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. Its 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

Elegant Ride

Best Talent

51 I want Jobs
 Optimize for 3rd Party App Stores
1. 360 Mobile Assistant 360
2. 91 Assistant 91
3. Xiaomi MIUI App Store
4. Wandoujia
5. Anzhi
6. Huawei App Store
7. Himarket
8. vivo

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!
- Tencent
Baidu Union
Sina Fan Network
- Domob
Youmi
Limei

Fake installs generation process

Source: Photo - h1p://www.cultofmac.com/311171/crazy-iphone-rig-shows-chinese-workers-manipulate-app-store-rankings/
Mobile Marketing - Partner with Mega Apps
1. News apps ()
2. Messaging apps (WeChat)
3. Dating apps (, or Momo)
4. Weather apps
5. Map apps

Baidu Maps integrated with Uber

Hyper local communication

Uber driver ad in Beijing Uber QR code in Xian

Uber price list in Xiamen

Hyper local communication

Uber driver app instruction print out

Socialize Chinese Style

Uber official accounts on Wechat

Socialize Chinese Style
1. Wechat
2. Weibo
3. Renren
4. Kaixin
5. Tencents Weibo
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