Taiwan Digital Marketing Strategies for 2024

Hello there! I’m Sato (@slamdunk772), the representative of applemint, a digital marketing company based in Taiwan.

Today, I want to delve into the Taiwan Digital Marketing Strategies for 2024. It’s April 2024 as I write this.

Searching on Google often shows results with “【2024 Edition】” in the title for SEO purposes, yet many are outdated. But fear not, this blog is up-to-date 😅

I’ve crafted this article using the latest information for 2024. With four months already gone, Taiwan’s digital marketing scene has seen significant changes. Today, I’m excited to share some of the most valuable insights on our blog!

I’m confident you’ll find this information incredibly useful, so please take a look!

The ebb and flow of e-commerce enterprises

Recently, there have been discussions in Japan about issues such as cancellation disputes and website representations. How about in Taiwan?

In Taiwan, while major cancellation dispute issues are not widely reported, there has been a noticeable trend over the past few years where acquiring new customers through digital marketing has become increasingly challenging.

E-commerce companies in Taiwan historically relied heavily on online advertising to acquire new customers, without the presence of physical stores. However, as the effectiveness of online advertising declines, it becomes increasingly difficult for these businesses to sustain themselves. In today’s saturated market, especially in sectors like cosmetics, achieving unique differentiation is exceptionally challenging.

From 2017 to 2018, many e-commerce companies expanded into the Taiwanese market through local subsidiaries or cross-border e-commerce. However, only a handful of companies have managed to survive and thrive in this competitive landscape.

In this blog post, I want to discuss the crucial directions e-commerce companies should prioritize by 2024.

Moving Beyond Single-Item Sales

In a previous blog, I mentioned that for e-commerce companies to thrive in Taiwan, OEM and brand strengthening are essential, but these strategies need to be considered from the outset and are realistically challenging. So, how should companies already in the Taiwanese market respond?

Firstly, the concept of “single-item sales” may not be as effective in Taiwan. Originally designed to enhance customer lifetime value (LTV) and customer relationship management (CRM), maintaining consistent sales of the same product over years is extremely difficult.

For instance, only a few brands like SK-II have achieved this in the cosmetics sector. Heineken is another example, investing heavily in annual advertising, but benefiting from decades of experience selling beer in Taiwan’s retail market.

On the other hand, new entrants to the Taiwanese market face a tough battle if they rely on a single product. However, there are some intriguing developments.

For example, e-commerce companies are moving away from single-item sales to advertising multiple products through Facebook’s catalog ads and Google’s P-max ads, achieving relatively higher conversion rates.

This suggests there may be a reasonable chance for e-commerce companies to succeed by introducing new products. However, Taiwan is expected to tighten regulations on Product Information Forms (PIF), and with outbound travelers from Taiwan to Japan unlikely to decrease, competition is set to remain fierce.

Thriving Offline Events

While some clients thrive in online sales and others struggle, it appears that many are achieving success through offline events.

Our craft exhibition held in Kyoto last year, while experimental, drew a significant crowd and resulted in actual sales. Similarly, despite adverse weather conditions, our event in Tokushima attracted a large number of visitors.

Unfortunately, organizing offline events in Taiwan can be extremely costly in high-traffic areas. There are few property owners willing to rent spaces for short durations, reflecting the high status and inflexible nature of property ownership in Taiwan.

In contrast, our partnership for offline events in MIJ (historic buildings from the Japanese colonial era) seems to offer a viable solution for clients in Taiwan looking to host events more casually.

Looking at Japan as a whole, the majority of tourists (60-70%) concentrate in the top five prefectures, suggesting significant potential for events in other prefectures. Events focused on selling unique Japanese items appear particularly promising.

Both events we held in 2023 and 2024 were successful in attracting attendees, indicating replicable success with compelling content. However, when we attempted to sell non-standard vegetables, attendance was lower than expected, highlighting the effectiveness of events incorporating elements closely aligned with “Japan.”

Unexpected Boom in Cross-Border E-commerce

Today, I’d like to discuss the current trend in cross-border e-commerce. Recently, we’ve seen a remarkable surge in the success of cross-border sales for high-end products. These products share the following characteristics:

• Anime merchandise
• High price point (over 30,000 yen)
• Exclusively available online

Even before the recent yen depreciation, I’ve been involved in selling these items, which used to be quite challenging. However, they’ve been selling exceptionally well lately. The depreciation of the yen seems to be a significant factor influencing this trend.

The cross-border e-commerce platforms handling these products are particularly interesting, typically displaying prices in yen. Personally, I believe that maintaining prices in yen has significantly contributed to boosting sales. This is because the depreciation of the yen creates a perceived discount effect, even without explicit discounts.

As recently as 2019, 1 Taiwanese dollar was approximately 3.5 yen. However, with ongoing yen depreciation, as of April 25, 2024, 1 Taiwanese dollar now equals about 4.75 yen. When exchanging Japanese yen for Taiwanese dollars at a bank, this translates to nearly 5 Taiwanese dollars per yen.

While this situation may disadvantage Japanese consumers, it presents a considerable opportunity for Taiwanese consumers to purchase Japanese goods at more competitive prices. For instance, a product that cost 50,000 yen in 2019 was approximately 14,000 Taiwanese dollars back then, but now it’s around 10,000 Taiwanese dollars.

In essence, maintaining prices in yen allows Taiwanese consumers to benefit from perceived discounts as the yen depreciates. From this case study, I’ve learned that for cross-border e-commerce involving Japanese products, using yen pricing during periods of yen depreciation is advantageous, while converting to the target country’s currency during periods of yen appreciation may be more beneficial.

While this hypothesis may not be flawless, it offers valuable insights from this case study.

Best regards,
Sato, Representative of applemint