Communication has always been important in our lives and in this time of pandemic due to the spread of COVID-19, its essentiality has become even stronger. At a time when we are forced to forego hugs and physical proximity, what would we do without the Internet? Thanks to communication we can get closer to the rest of the world, our door is not closed thanks to the internet.
The importance of communication and marketing in Japan in times of pandemic
Autore: SaiKaiAngel
photo credits: mosaikoweb.com
The COVID-19 pandemic is certainly a very difficult time in which we are all involved, but we try to see the positive in this as well. What do they say? If you feel like you’re in a tunnel, decorate it! So, while we are waiting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, we are trying to do everything to save our company and our relationships. The imposed lockdowns are very difficult to manage, but how much have they succeeded in making us realise the importance of the “small” things? I put the word SMALL in quotes, yes, because in this pandemic we have realised how BIG the SMALL things are. How special our normality is. How much we have looked for a hug, even if it is virtual, how much we have reinvented ourselves to keep alive a work project for which we have done so much.
Let’s take advantage of this moment to start again even stronger than before, let’s take some time to think, reinvent ourselves and prepare for total recovery.
Remember, however, that there are no miracles! You have to rely on the world of social marketing, but not alone. There are specialists in the field, people whose job it is to advise you and accompany you in the world of social marketing and communication without making you run into obstacles (like us).
photo credits: mosaikoweb.com
Never put your business activities on hold.
We are lucky enough to have the internet, why put a job or business on hold? The idea that one day the internet could go from being important to essential has been around for a while. We can attend meetings, we can organise, we can actually work together and stay in touch with our customers, all online. We can also focus on stepping up the content of our social media, of our websites, so that as soon as there is a chance to restart after the pandemic, we will be ready!
If our shop is closed, why take away the possibility of creating an e-commerce to continue selling our products? If we haven’t felt the need to do so until now, we are now faced with this possibility, which is gradually becoming more and more important. If we can, let’s try to build an online channel to communicate and continue our business! Let’s also try to ‘decorate’ it as best we can.
Let’s reinforce our corporate values and corporate image online!
Let us be seen, we have the opportunity! Let’s not stop events, let’s create them online and if we really don’t want to do that, let’s stop and organise the ones in presence, we have the possibility to do that, let’s strengthen our communication network now!
Let’s keep in touch!
Many children can continue to study and attend school thanks to Distance Learning, what we all know now as DAD. Is it important? Of course it’s a help. If there wasn’t this possibility of online meetings, children would surely be completely excluded from teaching and meeting their classmates. Instead, thanks to Distance Learning, students are able to interact with each other and maybe even distract themselves. Distraction in these moments of closure is very important, if there were no possibility to communicate online, we would really be locked out of the world. Perhaps now more than ever we realise how important online communication can be.
Still having doubts? Let’s go and see what’s happening in the rest of the world and especially in Japan, which has always been our focus.
The importance of communication and marketing in Japan in times of pandemic
Japan has always been very technological, it has always believed, almost more than anyone else, in the importance of online communication and marketing, and in fact it is now certainly at a better advantage than those who have stuck to tradition.
Japan lives with social networks in order to stay in touch with the rest of the world. Let’s take a look at the most used social networks in this country with the relative percentages thanks to Statista:
- LINE 77,4%
- Twitter 38,5%
- Instagram 35,7%
- YouTube 23,2%
- Facebook 21,7%
- TikTok 8,1%
- Skype 7,1%
Il caso LINE
photo credits: google.com
As you can see from the statistics, if in the West we use Whatsapp, Facebook and Instagram more, in Japan they rely a lot on LINE and Twitter. Do you know LINE? It is considered to be the Japanese Whatsapp, and has around 84 million monthly active users in Japan (end of 2020 statistics).
What makes LINE so popular?
LINE was born in 2011 from a collaboration with Naver, a South Korean platform.
Immediately after the great earthquake in Japan in 2011, most conventional communication channels were disrupted due to power outages. Therefore, official sources turned to online to communicate the news and confirm the safety of friends and family. The app was released for public use later that year, and proved very appealing to Japanese consumers due to its unique and customisable design, allowing for both private and business use.
How do the Japanese use social networks?
Compared to neighbouring countries, Japanese people used social networks 65% compared to 88% in Taiwan and 87% in South Korea. In contrast, as of January 2019, Japanese internet users spent an average of 4.8 hours a day with digital content, while Japanese 18-34 year olds used up to six hours. According to a survey, the main reasons for using social media among the younger generation are the convenience of gathering and sharing information, as well as connecting with friends and colleagues.
photo credits: epigeum.com
We have this moment to think about it and to reactivate as soon as possible. this has always been our job and now we finally realise that it has never been more useful. It was already before, but now it has become essential. We are ready to accompany you and are you ready for the (online) rebirth?