Marketing Strategies of the World-famous KPOP Industry

Korean pop culture has been increasingly gaining fame and popularity over the past few years. Widely recognized BTS is popular throughout the globe, and they have won the top social artist award and top due group award every year from 2017 to 2020. The group even set a new all-time record of getting 101.1 million views in the first 24 hours since its release on YouTube. How did KPOP gain so much popularity over the past years? The answer is simple: Social media.

Social media is one of the biggest marketing strategies used by KPOP industries. Most KPOP artists have their own YouTube account in which they post their music videos along with daily videos that connect them to their fans. For example, Treasure, a new rookie KPOP group from one of the biggest KPOP companies YG, posts weekly videos on YouTube which are extremely popular with their fans. All of their videos have over a million views, and these free videos allow artists to connect to their fans daily, thus creating a loyal fan base. Additionally, an app called Vlive is used by most KPOP groups which allows them to have live streams. . In these streams, fans can comment and communicate with their idols on a frequent basis. Apps like these allow fans to connect to artists even in situations where they are not physically able to meet, like that of the pandemic. Lastly, many KPOP artists also have an instagram account. A member of BLACKPINK has over 50 million followers on instagram, recording as the most followed kpop idol.

Another interesting marketing tactic used by Korean music companies is audition shows. Many companies such as YG Entertainment and Bighit Entertainment have hosted audition shows that create a rookie group for debut. By allowing people to vote for their favorite trainees, companies are able to establish a huge fan base even before the debut of these rookie groups. In order to be successful right after premiere, many companies host audition shows and connect fans with pre-debut idols to stabilize the fan base.

Overall, the Korean music industry utilizes many marketing strategies that are unfamiliar in the world. However, the obvious successes and the attention of KPOP culture is revealing how efficient and effective these new, open-minded strategies are.