How do domestic apps go to sea?

If 20 15 is the first year of mass entrepreneurship, then 20 16 is the first year of domestic App going to sea.

With the disappearance of the demographic dividend in the domestic market, many Internet companies have turned their eyes to foreign countries. Go Launcher of 3G portal, United Swift WiFi, Clean Master of Cheetah Mobile, DU Apps of Baidu, etc. all gained high reputation at home and abroad.

Because of the rapid growth of mobile Internet, the ability and experience of developers in China are basically the same as those in Europe and America. Coupled with the relatively standardized domestic application markets such as Google Play and App Store, there is no "hidden rule" and fair competition, which makes the threshold for domestic apps to go to sea lower and lower, and the competition is becoming increasingly fierce.

At the time of the flood of domestic App in the Red Sea, many Internet companies felt that "going out to sea" was a blue ocean. First of all, judging from the whole market trend, it was still in its infancy and still enjoying the demographic dividend; Secondly, users in many overseas regions have better payment habits; Capital operation is mature. These are the advantages of the current App going to sea, but at the same time, it is also faced with the limitations of laws and regulations, regional culture, language environment, consumption power, user habits and other factors.

Although it has experienced various twists and turns, the road to the sea of App is still severe and arduous. At present, App is mainly concentrated in three types: one is application tools, the other is game e-commerce, and the third is personalization. Below, the author takes the personalized Android input method of tool-based Flash keyboard as an example to introduce the way for domestic app to go to sea.

Take the Flash keyboard as an example, mainly because it is representative. It is a software developed independently based on localization jointly launched by DotC. It has been online for more than two months, and its level is10 million DAU. According to App Annie's statistics, Flash Keyboard has just been launched 1 more than a month, and has topped the production tool category in 74 countries, ranked TOP5 in 93 countries and won TOP 10 in 96 countries. In all categories, 36 countries entered the top 5, with the highest score among 6/kloc-0 countries. Snapchat facebook is the top three in North America, and domestic applications have broken through top3 for the first time.

Four principles that domestic APP should abide by when going out to sea.

First of all, product development follows the guidance of minimalism. Unlike China App, the West advocates minimalism, and users prefer minimalism. Therefore, when designing a successful sea App, we adhere to the principle of minimalism-the interface has no redundant elements, the color scheme is extremely fresh, and the operation process is simple and convenient. Flash keyboard from the input experience, input efficiency to the richness of the overall content (rich keyboard skin and expression), as well as the application of machine learning algorithm in the product (association and error correction in grammar and semantics). Very simple, you can switch freely.

Secondly, follow diversified delivery in channel selection. A successful sea-going App will choose several overseas promotion channels for trial operation, and finally choose a major overseas promotion platform according to the promotion results of each channel and regional needs. With its powerful integration capability, the promotion platform can centrally integrate the traffic of multiple high-quality channels. Different from the App that successfully went to sea, Flash Keyboard took advantage of Avazu (global multi-screen promotion platform) in promotion and achieved good results through the self-dissemination of the product itself.

Third, follow the principle of language localization. Any sea App that wants to occupy foreign markets must implement localized languages. Flash keyboard supports 20+ languages at the same time, covering more than 100 countries and regions worldwide.

Fourth, follow the principle of timely adjustment in data analysis. Namely, promoting data monitoring and adjustment. Different channels are good at promoting different types of software, so the channel delivery strategy must be adjusted in real time according to the promotion data. According to the region, different delivery units are set up, and each unit corresponds to multiple sets of different promotional copy and advertising pictures, so as to optimize the best scheme and monitor the change of conversion rate of each unit.

For a new market, we should look for commonness in differences.

It is not easy to enter overseas markets. A brand-new market has its own barriers, which are determined by cultural differences, understanding of overseas markets, operational experience and other factors. Take cultural differences as an example. From a macro perspective, there are some differences between countries with different languages (such as English-speaking countries and French-speaking countries). From a micro perspective, there are also some differences between countries with the same language (such as the United States and Britain). Therefore, how to extract commonness from these differences and then consider their respective characteristics has become one of the key and difficult points in operation. This is also the tool products (such as desktops and locks) that are mainly used in the world at present.

In addition, the operation and promotion of overseas markets also have their own characteristics and know-how. Although many domestic teams have accumulated strong development and operation capabilities, it is still a process to get used to overseas markets. Experience and understanding of overseas markets is particularly important.

On the premise of technological innovation, there is a local market with excellent performance, so the polished products can be copied overseas. As an operator of entrepreneurial projects, one thing that must be considered is: What are your business models in the local market that can be directly transplanted?

It is unwise for local companies to set up teams to go overseas, and it is king to cultivate comprehensive business radiation ability. Furthermore, the Internet is a coherent service system, including product development, operation and customer service. Need to improve the operation service platform.

20 16, the road of domestic App going to sea has just begun.