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5 lessons you can learn from Uber’s success in China

uber in china, chinese market

China is the largest smartphone market in the world. It's no surprise, then, that Uber has committed more than $1.2 billion in this coming year to winning the market. After just 12 short months, Uber has gone from one percent to somewhere between 11 and 30 percent market share, with plans to expand to 100 new Chinese cities this coming year.

中国目前是全球最大的智能手机市场。所以,Uber计划在来年投入超过12亿美元以赢得这一市场的竞争,也就不足为奇了。在短短12个月里,Uber在中国的市场份额从1%猛增至11%到30%,而且还计划在来年将业务扩大至中国100座城市。

I've been traveling back and forth between the U.S. and China since 2011. I've learned a lot from my friends and colleagues about the differences between the two markets — especially in the mobile space. Trust me, it's complicated — but the fundamentals are similar. I wanted to share five practical tips that most mobile-focused companies neglect to do when entering China, but that I think Uber has done exceptionally well.

自2011年以来,我经常往返于中美两国之间。我也从朋友和同事那里深入了解到这两个市场的不同,尤其是移动领域。相信我,移动市场相当复杂,虽然基本情况是一样的。我在此想要与大家分享五个实用诀窍,这些是大多数以移动为先的外国公司在进入中国市场时所不能忽略的——但我个人认为Uber在这几个方面做得非常好了。

Rebrand And Pick A Chinese Name

给自己选一个中文名称

This is a super basic, but important point that so many companies fail to do. Chinese people will not search for any app in English. Picking an appropriate Chinese name is very important for your launch in China. This might sound rudimentary, but many — too many — mobile app companies do not localize in this simple way.

这是最基本却十分重要的一点,但许多公司都未能做到。中国人不会用英语来搜索某款应用。挑选一个合适的中文名称,对你在中国市场开拓至关重要。这可能听上去是老生常谈,然而大量移动应用公司却并没有以这种简单的方式来推进本地化战略。

Uber did a good job and picked 优步 — which also means "nice ride." LinkedIn chose 领英 — which means "best talent." You'll also notice there are quite a few Chinese apps and websites that have numbers as part of their name, like 6rooms (http://www.6.cn/), 58 (www.58.com/) and 51Job (http://www.51job.com/). Numbers often sound like Chinese words and mean something else. For example, in the case of 51job, one of the top job-hunting sites in China, the sound of 51 means "I want."

Uber在这方面做得非常好,最终选择"优步"作为自己的中文名称——意思是"一路顺风"。而LinkedIn选择"领英"作为公司的中文名称,意思是"人才济济"。你还会注意到,许多中文应用和网站名称中都包含有数字,比如说六间房(http://www.6.cn/),58 同城(www.58.com/),前程无忧(51Job)等等。有些数字往往听上去像是中国文字,具有深刻的含义。以中国最大的招聘网站之一——前程无忧——为例,51 听上去就是"我要"的意思。

There isn't a good way for someone who is non-Chinese to pick the right, culturally appropriate name, so I highly recommend you hire local Chinese natives or a marketing agency to help on this.

对于不是中国人的人来说,挑选一个具有合适文化内涵的中文名称,确实没有什么捷径,所以我强烈建议你聘请中国本地人或中国营销机构来帮你做这件事。

Optimize For Third-Party App Stores

针对第三方应用商店进行优化

Remember this above all: China is all about app stores. Achieving a high rank across major third-party app stores is key. Naturally, the higher the ranking, the more installs you can drive. Top positions in some of the major apps stores, which are sometimes housed within other mega-apps, can potentially drive millions or even tens of millions of users.

尤其要记住这一条:在中国,应用商店是最重要的。在知名第三方应用商店取得高排名是关键。应用排名越高,下载量也就越多。在一些重要的应用商店获得榜首位置,也许能给你吸引数百万乃至数千万用户。

To achieve optimal cost per install, you should constantly adjust your paid user acquisition strategies and combine with social media, community management, install exchanges and online and offline marketing campaigns that are heavily localized. Don't forget: The more installs you get via paid channels, the more expensive it gets to sustain. The same U.S. concepts and theories for app store SEO applies for Chinese app stores. A/B test the Chinese titles, descriptions, keywords, tags and app category.

为了实现每次安装的最优成本,你应该不断调整付费用户获取战略,同时一定要与社交网站、社区管理、安装交易平台以及侧重于本地化的在线与离线营销活动结合起来开展推广。不要忘了:你通过付费渠道获得的安装量越大,你需要长期承担的成本也越高。美国应用商店的搜索引擎优化概念和理论,同样适用于中国应用商店。要对中文版应用、说明、关键词、标签和应用类别进行 A/B 测试。

In addition, instead of Google Play or Apple's App Store, there are hundreds of third-party stores you can work with to drive installs. Here are the most popular:

此外,你可以不与Google Play或苹果App Store合作,而是携手数百家第三方应用来推动安装量的上升。以下是最受欢迎的几家:

360 Mobile Assistant — 手机助手

91 Assistant — 助手

Wandoujia — 豌豆荚

Leverage Online And Offline Paid Marketing Channels

充分利用在线与离线付费营销渠道

China's market is simultaneously sophisticated and totally old school. As such, many companies fail to realize the power of traditional, grassroots marketing in China. Street campaigns, handing out coupon codes and fliers in malls and even booth babes remain highly effective. Small incentives, like 5 RMB given for downloading an app, work extremely well. Chinese consumers are not as cynical as Americans and Europeans about marketing, and still appreciate things like prizes and gifts.

