Working with Japanese Crypto Influencers
Tips on collaborating with well-known local online personalities to bring awareness to your blockchain or cryptocurrency project in Japan.
Japan has established itself as one of the world’s most important cryptocurrency markets. While many of the norms we have come to expect in the global English-speaking cryptosphere hold true in Japan, there are substantial local differences that need to be taken into account when promoting a blockchain project here.
Based on helping a broad range of international projects enter the Japanese market, we recently published this guide to help them in planning their approach.
While the guide did touch on influencers, we got a lot of questions, and so though to go into a bit more depth. Hopefully, this article will help you manage expectations and avoid pitfalls.
Of course, influencer marketing in the crypto space suffers from negative stereotypes. We’re not advocating for investing in marketing fluff, buzz, or hype — and we hope that yours is not the type of project that would consider such an approach. This will be a discussion about finding a competent local who can communicate your project’s strengths in ways that make sense to people from a similar background.
Contents
- Is it Worthwhile?
- Compliance Issues
- Online Platforms
- Offline Marketing
- Japan’s Top Crypto Influencers
- Sourcing Options
- Working Arrangements
- Conclusion
Is it Worthwhile?
Assuming you’ve decided that Japan is a market worthwhile investing in, you’re probably wondering whether engaging a local influencer is going to result in sufficient ROI. As with any marketing tactic, the answer is, “It depends.” We’re certainly not going to try and sell you on the idea if it’s not your project’s way of doing things.
Many Japanese crypto investors do rely on influencers for information when deciding on which token to purchase or whether or not to get involved in a project’s community. If you find the right influencer who truly resonates with your project and presents it in an authentic way that compels their audience to take action, it can indeed accelerate progress.
That said, we do offer the following advice to set expectations.
- Working with a local influencer is not essential for success in Japan.
- Crypto influencers in Japan have much smaller followings than their counterparts in the English-speaking world, so you shouldn’t expect explosive results.
- Influencers cannot explicitly promote an ICO, token sale, or give investment advice.
- Rather than seeking to work with the “biggest” or “hottest” influencer, we recommend finding one that fits your brand and who can articulate your project’s value proposition in ways that will make sense to your target market.
- Most Japanese crypto investors are quite sophisticated and analytical. We, therefore, suggest you seek to educate rather than convince your target audience and let them make up their own minds. Of course, you can still keep it fun and entertaining, if that’s the influencer’s style.
Compliance Issues
In terms of regulations, influencers cannot explicitly promote a token sale or give investment advice. What they can do is talk about the project’s technology, features, business model, team, and other strengths — then give the URL of your Japanese website, Twitter, or Telegram Group, etc. for learning more.
Influencers are required by law to disclose if their content is sponsored. Beyond that, it’s just the right thing to do. However, influencers here don’t always do this, so to avoid any potential issues, we recommend that you specifically request that they do so.
Having content marked as sponsored won’t necessarily lessen its effectiveness. The influencer’s audience will appreciate their transparency. It will also show your project as one that takes the Japanese market seriously enough that you would commercially engage a local influencer.
Online Platforms
Among the Japanese crypto community, blogs and Twitter tend to be the most popular forms of online media.
Japanese was the first language officially supported by Twitter after English, and the Japan office was the first to open outside of the USA. Thanks to a variety of factors, the platform has even become more popular than Facebook in Japan.
Japanese users follow influencers, business trends, technology, and news. When someone tweets something controversial or noteworthy, users tend to jump on the tweet and create buzz around it.
Japanese influencers often refer to themselves as bloggers, rather than influencers. The English speaking crypto community tends to favor using Medium and Steemit. However, there is no specific blog platform favored by Japanese crypto bloggers, and so Twitter is relied on to bring everyone together.
Offline Marketing
Street Marketing
Street marketing has the characteristic of being unconventional. While your physical audience will be limited to passers-by, you can have a videographer shooting footage that can be edited into clips and still pictures to suit your narrative that can be released via various platforms. If your antics stand out and amuse, passers-by will also shoot and share pictures and videos.
The difficulty with a street marketing campaign is to plan, organize, and execute the operation. While it should appear spontaneous, it’s worthwhile planning details. For example, having a signboard with the relevant hashtag(s) and social handles so that people know how to describe what they’re seeing and buzz can be cultivated.
One favorite location is Shibuya’s famous scramble crossing, which is often compared to the Times Square intersection in New York City. It is often featured in international movies and television shows to symbolize Tokyo.
Another iconic location is Tokyo Station. Almost every Japanese person will recognize the historical building’s distinctive red brick facade and it is nearby the nation’s most prestigious business districts.
Private Events
These can be highly effective because you can restrict the guest list to VIPs and center the event around one or more influencers who will give a presentation or participate in a discussion panel. Photos and videos taken during the event can then be curated and posted online along with an edited transcription or slides.
We are often invited to such events. However, a significant number of them fail to attract the organizer’s desired turn-out. If you’re thinking of organizing one, here are some tips to avoid disappointment.
- Build a List: Put together a list of all your contacts that you want to come. If you don’t have enough, then you can ask those who are well connected to bring other thought leaders.
