● Full Integration of LINE Official Accounts and LINE@ 

● Functions that used to be restricted, including targeted deliveries and chat functions, now available on all plans

● Aiming to newly open 1,000 major accounts before the end of 2019

 

TOKYO – April 18, 2019 – A new platform for the LINE Official Account has launched, followed by the full integration of LINE Official Accounts and LINE@. LINE Official Accounts and LINE@ (now obsolete) are account ads LINE Corporation offers through LINE Biz-Solutions, a range of corporate services that use the LINE messaging app and related services.

 

 

 

 

Over 400 accounts opened under new plan

LINE has been offering LINE accounts for businesses in the form of LINE Official Accounts for major corporations and LINE@ for SMEs and retailers. Since its launch in 2012, over 500 LINE Official Accounts and over 3 million LINE@ accounts, including approved accounts and standard accounts, have been opened, supporting communication between many businesses and users.

 

On the other hand, LINE Official Accounts that offer advanced functionality and easy brand-building features have been difficult for SMEs and retailers to access, and it was difficult to have multiple accounts per brand even for major corporations due to its pricing structure. While LINE@ was offered at a low cost, it had issues such as insufficient functionality, and it was also considered too casual for brand-focused companies. Furthermore, from users’ perspectives, most of the messages sent by companies and shops have been on a so-called “broadcast”-basis, leading to issues such as communication being unidirectional and undifferentiated, much like mass advertising, and users being unable to find an account from which they could get the information they really wanted.

 

In order to solve those issues and rebuild LINE for Business services with more emphasis on users’ perspectives, LINE started to work on a full redesign of LINE for Business services last year, focusing on mutual relationship-building between businesses and users on a longer term. In December last year, the complex pricing plans were revised and new pricing plans for LINE Official Accounts were launched, making LINE Official Accounts available from 0 yen per month.

^{* Please refer to the related press release: https://linecorp.com/en/pr/news/en/2018/2550}

 

The new pricing plan will enable a wider range of businesses and brands to open their individual accounts by substantially reducing the cost of implementation, and users will be able to friend businesses and brands that are more closely suited to their individual tastes and preferences. Since the introduction of the new price plans last December, over 400 accounts have been opened under these new plans. Additionally, functionality will improve as well as pricing. Utilizing user data across various LINE services, enhanced reporting items such as information on interests and routes to gain Friends, cross-functional reporting (data for programmatic advertising, promotional measures to encourage customers to visit the stores, etc.), and improvement in delivery functions, etc. will also be implemented, enabling businesses to target appropriate users and send more appropriate messages.

 

Full integration of LINE Official Accounts for major corporations and LINE@ for SMEs and retailers

The new platform for LINE Official Accounts that was under development as part of the redesign project was launched today and will become fully integrated with LINE@. Starting today, companies and retailers that have been using LINE@ can transition to LINE Official Accounts in phases, and new clients can open LINE Official Accounts online. The gradual migration of all existing LINE@ accounts to LINE Official Accounts will be completed by the end of September 2019. (Please refer to the announcement below for a detailed schedule.)

The new platform is a global launch, and applications to open a new LINE Official Account are accepted online in Japan and overseas from today.

• Online application form (Japanese only): https://www.linebiz.com/jp/entry/

• For SMEs and retailers (Japanese only): https://www.linebiz.com/lp/line-official-account/

• Account migration announcement (Japanese only): https://www.linebiz.com/lineat_migration/

 

Functions that used to be restricted, including targeted deliveries and chat functions, available on all plans

In addition to the revised pricing plans, the new LINE Official Account offers all functionalities including rich messages and targeted messages that used to be restricted to paid plans. In addition, it will be possible to use various convenient, updated functions that used to be only available on LINE@ such as LINE Chat (a function that enables one-to-one communication with users; renamed from “1:1 Talk” in LINE@) and the 1:N chat function that enables communication with multiple people according to individual needs of the company or retailer.

 

Fuller range of functions to enable communication according to individual users’ needs

Furthermore, the following functions are planned for LINE Official Accounts to enable message delivery according to the needs of individual users:

*Scheduled for implementation from summer 2019 onwards as they become ready

 

・ A/B test functions that optimize messages according to user segment by entering a number of creative items for validation

・ Re-targeting message functions that utilize message-viewing history so that future messages can be optimized according to user interests and behavioral characteristics

・ User feedback functions that enable operational improvement by offering immediate and regular checks of user evaluations of LINE Official Account message contents and how much users would recommend the account or the business’ products to their friends 

 

It will also be possible to utilize the results of message deliveries from LINE Official Accounts and the performance results of the LINE Sales Promotion in-store sales promotion platform and apply them to programmatic ad deliveries from the LINE Ads Platform, enabling measures that work across various LINE Biz-Solutions products.

 

Aiming to gain 1,000 new major accounts before the end of 2019

With the initiatives outlined above, LINE aims to gain 1,000 new major LINE Official Accounts as part of its target for 2019 as part of its efforts to evolve as a one-on-one communication tool that connects businesses and users.

 

By expanding advertisement offerings and making continuous improvements to its platform, LINE provides valuable information touch points for businesses and users, and continues to explore new and diverse ways to leverage its communication infrastructure. 

 

For more on LINE Biz-Solutions, visit: https://www.linebiz.com/jp-en/

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