Why Choose Kakao?
Kakao is an essential platform for foreign companies looking to advertise in South Korea. As the country’s dominant digital ecosystem, it provides extensive access to local consumers through its diverse range of services. KakaoTalk, the Korean version of WhatsApp or WeChat, is the most widely used messaging app in South Korea and plays a central role in daily communication. Research from the Korea Press Foundation shows that 98.9 percent of respondents use KakaoTalk. For businesses aiming to leverage this platform effectively, working with a paid social agency in Korea can help optimize campaigns and maximize reach within the local market.
What makes Kakao a powerful advertising platform is its extensive ecosystem beyond messaging. Kakao operates services in finance, mobility, entertainment, and e-commerce, allowing brands to interact with potential customers across multiple channels. Advertising on Kakao goes beyond traditional banner ads, incorporating native placements within chat feeds, interactive BizBoard ads, and targeted display campaigns across its network. This enables foreign businesses to create advertising experiences that feel organic rather than disruptive, improving engagement and conversion rates.
For international companies entering the Korean market, working with a paid social agency in Korea ensures that ad campaigns are optimized for performance and tailored to local consumer behavior. Advertisers can refine their audience targeting based on detailed demographics, interests, behavioral patterns, and interactions with Kakao’s services. This level of precision makes ad campaigns highly efficient, ensuring that marketing budgets are spent on reaching the right audience at the right time. Additionally, Kakao’s strong integration with mobile payment solutions like KakaoPay streamlines the purchasing process, enabling seamless transactions directly from advertisements.
Kakao is deeply embedded in the digital habits of Korean consumers. South Koreans rely on Kakao not just for messaging but for daily activities such as making payments, ordering taxis, and shopping online. This extensive reach allows foreign brands to overcome cultural and market-entry barriers more effectively. By leveraging Kakao’s advertising solutions, a paid social agency in Korea can help international companies create localized, highly targeted, and conversion-driven campaigns that resonate with Korean consumers.
For any foreign company considering or planning to enter the Korean market, advertising on Kakao is not just an option, it’s a necessity. Its unmatched reach, deep consumer engagement, and targeting capabilities make it the go-to platform for brands looking to establish a strong presence in South Korea’s competitive digital landscape.
What are Kakao Bizboard ads?
Among Kakao’s advertising solutions, Bizboard Ads stand out as a high-visibility ad format that appears natively within the KakaoTalk chat list. These ads provide various landing page options, making it ideal to drive mobile discovery. These ads allow brands to capture user attention in a non-intrusive way, driving awareness and traffic directly from Korea’s most-used messaging app. Bizboard CPT Ads further refine this approach by enabling advertisers to bid based on actual performance, optimizing costs for maximum efficiency.
Placement : Where do Bizboard ads appear?
Bizboard ads are strategically placed across Kakao’s platforms to maximize visibility and user engagement. These ads appear in high-traffic areas within KakaoTalk and other Kakao services, ensuring brands can connect with their target audience in a familiar digital environment. Understanding where these ads are displayed helps advertisers optimize their campaigns for better reach and performance.
Landing Page : Where do Kakao Bizboard ads lead to?
Kakao Display Ads provide various destination options, enabling advertisers to direct users toward specific interactions within KakaoTalk. These options include direct URL links, integrated features like AdView, chatbots, and business forms. Each destination serves a distinct purpose, whether it is driving traffic to an official website, engaging users through interactive elements, or facilitating conversions within the KakaoTalk ecosystem. Understanding these options is essential for optimizing customer journeys and maximizing ad effectiveness.
| URL | Directs users to the advertiser’s official page. |
| Adview | A separate bridge page displayed in the chat tab. Includes an action-inducing button for engagement. |
| Channel Web View | Opens a webview within the KakaoTalk channel chat room. When closed, users remain inside the chat room. |
| Chatbot | Directs users to the advertiser’s KakaoTalk channel chat room with a chatbot. Shows a preset keyword message on entry. First-time visitors see a chatbot welcome message. |
| Business Form | Links to a business form for event registrations, surveys, and applications. |
| Tidings | Directs users to news or updates published on the advertiser’s KakaoTalk channel. |
What are Bizboard CPT Ads?
Kakao Bizboard CPT is an ad format that secures exclusive placement in the KakaoTalk Friends tab for a set period. Using the Cost Per Time (CPT) model, advertisers can maximize exposure and reach during their preferred time slots, ensuring a strong branding impact. There are 10 slots available per day, with a standard duration of 2 hours and an extended late-night duration of 4 hours. Pricing varies based on weekdays, holidays, and time zones, starting at 5.500.000 KRW, the equivalent or approximately 3400 USD. The ad format is similar to Kakao Bizboard, but with more relaxed guidelines for object type and thumbnail box images. Advertisers can register multiple materials for their campaigns. Ads are placed on the KakaoTalk Friends Tab to maximize visibility.
Conclusion
Kakao Bizboard and CPT Ads provide a valuable opportunity for foreign companies to increase their presence in South Korea. By securing placements within KakaoTalk and using the Cost Per Time model, advertisers can reach users during key time slots. With multiple creative formats and landing page options, these ads enable businesses to engage potential customers in different ways. Working with a paid social agency in Korea can help optimize campaign performance, refine targeting strategies, and improve overall efficiency. For brands looking to navigate Korea’s digital advertising landscape, Bizboard and CPT Ads offer a strategic way to connect with local consumers and drive meaningful results.
Stay competitive in Korea’s digital market with Waterbe by subscribing our newsletter and mastering Ads 101!