How to develop your marketing strategy for Ramadan: Essential insights and considerations
During the month of Ramadan, 1.6 billion Muslims around the world practice their religious duty to fast from sunrise to sunset. Mobile marketing inevitably changes user behavior throughout the period. For example, 20.7% of Muslims consider themselves to be more generous throughout Ramadan. This requires you to develop your marketing strategy for the best results. Here’s what you need to consider when accounting for Ramadan in your overall strategy.
Ramadan: Essential insights for mobile marketers
There are several ways Ramadan impacts the mobile marketing industry. This ranges from the total ad spend to the number of downloads and in-app purchases. Criteo analyzed over 111 million shopping transactions in Malaysia and Indonesia during the Ramadan season and found a sales uplift of 68% for mobile ads and 53% on desktop. The same study showed a surge in sales 10 days into Ramadan, which sustained throughout the two weeks before Eid al-Fitr. Speaking about the study, Alban Villani, Criteo Managing Director for SEA-Pacific at Criteo explained that “Ramadan represents a notable cultural shift in consumer behavior, with the Middle East and Southeast Asia being key regions [...] the global Islamic economy is also growing year-on-year, estimating to reach $3 trillion by 2023. Given the growth potential of the halal industry, retailers should leverage Ramadan to engage Muslim shoppers.”
Forbes reported that downloads for shopping apps increased by 40% the week before Ramadan. They also found that in-app purchases increased by 35%. In an effort to capitalize on these shifts in user behavior, the average ad-spend also increases by 20% during Ramadan. With more competition for ad space throughout the period, it is more important than ever to use data insights to target high-value users who are most likely to convert.
3 things to consider when marketing throughout Ramadan
Implement your strategy early
Unlike many other religious occasions, which are celebrated for a shorter period of time, Ramadan lasts for 30 days. Despite this, it is always smart to implement your strategy before Ramadan begins. This gives advertisers more time to reach audiences and capitalizes on shifts in user behavior that occurs in the run-up to Ramadan. According to Facebook statistics, “83% of global Ramadan observers plan their purchases at least one week in advance and 50% at least 3 weeks in advance.” Starting early also gives you time to A/B test for the best results.
Get into the spirit on Ramadan with your creative
For Muslims all over the world, Ramadan is a time for reflection and introspection. Many brands will get into the spirit of Ramadan with their ad creative and campaign messaging. Forgiveness, harmony, and the importance of family are all common themes you might expect from ads during Ramadan.
Target untapped audiences with OEMs
Mobile marketers can use OEMs (original equipment manufacturer) to reach untapped audiences and gain a competitive edge. These are companies that manufacture their own devices, have their own apps and independent app stores. Companies such as Xiaomi, Huawei, Vivo, and Oppo – which have huge market shares in many countries with a large Muslim population – are directly distributing applications to their customers via their own dedicated stores. For example, 87% of Indonesia’s population is Muslim and, according to Statistica, Samsung is the leading mobile vendor in Indonesia with approximately 26.16% of the market share. This is followed by Chinese manufacturers Xiaomi and Oppo.
There are several advantages OEMs offer that can be effective throughout Ramadan. For example, OEMs enable marketers to grow on a global scale by reaching new audiences and accessing new markets that cannot be accessed via social, search or SDK networks. OEMs also offer higher user-acquisition whilst paying lower CPI (cost-per-install) – an important factor considering the increase in ad spend during Ramadan.
Moreover, a year-round benefit to working with OEMs is that you can access a fraud-free ecosystem. This is because there are no additional layers between the budget holder and the OEM, and reach advertising placement is fully controlled by the OEM.
How AVOW can help
As experts in OEM mobile inventory, AVOW partners with OEMs across the globe. We help our clients with a consultative approach through the whole campaign cycle, from getting apps listed on the respective OEM stores to distribution, tracking, and performance optimization. Mobile marketers can expand their reach and unlock new revenue streams with Avow’s OEM partnerships – which covers 42% of the global Android market.
>>> Contact us to learn more and start your campaign today! <<<
A Complete Guide to Ad Formats for Alternative App Stores
A Complete Guide to Ad Formats for Alternative App Stores
Alternative app stores offer advertisers the opportunity to target untapped audiences at a competitive price. Original Device Manufacturers (OEMs) unlock a global audience for advertisers by incorporating on-device advertising, offering marketers opportunities to reach ambitious targets and exceed their KPI expectations. When advertising on alternative app stores, it is important to know all of the ad formats available to you to make the best impact on your KPI targets. This guide covers the ad formats you can use for five leading OEMs and how they work.
