What is LINE?

What is LINE?

04 February 2021 |

Social Media

What is LINE

LINE is a Japanese Instant messenger app, which was originally developed as an emergency response solution following the Tohoku earthquake in 2011. As a result of the earthquake, most normal channels of communication were not available and so displaced communities relied on the internet to contact missing loved ones. The LINE app launched the following  year and quickly became popular, surpassing 50 million users in its first year. Similar to Whatsapp and Facebook Messenger, LINE’s key offerings include being able to call and text their contacts, sharing stickers, animated emojis and games.

LINE’s key feature is that users can text and call people from their smartphones through an existing web data plan. This means that users are communicating  over the internet rather than via the phone, and are not charged for a phone call but debited from their existing data plan.

What does LINE offer users?

LINE Pay: lets users send money between friends, and can also be used in shops operation like s like Apple Pay

LINE Taxi: Users can order taxi

LINE Dilema: allows users to order food or pick it up themselves using LINE Pockeo.

LINE Music: Offers an alternative to Spotify or Apple Music, where users can stream music on the app. 

LINE Messenger: Home to Line Stickers, which users send to one another and are used as visual language. The stickers are one of the most fruitful revenue streams of LINE’S business. 

Official Account: allows advertisers to strengthen engagement with users through the account service. 

Basic features include: broadcast messages, timeline posts, chat features. 

Ad Environments: Advertisers who use line premium inventories can run advertising across 5 main LINE ad formats within the LINE app. 

 

How do advertisers leverage LINE for marketing strategies?

After growing success in Japan, LINE has also grown in popularity in countries such as Thailand, reaching 47 million users in Q3 2020. Taiwan has also taken to LINE remarkably well, with 87% of the Taiwanese population using the app since its launch in market in 2018. Given these strong users stats, advertisers have an opportunity to capitalise on the strong user base and by leveraging Line Ad platform to reach and engage with their consumers. 

LINE can be leveraged across all phases of the marketing funnel, with specific ad formats available to utilise. 

Awareness and Perception —- Line Display, Mission stickers, Line Ads Platform (LAP)

Interest and Consideration— Line Display, LAP, LINE My shop, Line Points Code

Purchase— Line Display, LAP, Line My Shop

Retention & Loyalty— LAP, Line Official Account, 

 

LINE Ads Platform ads are a mix between native and feed based ads. If you would like to learn more about how LINE can be implemented into your next digital campaign, contact your ADMATICian today.