Which communication channels do you and your company use for business? There are many tools varying from SNS such as LinkedIn and Instagram to instant messaging tools such as Slack and Microsoft Teams, and of course the more traditional methods of E-mail telephone.
In April 2020, Bigbeat Inc. released our mail marketing tool, ‘B-marketing’, which uses e-mail, which it is still the main communication tool in the Japanese business scene.
We often hear stories like these above, stories, regretting the communication opportunity lost. Our B-marketing functions as a marketing tool, which combines mail deliveries with analytics and segmentation of contact lists.
Before going into the details of B-marketing, here is a brief overview of the usage of communication channels in Japan.
Source: "Survey on average time spent using information communication media (SNS, Email) and on behavior regarding the use of information communication. 2017", Institute for Information and Communications Policy, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications
https://www.soumu.go.jp/johotsusintokei/whitepaper/ja/h30/html/nd252540.html
*Rates are based on the survey responses, "Frequently used", "Used sometimes" and "Not used at all."
*Rates are based on the survey responses, "Frequently used".
Source: "Survey on ‘realization of inclusion‘ by ICT, 2018", Institute for Information and Communications Policy, Mnistry of Internal Affairs and Communications
https://www.soumu.go.jp/johotsusintokei/whitepaper/ja/h30/html/nd144220.html
Adobe Inc. released the result of their survey, the ‘2019 Consumer Email Survey’, which was conducted in July 2019 in the USA, the UK, Germany, France, Australia, India and Japan, each with 1,000 participants who were both men and women between the ages of 10’s to 60’s.
Most of Japanese participants answered ‘by e-mail’ (38%) the most preferable type of communication in the office. ‘In person’ was the preferred method of communication in other countries, but showed a lower result in Japan (11%). On the other hand, instant messaging tools stayed low at 17%, showing that e-mails and telephones remain as the main tools for communication in the Japanese business scene.
Source: 2019 Adobe Email Report, Email Usage - Working Knowledge Workers (WW comparisson), Adobe Systems
https://www.slideshare.net/AdobeJapanPR/2019-adobe-email-report
Although enterprise social networking may be used within the office, many businesspeople consider e-mails as the main tool of communication for clients and partners. Many in Japan start their workday by opening their email boxes, where they find various newsletters, such as pick-up news from news media, event invitations from seminar offices that they attended before, Google Alerts, emails from clients and so on. Some of them receive these emails because they are a part of a company’s house list where everyone receive the same content, while others may be sent with tailored content, according to each persons’ situation. B-marketing is capable of handling either situation.
Mailing solutions had long been ‘newsletters.’ Whether it is B2C or B2B, many enterprises have been delivering the industry and their company information via newsletters. As the impact of content marketing became a hot topic, the importance of newsletters seemed to grow even more.
On the other hand, users began to receive more information from more companies, and they began to select only the information they view as important to them. Sometimes, companies need to send out the same information to all recipients. But most recipients feel that most of the information is irrelevant to them and they may unsubscribe to newsletters or delete the emails before opening them.
For this reason, mailing solutions have shifted from uniform newsletters sent to everyone, to e-mail marketing, which provides required information to people who need it.
B-marketing is specialized in e-mail marketing, whose function is more than a simple mail delivery. While it does not have MA functions, it can be used throughout the year, or on a single order basis.
It can either deliver e-mails to all members on the imported house list, or to a segmented group of people. After the mail deliveries, the rate of mail openings, CTR, and unsubscribe rate can be checked, and used to improve the next delivery.
B-marketing can be used for your company’s lead generation strategy, using newly acquired leads at exhibitions etc. It is also useful for the attendee generation of seminars.
We provide a fully operational support service staffed by a professional team who are highly trained and specialized in the handling and protection of personal information. Please let us handle your projects!
If your company is interested in or considering to expand your business in Japan, or you need further information or assistance, do not hesitate to contact us here!