Ad formats by app store
Oppo App Market ad formats
Consumer electronics and mobile communications company Oppo shipped 115.1 million units to 320,000 retail outlets in 2019, operating in over 40 countries worldwide. The company’s app store, Oppo App Market, offers four ways to advertise.
- Splash ads: You can implement these full-screen ads based on targeted labels to ensure that you are acquiring high-value users. Splash ads can deliver high engagement and conversion rates as a result of taking up the entire screen, making them unmissable to the user.
- Icon ads: Appear on Oppo App Marker’s homepage, Must-haves, Boot Guide, Download, and Recommendation section. A benefit to icon ads is that it does not require any creative asides from your app’s icon logo.
- Banner ads: This ad format can be shown on Oppo App Market’s homepage, displayed based on targeted labels.
- Push ads: Send a push notification to high-value users. This ad format supports deep linking and – just like Oppo’s banner ads – users can be sent a push ad based on targeted labels.
Splash Push Banner
Huawei AppGallery ad formats
With 14.7% of the market, Huawei is the third-largest smartphone manufacturer and the Huawei AppGallery serves over 500 million mobile users around the world. There are three ways in which marketers can advertise on Huawei AppGallery.
- App Search ads: Place an ad within Huawei AppGallery’s search function with up to 200 keywords for a single task. It is also possible to configure different bidding prices depending on the keyword. According to Huawei, this ad format results in a high CTR. The Quick Search function can also display recommended apps when a user enters a relevant keyword before tapping the search button.
- Display ads: These are icon ads with the dimensions of 216 x 216. They can be displayed among Recommended apps.
Intent based search
Samsung Galaxy Store ad formats
The Samsung Galaxy Store is pre-installed on Samsung smartphones and Samsung Gear. The app store, which is available in 125 countries, includes apps for Android, Tizen, Bada, and Windows Mobile. There are four ad formats on Samsung Galaxy Store you need to know.
- Welcome screen ads: Users can click to install multiple apps listed as Top Apps
- App notifications: Users are shown an ‘App of the day’ personalized to their interests
- App browses: Apps are shown as Featured Apps on the home screen and banners. Apps are also shown as Priority in App collections
- Search ads: Bid for keywords and appear when a user searches for terms related to your app
Xiaomi GetApps ad formats
Xiaomi is a hardware and software manufacturer with over 500 million smartphone users across 220 regions. Xiaomi offers several ad formats to choose from when advertising on the company’s app store, Xiaomi GetApps.
- Native ads: Native advertising matches the aesthetics of the media format in which they appear. In the case of Xiaomi GetApps, these are PNG or JPG ads with dimensions 1200 x 628 pixels or 600 x 314 pixels depending on placement.
- Icon ads: These are app icons that advertise your app, which can appear in Xiaomi GetApps’s recommendations. Icon ads appear in the user’s preload folder, game folder, MI Browser or App Vault. There are also Must Have and Hot Search sections in the app store where icon ads can be placed. You can also implement Dynamic icon ads in GetApps for optimal visibility.
- Push notifications: Users will be sent a push notification advertising your app. This is a PNG format with a 25 character limit for the main title. The notification description is limited to 40-45 characters.
- Splash ads: This is a full-page video ad that is between 5-10 seconds in length.
- Banner ads: These are PNG or JPG files that can appear in Xiaomi GetApps’s Browser, File Manager, Themes, Music, and Vault sections. The dimensions of each banner ad depend on where it is displayed.
- GetApps mini card: Your ad will appear as a square card in the Browser. This can lead to a conversion rate that is 4x higher than redirecting to Google Play.
In Game Icon Music Player
Vivo app store ad formats
The Vivo App Store has the second largest market share in India and more than 74 million MAUs worldwide, Vivo categorizes their ad formats in two ways: standard and non-standard ad placements.
- Standard ad placements: This includes the tabs Must Have, Upgrade Necessary, Recommended for You, Hot Apps, and Topic. Standard ad placements also include Pop-up ads. Similar to splash ads, these ‘pop up’ and cover the entire screen with your ad.
- Non-standard ad placements: This includes push ads, banner ads, splash ads, and floating icon ads. These types of ad formats can be used in the Vivo App Store for high exposure and extensive reach.
How to leverage alternative app stores and OEM’s untapped audiences
You can target these untapped audiences with AVOW: We have partnered with the world’s leading OEMs and our team of OEM mobile inventory experts are dedicated to helping clients benefit. We have a consultative approach, helping clients through the entire campaign cycle – from getting listed on alternative app stores to tracking and optimizing performance. For example, AVOW worked with Joom to help them acquire users from OEM untapped inventory. As a result, e-commerce app Joom increased ROAS by 150% and generated more than 60,000 monthly installs.
