You’ve probably heard about the booming Chinese mobile market and the success of smartphone apps a million times. This market is the battleground for the best looking companies in the business. However, this is not an easy task, as this market has its own peculiarities: you don’t market your website and your app in the same way on a smartphone. In this article, we will go into detail about some of the key solutions that allow you to brand your mobile application in China…
1) Understand the Chinese mobile market
With 550 million Chinese smartphone users, there is immense potential to reach Chinese customers. So let’s go through some points to understand the Chinese mobile market as a whole.
Firstly, in OS vs iOS system, Android dominates the market with massive market share. And apart from the fact that Apple doesn’t really have a very friendly relationship with China, it has the second largest market share in the industry. Here’s an interesting article on iOS in China: Apple disabled its news app in China.
Second, the Chinese are not really ready to pay for mobile apps because they see this new technology not as a way to make everyday life easier but as a hindrance. In the graph below, you can see that unlike users in the UK who have 8 or more paid apps on their smartphones, smartphone users in China have only 2.
But beware, most Chinese people make “in-app purchases,” which means they do a lot of their purchases through apps. For example, they buy additional features of a game, more advanced options on such and such applications, etc.
Third, the Chinese are actually very selective in their choice of applications and are particularly fond of mobile game applications. Below is a graph showing you the games downloaded by the Chinese.
Fourth, we will call this the structure. Forget Google, because there are over 500 apps in China and you can quickly lose sight of them. However, they all have different functions, some of which are more oriented towards sports and others towards the social side. There are 3 main players in this fierce competition:
- 360 Mobile Assistant which is a very popular mobile security application that belongs to Chinese security software;
- Wandoujia which has more than 200 million users and where more than 30 million applications are downloaded per day;
- AirAd which mainly focuses on Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.
2) Set the content of your request
Now that you understand the landscape of the Chinese mobile market, you need to think about the content of your app. Have you ever heard of the slogan: “Think local, act local?”. You need to optimize your app for the Chinese audience and even three times that of your website. Why ? Because the Chinese have their own mobile habit. The way mobile applications are understood is really different from that of West Asia. For example, you need to update yourself about new features or special effects during Chinese New Year. The information you are going to display on your application should also be very clear and easy to use. Nor should we create too many subdivisions that may confuse the Chinese consumer.
Depending on the type of strategy you decide to choose, you will need to create unique content. Most companies use mobile apps as an added value or as an extension to their website, and don’t optimize the tool enough to want to be present across all possible types of channels. You need to be creative and original and find the idea that will make you stand out from the crowd.
I am sure you all must have seen this dance app which is available in many languages. This app called “MyIdol” allows you to create your own face and then gives you the best possible clothing choice for the dance. It has been a huge success not only in China, but around the world.
A Demonstration Video: A Super Efficient Tool!
https://youtu.be/KF41BGVxG28
3) Integration of key tools in your application
There are some tools you really need to build into your app. Here are some key points.
You all must have heard about QR code. You will find it everywhere and scan it where you can find the information you need. It can be used in a variety of ways: by integrating it with your app, driving your customers to other social media pages to take advantage of promotions or offers to your audience, or using it as an interactive medium and creative By doing how? ‘ or ‘ what?
Take the example of the Yihodian application, which allows you to make your purchases on the subway by scanning a virtual surface. The idea is to scan the products and then buy them on your phone. This has resulted in a 130% increase in online sales (according to Yihaodian).
Second, you can include other relevant keys to help promote your content later. For example: location tools, demographics and user interests of your audience. The idea is to make your customers loyal to your app. If you can get the attention of this goal, you can potentially get some decent returns on your investment. Further reading here and here.
4) Promote your app
You’ve probably heard about the difficulties in promoting your mobile app in China. Many professionals will tell you that it is difficult to collect personal data from your customers through mobile applications. But to make it easier to promote your content, here are some tips:
on mobile app
You can have access to multiple mobile apps to optimize the promotion of your apps in the best possible way. Here are some examples of promotional applications:
- AppFlood helps developers optimize their applications and monetize traffic;
- Adwo is a Chinese promotion platform that provides a variety of solutions for developers and advertisers.
At the same time, you can increase the number of downloads by paying some players, but it won’t last because after two weeks they can get rid of your app. The second way is to look for specialized sites that are really influential in the promotion of applications.
Well, ASO is a variant of Mobile SEO: ASO stands for “App Store Optimization”. Apart from choosing the right keywords, you should update your app at least once every 2-3 weeks. Refreshing the application is also a way to get well referenced.
Finally, you can create an interactive, funny and funny video that allows you to easily communicate and thus promote your mobile application.
on web interface
Have you ever heard of “guest blogging”? It’s a similar approach to articles that you can create online that link to your websites to gain visibility on the Internet. The idea is to produce articles and content on relevant websites, especially about mobile apps where you can influence viewers to download your app. Most of the time, these sites are mainly blogs.
It’s also about being aware of the ratings and comments around your app. Before downloading the app, users can first check the ratings and comments that may influence their choice.
Finally, let’s talk about CPI, CPC, CPM and PPD. What is this about? In short, these are tools to monetize your app. how does it work? A user downloads an application, then an advertising screen appears, prompting them to download the application. If he decides to download the advertiser’s app, he will earn money. More information here.
Further reading on the world of APP in China