Axes of Japanese B2B marketing
Japanese B2B marketing runs on (1) Google + Yahoo! search ads, (2) LINE official account support/broadcast, (3) business-card (Sansan) lead inflow, (4) webinars + weekly/whitepaper content.
Tools by category
Search / ads **Google Ads** + **Yahoo! Ads** — Yahoo! still meaningful in Japan.
SNS / brand **X (Twitter) JP** is strong for B2B. **LINE Official Account** broadcasts.
Email **Benchmark Email (JP)**, **HubSpot**, **Brevo** — Invoice System + JPY.
Automation **Marketo Engage (Adobe)**, **HubSpot**, **SATORI**, **BowNow** — SATORI/BowNow own the SMB MA segment in Japan.
Business-card lead **Sansan** — primary lead→CRM source.
Web analytics **GA4**, **KARTE**, **Rtoaster** — Japanese behavior-analytics locals.
Landing / forms **ferret One** — Japanese B2B landing + SEO integrated.
Webinar / video **Zoom Webinar**, **Video BRAIN**, etc.
Recommended stack
- **Solo–5 SaaS**: HubSpot Free + Sansan + GA4 + LINE Official
- **10–50**: HubSpot Pro + Sansan + SATORI + KARTE + Google + Yahoo!
- **Enterprise**: Marketo Engage + Sansan + KARTE + Salesforce
Japan-specific tips
- Whitepaper/weekly-report PDFs remain strong lead magnets
- Starting MA without Sansan data cuts lead quality in half
- LINE Official Account conversion point is 1:1 DM after friend-add
- Don't discount Yahoo! Ads, especially for reaching 50+ decision-makers
Pitfalls
- Email-only dependence: Japanese email reply rates are relatively low
- Using only English MA tools and skipping SATORI/BowNow: limited Japanese A/B testing
- No webinars: Japanese B2B webinars convert to contracts at a high rate
The four axes are business cards + search + webinars + LINE; MA + CRM + LINE integration is the base of the Japanese funnel.