Scale User Acquisition Campaigns in China

Overview

Learn to navigate the complexities of scaling your UA campaigns in China

Continuous economic growth, large population scale and high smartphone adoption have generated high-quality mobile users in China. Advertising in China is very different compared to the traditional ways of advertising on mobile, and has formed an entirely new ecosystem.  Android OS dominates the Chinese mobile market, with an ~80% share. However, Google Play has not been available in China since 2011. This resulted in the formation of over 300 alternate Android stores within the ecosystem in China.

With this tutorial, Growth FullStack will help you understand the new ecosystem and provide you with resources to scale your apps in the alternate Android stores.

Summary

Background

As shown below, Android is the dominating platform in the Chinese mobile market with a share of ~80%* mobile users.

Eventhough Google Play is not available in the China market, there are hundreds of other Android App stores such as Tencent MyApp, Huawei AppGallery, Oppo Software Store, 360 Mobile Assistant, Vivo, MI App Store, Baidu Mobile Assistant, Wandoujia.

Navigating through each of these stores has its own benefits & challenges.

What you will learn

This Growth FullStack training will introduce you to the different units available with this new ecosystem and provide resources to start scaling your User Acquisition activities across different markets.

*Source: Statista

Setup

Typically, developers outside China need to follow many complex steps before entering the market. They would need to build infrastructure for local data storage, get the required licensing approvals, and localize their apps, content & payment methodologies before launching UA in China.

To simplify this process, we recommend using Tenjin along with a local UA partner (ex: NativeX) that can help with content localization, strategy building, creative production & publishing your apps.

At Tenjin, the setup is just a 3-step process:

Step 1: SDK Integration—There are many fragmented out-of-stores in the Chinese Android market. The Tenjin SDK integration can support any type of alternate store by adding the store URL, or the URL that hosts the apk file to the Tenjin dashboard. The SDK documentation is here; you would need to implement the OAID libraries.

Step 2: Add an app—The destination URL will be the App Store URL or the URL that hosts the Android apk file.

Step 3: Setup campaigns—Create a new campaign in Tenjin for the integrated networks, and you can get the click & impression tracking URLs as you would for any other ad networks.

Marketing Advantages & Challenges

The biggest platforms for advertising in China are Ocean Engine, Tencent and Kuaishou. Each of these platforms have different products that can be a good fit for the gaming audience, as shown below*.

 

 

Mobile advertising in most countries is very straightforward – you launch the ad campaign, user clicks the ad, and downloads from an app store. The below representation shows the advertising process in China, which can be very complicated.

 

The main challenges an advertiser would face are:

1. Regulations – Specific licenses and permits are required to run businesses in China, since you need host your servers in China and operate with a Chinese-owned entity. You also have to manage user data in accordance with China laws and work with the right partners.
2. Payment – WeChat Pay and Alipay are the mostly used online payment platforms. You also need to have a Chinese legal entity to receive payments directly and handle the currency exchange and cross-boarder transfers.
3. Authentication – Wechat, Alipay and Weibo are most commonly used for logins, and you would need to work with local companies to grant permissions.
4. Channels & Stores – Almost all mainstream smartphone brands have their own app store, such as Huawei, Oppo, and Vivo. Additionally, there are many independent Android app stores that have their own app listing and permission-granting processes.

To address these challenges, we recommend using Tenjin along with a local UA partner, such as NativeX. These are some of the functions covered by each partner:

 

*Source: Dongwu securities industry analysis, App Growing

FAQ

Can you help me get started with scaling UA campaigns with alternate Android stores? 

Yes, please reach out to your Growth FullStack Account Manager.

Do I get any benefits from working with Tenjin for attribution & the local partners that you recommend?

Yes. In addition to a discount, you’ll have personalized help from both teams to launch your campaigns.

Feedback

Do you have any feedback for us?

We at Growth FullStack are always happy to receive your valuable feedback. Feel free to reach out to us so we can share additional resources to get you started with user acquisition through alternative Android stores.

Iterate & Maintain

Iterate

You can consult the Growth FullStack team for any suggestions or introductions to local partners.

Maintain

The UA ecosystem is continually changing. The factual data in this presentation was published in June 2021. Please be aware that some of these numbers might not be recent. Contact your Growth FullStack Account Manager for any questions.