App Store Optimization vs OEM Ads: Which is Best to Scale Your App in the Indian Market?

Imagine: Your brilliant app is fully developed and you are gearing up to launch it in the Indian market, but no matter the scale of your innovation, you are still in a sea of 2.87 million similar apps. Feeling overwhelmed? Sadly, that’s not where the trouble ends. Fierce competition in the app field also extends to the advertising domain, especially in the classic case of App Store Optimization Vs OEM ads - where many developers have ended up confused and tremendously torn between which one to choose. But here is the twist - it seems like we do have an obvious winner for the Indian market here. So without any further ado, let's look at the most efficient App Store Optimization strategies for mobile apps in India and understand how OEM advertising may become the ace up their sleeve.

The Importance of App Visibility in India

Before diving into the App Store Optimization Vs OEM ads debate, let's grasp what's at stake in India's booming app market. With the digital revolution, thousands of Indians are using mobile devices every day to fulfill their essential needs. So, if you chart an expansive yet precise visibility plan for your app, success wouldn’t just be warranted but well received. Here are the other reasons why investing in app discovery can promote your business, in general:

Attract Organic Users

An optimized app can be placed higher on the top charts in the App store as opposed to its competitors.
The technology of deep linking guarantees realistic and unbroken navigation for the users, thereby garnering positive word-of-mouth.
Smart placement achieved through working with partners, and certified OEMs, ensures your app is seen by the right audience.

Boost Brand Awareness

In the case of OEM ads, many potential consumers tend to perceive the brands associated with major smartphone brands as credible to warrant their trust.
Clean analytics removes fake audiences to provide accurate user rankings.

Drive Revenue Over Time

Direct device presence is achieved through affiliate relationships with the OEM.
The usage of targeted areas to place and maintain advertisements and promotions helps to increase app user LTV.

What is App Store Optimization (ASO)?

The traditional ASO strategies are a bit similar to the concept of placing a store in a busy market. You have chosen an appropriate app icon for your window display, come up with an outstanding description for your application, and select a good position for your app on the loggerhead menu.

Even though these actions are important in reaching out to prospective clients, the threat can be very stiff indeed. In this case, consumers are confused and do not know which store to visit, and hence, it can be difficult to attract them.

What is OEM Advertising?

OEM advertising means that you align with device manufacturers and popularize your application among their clients. This can be pre-, pop-up, or downloaded through App stores, if not promoted by receiving push notifications. These are some of the ways that OEM ads have benefited app owners:

Instant & Wide Reach: It is recommended to engage OEMs where end-users get instant access to your app the same way they get access when tuning to prime-time TV.
Targeted User Acquisition: Send your application directly to the right audience, just like in a direct advertising campaign, by defining the most suitable user niches to target.
Enhanced User Engagement: They can initiate attractive schemes based on pre-installed applications and timely notifications that will trigger the users’ attention.
Data-Driven Optimization: Use various analytic applications to track the user’s activities and the success of your OEM campaign so that you can adjust your prospect advertising strategy.

App Store Optimization vs OEM Ads: A Quick Comparison

Reach and Accessibility

ASO

Dependent on the user’s active search on app stores.
Needs constant analysis and back and forth between keywords.
Restricted to app store visitors.
Market competition with millions of other apps.

OEM Ads

Users are reached directly from device activation at the initial stages.
Wider distribution by partnering with manufacturers.
Higher visibility in less competitive space.

Cost-Effectiveness

ASO

Lower initial investment.
It also calls for optimization costs which are continuous in nature.
It usually takes time for the outcome to be realized.
ROI can be unpredictable.

OEM Ads

Higher upfront investment.
Progressive and more predictable cost structure.
Quicker performance and market share.
Improved identification of ROI with partner analytics.

Engagement Potential

ASO

The users who are actively looking for an app are likely to engage.
Very little control over the discovery of users.
Dependent on store algorithms.
Difficult to make a statement in highly populated segments.

OEM Ads

Proximity in the users’ devices and gadgets.
More attention is garnered through the system notifications.
Immediate interaction with the features of the device.
Better re-targeting capabilities.

Learning from China’s Success with OEM Advertising

Chinese mobile app developers have become proponents of effective OEM advertisement and with good reasons too. Let’s take the example of China’s popular social app, WeChat (微信). According to a recent 2023 Q4 report, WeChat has more than 1.3 billion Monthly Active Users (MAU) in the Mainland, most of which are credited to the app’s OEM partnerships with key Chinese smartphone companies. Their success strategy involved:

Assimilation into the major Chinese OEMs, including Xiaomi, OPPO, Vivo, and Huawei.
Arrangements signed prior to the installation that made WeChat the pre-installed app in newly imported devices.
Developing features unique to brand products that enriched users’ experience.
Promoting personalized targeting on smartphones through an in-built push notification system.

Final Recommendations: ASO, OEM, or Both?

In India, App Store Optimization techniques are somewhat important, but when used in conjunction with OEM advertising their benefits are greatly enhanced. A balanced and moderate approach is essential for the best results. Here's how you can use each strategy, integrated with support from Apptrove:

For New Apps

Primary Focus: OEM Advertising

OEM ads help new applications gain awareness by placing them on devices as soon as they are released, leveraging on the association with the original equipment manufacturers. Apptrove helps you to reach the correct OEM partners for this sort of early pace setting.

Supporting Focus: Basic ASO

While OEM ads help drive engagement, basic ASO helps guarantee discovery pre-download. And Apptrove’s insights are useful for maintaining a good retention rate, regardless of the source of your user acquisition.

Budget Considerations

Limited Budget: Core ASO with Targeted OEM

Organically set up ASO then follow it up with OEMs that are targeted in the optimal geos. In cases where the budget is a determining factor, Apptrove can help you identify app placements and ad formats that deliver high ROI, thus ensuring better returns from both channels.

Substantial Budget: Full OEM and ASO Strategy

When the available budget is higher, it is possible to initiate greater OEM cooperation in addition to ASO to generate a multiple-channel presence. In addition, with Apptrove’s feature set, you can easily monitor the impact of your app discovery campaigns across platforms and, weed out non-performing channels equally efficiently. Thus, with a mobile measurement partner, developers can bring OEM ads and ASO into synergy to achieve guaranteed results within a short time and steady growth over the medium and long term.

Conclusion

Given the high-demand app market and potent business opportunities in India, choosing between ASO and OEM advertising is not a question of “either-or,” but rather one of finding the right balance. Of all the advertising strategies, OEM ads appear as a unique equalizer to level the playing field for Indian developers who seek to enter the global app arena, create a buzz, and begin commanding attention in the industry.

Although ASO is still important in maintaining organic acquisition, OEM advertising provides a toolset for those big successful spikes crucial in any competitive environment. Implementing both strategies simultaneously, with a special focus on OEM partnerships, provides a balanced formula to maximize the value of downloads, interaction, and sales.

That is why visibility for a product, or a service, in a market as large and diverse as India is a mere starting point. The real success is in finding the right users to target at the right time and with the help of Apptrove’s platform, both ASO and OEM advertising achieve exactly the same.

Also Read: TikTok Faces US Ban Threat, Lawmakers Demand App Store Removal