中国市场既复杂又传统。正因为如此,许多公司未能发现中国传统、草根营销手段的力量。街头促销活动、免费赠送团购券、商场内的广告传单、"展台Showgirl",这些营销手段均非常有效。小恩小惠的激励手段,比如下载应用送5块钱,同样屡试不爽。对于市场营销这种东西,中国消费者不像欧美消费者那样玩世不恭,他们仍然十分看重奖品和礼物等手段。

It's also important for Western mobile companies to realize that PR does not work the same way in China. Press is not earned by pitching reporters, but is more often bought through gifts, dinners and events. It's just the way things work there.

同样重要的是,西方手机企业还必须意识到,在中国,公关起到的作用与西方不一样。你无法通过简单拉拢记者就能赢得媒体,通常情况需要送礼、请客吃饭等等,才能让他们站在你的一边。虽然方式很简单,却在中国很管用。

The process and nuance of buying paid installs through ad networks is very similar to how it works in the U.S., but be sure to use local Chinese networks, like the following:

通过广告网络购买付费安装的过程和微妙之处,与美国的情况极为相似,但你一定要使用中国当地的广告网络,比如说以下几家:

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

Some experimentation with networks will be necessary. Different ad networks are better for different kinds of apps, and each will drive a specific kind of user. Only double down when you've found the right network that brings you the right kind of user. Sometimes these users can turn out to be fake -– but hopefully fake users will drive a bump in the app store rankings and will drive real users through greater visibility.

不过,也要勇于尝试不同的广告网络,这一点同样很重要。广告网络不同,对不同类别的应用起到的效果也不同,同时,每一家广告网络的受众定位也不一样。当你发现了一个合适的广告网络,可以吸引你需要的那种用户时,那么就要加倍下注。有时,这些用户可能根本不存在——但我们希望这些虚假用户能推高你在应用商店中的排名,最终通过这种途径来吸引真正的用户。

Lastly, there is plenty of opportunity to get pre-installed on smartphones across the various layers of the supply chain: OEMs, distributors even retailers. It's common practice in China to open product boxes from OEMs and install apps at each stage before it goes to the consumer. Obviously, the earlier in the supply chain, the broader the impact. Regardless of how you get pre-installed, you'll be perceived as bloat-ware by the savvier Chinese consumer.

最后一点,目前也存在很多机会,可以将你的应用预装到不同层次供应链的智能手机中:原始设备厂商、分销商,甚至是零售商。打开原始设备厂商的产品包装盒并安装应用,然后发售给消费者,这在中国是很常见的一种做法。很显然,你越早与供应链建立联系,影响也就越大。无论你以何种方式预装了应用,精明的中国消费者都会将这种应用看作是膨胀软件。

Drive Installs From Mega Apps

在热门应用中推高安装量

In addition to driving installs via ad networks, you can also buy installs from mega apps like news apps (今日头条, or Toutiao), messaging apps (WeChat) or even dating apps (陌陌, or Momo).

除了通过广告网络推高安装量外,你还可以从一些极受欢迎的应用那里购买安装量,比如今日头条之类的新闻应用,微信之类的消息应用,甚至是陌陌之类的约会应用。

For example, Baidu Maps integrates with Uber. When you get directions from one place to another, Baidu Maps will suggest Uber as one of the transportation options. In a similar partnership vein, Lyft is now working with Didi Kuadi to offer rides for its users in China. Finding the right mega-app partner can be the difference between success and failure in the Chinese market.

例如,百度地图就与Uber进行了整合。当你搜索从一地到另一地的方位时,百度地图会将Uber作为出行方式之一,向你进行推荐。出于同样的考虑,Lyft现在也与滴滴快的建立了合作,向中国用户提供打车服务。能否找到合适的热门应用合作伙伴,也在某种程度上决定着你在中国市场的成败。

Don't Get Distracted By Copycats

不要被山寨分心

Many apps that have meaningful traction in China are guaranteed to be copied. Unfortunately, most companies don't realize that this is a great thing! The world's best apps all have local copycats. It should be a boost of confident that your app is working. Examples include WeChat originally cloning Kakao Talk or TalkBox, or Didi Kuadi, which has done a good job of scaling up and challenging Uber. Now, even scammers are popping up. All this just points to the fact that there is real money flowing across the product-market — and it's actually a very positive sign.

许多在中国具有一定影响力的应用,肯定会被抄袭。不幸的是,大多数企业并未意识到这其实是件好事。世界上不少最受欢迎的应用,都在当地具有山寨版。你不应该对此感到沮丧,相反,你恰恰应该对自己的应用更加充满信心。微信最早就是效仿Kakao Talk或TalkBox开发的,而滴滴快的同样效仿Uber的商业模式创建的。这样的例子不胜枚举。现在,效仿成名公司创建的企业不断涌现。所有这一切都指向了一个事实,即整个产品市场具有充裕的资金流动,这的确是一个非常积极的迹象。

The good thing for smaller app copycats is that the right local partner can help make sure any copycat apps are removed from app stores. Make friends and find local allies to help you work directly with app-store editors. Just stay focused on your business and continue to execute by following China's rules.

对于不太出名的应用来说,一个积极的方面是,合适的本地合作伙伴可以帮助他们将任何山寨版应用从应用商店下架。四处结交朋友,寻找当地盟友,可以帮助你直接与应用商店的编辑打交道。你只要时刻专注于自己的业务,继续遵照中国的规则行事即可。

I hope these five simple tips give you a head start. China is a multi-layered country, but if you get the basics right, you're off to a strong start in the world's largest mobile market.

我希望,上述五个简单的小诀窍可以让你获得竞争优势。中国是一个多层次的国家,但只要把最基本的几条学会了,你就能在这个世界上最大的移动市场拥有一个非常好的开端。

If you can make it in China, you can make it anywhere.

如果你能在中国取得成功,那么在其他国家同样能做到这一点。

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2016-06-23

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