For more insights into how AVOW can help you leverage untapped audiences, read our introduction to OEMs.
How User Acquisition Managers can stay ahead of the curve with OEMs
Acquiring high-value users for mobile apps is a primary goal for app developers regardless of vertical or region, but the app market is developing at a rapid pace with more competition than ever before: An average of 1,153 new apps are released every day on the App Store and 3,119 new apps each day on the Google Play Store. Moreover, the unchallenged oligopoly of Google, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon, also named GAFA, owns more than 70% of the US total digital marketing expenditure. This underlines the challenge mobile marketers face when pushing for greater visibility and achieving their user acquisition targets. Fortunately, there are alternatives to GAFA platforms mobile marketers can use to help achieve their company goals and increase ROAS.
User acquisition managers gain a competitive edge with OEMs
OEM (original equipment manufacturer) apps are a smart way to reach untapped audiences and gain an edge over your competitors. Although the term is also used in other manufacturing industries, it has a specific meaning for the mobile industry. OEMs refer to companies who manufacture their own phones and create their own OEM apps. An example of a well-known Android OEM is Samsung, who sold 55.76 million smartphones in the second quarter of 2020.
OEMs are taking deliberate steps to offer a true and safe alternative to the overcrowded GAFA app stores. Companies such as Xiaomi, Huawei, Vivo and Oppo are directly distributing applications to their customers via their own dedicated stores. According to the consultancy IDC, these four companies made up 40.1% of global handset shipments in the fourth quarter of 2019.
What are the key advantages of OEMs?
While mobile marketers may find it difficult to successfully maneuver through the different specifications and requirements for each of the alternative app stores when setting up, this gives marketers access to numerous benefits:
- Achieve your growth goals: OEMs enable marketers to grow on a global scale by reaching new audiences and accessing new markets
- Reach your acquisition targets: OEMs offer higher user-acquisition whilst paying lower CPI (cost-per-install)
- Enter a fraud-proof ecosystem: Marketers gain access to a fully fraud-free user-acquisition ecosystem. This is because there are no additional layers between the budget holder and the OEM, and reach advertising placement is fully controlled by the OEM.
- Build trust with your audience: Users who are brand-loyal to the OEM will view ads as more trustworthy
Lead Analyst and Founder of MobileGroove, Peggy Anne Salz, outlined the importance of OEMs in mobile’s competitive market in her feature for MMA: “There is a wealth of opportunity for marketers who tap the vast distribution opportunities offered by alternative app stores. It starts with a clear understanding of the unique characteristics of each app store and their business practices, and it extends to approaches that monitor app performance, track app interactions and – ultimately – ensure brand integrity.”
How can AVOW help user acquisition managers untap the benefits of OEMs?
AVOW partners with OEMs across the globe and are experts in OEM mobile inventory. We help our clients with a consultative approach through the whole campaign cycle, from getting their app listed on the respective stores, distribution and tracking to performance and optimization. Mobile marketers can expand their reach and unlock new revenue streams with Avow’s OEM partnerships – which covers 42% of the global Android market. These untapped audiences cannot be accessed via social, search or SDK networks.
In addition to access to untapped audiences, AVOW Performance Optimizer (APO) optimizes all OEM on-device inventory in real-time. This in-house solution optimizes the best inventory in real-time towards KPI goals and engagement levels – pushing performance campaigns to the next level for higher ROAS. All OEM on-device inventory is verified by the leading mobile measurement companies in the industry (MMPs), offering a fast, diligent and automated process to benefit our clients.
In a prime example of how AVOW can help marketers optimize performance, social ecommerce pioneer Joom worked with us to reach untapped placements in regions such as Russia, Spain and France. We leverage our partnership with Xiaomi to increase Joom’s penetration across the market with new banner ads inventory. As a result of real-time optimization, Joom surpassed KPI targets: lowering rejection rate by 6%, increasing monthly installs by more than 60,000, and increasing ROAS by 150%.
Jooms success was driven by dynamic, seamless and intuitive on-device advertising. The ads were displayed based on location, social demographic, device type and relevant keywords.
To find out more about how Avow can help, read what our clients have to say about using alternative app stores’ inventory with our support.
>>> Contact us to learn more and start your campaign today! <<<[/vc_column_text]Contact us[/vc_column][/vc_row]