[Latest] Comprehensive Guide to LINE Ads: Features, Types, and Placements

LINE Ads is an advertising platform for one of Japan's largest communication apps with over 97 million monthly users. We'll explain its unique features, ad types, and diverse delivery surfaces.

Features of LINE Ads

The basic mechanism of LINE Ads involves submitting creatives and text according to regulations; the delivery surfaces corresponding to the format are then automatically selected for ad distribution.

Boasting the largest number of users in Japan, LINE is a powerful advertising platform as well as a messaging app. By leveraging LINE Ads, companies and brands can reach vast audiences and conduct effective promotions.

The key features are detailed below.

Massive User Base

LINE has over 97 million monthly active users in Japan, covering about 70% of the population.

Demographics are well-balanced across age, gender, and geography, closely matching Japan's population distribution.

Source: LINE Business Guide

Because of the large user base and high frequency of use across all ages, advertising strategies can be precisely tailored to target segments.

High Engagement Potential

As a daily communication tool for many Japanese people, LINE enjoys close proximity to users and high engagement. Ads appear in an environment users interact with every day, making them easier to notice.

It also enables reaching users who are inaccessible through other social media platforms.

Source: LINE Business Guide

Types of LINE Ads

There are five types of LINE Ads. Here, we explain their formats and features.

LINE Ads (Timeline / Talk List)

Ads appearing on the Timeline or Talk list, including banners and videos. They catch the eye easily as they are on screens users check frequently.

LINE Official Account Ads

Using messages from Official Accounts to promote adding friends or running special campaigns. To manage these, businesses need to set up advertising accounts for each product or service.

LINE Point Ads

A system where users earn points for viewing ads, boosting engagement. Since LINE Points are widely used across generations, users can earn them with a sense of getting a small reward.

LINE Shopping Ads

Linked with e-commerce sites to promote purchases. This format is effective for regular LINE Shopping users, especially among females.

LINE Video Ads

Using video content to promote brand awareness through storytelling. Video ads can convey service details more effectively than static images.

Delivery Surfaces

LINE Ads can be distributed across many surfaces, reaching a wide range of users and generations.

Source: LINE Business Guide

LINE Ad Formats

There are five formats available. You select the format based on the placement and purpose. Each format differs in appearance and delivery destination.

Source: LINE Business Guide

Card

A landscape format for static images (1200x628) or videos (16:9). It's a standard format compatible with almost all placements.

Square

Appears in a 1:1 format for images (1080x1080) or videos. It takes up more screen space, providing a more immersive impression compared to the Card format.

Carousel

A format that allows swiping through up to 10 images or videos. It's useful for displaying multiple products or delivering a story-based appeal.

Small Image

Displays a small image. It appeared at the top of Talk lists or in LINE NEWS, capturing high user visibility.

Vertical

A 9:16 video format for LINE VOOM and the LINE Ads Network, appearing full-screen. Note that it may be displayed in a 3:4 ratio on certain tabs, so care is needed with text placement.

LINE Ads Targeting Features

LINE Ads allow targeting based on registration info, in-app behavior, and purchase history.

Targeting options include demographic targeting (age, gender, etc.), detailed targeting based on interests and behavior, and audience delivery using website/app activity data or identifier uploads.

Demographic Targeting

Allows targeting based on gender, age, region, and operating system.

Web Traffic Audience	Created based on site visits or behavioral history on a website.
Mobile App Audience	Created based on in-app events such as first launch or in-app purchases.
IDFA/AAID Upload	Created by uploading proprietary IDFA/AAID data.
Phone Number Upload	Creates an audience segments from phone numbers.
Email Address Upload	Creates an audience segments from email addresses.
LINE OA Friend Audience	Creates segments from "active friends" or "blocked friends" of an Official Account.
Lookalike Audience	Identifies similar users in a 1-15% range or automatically based on audience targeting.
Video Watch Audience	Creates an audience from users who watched a video or based on playback rate.
Image Click Audience	Creates an audience of people who clicked on images used in campaigns.

Detailed Targeting

Targeting based on users' interests, hobbies, and behaviors within the LINE app.

Web Traffic Audience	Created based on site visits or behavioral history on a website.
Mobile App Audience	Created based on in-app events such as first launch or in-app purchases.
IDFA/AAID Upload	Created by uploading proprietary IDFA/AAID data.
Phone Number Upload	Creates an audience segments from phone numbers.
Email Address Upload	Creates an audience segments from email addresses.
LINE OA Friend Audience	Creates segments from "active friends" or "blocked friends" of an Official Account.
Lookalike Audience	Identifies similar users in a 1-15% range or automatically based on audience targeting.
Video Watch Audience	Creates an audience from users who watched a video or based on playback rate.
Image Click Audience	Creates an audience of people who clicked on images used in campaigns.

Audience Delivery

Utilizes site visitor data, in-app action data, friend info from Official Accounts, and proprietary customer data for ad delivery. You can target or exclude certain segments and reach lookalike users.

