8 Tips for Scaling Mobile Users in China What can we learn from Uber

Edith Yeung (@edithyeung)  

Edith Yeung is a Partner at 500 Startups’ Mobile Collective, focusing on investing in mobile apps and consumer internet startups. Before 500, Edith was the VP of marketing & business development for Dolphin Browser. Dolphin Browser is a Sequoia-backed mobile browser with over 150 million installs worldwide. She also founded RightVentures - seed stage investment firm focusing on mobile and consumer internet companies. Prior, she led many operation roles at Oracle, Siebel, AT&T, Symantec, Telstra, Cisco, Autodesk, etc.

China by the number

•  Over 1.35 billion in population •  691 million smartphone subscribers as of July 2015 •  260 million people live in just 15 Chinese cities •  549 million WeChat monthly active users  •  21 unicorn companies since 2011 •  Over 200 app stores in China •  Apple sold over 13 million units of iPhone in China

only over a weekend in September 2015

Source:  Unicorn  list  -­‐  h1ps://www.cbinsights.com/research-­‐unicorn-­‐companies  

China is tough

•  Regulatory barriers. Google vs. Baidu •  Device fragmentation. It’s an Android world •  Fraud. Fake users, fake installs and fake rides •  Language barriers. No English •  Great firewall. No Google, Facebook or Twitter.

Who loves China?

Scaling Mobile Users in China

Act like an Unicorn

8 Tips for Scaling Mobile Users in China 1.  Chinese Naming 101 2.  Optimize 3rd Party App Stores 3.  Offline marketing works. QR code is popular! 4.  Online marketing works plus more 5.  Socialize Chinese style 6.  Hyper local communications 7.  Hyper local product offerings 8.  Hyper local legal entity

Chinese Naming 101

领英    

优步     Elegant Ride

Best Talent

I want Jobs 51  

Optimize for 3rd Party App Stores 1.  360 Mobile Assistant 360 手机助手

2.  91 Assistant 91 助手 3.  Xiaomi  MIUI  App  Store 4.  Wandoujia 豌豆荚 5.  Anzhi 安智官网 6.  Huawei  App  Store  7.  Himarket 安卓市场 8.  vivo手机助手  

Uber on Chinese app store with

keywords including all cities available

Offline Marketing Works •  QR code is extremely

popular •  Street campaigns •  Coupon codes •  Fliers •  Booth babes

Uber driver QR code ad

Booth helpers in China

I took these photos at GMIC Beijing 2014

Mobile Marketing – Fake or not! 腾讯广点通  -­‐  Tencent    

百度移动网盟  Baidu  Union    新浪粉丝通  –  Sina  Fan  Network      多盟-­‐  Domob    有米  –  Youmi    力美  –  Limei    

Source:  Photo  -­‐  h1p://www.cultofmac.com/311171/crazy-­‐iphone-­‐rig-­‐shows-­‐chinese-­‐workers-­‐manipulate-­‐app-­‐store-­‐rankings/  

Fake installs generation process ☺

Mobile Marketing - Partner with Mega Apps 1.  News apps (今日头条)

2.  Messaging apps (WeChat) 3.  Dating apps (陌陌, or Momo) 4.  Weather apps 5.  Map apps

Baidu Maps integrated with Uber

Hyper local communication

Uber driver ad in Beijing

Uber price list in Xiamen

Uber QR code in Xian

Hyper local communication

Uber driver app instruction print out

Socialize Chinese Style

Uber official accounts on Wechat

1.  Wechat 2.  Weibo 3.  Renren 4.  Kaixin 5.  Tencent’s Weibo

Socialize Chinese Style

Hyper Local offering – Give what the people want

Uber People Launch event

Local China Entity

8 Tips for Scaling Mobile Users in China 1.  Chinese Naming 101 2.  Optimize 3rd Party App Stores 3.  Offline marketing works. QR code is popular! 4.  Online marketing works plus more 5.  Socialize Chinese style 6.  Hyper local communications 7.  Hyper local product offerings 8.  Hyper local legal entity

You can have your mooncake and eat it too.

You can find my presentation at: •  Deck http://www.edith.co/#blog •  Email edith@500.co •  Twitter @edithyeung •  Newsletter http://www.edith.co/#newsletter