chinese digital marketing

How to promote an app in China

how to promote an app in china

China is becoming the next hotspot for businesses. The challenge is to enter the market and breaking the “Great Firewall of China”. Sustaining the business is yet another challenge companies face. To overcome these challenges, there are a few guidelines about How to Launch an App in China that suggest design and coding measures to give a direction to coding, branding and marketing for anyone looking out to set their foot in China.

Just like the internet, the apps in China, too, go through a process before they make it on the app stores. By adhering to the Chinese laws and developing your app to accommodate Chinese culture and preferences, you’re likely to enter the market. The next step would be knowing how to promote an app in China. 

If the Chinese market is your next target, then you need to prepare your app to be marketed in the right way that will resonate with your users. 

There are two ways to Promote an App in China

  1. Organic launches 
  2. Integrated launches

1. Organic launches

To market an app in China organically is when an app developer or a company publishes an app on the app store without any initial promotion or advertising. Organic launches are when a company needs almost zero advertising for their app. 

These types of launches are recommended for brands or companies that already have a strong presence in China as it is easier for them to penetrate in the market with no initial advertising or promotion of their app.

2. Integrated launches

Integrated launches require a proper strategy for promoting or advertising the app. Integrated launches are when the promotion is an integral part of the launch campaign during the app’s initial distribution itself. 

Integrated launches are further divided into two types:

  1. Exclusive launch campaigns
  2. Joint launch campaigns

Both exclusive and joint launch campaigns are suggested for the flourishing apps/companies that are yet to take a great leap forward in the market as they need a little push to breakthrough.

Now, let’s understand the difference between Exclusive Launch campaigns and Joint Launch campaigns.

a) Exclusive Launch Campaigns

An exclusive launch campaign enables you with exclusive rights from an app store to launch your app for a period between 24 – 72 hours. The chosen app store lets you launch your app on one of their primary featured spots (the main page) for that period. This helps you with the maximum number of downloads and visibility to prospective users.

After the expiration of the exclusive launch period, the app then can be distributed on other app stores.

Pros of Exclusive Launch Campaigns

The exclusive launch campaigns let you feature your app on the main page, which is one of the primary spots of an app. The advantage of doing so is maximum downloads in the span of 24 – 72 hours.

Cons of Exclusive Launch Campaigns

These types of campaigns allow you to feature your app on one single app store only, which means, you can distribute and promote your app on one app store only at a time. Once the exclusive launch period is expired, the other app stores are less likely to give you their primary spots. 

b) Joint Launch Campaigns

As the name suggests, a joint launch campaign allows you to launch your app on multiple app stores on the same date. This helps your app with visibility across multiple app stores, however, as opposed to the Exclusive Launch campaign, this method gives you the secondary featured spot (which is under the ‘store category’) and not the primary.

Pros of Joint Launch Campaigns 

The joint launch campaign gives you a featured spot on all the chosen app stores. Which means, your app will be distributed/promoted across multiple app stores at a time.

Cons of Joint Launch Campaigns

This type of campaign gives you the ‘secondary featured spot’, which falls under the store category and not the main page, which helps you with a lesser amount of visibility and downloads. 

Still confused about which method is best for you? Get in touch with Digital Crew today.

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