How to create a Yahoo! JAPAN PPC ads campaign strategy for the Japanese market

Is it your first time running ads on Yahoo! JAPAN, Japan’s most popular portal website with 84 billion page views a month? Then do not fret, as we’re here to support you – for free. Although if we worked with you, we would help create your ad campaign strategy for Yahoo! JAPAN, for others who are curious, these are the necessary steps involved for a successful PPC ad campaign on Japan’s no.1 web platform. 

Step 1: Set your goals and KPIs

Is it brand awareness you’re after? Or perhaps app downloads. Regardless of the type of ad campaign, the goals need to be defined in order to build the Yahoo! JAPAN PPC campaign strategy. It’s also important to get into specifics, like the number of signups you want for your event or the ROAS of an ad campaign. 

KPI examples:

• Clicks, click through rate (CTR) and cost per click (CPC)
• Impression share and cost per mille (CPM)
• Conversions, conversion rate (CVR)
• Cost per conversion/acquisition/install (CPA, CPI)
• Return on ad spend (ROAS)

Step 2: Define your target audience

Ensure that you know exactly who you need to target with your ads. Define your target audience by:

• Age group
• Profession 
• Gender
• Income
• Device preference (PC, mobile, or both)
• Behaviour (when are they active on the internet, purchase pattern, etc)
• Interests

If you are not sure who your audience is, we can help you research for the above audience metrics. For instance, here is the search user demographic of the keyword “wristwatch” (腕時計) on Yahoo! JAPAN (Aug 2020). Overall, the search volume is higher among males, but in terms of female’s search volume, the search volume is higher in the 40s age group.

Since Japanese user demographics may be different for your product or service compared to other markets, this is a research step that you must take before you start advertising.

Step 3: See what your competitors are doing

It may be difficult in collecting all of your competitors’ data, but a general competitor analysis is recommended. This will allow you to see what types of ad campaigns they are running. With our team’s support, we will be able to conduct this for you as we have access to Yahoo! JAPAN’s database and can share benchmark reports with you. 

Step 4: Choose your ad type (search ads vs display ads)

There are two main ad types on Yahoo! JAPAN: search ads (YSA) and display ads (YDA). Your campaign goals will help determine which ad type would be most effective.

YSA Search Ads

• Great for targeting business users
• No.1 PC user reach in Japan (beats Google)
• A must for B2B campaigns

YDA Display Ads

• Great for targeting mobile users (88% reach of all smartphone users in Japan)
• Best format for brand awareness campaigns using Brand Panel ads
• Track app downloads for both the Apple Store and Google Play

Step 5: Bidding and budgeting 

There is no “one size fits all” budget for everyone as the amount necessary for ad campaigns depends on many different factors like the popularity of keywords. Mostly the highest ranked keywords are not the most profitable, therefore, a PPC manager must balance the bidding strategy accordingly.

Try to use the Keyword Advice Tool which is similar to Google’s “Keyword Planner” when planning your bidding strategy. By seeing the estimated costs of certain keywords, you can get an idea of how much you should budget for the number of impressions and possible clicks you want to attain. You can enter a set of keywords or the landing page URL to generate keyword ideas. To use this tool, you need to open a Yahoo! JAPAN Ads account, but make sure to open through us to receive our free support.

If you would like to learn more about the difference between Yahoo! JAPAN and Google, gain basic knowledge on PPC in Japan, or other topics related to digital marketing in Japan, make sure to check out our blog archive. For any enquiry regarding PPC advertising in Japan or our free Yahoo! JAPAN support, contact us today.