Webinar: From user acquisition strategy to dynamic preload campaigns with mobile OEMs
Join Ashwin, our clients Navi (Fintech) + Rainmaker (Gaming) along with Adjust where we have an in-depth discussion about UA and the benefits of dynamic preload apps on Mobile OEMs.
Learn how your apps can scale working with Mobile OEMs such as HUAWEI, Xiaomi, OPPO, Vivo, OnePlus, and Samsung - through Adjust’s preload solutions along with AVOW’s access to Mobile OEM premium inventory and their dynamic preload offerings.
Hear what the best-in-class Growth Managers from Navi and Rainmaker have to say about how they make use of Mobile OEMs for their apps’ growth strategy.
RSVP HERE
How Mobile Apps can leverage Mobile OEMs during IPL to Advertise Big
Introduction
IPL, or Indian Premier League, is one of the most celebrated T20 formats in the sport of cricket all across the globe. A recent study reveals that 61% of IPL viewers watch matches on their smartphones, and 70% of the total viewers keep regular checks on their phones for match updates, social media interactions, commentary, etc.
Xiaomi leads the mobile market share with 26.42% of people owning their smartphones in India as of March 2022. Following the pack, other smartphone OEMs like Vivo (title sponsor of IPL previously), Oppo, Realme, OnePlus, and Huawei have dominated the Indian market since smartphones' inception, bridging India’s population with its digital divide. Korean mobile manufacturer Samsung holds 17.49% of India’s total smartphone market share, followed by others mentioned above.
As per the latest IPL app marketing report by AppsFlyer, the biggest industry focus for mobile marketers during the IPL is education, entertainment, finance, food & drink, and gaming apps. Bidding on IPL ad slots within live streaming of the event might not be the best choice for mobile app advertisers if it is planned to work out, particularly in the initial stages of user acquisition whereas mobile OEMs can provide a grand alternative to meet your marketing campaign’s goals.
Due to the global pandemic hitting India for the second time in 2021, the teams played the second half of the IPL Season 14 in the United Arab Emirates, the first time this happened in the game's history. The Economic Times reported that mobile advertisers saw a sudden drop in the ratings compared to the first half of the game played in India.
What this means for mobile app advertisers
This year's IPL advertising sales have crossed 530 million USD approx, with streaming platforms like Disney+Hotstar expected to increase their ad revenue by 25% as the number of matches being played in IPL 2022 has risen by 20%. During the IPL season, there is a massive surge in the launch and promotion of apps falling in the sports and gaming category specifically. In addition, sports apps such as MPL and Dream11 are considered two of the top advertisers in this category during IPL for brand promotional activities and user acquisition campaigns.
With such market saturation, it means more time and toils for app developers to place their bets on advertising their mobile apps in such noisy markets.
How sports apps can leverage mobile OEMs during the IPL season
App advertisers can leverage an alternate channel mix to boost their brand campaigns with Mobile OEMs such as Vivo, which has even bagged the title sponsorship for IPL from 2016 to 2019 and then in 2021.
IPL is the most significant event for mobile apps, specifically in the sports and gaming category, to engage large audiences and gain traffic. However, you don't need to look further to reach millions of people while keeping the budget in mind. Smartphone OEMs dominate the Indian market with an untapped inventory where advertisers can make a move to harness their ads in the peak IPL season which is completely brand-safe and fraud-free.
OEMs provide a significant untapped inventory with more than 1.5 billion daily active users for advertisers to acquire new users interested in downloading their mobile app or similar apps in the sports category.
Why sports app advertisers should benefit from Smartphone OEMs during IPL
The speed and relevance of ad and marketing campaigns have become increasingly important. Smartphones have connected users to sports apps so much that it is imperative for apps in this category to deliver their ad campaigns and get the most out of these campaigns to meet the campaign goals.
Gamezy, one of AVOW’s clients in the sports category took a step forward by placing their bet on smartphone OEMs and this is what Minhaz Hazarika, their Director of Digital Marketing has to say about Gamezy’s journey with AVOW -
“IPL is an important season for app developers like us to reach out to the larger masses. Standing out from the crowd during this peak season is a big challenge. However, with the help of AVOW and their Mobile OEM partnerships, we were able to tap into new users all across the country,”
Some of the top advantages for mobile marketers to consider advertising sports apps with OEMs during the peak IPL season -
- With OEM app advertising, you can leverage an exclusive app store featuring per day and specific dates with multiple ad formats such as video ads, rewarded ads, native ads, and banner ads with unique ad placements.