- Send Invitations: Don’t assume that the mystique of casually mentioning your event in passing is going to make people come. Personally email them a proper invitation with all the details.
- Personalize: Don’t just spam people. Make sure each email is tailored to the recipient’s interests and then follow-up with a call. Help people understand why it’s going to be worth their while to attend.
- Give Prior Notice: Don’t contact someone a week prior and expect them to drop everything they’re doing and show up. In Japan, you want to be giving people at least one month’s prior notice.
Examples of Japanese Crypto Influencers
Disclaimer
- The list below is NOT any kind of ranking. We don’t think that ranking influencers is necessarily productive. You’re better off choosing one that fits your brand and finding ways to leverage and amplify their content.
- It is not an exhaustive list. Inclusion doesn’t imply endorsement and exclusion doesn’t mean that a particular influencer is no good.
- Not all of these influencers are available for hire or sponsorship. For those who are, we cannot guarantee they will take an interest in your project. Their status may also change depending on their individual circumstances.
Japanese Crypto Influencers
Below is a list of influencers in alphabetical order of their Twitter handle.
- @1000Crypto: A part-time trader who got started by investing 10M yen of his savings. The rest was, as they say, history.
- @BigStoneBTC: Bitcoin enthusiast, crypto blogger, and angel investor.
- @CaptainJacksan: Captain Jack is an ideal influencer for introducing crypto projects seeking a mainstream audience. He also has a fascinating life story.
- @CryptoC_x: Fukuro (Owl) is active blogging, on YouTube, and covers a broad variety of crypto-related topics. He was the original Editor in Chief of Coin Magazine. Loves his pet owl.
- @Coin_and_Peace: Koji Higashi is the Co-Founder and CEO of blockchain co-working space and incubator, HashHub.
- @DEG_2020: Shares his insights gained from investing in cryptocurrencies, including ICOs, for the past few years.
- @Edindin_Crypto: A company employee sharing his passion cryptocurrency investment in his spare time, but unexpectedly attracting a substantial following.
- @IHayato: In addition to discussing cryptocurrencies, he gives advice on how to make a living as a professional blogger.
- @JunBHirano: Junya Hirano invests in both cryptocurrencies and startups. He blogs to share his insights.
- @MissBitcoin_Mai: Mai Fujimoto, known as “Miss Bitcoin,” is the CEO of consulting firm Gracone, author of a popular self-help book, and founder of donation platform Kizuna.
- @PoiPoiKunPoi: Known for his sense of humor, Poi blogs about crypto investment. He published a popular starters guide to cryptocurrencies. Beyond the cryptosphere, he has also been featured in domestic mainstream media.
- @Sen_Axis: An unofficial evangelist for the Pomeranian cryptocurrency, he talks about tech and trading crypto. Has been a guest writer for various domestic crypto media outlets.
Sourcing Options
You’ll need to find an influencer that matches your brand and target market. Before you begin reaching out, consider first preparing at least a simple landing page in Japanese with all the main information about your project so that they can refer to it.
- Direct Approach: You could hire a Japanese freelancer via Upwork to help you source them. However, note that they are unlikely to respond, even if contacted in Japanese because they are so overwhelmed with inquiries and struggle to find time to vet them all.
- Influencer Agencies: These are a very recent phenomenon. Two that we know of are Crypto Agency and Terminal. Their sites are in Japanese, but if you write them an email in simple English, they should be able to communicate in writing. If you want to work with crypto YouTubers that can cover both Japan and Korea, we have had good experiences with Rooted Partners.
- Creative Agencies: While the global ad agencies obviously all have offices in Tokyo, there are also a number of small players who cater to international clients and also function informally as liaisons with influencers. Ones with knowledge of the crypto space include Humble Bunny and Pikkles.
Working Arrangements
- Quality Over Quantity: Think about how you can develop relationships with a couple of key individuals who will support you over the mid to long-term.
- Cost: On average, influencers in Japan charge the equivalent to around 5 yen per follower for a single post. However, this may vary depending on their niche and the quality of their following. If you go through an agency, they will be adding a margin on top of this.
- Currency: As for currency, most prefer BTC or JPY. They are unlikely to want to accept payment in your token because so many projects have either failed outright or struggled to raise the value of their token.
- Discounts: Some influencers may be willing to offer discounts for a bulk deal, but this is not always the case. They may want to first try doing just one post to see how their audience reacts and then revisit discussions.
- Payment: In many cases, influencers ask to be paid up front — especially when the market is in their favor. The risk factor can be mitigated by clear communications and working to develop a relationship.
Conclusion
Working with the right influencer that fits your project’s brand image and target market can accelerate your growth in Japan. Choose an influencer who takes an educational approach over a sales-pitch one. Seek to build a long-term relationship and consider utilizing both online and offline strategies.
About Us
Founded in November 2017 and headquartered in Japan, CoinJinja’s mission is to inform, educate, and connect the global cryptocurrency community while removing barriers to making transactions.
We operate Japan’s most popular ICO listing website, CoinJinja.com, and the top crypto app, CoinView. We also offer promotion services to blockchain projects seeking to enter the Japanese market.
