Social media in South Korea had a penetration rate of almost 91 percent in 2023, making it a major player as an online medium for advertising and marketing. With
having increased rapidly over the past years, the focus has largely been on search and video ads. Social media users tended to favor video and image-based marketing over text-based ads, while
, for which social media ads, which rely on algorithms tailored to individual users, are ideal.
Translating social media ads to sales
A 2023 survey in South Korea found that around 86 percent of respondents had
bought products after seeing ads for them on social media at least once over the past year. The largest, at 39 percent, had made between one and three purchases. These purchases were most commonly made on KakaoTalk and Instagram, with clothing and cosmetics or beauty products being the
most popular products. Despite having a
potential social media ad reach of about 44 million people, YouTube’s large user base did not seem to translate into sales as often as it did on other platforms.
Influencer advertising in South Korea
Around 55 percent of
people in South Korea followed influencers on social media according to a 2023 survey. Meanwhile, roughly 45 percent had purchased products endorsed by influencers, with YouTubers being the most common influencer type to successfully sell goods to their followers. Influencers are an ideal combination of entertaining and targeted, as they already have a curated audience that follows them for entertaining content on specific topics. While most
followers were prepared to pay more for influencer-affiliated products, a significant 45 percent would rather pay the going rate of similar, non-influencer products. Influencers mostly endorsed products already commonly bought via social media ads, such as clothing, cosmetics, and dietary products.
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