- Get exclusive screen takeovers with splash ads so you can show the best of your sports app on the entire smartphone screen in a video format to create instant brand awareness and interest among users.
- Make way for Appographic Targeting to help you promote your app to users with similar interests beyond category and ownership to elevate your app install rates.
- OEMs offer customized push notifications for targeting high-value users during the IPL season to enable app discovery as there is 72.71% YoY growth for gaming apps.
- Explore PMP deals at private marketplaces (PMPs) with OEMs where you can bid on suggested inventories for a specific time period such as the peak IPL season to get the best out of your user acquisition campaigns.
Conclusion
Smartphone OEMs provide a mix of diverse outstanding alternatives than live streaming ads during the IPL cricket matches, which can cost more than Rs. 1 crore for a 30-second slot to really get the ROAS you aim to reach. With OEMs, sports app advertisers can create and cater to various audiences that have more reach and improve their chance of visibility and gaining users. Therefore, smartphone OEMs should be on every mobile marketer’s radar and considered an integral part of their mobile marketing strategy.
Which is the best alternative app store?
There are 5.32 billion unique mobile phone users worldwide today, according to the latest data from GSMA Intelligence, and Android covers more than 70% of the total mobile vendor market share globally as of May 2022.
With such dominance and growth of users and mobile devices YoY outside of iOS, it has become imperative and more needful than ever for mobile marketers and app developers to tap into more significant and diverse target audiences outside Google Play Store and to find the best alternative app store. This allows marketers to scale their mobile apps to reach a massive chunk of users where Google's app ecosystem remains null and void.
What are alternative app stores?
Mobile OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) like Xiaomi, Huawei, Oppo, Vivo, and Samsung offer alternative app stores for mobile app developers and marketers to significantly scale their apps among untapped audiences and advertise their mobile apps for incremental user growth and engagement. However, for any app developer aiming to launch their app, the Apple-Google monopoly pushes them to pit their app against 2.1 million Android and 1.8 million iOS apps.
Alternative app stores, therefore, offer an alternate channel for mobile advertisers and app developers to scale their user acquisition efforts and help them market their apps in broader regions beyond the access of the monopolies.
As mentioned above, some of the best alternative app stores offered by mobile OEMs like Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, Samsung, and Huawei generate more than 1.5 billion daily active users helping mobile marketers aim at significantly growing their user base, improving ROAS (Return On Ad Spend) and reducing costs simultaneously.
Which is the best alternative app store?
Setting up mobile advertising campaigns with alternative app stores can be tedious. Still, the advantages and results they bring along are worth every second of advertising spent with these app stores. In addition, marketers can significantly benefit from alternative app stores at a lower cost per install (CPI) with higher user acquisition.
Moreover, mobile OEMs are fraud-free and brand-safe as there are no mediators between the budget holder and the preferred mobile OEM. There is no one best alternative app store as the needs and demands of app developers vary along with the ad formats and pricing in each mobile OEM.
Here are some of the best alternative app stores to look forward to in 2022:
GetApps by Xiaomi:
Xiaomi is a consumer electronics and smart manufacturing company with smartphones and smart hardware connected by an IoT platform at its core. The company is in pursuit and rapidly expanding to become a global brand leader. Xiaomi finds itself taking a solid position on the Fortune Global 500 list for the third consecutive year, rising to 338th in 2021, representing a notable advance of 84 places compared to its ranking of 422nd in 2020.
GetApps offered by Xiaomi is an official app store where you can download apps for your Xiaomi phone. As one of the top five mobile brands in over 40 markets, the Xiaomi marketing platform offers an alternative app store for Android (Google Play) and Apple's App Store. The platform also provides ad frequency control.
Huawei AppGallery:
With a global Android market share of 10%, Huawei currently ranks fourth on the data for the largest global smartphone manufacturers. Huawei sold over 200 million smartphones and 100 million PCs, tablets, wearable devices, routers, and other IoT devices.