Web Traffic Audience	Created based on site visits or behavioral history on a website.
Mobile App Audience	Created based on in-app events such as first launch or in-app purchases.
IDFA/AAID Upload	Created by uploading proprietary IDFA/AAID data.
Phone Number Upload	Creates an audience segments from phone numbers.
Email Address Upload	Creates an audience segments from email addresses.
LINE OA Friend Audience	Creates segments from "active friends" or "blocked friends" of an Official Account.
Lookalike Audience	Identifies similar users in a 1-15% range or automatically based on audience targeting.
Video Watch Audience	Creates an audience from users who watched a video or based on playback rate.
Image Click Audience	Creates an audience of people who clicked on images used in campaigns.

LINE Advertising Costs

There are no initial fees or fixed price lists for LINE Ads. Advertisers can freely set their own budgets, allowing for ad distribution even with small amounts.

By setting an upper budget limit beforehand, you can manage delivery with peace of mind. Budgets can be updated after delivery starts; starting small and increasing the amount as results emerge allows for flexible operation.

3 Billing Methods for LINE Ads

LINE Ads use three types of billing:

Cost Per Click (CPC): Fees are incurred when a user clicks the ad. No cost for just being displayed. Suitable for driving product purchases or site traffic.
Cost Per Mille (CPM): Fees are incurred when the ad is fully displayed on a smartphone. Ideal for maximizing reach and visibility.
Cost Per Friend (CPF): Fees are incurred only when a user adds your Official Account as a friend via the ad. Highly cost-effective as you pay only for new friend acquisitions.

Strategic Budget Setting

Budgets should be set based on targets. A good benchmark is your target CPA multiplied by the target number of conversions.

Budget Estimate = Target CPA × Target Conversions

What is CPA?

CPA stands for Cost Per Action—the cost spent to acquire one customer or action. Target CPA is the maximum amount you're willing to pay for one conversion (e.g., spending 3,000 yen in ads to sell one set of cosmetics).

If you want to sell 100 sets a month with a 3,000 yen CPA, your optimal budget would be 300,000 yen.

Source: LY Corporation for Business

3 Success Stories of LINE Ads

We have covered the basics of features, types, targeting, and costs. Now, we present three success stories of businesses achieving growth via LINE Ads.

Sakura Forest Co., Ltd.

Sakura Forest, operating original e-commerce for health and beauty products, increased conversions sixfold over three months of LINE Ads. By focusing on animated creatives and lookalike delivery based on purchaser data, they achieved 200–300 new acquisitions per day.

GooDay Home Center

Home center GooDay gained over 300,000 Friends on their LINE Official Account in under three years using CPF ads. During store renewals, they targeted local residents, maintaining costs between 130–200 yen per friend addition while effectively using the ads as digital flyers.

Style Edge Co., Ltd.

Style Edge, providing comprehensive support to legal and medical professionals, increased unique visitors to a law firm's website by 240% through LINE Ads. Given the broad demographics of law firm seekers, they achieved high acquisition by leveraging wide targeting settings.

Professional Management Support: Tomira

For businesses seeking an agency to handle LINE Ads, Tomira is the ideal choice. LINE Ads can be complex due to the variety of placements and targeting options. By outsourcing to an agency, businesses only need to define the concept and budget; all other operational tasks are handled by experts.

Tomira offers specialized expertise spanning from account consulting to creative production, management, and analysis. If you're struggling to effectively utilize LINE Ads, we can manage the entire process for you.

Common challenges Tomira solves:

Low knowledge of LINE Ads mechanics
Poor support from a current agency
Desire to acquire customers from the massive LINE user base
Low CTR or conversion rates
Failure to convert acquired friends into business value
Struggling to keep up with frequent feature updates

Core Features:

Managed by specialists dedicated to LINE Ads
Enabling long-term, stable customer acquisition
Comprehensive support from consulting to active management

Tomira LINE Ad Operation & Consulting

Tomira's service features professionals well-versed in the characteristics of LINE Ads, implementing ad management in the most suitable form for our clients. Therefore, ad management reflecting the latest trends is possible, and significant growth in results can be expected.
In addition, because we have established Tomira's unique operational logic based on insights to date, stable long-term customer attraction is possible. By rotating the PDCA cycle quickly, higher cost-effectiveness can be expected.
Furthermore, we can handle a wide range of requests, from consulting for accounts managed in-house to integrated plans where we handle production, operation, and analysis together. This allow us to identify improvement points from daily operations, reflect them quickly, and support result enhancement.

Item	Content
Service Name	Tomira LINE Ad Operation & Consulting
Company Name	Tomira Inc.
Address	BIZ SMART 235, 2-12-8 Kita-Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Business Content	・Web/Digital Marketing Support ・Recruitment Agency Business in the DX Field ・BPaaS / Remote Back Office Business (Accounting, Labor Relations, Assistance, Recruitment Operations)
Official Site	https://tomira.co.jp/marketing/ads/ads_line/

Summary

LINE Ads is an exceptionally effective platform for businesses due to its massive reach across generations. From simple wide-reaching formats to story-driven video, the platform offers diverse ways to capture user interest. Businesses looking to accelerate growth through customer acquisition should leverage the power of LINE. If you have any concerns or need specialized support, Tomira is here to help you get the most out of your advertising budget.