7 Tips for Scaling Mobile Users in China. What can we learn from Uber @ Launch Scale - October 2015

1. 7 Tips for Scaling Mobile Users in China
What can we learn from Uber
Edith Yeung (@edithyeung)

2. 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.

3. China by the number
• Over 1.37 billion in population
• Over 1.27 billion mobile phone subscribers
• 691 million smartphone subscribers
• 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

4. 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.

5. Who loves China?

6. Scaling Mobile Users in China

7. Act like an Unicorn

9. 7 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 Ad network + mega apps
5. Socialize Chinese style
6. Hyper local communications
7. Hyper local product offerings

10. Chinese Naming 101
领英
优步
Elegant Ride
Best Talent
I want Jobs51

11. 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
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

12. Offline Marketing Works
• QR code is extremely
popular
• Street campaigns
• Coupon codes
• Fliers
• Booth babes
Uber driver QR code ad

13. Booth helpers in China
I took these photos at GMIC Beijing 2014

14. 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 ☺

15. 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

16. Socialize Chinese Style
Uber official accounts on Wechat

17. 1. Wechat
2. Sina Weibo
3. Renren
4. Kaixin
5. Tencent’s Weibo
Socialize Chinese Style

18. Hyper local communication
Uber driver ad in Beijing
Uber price list in Xiamen
Uber QR code in Xian

19. Hyper local communication
Uber driver app instruction print out

20. Hyper Local offering – Give what the
people want
Uber People Launch event

21. 7 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 Ad network + mega apps
5. Socialize Chinese style
6. Hyper local communications
7. Hyper local product offerings

22. You can have your mooncake and eat it too.

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