Huawei's AppGallery is the official app store of Huawei, and its own proprietary Huawei Mobile Services (HMS) are installed on Huawei's new devices. They do not offer Google Play Store services, making it one of the best alternative app stores to leverage untapped audiences. In the first quarter of 2021, Huawei AppGallery reported over 530 million monthly active users worldwide. About 2.3 million app developers have registered on the app store.
Samsung Galaxy Store:
Samsung is the largest shareholder among mobile OEMs, representing more than 28% of the global smartphone market share. In the fourth quarter of 2021, Samsung sold nearly 69 million smartphones to end-users worldwide.
Once known as Samsung Apps and Galaxy Apps, the Galaxy App Store is inarguably one of the best alternative app stores that mobile marketers can add to their marketing mix. It is a default app store for Samsung smartphones and is pre-installed on these devices. The app store is available in 125 countries and includes Android, Windows Mobile, Bada, and Tizen apps.
Vivo App Store:
Over the recent years, Vivo has gained popularity globally as the market share of Vivo in Asia leaped from under one percent in 2020 to 8.15 percent in 2021, reflecting an increase of almost seven percent with a focus on markets such as India (20%), Indonesia (20.6%) in Q1 of 2022, and Southeast Asian countries.
Vivo App Store is one of China's most used alternative app stores. It is preinstalled on all Vivo smartphone devices. A user can see applications in several categories and then sort these applications based on the number of downloads, the rating of the application, and the time spent on the application. Vivo app store ad formats include push ads, banner ads, splash ads, and floating icon ads.
The App market by Oppo:
Oppo is a leading smartphone manufacturer in China under BBK electronics which also manufactures OnePlus and Realme as extended alternatives to Oppo smartphones. The App Market by Oppo is the official OPPO App store that provides a range of compatible apps to entertain.
The global market share held by OPPO in the smartphone market increased significantly from the first quarter of 2015, when the company held 2.2 percent, to where it stands in the first quarter of 2022. In the first quarter of 2022, OPPO had a global market share of 8.7 percent.
Alternative app stores are the future of mobile marketing
Mobile OEM inventory is increasing with year-over-year growth of 3.8 percent, with shipments expected to reach 1.43 billion by the end of 2022. Within this space, the smartphone Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) such as Oppo (Realme and OnePlus), Vivo, Samsung, HUAWEI, and Xiaomi occupy 52% of the market share as of Q1 2022.
The alternative app stores by the mobile OEMs provide a tremendous competitive advantage to mobile marketers as it continues to scale for as long as smartphones dominate the telecommunications industry. As a result, the aforementioned mobile OEMs have proven to provide the best alternative for mobile marketers' marketing mix as a user acquisition channel.
Read more about alternative app stores and their benefits for Android
Mistakes, Challenges, and Curiosity: Kamilla Dvorakovskaya from Joom #BreaksTheBias
Mistakes, Challenges, and Curiosity: Kamilla Dvorakovskaya from Joom #BreaksTheBias
In this post, we interview Kamilla Dvorakovskaya from Joom shares abut her learnings, challenges that one needs to go through, and how one should adapt themselves at work.
What’s the best work-related advice you’ve ever received?
I think the best advice that I received at Joom was to change my point of view regarding mistakes. We, at Joom, see mistakes as an opportunity to start all over again with the knowledge about what was done wrong.
The second tip I would highlight is to ask questions. This is absolutely normal not to know something. My colleagues at Joom are always very open and ready to help. The more I ask the more I learn.
And last but not least, listen to your colleagues, even if you think you are 100% right.
What do you wish you had known before entering the mobile industry?
A lot of things. Firstly, I will talk about the challenges related to writing a code, understanding development languages, and other IT specifics. As I started working as a Joom marketing manager, I had to adapt myself to this new vocabulary as well. I made a notebook of words where I was writing down everything unfamiliar, that I could hear or read in this new environment.
I would also advise myself to be ready to be in the position, which is always looking for information, conducting tests, refuting, or confirming hypotheses.
Do you have a specific book, podcast, publication, quote, or else you could recommend that we women in mobile & tech could learn from?
It’s hard to name just one book or a podcast, which can be the key to success. We should always develop ourselves according to time and not be ignorant towards modern achievements and information, regardless of being women or men. I believe that ignorance keeps people to be left behind.
