In our 3rd interview this year, we are now back to South Korea to Hyein Yoon, CEO and Founder of HY Marketing, a premier partner for tailored content marketing solutions focused exclusively on the Korean market.

Did you know South Koreans are the world’s largest per capita consumer of garlic and luxury goods?

I’m not going to lie. South Korea is on more people’s radar than a few years ago. The rise of K-culture (food, music, movies, dramas, beauty) is omnipresent. When I walk into business premises that sell MZ-focused products, Rose’s billboard #1 APT plays.

South Korea is the world’s 12th largest economy with a population of 51 million people (almost 2x Australia) in a land size 76 times smaller than Australia. With limited natural resources and supercharged Human Resources, Koreans are always looking for something that can help them get ahead in competition.

Look at the development some of the key industries Koreans dominate - shipbuilding, petrochemical, semiconductors, entertainment, cosmetic surgery, food, and now beauty.

What that means is that success in this competitive, dynamic and fast-paced market is a strong vote of confidence when it comes to expanding your business footprint in the rest of Asia. Just look how fast Southeast Asian markets are growing and how they are some of the biggest consumers of the Korean culture.

It is not an easy market to crack, from meeting sophisticated consumer needs to getting through the strict import compliance and keeping up with changing trends. You need a good local partner.

Hyein is one of those local partners you should talk to.

Let’s unpack Hyein’s story, journey and vision.

I always had a sight on an advertising career since high school.

When my Korean SAT score was not high enough to enrol in marketing/advertising majors in one of the major universities, I felt like pursuing my dream could be very expensive, as I thought that to be successful in marketing or advertising. After some consideration, I decided to go to dental hygiene college to earn money first and have a stable career.

In the beginning, I think I somehow enjoyed my job, but the fact that we couldn’t run our own business as dental hygienists and also didn’t have any independence, always following the rules from the dentist… it was really frustrating. I switched clinics every year, hoping to find a better place for me, but it couldn’t be solved.

During my career, in 2017, I decided to participate in a marketing project (or a marketing competition) hosted by the Korean Publishers Cooperative; I think the reason I did this was because I had a lot of curiosity about life, and I took it as a personal challenge too. They didn’t ask for any background information about me, so it was perfect too!

People didn’t believe in our team’s ability to perform well, but at the end of the project, we won 1st prize in the marketing competition, converting online traffic to offline visits by 25% by using the power of organic social media, a bit of blog marketing, and an offline campaign (bookmark distribution in libraries by contacting 10-20 library managers). That number never lied, and we outplayed other participants by miles!

Afterward, although I had a couple of transitions in my career—from failing my Korean SAT to entering dental school to become a dentist, to a content moderator at the Women’s Human Rights Institute of Korea, and then securing a side gig as a Korean tutor while pursuing my dream.

I finally got my first paid client in 2021 after all my volunteer work or free work for a couple of international companies, and I knew deep down that there would be no way I would stop my marketing career in a short period. I felt like I finally found something I’m passionate about that matches my vision at the same time.

In mid-2022, we won a government grant competition which gave us an opportunity to hold a launch campaign at a large expo (see the photo). Our office is located at the Gyeonggi Startup Innovation Space Northwest Region (경기창업혁신센터 북서부권)! It’s been a journey!

It’s true that the global economy is facing some recessionary pressures. That doesn’t mean there aren’t solutions to be found.

There are largely 5 media channels in South Korea’s media landscape:

1. Naver (27%)

2. Youtube (20%) 

3. Meta (20%) 

4. Google (12%) 

5. Kakao (8%) 

Duopoly exists in the search engine market:

1. Naver: 56% (increased by 2.71%)

2. Google: 36% (increased by about 3%)

3. Daum: 2.63% (dropped by 1.66%; connected to Kakao)

4. Bing: 1.75% (dropped by about 1%)

If you’re targeting your own audience, your brand visibility needs to be strong on Naver, Meta, and Google. YouTube is great for strategic content posting. Kakao, originally a native messenger platform, is also key as a customer service center.

In November 2023, Naver introduced Naver Clip, which allows for short-form videos on the platform. This is still a relatively new feature, but we’ve already seen huge reach and engagement there, so it’s definitely worth diving into.

And let’s not forget AI – Naver and Kakao are both incorporating AI into their platforms. Naver is planning to integrate AI into their search, advertising, content, commerce, and maps in the coming years. Kakao has also partnered with OpenAI, so there will be exciting changes happening on that platform too.

Our clients' top 3 pain points are:

1. Lack of marketing budget (but want high performance) 

2. Lack of understanding of the culture, nuances, and channels

3. Conversion (Engagement/leads/sales)

Our recent case study with AQI Care also experienced these same top 3 pain points.

In the face of uncertainty, it's easy to set a tight launch budget, fearing that conversion might be low. Especially if you’ve never run a marketing campaign before, and there’s no historical data to guide your strategy—it can be even harder to map out a clear plan for market expansion.

To tackle this, instead of opting for Meta ads, massive TV commercials, or broad targeting, we decided to focus on a needle-sharp audience—specifically, people connected to Costco.

With a customized brand message, concept, and strong positioning built from the beginning, we executed 4 marketing campaigns, including 3 influencer marketing initiatives, 1 "spread the word" giveaway event, and organic social media marketing to build customer relationships.

Within weeks, we subsequently went onto achieve nearly 10K unit sales, 4.5M view, 10K engagements and 5K monthly search volumes, all without using Meta/Search ads. ROI reached above 5.0.

People tend to love new items, but that doesn’t mean every product will have this same success. Without a strategic brand image, proper positioning, a strong concept, and relationship-building through copywriting, content, and design, it’s impossible to achieve results like this.

Message me if you want to learn more about our proprietary approach to marketing in Korea (contact details at the bottom).

Translation is marketing. 

Many brands assume that simply translating their content into Korean (or any other language) is enough to succeed in a new market. However, I’ve often seen that translation can even end up with the wrong wording or design that doesn’t align with the message itself.

I experienced this firsthand when I worked for an international company making 7 figures through media. They hired a non-native Korean translator for the job, and it led to a ton of mistakes. The company didn’t even realize it. Ultimately, I ended up talking to the director, and that person had to leave.

I truly believe this happens in many other companies because they think that translation alone is sufficient. But here’s the thing: marketing isn’t just about making your message readable—it’s about making it compelling, relevant, and culturally resonant. And when you do this right, it can significantly boost conversion rates.

For example, if you're targeting the MZ generation, you need to understand their slang and incorporate it into your content in a way that feels natural and familiar. This includes aligning your brand positioning, concept, and message, as well as designing content that grabs their attention and uses language that truly resonates with them.

Copywriting is deeply connected to psychology.

Korean consumers, like many others, expect emotional storytelling, trust-building through local influencers, and engagement on platforms like Naver, Kakao, or Meta—not just a translated ad or website. A brand that simply translates its marketing without adapting to local consumer behavior will struggle to gain traction.

“The concept that worked in other countries might not work in Korea.”

Brand positioning, concept, message, and tone of voice should all be established before running any campaign. Your first impression with customers will last a long time, much like meeting someone for the first time. So, it’s crucial to be mindful of this and make sure your brand and products align with the expectations you’re setting for your customers.