Hello, I’m Leo Sato (@slamdunk772), the CEO of applemint, a digital marketing agency in Taiwan!
Recently in Taiwan, in addition to Facebook and Google, more and more advertisers are considering LINE ads.
LINE is the most popular Messenger app in Taiwan,not Whatsapp!
Starting in 2021, LINE advertising will be open to all advertisers (Previously not). You won’t have to go through an advertising agency to do LINE ads (source in Chinese: https://blog.user.today/line-ads-platform-lap/ )
But even so, I think there are still many people who don’t know how to do LINE advertising in Taiwan. As I mentioned, LINE is the most common messenger app in Taiwan. According to the ImBee data, 88% of the Taiwanese population use LINE. If you use LINE ads effectively, you have a huge chance.
Therefore, in this blog, I would like to talk about the current menu of LINE advertising as of 2021, as well as the effects of LINE advertising as far as I know. If you are interested in LINE advertising in Taiwan, this is a must read!
Contents
LINE Advertising Menu
Let’s start by talking about the types of LINE advertising that are available. The menu I’m about to introduce is based on what I’ve seen on this LINE website (in Chincese) as of May 13, 2021.
Smart Channel
This type of ad appears in the chat section. The ad may appear at the top and bottom of the screen.
LINE TODAY Ads
This is an ad that appears in the news section provided by LINE. This is a bit of a side note, but I’ve been featured here a few times when I’ve written columns for Line Today:)
Timeline Ads
This type of ad appears in the timeline section. Its section is like Facebook’s feed; when your friends share news or change their profile pictures, the information will be shown on this section.
Timeline ads is a combination of image and text.
Wallet Ads
These ads are displayed on the LINE payment service section. People use LINE wallet to send e-money to friends or make a payment at stores.
LINE Points
LINE POINTS ads may appear in LINE shop. Advertisers offer LINE points to users then they purchase products through their ads. Users can purchase LINE stickers with LINE points so this type of ad can be attractive to users.
The higher the amount of LINE Points you give away, the more likely users are to purchase. However, please note that LINE Points are paid for by advertisers.
It’s in Chinese, but for more information, here is a website that describes the cost of points. This promotion is being actively used by Japanese D2C companies that have penetrated in Taiwanese market.
The above are the LINE advertising menus that Taiwan LINE has made public now. Next, I will introduce the measures and points to keep in mind for each menu.
LINE Advertising Policies and Points to Note
Cautions for Timeline Ads
First, I would like to talk about some points to note about timeline ads. Cushion page (a page between the advertisement and LP) is generally not allowed in timeline ads because LINE is very strict about cushion page and it is difficult to pass the screening process.
Japanese D2C companies often try to increase the conversion rate by inserting cushion page in digital ads but Timeline Ads is an exception.
LINE Today’s Trends
LINE Today is similar to Yahoo’s native ads. You must prepare an image in specified size text. Amateurish images tend to be favored. I have recently seen advertisements for game applications using LINE Today’s.
LINE Points
With LINE Points, you can earn points by purchasing products, filling out surveys, adding friends, downloading, and other actions. If you are not careful, you can be victimized by unscrupulous users who only want your points.
Sometimes, cosmetic brands give away so many points that you wonder if they are safe. As I mentioned in the previous chapter, the cost of these points is basically borne by the advertiser.
The Difference Between LINE@ and LINE Advertising
Before I talk about the efficiency of LINE advertising, I would like to explain the difference between LINE@ (LINE official account) and LINE advertisement.
LINE@ refers to the official account of a company or store.You may send LINE messuages to your followers.
LINE friends (followers) have a very high open rate, giving the impression that you can effectively send DMs to them.
Taiwanese people don’t seem to have any resistance to adding official company LINE accounts to their private account. It may be a good idea to increase the number of LINE friends by using LINE advertising space, and then send out promotional information via LINE.
At applemint, we have been actively using our official LINE account and have been able to increase lead (potential client) for ourselves.
The Efficiency of LINE Ads
Thank you for your patience. Finally, I’d like to talk about the efficiency and effectiveness of LINE advertising in Taiwan.
In conclusion, efficiency varies depending on your product but it is generally low. One of the most interesting phenomenon is that some companies ads do really well on Smart Channel ads.
Smart Channel ads just appear on top of our chat section. In other words, it’s just a banner but this type of ads can be efficient for some companies. For other information on the efficiency of LINE advertising in Taiwan, please see the following summary!
- Features of Taiwanese LINE Ads
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- 1. low CVR for some products (cosmetics may be weak)
- 2. many cases include a cushion page
- 3. some health food products are more efficient than others.
My advice is to give it a try first! That’s it. You really don’t know whether your product may do well or not. Fortunately, you don’t need to go through advertising agency to open a LINE advertising account and pay extra commission, so you can start on your own. That way, you can save on the fees.
Of course, we can help you too!
However, if you’re thinking “oh, I’m going to try LINE ads because both Facebook and Google ads are not doing well in Taiwan”, we recommend you to improve your Facebook and Google ads first. This is because the conversion rate of these ads is usually higher than LINE ads.
The Future of Taiwan Line Ads
I’ve heard news that in the near future, LINE ads will be linked to official LINE accounts. What can we expect if this happens?
For example, let’s say you use LINE TODAY’s ad space to increase the number of your own LINE users. In the past, the only way to get in touch with users who have added you to their LINE is to send them a message.
However, don’t people often leave promotional LINE messages from companies unread?
If in the future, LINE official accounts and LINE advertisements become linked together, companies will be able to use LINE ad spaces to advertise exclusively to users who have added them to LINE.
In other words, even if they haven’t read the message, if they are a LINE member, you can still reach out to your members with ads in addition to messages!
Also, LINE’s targeting is improving every day. Do you know how we’re improving?
LINE’s AI learns from our chats and voices to refine its targeting. In other words, LINE is watching all of our conversations.
Don’t worry, it would be a violation of privacy for LINE to look at the messages of anyone in particular, so the AI is just watching and learning from your conversations.
It’s the same reason why Facebook acquired whatsapp, a messenging app that learns and analyzes every conversation to see who is talking to whom and what their interests are. This allows them to increase the accuracy of their ads and bring in more advertisers.
In conclusion
What did you think? There are very few options for advertising in Taiwan, so the rise of LINE is a very good news. applemint of course offers LINE advertising too!
We look at your products and determine the most efficient ways to reach your target audience, and if LINE advertising is one of them, we will suggest it. However, LINE ads are not a high priority now, so we recommend Google or Facebook ads first.
Therefore, it is true that there are not many advertisers who can do Google ads, Facebook ads, and LINE ads. However, LINE ads has a definite potential, and we have a web marketing plan that utilizes LINE ads and LINE official accounts.
If you are interested, please contact us here!
Click to contact applemint.
