The Best Social Media Channels In Korea Every Marketer Needs To Know

To start your marketing journey in South Korea, you need to know first the best social media channels that Koreans often use. It is important to choose an online platform that suits best your brand’s image and goals.

Social media has become an essential part of our daily lives, work, and most especially businesses. However, many available online platforms can make you wonder what best fits your business.

But don’t worry, this article will give you many options to choose from to start digital marketing in South Korea. You can also check out Social Media Marketing In South Korea – A Guide for more insights specifically if you are a startup in the industry.

What is Social Media Channels

Social Media Channels are digital applications that allow people to share, create content and give social networks and communities information. There are many popular platforms around such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and many more.

Most of these social media channels have specific regulations and, limitations. So anyone with mobile phones or digital devices with the internet can set up any social media account. As a result, they can share any content they want.

The Importance of Social Media Channels in Digital Marketing

Generally, social media channels have become one of the major aspects of digital marketing. That’s why business owners have used this to reach their current and potential customers.

As of now, everyone has benefited from its features and value. So if you are not using it, you are missing out on an amazing marketing opportunity. Here are the important reasons why you should use it:

Cost-effective

Signing up to any social media platform is free! So if you create content or a campaign, you can easily post it and everyone can see and share it with other people. However, you can also use paid advertising on social media. Being cost-effective will help you to focus on other marketing activities and give you a better return on investment.

Improved Brand Awareness

Using social media platforms can increase brand visibility and recognition. Many claimed that their social marketing efforts have grown and improved their sales.

Engaging Customers

People have spent their time regularly on social media. So interacting and engaging with customers on a personal level made it easier and efficient.

Improved Brand Loyalty

As you always stay connected with your audience via social media platforms, it eventually creates a loyal customer base. That’s why it’s important to engage with your customers on a deeper level.

Increased Traffic

The more quality and creative content you share on your social account, the more traffic you will make. Then it creates a surge in your sales.

Enhanced SEO rankings

Right now, it is not just updating your blog and simply optimizing your website. Social media presence is crucial since it acts as a signal to the search engines that your business is trustworthy and authentic.

Social Media Marketing in South Korea

South Korea has fast & free Wifi access. Thus, we can conclude that they are one of the most active social media users worldwide. That’s why there are many available social media channels they can use.

According to the reports of We Are Social and Hootsuite’s Digital report, South Koreans regularly use Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. But they are also loyal to their homegrown Korean social media channels.

South Korea has developed its social media platforms and it dominates the whole digital market. For example, Kakaotalk, a popular messaging platform. KakaoStory, a social network platform launched by Kakao and many more.

The Best Social Media Channels In Korea Every Marketer Needs To Know

These are the social media channels that you should consider for your digital marketing strategy. Using these nine online platforms can make your brand more popular and reach your target audience in South Korea more quickly!

Daum/KakaoTalk

It is a free messenger software that is used by the majority of Koreans. Daum/KakaoTalk is a popular platform since they can talk with their friends, finding out the recent news about K-idols, and read the news.

Also, they can play games and do online shopping. Basically, they spend most of their time in Daum/Kakao Talk. Ever since Daum and Kakao merged, it has been unstoppable. They even included 15 languages so that everyone can use this.

So this social media channel can make your campaign reach your target audience without any hassle since it has over 46 million active users.

BAND (by Naver)

One of the popular applications by Naver is called BAND. It is not only known in South Korea but also in the United States. It provides several online communication tools such as online attendance checks, group chat, and live broadcast features.

The Republic of Korea Army and the gaming community are frequent users of Naver Band. Its monthly users are continuously increasing since 2020. We can say that its features attract many people globally.

This is a good application for campus groups, sports teams, and interest-based groups. For marketers, Naver Band is the platform to watch out for.

READ MORE:

Social Media Marketing In South Korea – A Guide
An Insight Into B2B Social Media Marketing
Social Media Calendar Tips: A Guide

Naver Cafe

This is a social networking site by Naver which is the famous online platform in South Korea. Naver Cafe users can register for membership in various “cafes”. As of now, over 10 million Cafe channels exist on this platform.

This is a well-loved platform since many Koreans are using this up to this day. As a result, if you use this, it will attract people of all ages. Naver Cafe can be used through computers or laptops, smartphones, and Mac.

Daum Cafe

It has similar features to Naver Cafe. Daum and Naver are rivals in this industry. They have developed the same services but different and unique features. In Daum Cafe, many people are sharing their interests, communicate with others, and exchanging information.

Also, they have a feature that allows you to see the hot topics on the internet in the time you are searching. So it’s a good platform to include and work with your digital marketing business.

Cyworld

Cyworld is a pioneer social networking service in South Korea. It may not be the first choice of many marketers but it is worth trying. This platform continues to update its features according to what users want.

The “Cy” means cyber and has operated in Vietnam and China. So this platform can work on your digital marketing.

YouTube

One of the social media channels that you need to consider is Youtube. This particularly differs from others since it focuses on creating videos. It is now on the top online platforms in South Korea together with Naver Blog and Facebook.

Though it’s hard to make a high-quality video, this can make you stand out since not everyone considers using Youtube. There are millions of users on this platform that can see your video.

That’s why you should make an amazing video so that YouTube’s search algorithm will make your video on top results. And if you convey your message well, it will generate more people recognizing your brand.

There are many video editing tools in the market. So don’t miss out on the huge audience of Youtube.

Instagram

Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms for a lot of marketers for so many reasons. Right now, the number of users of Instagram in South Korea has increased rapidly.

Since it allows users to share different content like videos, photos, and stories, it creates visually appealing campaigns and messages. Additionally, they launched IGTV for longer-form videos.

Its features are easy to use and not time-consuming. As a marketer, Instagram is the place to go for introducing your brand’s image. We continuously see an increase in Instagram users since many Korean celebrities are already using it.

LINE

It is a messenger application that allows users to chat in groups, make voice and video calls to their friends and family. It still receives love from Koreans since it is one of the first apps in their country.

LINE is a great social media channel that you can use to advertise and market your product and services to its thousands of users. It’s a platform where Koreans are still using and downloaded on their mobile phones.

Twitter

Twitter is a social media platform for sports, politics, entertainment, and more. It is a free application where everyone can sign up. It has limited text characters with only 280 which can be called “tweets”.

This is a globally popular platform since many influential people are using this. Over 80 percent of social customer service requests happen on this platform based on the advertisers of Twitter.

That’s why it is a popular customer service channel. Twitter is not only just expressing your opinions but it can help you to grow your business too.

Social Media Usage in South Korea in 2021

As of January 2021, there are 45.79 million social media users in South Korea. Between 2020 and 2021, the number of social media users has gradually increased by 1.1 million. Thus, 85% of South Koreans are using social media platforms. It’s a no-brainer to look at the numbers since they are known for being one of the most connected in the world.

Conclusion

As a marketer, it’s important to know the best social media channels in each country. Every people has their own preferences so you need to learn how to utilize the available online platforms that are the best suited to your brand. Especially in South Korea where they developed their digital application, it is essential to learn and understand the various online platforms.