In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore the nuances of LINE Digital Marketing, uncovering the strategies and tactics businesses employ to tap into Japan’s highly engaged and tech-savvy consumer base. Get ready to unlock the secrets of leveraging LINE’s powerful platform to reach your target audiences in this unique market.
LINE app in Japan
The LINE app is a free messaging and social media application with an integrated payment system. It was developed in 2011 in Japan. Since its launch, it has become the most popular messaging app in Japan. Moreover, it is also widely spread in Taiwan, Indonesia, and Thailand. Thus many companies in Japan use LINE for their digital marketing campaigns.
People know LINE for its free voice and text messaging services. In addition, it has plenty of innovative features, such as emojis, stickers, and games. The user can either download existing stickers or create them themselves. Another reason for LINE’s popularity is its focus on privacy and security. Users can hide their online status, and messages are encrypted to protect user data. Additionally, LINE has become a hub for entertainment, social and day-to-day activities. LINE allows companies to use their platform for digital marketing. This is not the case with many other messaging applications.
LINE has approximately 97–98 million monthly active users in Japan as of 2025, making it the most widely used communication app in the country and reaching roughly 78% of the population. Usage spans all age groups, from teenagers to seniors, with the strongest concentration among users aged 20–40.
LINE can be used on mobile phones, tablets, or personal computers. It can be used on all operating systems of electronic devices.
LINE Digital Marketing in Japan
LINE advertising platform
Not surprisingly, businesses are tapping into this massive user base to promote their brands. Besides they can also reach potential customers. Companies in Japan use LINE for their digital marketing in different ways. In brief here is a list of potential ways:
- Official Accounts
LINE lets companies create Official Accounts no matter the size of the company. These accounts allow businesses to communicate with customers through messaging. Users can follow these accounts to receive updates and promotions, as well as loyalty cards. Official Accounts also offer features like chatbots. They can provide customer service and answer frequently asked questions. In general, to start an advertising campaign a company needs an Official Account. There are currently more than 3 million Official Accounts in Japan.
- Stickers and emoticons
A unique feature of LINE is its extensive collection of stickers and emoticons. What’s more, companies can create custom stickers featuring their brand, products, or mascots. Afterward, users can buy them or download for free, and use them in their conversations. As a result, this builds brand awareness and appeals to a younger audience. To increase their reach, businesses can opt for sponsored stickers, which will appear in the “new” and “free” categories of the sticker shop.
- Advertising
LINE Ads allows advertisers to access a variety of formats, targeting tools, and ad placement options across the Line family of services. Furthermore, LINE advertising also offers real-time campaign tracking and analysis. This provides companies with measurable results and insights.
- E-commerce integration
In addition to its messaging features, LINE has integrated e-commerce capabilities. In other words, companies can sell products from within the app. Customers can browse and buy products, and track orders. Besides they can receive notifications about product updates and promotions.
However, LINE excludes the following businesses from advertising and using business services:
- Religions and Religious Groups
- Gambling-related, pachinko, etc. (excluding public games, public lotteries, and sports promotion lotteries)
- Adult related
- Dating sites, matching sites, etc.
- Multi Level marketing transactions
- Cigarettes, electronic cigarettes
- Weapons & poisonous and harmful substances
- Unapproved drugs/medical devices, etc.
- information products
- Illegal resale of tickets
LINE Digital Marketing strategy
The LINE app allows companies to target their audience with high precision. For example, several attributes are available to ensure efficient ad delivery, such as the user’s age and gender. Additionally, it is possible to target users who have previously made purchases.
There are several ad formats available depending on the advertiser’s goal. These objectives may be to increase the
- traffic to your website
- conversions on your website
- number of app installs
- number of app launches among your app users
- number of video views
- number of friends on your official LINE account
In General, there are web ads, app ads, and video apps. Those ad formats are targeted to individual business goals. An advertiser should use web ads to promote content on an external website. But if the goal is to drive app downloads, an app ad is the right choice. However, a video ad is the correct choice to promote brand awareness.
As of April 2026, LINE Ads has been unified with Yahoo! Japan Display Ads into a single platform, LY Ads Display Ads, giving advertisers combined reach across both LINE and Yahoo! Japan properties from one campaign setup. Within the LINE app, ads currently appear in the following placements:
- Home Tab / Smart Channel — the top of the chat list, LINE’s highest-traffic screen
- LINE VOOM — LINE’s short-form video feed
- LINE TODAY — the in-app news feed
- LINE Wallet — LINE’s payment and financial services section
- LINE OpenChat — LINE’s open community chat rooms
- LINE Album / LINE Note — shared photo and note spaces within chats
A business can select which placements to target for a campaign, and format/size requirements vary by placement.
web ad and app ad formats
Video ad formats
LINE advertising cost
There’s no fixed minimum budget required to advertise on LINE. Ad costs are determined through a real-time bidding system, with bids starting from as little as ¥1 per event (a click, conversion, or view). In practice, most businesses budget at least ¥50,000–¥100,000 per month to see meaningful results, and campaigns typically need to run for a few months to generate enough data for reliable performance insights.
To run LINE Ads, a business needs an Official Account. LINE offers three account plans:
- Communication Plan — Free, up to 200 messages per month
- Light Plan — ¥5,000/month, up to 5,000 messages per month
- Standard Plan — ¥15,000/month, up to 30,000 messages per month, with additional messages available at up to ¥3 each
Note: LY Corporation has announced a pricing structure change taking effect on October 1, 2026, so businesses budgeting for late 2026 and beyond should confirm current rates directly with LINE before finalizing a plan.