I could say that listening to conferences and reading articles on various platforms related to marketing is very useful for me. For example, the last book I have read is Ogilvy’s book on advertising.
Conclusion
When you make mistakes, you learn better. As Kamilla points out, it should be an opportunity to reflect upon what went wrong and improvise all over again. Adapting yourself quickly to the environment helps you build yourself professionally and fosters a curious mindset.
Community, Empowerment, and Expression: Giovanna Montoro from Singular #BreakTheBias
Community, Empowerment, and Expression: Giovanna Montoro from Singular #BreakTheBias
In this article, we interview Giovanna Montoro, Head of Sales at Singular (LATAM), where she talks about her learnings, breaking the norms, and everything women should consider to uplift, encourage, and inspire one another at the workplace and in their personal lives.
What’s the best work-related advice you’ve ever received?
On my first job when I was around 17 as an art assistant at a children's school near my house I was so scared that I asked my aunt, my role model for my whole life also involved in the tech industry: “what if I fail?”. She calmly answered me: “You´ll show up and always do the best you can do, with an open heart and a hungry mind”. I´ve been following this advice ever since and it has never failed me.
What do you wish you had known before entering the mobile industry?
Not only mobile but also mobile sales, although it's a male-dominated area there's a great group of women who support each other and are always there to help when needed. As women, we create communities and really engage in welcoming new members in the field. It took me some time to find this community but I have to say that it really empowers me to move forward.
Name another woman in the digital marketing space that women should look out for and why
Bia Granja is an amazing Brazilian LinkedIn influencer and a great reference for disruptive forms of communication. She talks about how Brazilians use the internet to express themselves and create new forms of communication and cultural movements.
Do you have a specific book, podcast, publication, quote, or else you could recommend that we women in mobile & tech could learn from?
I´ll always recommend Brené Brown´s Power of Vulnerability Ted talk whenever I have the chance. It's not tech-specific content, but it can be applied to any field and it shows how we can empower skills that we didn't even know we could. It talks about how coming from a place of authenticity we can embrace our imperfections and be better at accepting ourselves.
Conclusion
Inspiration comes from motivation, and motivation comes from surrounding yourself with the right people. Like Giovanna, there are many women who are doing wonders out there in the tech space. Now is the time to stand up, encourage, and applaud their contributions to the world. Just talking about bias does not let the bias go, standing up against it does!
Stereotypes, Upliftment, and Networking: Shalini Devji-Jethwa from MoEngage #BreaksTheBias
Stereotypes, Upliftment, and Networking: Shalini Devji-Jethwa from MoEngage #BreaksTheBias
The gaps in gender parity are gradually decreasing in the tech industry. A report by Deloitte suggests that large scale technology companies, on average, will be 33% represented by the female workforce by the end of 2022. There's steady progress in the increased number of female workforce, be it technical roles or the leadership positions.
This post from the series #Breakthebias covers the story of Shailini Devji-Jethwa, Director of Marketing, Europe (UK), MoEngage, accentuating the stereotypical notions in tech and how women need to overcome them with the ability to create, nurture, and transform.
What does #BreakTheBias mean to you? And how can we break it?
#BreakTheBias to me means acknowledging that the bias exists in the first place so that we can begin breaking down outdated stereotypes. I feel we can break it by being honest with ourselves and challenging the systems and processes we're all surrounded by - whether it's at home, in the larger community, or in the workplace.
Being the Director of Marketing, EU at MoEngage - what tips could you give to other women to make a career in the mobile tech space? Basically, to get where you are now :)
My advice to women wanting to break into the mobile tech space, or any other industry is to network with like-minded individuals and to have a strong support network in place so that you are empowering and learning from each other. Also, get out of your comfort zone - get involved in different types of projects and expose yourself to different people and insights.
Name another woman in the digital marketing arena that we should look out for or know and why
There are so many fantastic women I've been fortunate enough to be inspired by, such as Geeta Randev, Senior Digital Growth Marketing Specialist at Champion. When it comes to enabling other women and challenging the status quo, Geeta is just brilliant and inspiring.
Do you have a specific book, podcast, publication, quote, or else you could recommend that women, in mobile & tech, could learn from?
