In a country where performance-based digital marketing is gradually outpacing traditional marketing activities, affiliate marketing in Japan has been taking off in recent years.

Both Western brands looking to gain traction in competitive markets and affiliate partners are now embracing the opportunities offered an approach to advertising that has initially been slow to take off here.

In this blog, we explore how affiliate marketing in Japan — where publishers sign up to affiliate programs created by brands to promote and sell their products on a commission-based payment model — is developing quickly and how merchants can make the most of it by turning local partners into their best advocates.

Table of Contents

• Why is affiliate marketing growing in Japan
• Why to try affiliate marketing in Japan
• How to use affiliate marketing in Japan
• How to localize your affiliate programs
• Benefits of working with a local partner for affiliate marketing in Japan
• Steal some of our best ideas!

Building a Marketing Strategy for Japan?

Driving Factors of Affiliate Marketing Growth in Japan

A few key drivers contributing the growth of affiliate marketing in Japan are:

• Japanese consumers utilise many sources to inform their purchasing decisions. And with higher levels of brand scepticism, uncertainty avoidance, and the desire to know what other people think about certain products before they purchase, affiliate marketing can be a vital stage in the buying journey in Japan.
• The body of individuals operating as affiliates or influencers in Japan is growing. There are people that now serve both niche pockets and broad segments of society, influencing consumer decisions and shaping the way brands and products are perceived by the Japanese market.
• Affiliate marketing offers a low risk investment where ROI is high and the potential for good results is also high, assuming robust affiliate programs can be created with strong relationships between brands and affiliate partners.
• The need for results-driven digital marketing performance is incredibly high in Japan and brands are more comfortable paying for results that are guaranteed and quantifiable than brand awareness campaigns that are harder to measure in terms of performance.
• Retailers, especially those new to Japan, value product and industry expertise and appreciate additional marketing support from those who can be seen to help drive highly targeted traffic leads and sales.

Benefits of Affiliate Marketing in Japan

As well as offering foreign brands another channel for reaching their audience and growing their brand’s presence in a completely new market, the affiliate market offers several benefits.

Build Trust with Japanese Customers more Easily

The trust barrier is one of the biggest challenges any new brand entering Japan will face. As well as having incredibly high standards for product design and functionality, the Japanese consumer is highly averted to risk and distrustful of organisations, according to indicators like the Edelman Trust Barometer.

Consumers like to buy from retailers they are familiar with and often these are Japanese brands that can absolutely guarantee quality.

Working with affiliates to promote your products can help to instill customer confidence much faster than other techniques that don’t leverage the credibility of influencers who already hold weight in the Japanese circles you’re trying to reach.

Affiliate marketing allows small and large companies to grow their brand awareness quickly and start to send the right signals to the Japanese market that they’re credible, high quality, and endorsed.

Pay Only for What You Get

Distributing your budget in Japan can be a daunting task. Many brands will shy away from strategies that focus too heavily on unquantifiable brand awareness campaigns and instead focus on results-based social media PPC marketing or Google Ads.

This is a good move when you’re just starting out and you’re trying to make immediate sales while testing Japanese waters with your messaging and overall branding.

Affiliate marketing is beneficial for very similar reasons, with your money only being spent when you generate sales. If affiliates are not able to drive traffic to your site, you don’t need to pay them.

Expand Your Local Marketing Team

For foreign brands with minimal Japanese language support or employees on the ground, it can be hard to deliver marketing content that effectively speaks to the desires and preferences of your audience and portrays your brand in the right way.

Building affiliate marketing programs can help you by, in a sense, expanding your marketing team without hiring any new people. Chosen individuals become a point of contact with your customer base and you can draw on their knowledge and experience of the market.

HB Pro Tip: Some kind of local presence is still recommended so your campaigns and content are completely localized for the Japanese market. Whether it’s Japanese customer support or marketing creatives, having people on the ground can be a huge determining factor in whether your strategy will take off.

Generate Targeted Traffic

As most affiliates service a very distinct group of people, or build their own brands around a certain industry or sector, traffic generated through their channels can be highly refined and targeted — offering you greater chances of picking up customers with high lifetime value.

Many Japanese shoppers are also incredibly loyal to products and companies once they know they can get quality from them. By working with affiliates in Japan, you can kick-off long term relationships with new audiences who can become an important part of your customer base.

It Will Help Your SEO

Affiliate marketing in Japan is great for your SEO. In a competitive market where it’s sometimes hard to build a strong online presence for targeted search terms, numerous backlinks to your site via your affiliate blogs and websites can do wonders.

HB Pro Tip: SEO benefits from affiliate marketing and guest blogging are always more effective when you’re working with higher-ranked partners whose audiences are more likely to enjoy your products and content.