advertisement on LINE Point Club
What is LINE Point Club? Users who watch videos, shop, or add friends to their list are rewarded with 1 point for 1 yen, and the points earned can be used for in-app purchases and LINE Pay. This is the service.
The main user group is people in their 40s and 50s, who account for more than 53%, and ads are displayed in large images, making them highly visible. If you are thinking about providing services and products to the main user group, the possibility of advertising effectiveness will increase.
Display advertisements on LINE Manga
LINE Manga is an electronic comic service for smartphones that allows you to enjoy popular manga anywhere. It is becoming increasingly popular because you can easily enjoy many manga on the move or on the go with just your smartphone. The usage rate is 27% of the total among those aged 15 to 19, and 60% among those in their 20s to 30s. Since it is possible to display advertisements using images, it can be said to be a service with excellent visibility.
LINE advertising cost
LINE Ads supports credit card payments, making it easy to start operations without the need for complicated procedures such as transfers or invoices.
There are two types of billing methods: “pay per click” where a fee is charged when the user clicks on an ad, and “pay per impression” where a fee is charged when the video ad is completely displayed on the operation screen.
Pay-per-click is a system in which a user taps an ad displayed on the screen, performs an action, and is charged when the user moves to the linked page. Since there is no cost just for an ad to be displayed on the screen, it is easy to appeal to users and attract customers. However, since the system uses an auction to determine the cost per click, you need to be careful as the cost per click may skyrocket.
Pay-per-impression is a system in which users are charged when they view video ads. There is a feature that if the video frame is not 100% displayed, it will not be converted into “1 impression”. Using videos has the ability to spread awareness of information and increases the possibility that many users will view your advertisements, but it is also difficult to attract customers as there is a possibility that users with little interest in the service will also view your ads. There is a tendency.
LINE advertising targeting function
LINE Ads has the support ability to accurately deliver advertisements to the desired users by using its unique targeting function.
Below, we will introduce some of the most commonly used targeting functions.
Demographic data distribution function
Demographic data distribution is a system that narrows down targets based on app registration data from categories such as age, gender, interests, region, etc., and enables pinpoint advertisement distribution. Additionally, since it is possible to narrow down additional segments from each category, it is possible to deliver advertisements to users with high sensitivity, which can be expected to be highly cost-effective.
Audience distribution function
The audience distribution function is a system that distributes advertisements based on user information such as the user’s behavior history within the app and the user’s demographic data. It is possible to send advertisements to users who have previously purchased a product to encourage them to purchase again. It will also be possible to analyze products purchased in the past and deliver advertisements for similar products and services. This is the perfect feature if you want to attract repeat customers or encourage additional purchases.
LINE official account friend audience distribution function
The friend audience distribution function of the LINE official account is a distribution function that allows you to select target users based on your LINE account’s “friends” list and distribute advertisements to the target users. In addition, it is possible to change the distribution content and display advertisements depending on whether or not the target user’s “friends” are blocked. Using this user information, it also has a function to distribute advertisements to similar users who have not yet taken action to add them to their “friends” list, making it possible to develop a new customer base.
Auto-optimized delivery function
The automatic optimization distribution function is a function that uses machine learning to automatically adjust the bid amount. Bid amounts are automatically optimized to maximize performance within the set unit price. This will reduce the labor of marketers and can also be expected to reduce the man-hours required for advertising operations.
Similar distribution function
The similar distribution function makes it possible to distribute advertisements to new users who are similar to you based on past behavior records of customer users. However, it has the characteristic that the advertising effectiveness for the audience fluctuates depending on the strength and weakness of user similarity. The higher the similarity, the greater the user response, but the number of people you can reach will decrease. On the other hand, the lower the similarity, the smaller the user reaction, but the number of groups that can be reached increases, so care must be taken when operating.
summary
We have explained the characteristics of LINE ads and the various services that can actually deliver ads. It can be seen that the LINE app continues to grow year by year, and goes beyond just free chats and calls to provide a variety of popular services that are closely tailored to users. Users range from a wide range of age groups, and we have content and features that can be enjoyed by all age groups. LINE’s huge number of active users will be especially attractive to marketers considering advertising. This will expand the range of approaches you can reach to age groups and users that you have not had contact with with conventional SNS advertising.
The appeal of LINE ads is that you can select a variety of distribution destinations based on the user data held by LINE, depending on the services and products you want to provide, and that it is easy to start running ads. By using detailed segmentation functions, marketers will be able to place ads with pinpoint accuracy, greatly increasing cost effectiveness.
In the future, we will continue to update the LINE app and build it into one of the largest platforms in Japan. As the scope of use of LINE advertising is expected to expand, it can be said that it is one of the platforms that not only users but also marketers themselves can keep an eye on.