Tourism Australia in Korea - Case Study
From the Asialink Business Korea Country Starter Pack
In Korea, having a Korean language website and a proactive social media campaign is crucial, emphasises Scott Walker, Korea Country Manager for Tourism Australia.
If there is one thing crucial to successfully marketing your product to Koreans, it is your online presence. That is, having a website in the Korean language and a proactive social media campaign.
"You could have the greatest website in English, but if it is not in Korean, and therefore doesn't come up on the leading Korean search engine Naver, then you essentially are irrelevant to the Korean customer," emphasises Scott Walker, Korea Country Manager for Tourism Australia.
Tourism Australia is the No. 1 travel and leisure brand in Korea on the Kakao platform, and has more than 60,000 regular Facebook users taking part in its online competitions and events. It credits its strong social media presence and recently relaunched Korean website with a 12.4 per cent increase (year to date) in Korean tourists to Australia. Online marketing will also play a major role in Tourism Australia reaching its Korean market target of $2.8 billion by 2020.
Kakao, although originally an instant messaging service, has transformed to encompass apps, games, chatrooms, calls and news sharing. Similar to WeChat in China, the Korean business community uses Kakao for conference calls, with advertising and product reviews also an element of the social media platform.
"Identify what your Korean customers need - don't presume that content on your Australian page is going to be relevant or captivating on your Korean website."
Australian businesses entering Korea need to appreciate the influence of marketing via social media, and the need to be mobile friendly. Nine out of 10 Koreans accessing social networks do so on their mobile phones, giving Korea the highest number of mobile phone social networkers (as a percentage of population) in the Asia-Pacific.
To tap into all of these online marketing options, user-friendly websites and apps are critical. "A comprehensive marketing strategy for Korea should include in-depth research and gaining insights to what your customer wants, what competitors they currently use, what are the latest trends in the media and on social media outlets, as well as customising your content to the market," says Walker.
"Identify what your Korean customers need – don't presume that all of your content on your Australian page is going to be relevant or captivating on your Korean website."
Engaging a local Korean website designer or advertising company can help with this, particularly with developing a "fashionable" website and predicting upcoming trends.
Other forms of marketing that may be useful for a Korean market entry strategy are trade shows and celebrity endorsements of products. "Celebrity marketing or product usage on TV shows not only gets your product out to the Korean market, but often also other markets in Asia such as China and Indonesia through the regional popularity of Korean celebrities," highlights Walker.
Trade shows can also be a vital tool for launching products in Korea. But with countless trade shows operating in the market, Australian businesses need to carefully research which one to take part in, depending on your product or service type.
Walker suggests: "Investigate which are the most popular trade shows for your industry, which are your potential business partners and customers going to, and don't assume that an annual trade show is necessarily the most prevalent. It is also important to ensure the program has opportunities for casual networking events to allow you to meet people and broaden your group of local contacts."
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