Mobile marketing gets Chinese edge

"In the past, when Chinese internet-based companies went abroad, they used to depend on local digital marketing companies in the markets concerned. Now, however, we are almost everywhere, and can compete with local players on their home turf," Li Shuhao, CEO of Mobisummer, said at the 2018 Global Mobile Internet Conference in Beijing in April.

Mobisummer relies on its strength in big data analytics, and on its ability to integrate it with business intelligence and years of experience in the mobile technology.

"We've a very strong data analytics ability," Li said. "Take e-commerce for example. People go shopping online. They like to put items in their shopping carts first. But they just leave them there without proceeding to checkout. What we do is collect and analyze such data and tell clients what users like and what might be stopping them from actually buying the products.

"Using legal means, we track users' navigation behavior on apps or websites and then use those insights to improve marketing strategies. Many other competitors merely analyze data. Only a handful are able to apply analysis to strategy. We are one of them."

Business intelligence, or BI, is the next big thing Li's team is betting on.

Li said: "We plan to invest 20 million yuan ($3.13 million) in feeding our BI model. When fully developed, it will know how to make marketing, advertising and data analysis efficient, and how to monetize online traffic.

"I know many great product managers－they are like extraordinary craftsmen, but have no idea how to sell their wares. With BI, they will know precisely how to gain online traffic, locate their potential users and thus drive the business forward.

"Talking about competitiveness, I don't see any reason why we should worry about competition from our counterparts in Germany, Israel or the United States.

"When we went to the European and the US markets, we were surrounded by those companies but we still have higher volume of demand from our clients."

Founded in 2014, Mobisummer has grown rapidly and now boasts big-name clients such as Baidu, Alibaba, online news aggregator Toutiao, livestreaming app Kuaishou and e-commerce firm Globalgrow.

Among Mobisummer's recent successes is Mobile Legends, a Chinese mobile game developed by Shanghai-based Moonton Technology.

Mobisummer helped the game launch in over 10 countries with daily downloads volume reaching between 8,000 and 10,000.

"The major markets are Europe, the US and Southeast Asia," Li said. "We have seen a rapid growth in the volume of smartphones sold in the region, with about 200 million Android phones sold every year. It's a massive market. We have seen investors pumping in big-ticket capital in ventures in Southeast Asia. All of them need a partner to help them find their target audiences."

The firm earns every time a user clicks an ad strategically placed online by Mobisummer. Although exact figures are not available, it is said that the privately held Mobisummer's revenue reached hundreds of million yuan in 2017.

Mobisummer is planning to go public and list on a stock exchange. The firm hopes to double or even treble its revenue in the next few years.

"Digital marketing worldwide could be worth about 640 billion yuan or $100 billion now," said Li. "And it does not include cross-border e-commerce business, which is a $1 trillion market at present. Usually, an online company is willing to spend 20 to 30 percent of its profits on marketing and winning overseas traffic."

According to Statista, an online market research portal, companies the world over have spent $143.53 billion for digital marketing services in 2017. That number is expected to top $247 billion in 2020.

Small wonder, many investors have high hopes for Mobisummer. "In the big data era, digital marketing is one of the most valuable businesses on the internet," Yang Fei, partner of IDG Capital, a venture capital firm, said. "For example, companies such as Mobisummer have deep understanding of what clients need."