'Here's to Strong Women, may we know them, may we be them, may we raise them!' It's one of my favorite quotes - it encourages empowering other females and to me, breaking the biases for the next generation.
Conclusion:
Women should challenge systems and status quos, processes, and notions of stereotypes that surround their daily lives. It empowers other women in your network and boosts them to stand up to these challenges and win against them.
AVOW’s VALUES: Building a thriving, people-first company culture
Since its launch in 2018, AVOW has always equated its values with those of its people. Beyond our tech and tools, ours is a people-first company. When employees are valued as individuals and offered opportunities for well-being, we believe that companies become more innovative and resilient.
As leaders in the mobile OEM marketing industry, we cherish all the people who’ve been a part of our journey and their contribution to making us who we are today. Our greatest strength lies in our people who are responsible for AVOW’s achievements.
These past years have taught us a lot – from taking the first steps of gathering a dream squad and building it into the “A-Team” to bridging the smallest of gaps towards achieving our strategy and operational goals. We’ve learned, unlearned, and stood with each other at all times. Every AVOWer has taught us something unique along the journey, and we translated those learnings into AVOW’s Values.
The values of AVOW; our foundation for the thriving work culture we celebrate every day.
Be humble always
We believe the first step to being humble is acknowledging that you can’t know everything. Especially for those who strive for knowledge and self-improvement, there will always be something else to learn and someone to learn it from. Therefore, it is essential to give yourself time and scope for improvement and value openness and curiosity to learn from anyone.
To be humble, we encourage you to:
- Accept that you cannot be the best at everything (and that it is okay!)
- Seek and provide honest feedback
- Be open to personal change and continuous improvement.
- Be appreciative of all things you have in life.
Foster a positive team spirit
Ours is a pack we like to call “the A-Team” We take pride in our diversity, value each other’s differences, and appreciate our similarities. With an international team spread across the globe, we go above and beyond towards creating a shared purpose and enabling people’s development & well-being.
We believe the key to encouraging positive team culture is to:
- Be actively inclusive
- Empower the teams to learn new skills
- Encourage open communication
- Appreciate efforts, share praise, and exchange constructive feedback.
Reframe your mistakes into learnings
Mistakes happen. If approached correctly, what we learn from them can translate into a meaningful experience for professional growth. Not every client will be happy with what you put together, and not every task you do will always be flawless, but we can pivot off those failures and strategize for the next opportunity that comes our way. Instead of pushing those mistakes to the back burner of your brain, try instead to keep it at the front, looking at the different sides to ensure that you understand what went wrong, where you went right, and what you could do differently going forward.
Here’s how it is achieved:
- Approach these learnings as a process for your growth
- Pull yourself out of the mistake by addressing it, not running away
- Practice self-compassion by believing in your learnings
- Personalize learnings based on relevant skills
Build trust through transparency
Transparency breeds transparency, and this is the most essential component of our organizational culture to build trust. We encourage each of our team members to express their honest opinions and to be open to others within their teams to do the same. By doing so, we unleash one of the most powerful tools to ignite and steer ideas, projects, and relationships in the right direction.
Practice transparency by keeping these things in mind:
- Share insightful information with everyone
- Communicate openly
- Be constructive and solution-oriented
- Ask for help when you need it, and offer it when you can
Embrace a proactive mindset
Taking action to find a solution is always better than just reacting for one. We choose to be creative when facing challenges by building problem-solving processes that anyone who needs them can adopt. A great way to start fostering a proactive mindset at work is to be aware. This will allow you to make better use of your time at work and enable you to stand out from the crowd.
Here’s how to allow yourself to foster a proactive mindset:
- Act for a change, don’t just react
- Seek feedback actively
- Don’t be afraid to ask questions
- Prioritize things that need your immediate attention
Stay curious
We all want our lives at work to be enjoyable and engaging, and add up to something that feels worthwhile. That comes from having interest and variety; from feeling a part of something bigger and knowing how we can contribute. Every day brings the opportunity to try something new, or do something familiar in a different way. When our curiosity is stirred, we think more deeply, more creatively and more rationally. We can discover how we can improve, what we can create, where we can grow. Small shifts can have a big impact. And we can all make them.
