By featuring apps in alternative app stores, marketers can reach new audiences that are unavailable on Google Play and the Apple App Store.
By. Robert Wildner – Co-Founder & CEO at AVOW
With more competition than ever before in those stores, the need to diversify the availability of your app can play a significant role in reaching your goals. Oppo and Vivo are prime examples of popular OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturer) that have their own app stores with their own inventory you can use to scale your business.
In this article, we will outline how to get your app featured and the critical benefits these alternative app stores have to offer.
While there are specifications for releasing your app on each app store, the time needed to meet these requirements is outweighed by the numerous benefits of alternative app stores.
Increase discoverability by targeting untapped markets: Discovery is a critical advantage alternative app stores offer marketers. These app stores are a smart way to drive growth by targeting untapped audiences. According to Statistica, OPPO shipped 24 million units in the second quarter of 2020 – continuing their significant increase in production over the past five years. Counterpoint Research found that Vivo has a 10% market share of global smartphone shipments in the first quarter of 2021.
Drive installs with incremental lift: Knowing which users are paid and organic is critical to driving incremental lift. By featuring your app on alternative app stores such as Oppo and Vivo you can drive incremental lift of paid installs. You can use Avow – which is partnered with the world’s leading OEMs – to build a relationship with users with targeting. The on-device advertising you gain is dynamic and intuitive, showing ads based on location, appographic, demographic, device type and keywords. This means you will know how users found your app and can use this critical data to drive growth. Moreover, alternative app stores offer high user acquisition and low CPI (cost-per-install) compared to Google Play and Apple’s App Store. This gives you the best opportunity to reach your targets and scale your business. You can learn more with our appographic targeting guide for OEMs.
An app store ecosystem without fraud: Mobile fraud is a legitimate concern for all marketers but alternative app stores have an ecosystem that is fraud-proof. This is because there are no additional layers between the budget holder and the alternative app store’s OEM (original equipment manufacturer). They have full control of reach advertising placement, meaning there is no opportunity for fraudsters to manipulate the ecosystem.
Increase brand awareness: Having your app featured on app stores operated by popular brands can help you build awareness and develop a positive brand reputation. For example, when users see that your app is suggested by Oppo based on their search terms and similar activity, this can generate installs by positive association.
Why should I feature my app on Vivo’s app store?
With over 75 million users worldwide, Vivo has developed distribution networks across countries around the world. This includes distribution covering South Asia and countries in Southeast Asia. For example, featuring your app on Vivo’s app store has several advantages in Indonesia. Vivo accounts for 9% of the total app store’s distribution in Indonesia with more than 150 million DAUs. The OEM accounts ship 27 million units per quarter worldwide, 8 million of those selling in India.
Why should I feature my app on Oppo’s app store?
Oppo uses Heytap, a comprehensive global Internet service platform that combines three brands: OPPO, Realme and Oneplus. The app store offers powerful distribution capabilities and rich traffic sources you can leverage to drive growth. Oppo’s global expansion now covers 40 countries around the world with products sold in over 320,000 stores. The OPPO Color OS has 300 million MAUs in global markets. In the second quarter of 2020, Oppo accounted for 20.3% of smartphone shipments in Southeast Asia – putting them ahead of Samsung (19.5%), Vivo (17.9%) and Xiaomi (14%).
How is this similar to Google Play and the App Store?
Many mobile marketers gravitate to the two largest markets (Google Play Store and the App Store) but this can lead to missed opportunities with alternative app store’s untapped inventory. Ashwin Shekhar, Co-founder of Avow, explains that “alternative app stores are growing larger and larger with each passing day. As of 2019, according to the consultancy IDC, Xiaomi, Huawei, Vivo and Oppo made up 40.1% of global handset shipments in the fourth quarter, making them extremely viable alternative app stores for Android, full of untapped markets.”
OEMs are taking steps to make marketing on their alternative app stores easier than ever before. Oppo and Vivo are joining forces to create a platform for developers outside China, making it possible to upload apps onto all of their app stores simultaneously. A Reuters press release explains that “Along with Xiaomi and Huawei, these four companies are ironing out kinks in what is known as the Global Developer Service Alliance (GDSA). The platform aims to make it easier for developers of games, music, movies and other apps to market their apps in overseas markets, according to people with knowledge of the matter.” In this article, we will outline how to get your app featured on Oppo and Vivo and the benefits that can help you scale your business. Nicole Peng, VP of Mobility at Canalys, says “By forming this alliance each company will be looking to leverage the others’ advantages in different regions, with Xiaomi’s strong user base in India, Vivo and Oppo in Southeast Asia, and Huawei in Europe.”
Can every app vertical be published on OPPO and Vivo?
OPPO and Vivo follow guidelines that are similar to Google Play, so these OEMs are unlikely to have any objections to apps that can be published on Google Play. If you want to publish finance/loan apps and real money gaming on OPPO and Vivo’s app stores, guidelines will depend on the restrictions per country or state.
Games developers can easily benefit from OPPO and Vivo because there is no need to negotiate a new billing system or revenue share for in-app purchases. Avow can work with the APK (Android Package Kit) available on Google Play.
What about ad formats and creative?
It is important to know the ad formats available to you when marketing your app in a new store. Here are the formats available to marketers who have featured their app on Oppo and Vivo.
- Splash screen ads: These are full-screen ads that can deliver high engagement. This format supports deep links and a variety of targeting labels to acquire accurate users.
- Banner ads: This format displays your ad across a banner on the user’s screen. Banner ads offer a direct download on the homepage and also supports targeting labels for accurate targeting.
- Icon ads: This includes a series of placements such as the homepage, must-haves and download recommendation pages. You can also use a search term package to acquire users without providing creatives.
- PUSH ads: This offers high impressions and supports targeting labels for accurate targeting.
