Quick Summary
- “Text Hip” is the current new trend that brings back written content in longer forms
- Text Hip can elevate your Korean marketing strategies
- This trend is led by the young generation of 20- and 30-year-olds
- Naver Blog is leading the trend as the most popular platform among Koreans
- Revival of Naver Blog for all generations
What is “Text Hip”?
A new trend has established itself in Korea: “Text Hip”. This trend moves away from mostly video and image-based content and shifts the focus back on text-based content. People became bored with the overwhelming amount of short form content and brought back written material, like books and blogs. These formats offer more length and the opportunity to develop thoughts and concepts with a lot more depth. Expressing yourself through words in a longer text is now seen as sophisticated and as an opportunity to let your individuality shine. This presents a great opportunity for brands that are looking to establish effective Korean marketing strategies.
Interestingly, this development can be seen most dominantly among the generation of 20- to 30-year-olds today. Contrary to the perception that a phone is the most popular medium among the younger generations, they surprise the world with their preference for books, posts on social media about their extensive reading lists and a general desire for something different from the digital world. Taking this shift into account gives brands the opportunity to appeal to their target audience exactly where its interest lies.
Which platforms are at the forefront of the “Text Hip” trend?
Platforms like Naver Blog, Thread and X provide the ideal place for creating and consuming more text-based content. Alongside the rise of this new trend, all three platforms have experienced an increase in users, with Naver Blog and X being the most popular platforms. Out of the three, Naver Blog still holds its strong position as the leading platform in Korea.
What is Naver Blog? How can brands leverage it for their Korean marketing strategies?
Naver Blog is a part of the most popular platform Naver in Korea. With Naver holding a leading position as a search engine – according to Open Survey, 87% of the total population chose Naver as their go-to search engine in 2024 – Naver Blog is also the leading platform for blogs where individuals and influencers share their review and useful information and brands deliver key brand messaging in written texts to engage and connect with Korean audiences.
While Naver Blog has always been seen as a platform for those in their 30s and 40s, the growing appeal amongst the younger generations of 20- and 30-year-olds is worth noting. Driven by the “Text Hip” trend, nearly 70% of Naver Blog app users now fall within 20- and 30-year-olds.
Compared to video- or image-based platforms, text-based platforms are proven to offer very stable usage rates. Combined with an increase in users through the “Text Hip” trend, Naver Blog offers a highly popular and sustainable alternative to short form content. The platform is widely accepted and is able to utilize the rising trend of “Text Hip”, expanding Korean marketing strategies towards text-based content again. Users of text-based platforms are also proven to have a high degree of user loyalty.
Conclusion
“Text Hip” as a recent trend brings back the popularity of books and moves away from short form and primarily visual content. With the revival of text-based content, including Naver Blog in your Korean marketing strategies is highly advisable. Not only does it provide a type of content that is increasingly more popular and considered engaging and insightful, it also comes with a lot of stability and loyalty. Your content will reach a large amount of people while being presented on the most popular platform for blogging in Korea.
If you wish to gain even more of an insight into current trends and their influence on Korean marketing strategies, please reach out to us so we can develop a marketing strategy that allows your brand to shine on the Korean market.
Stay competitive in Korea’s digital market with Waterbe by subscribing our newsletter and mastering Ads 101!