Here’s our approach to using the unique powerful tool of questioning:
- Stay curious with a growth mindset and leverage an abundance mindset
- Challenge assumptions and check your biases
- Create a psychologically safe environment
- Promote a speak-up and questioning culture
At AVOW, we harbor unity and team spirit by practicing these values every day.
Confidence, Decision-Making, and Skills: Vivianne Ianagui from Babbel & Yogeeta Chainani from Swaarm #BreakTheBias
Confidence, Decision-Making, and Skills: Vivianne Ianagui from Babbel & Yogeeta Chainani from Swaarm #BreakTheBias
From surviving 20th-century wars to being global leaders in the 21st century, women are conquering it all by simply focusing on what they want to do and making sure their voices are heard equally. Gender equality today translates to a sustainable tomorrow in cultural, political, and socio-economic domains of life.
In this article, we interview Viviane lanagui, Head of Revenue Strategy & Operations, at Babbel & Yogeeta Chainani, CEO, Swaarm.com, to know about their experiences and their journey of achieving success.
Vivianne Lanagui, Head of Revenue & Strategy, Babbel
Why is gender balance and having a more diverse workforce important, especially in senior management teams?
I believe that a diverse workforce, be it gender, ethnicity or background, helps you to approach a topic from different angles. As an example, Babbel – the language learning platform where I currently work – counts with professionals from 65 nationalities. I experience how this fosters innovation and helps you to uncover blind spots, which wouldn’t be so natural if everyone thinks and acts the same. Also, being a Latin American woman with Asian background working in Germany, I know how much representation matters. At Babbel, we have women and expatriates in several leadership positions, including C-level positions and this is very inspiring to me.
What advice would you give to a woman considering a career in the media/advertising/tech industry today?
Be bold and understand your value. Several articles mention that, in general, men are bolder in negotiating salaries and positions, and applying to jobs where they might not be 100% matching. While women have the tendency to be shy on those topics, my advice would be to invest in learning negotiation skills, which will help you in your career, and to show the confidence level that matches your skills.
Name another woman in the digital marketing space that women should look out for and why
A dear friend of mine, Carolina de Oliveira, partner at KPMG South America, has been doing an amazing job connecting, discovering, and giving visibility to tech companies in Brazil. She also leads several tech and LGBT+ initiatives and she is proof that diversity is a tremendous asset for any business. I’ll recommend keeping an eye on her to get a glimpse of what’s going on in the Brazilian tech scene.
Do you have a specific book, podcast, publication, quote, or else you could recommend that we women in mobile & tech could learn from?
A bit more general, but I’ll tease you with this Forbes article. If you want to connect with other women in tech, Elpha is a great network.
Yogeeta Chainani, CEO, Swaarm.com (GER)
“Act like a man” Is this still what it takes to thrive as a woman in the marketing business arena?
I would say no. I think it has more to do with the qualities a person projects. Confidence is such a key quality that I would attribute to success in marketing. But I don’t think that this has got anything to do with gender.
What one piece of advice would you give any aspiring female business leaders reading this
Women can be held back in business for a variety of reasons, including a lack of recognition and trust from colleagues and peers. My most important piece of advice to them would be to shatter the glass ceiling of social norms and mindsets and to flaunt their self-assurance. No one else will believe in them if they do not believe in themselves.
Name other women in the digital marketing space that other women should look out for and why
My product journey in Berlin began with my manager Orietta (former COO of the company where I started), who introduced me to startup life and said, “you like building tech products, go ahead and do that.” She provided me with the liberty, the mentorship, the guidance, and the visibility that helped me get recognized and opened up several opportunities for me. She has played a pivotal role in my journey and career.
Do you have a specific book, podcast, publication, quote, or else you could recommend that we women could learn from?
I recently discovered a very interesting read called ‘The Confidence Code’ by Claire Shipman and Katty Kay, where the authors talk about how we women often push ourselves towards decision paralysis by overthinking the situation. We need to be able to trust our instincts and go with the flow. In Katty’s words- “Having talent isn’t merely about being competent; confidence is actually a part of that talent.”
Conclusion
While women had a lot to fight for, there was also a lot to fight against. Nevertheless, they kept on moving and leading – leaving trails for many to follow. Even today, we, as a society, are progressing towards a future where stereotypes and biases will be mere words of history.