New Year, New Opportunities… in the East

In just a few weeks, there’s going to be a gigantic event: one that tons of people will participate in, that inspires a lot of celebrating,  and that has huge potential for retail and advertising.

No, not the Super Bowl. We’re talking about Chinese New Year, a major, week-long event celebrated by the entire Chinese community, beginning on February 7, 2016.

And since the Chinese community numbers over 1.3 billion people, that makes it a pretty big deal. Last Chinese New Year (CNY), the holiday tallied up retail and restaurant sales of RMB 678 billion in mainland China over its seven days. That number converts to US $104.6 billion….or, for context, double the amount spent by Americans on the week of Thanksgiving (and Black Friday!) the year before.

So, how can you make sure that your app benefits from all this excitement? In this blog post, we’ll give you more details about the festival, explain how the Chinese app scene has tapped into CNY celebrations, and share some tips on what you can do to join in on the fun too.

Chinese New Year: The Basics

Who celebrates it?

Chinese New Year–also known as Spring Festival–is celebrated at the turn of the Chinese calendar. It’s seen as a time to honor deities and ancestors.

Since the calendar is lunar, the exact date varies each year, although it usually happens in February; this year, celebrations begin on February 7th, which is the eve of the new year. And, since it is celebrated in pretty much every community, country, and territory with a significant Chinese population, CNY is a worldwide party, with gigantic events in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Chinatowns all over the globe.

What do you celebrate with?

As with any good holiday, there are certain symbols and phrases that it’s good to be aware of. The key ones to know for this year are:

• Monkeys. In the traditional Chinese calendar, each year is associated with one of the twelve animals in the Chinese zodiac. This year, it’s the monkey. People go to visit and celebrate live monkeys, and there are lots of monkey-themed decorations!
• Red. It’s the color of the heart, the color of the Chinese national flag…and the color of Chinese New Year. And so, people (literally) paint the town red: windows and doors are decorated with bright paper decorations, and many people wear red clothing.
• Blessings. In Chinese culture, the new year is seen as the time to remove any ill fortune and to welcome in new, good luck. People will often bless their family, friends, and neighbors with messages such as “good fortune,” “health,” “longevity,” and “happiness.”

Chinese New Year decorations with blessings.

…And how do you celebrate?

Family together, a clean house, gifts: you have to start the new year right.

Traditionally, Chinese families gather for an annual reunion dinner, and the new year is seen as the time to thoroughly clean your house. Another notable activity is the giving and receiving of red envelopes full of money, called Hongbao. These symbolize good luck, and are believed to ward off illness and evil spirits in the coming year. Usually, married people give them to single people, with the latter gently requesting the envelopes by wishing blessings on the givers.

Red Envelope

Although the traditions persist, nowadays CNY is also seen more generally as a festival of “happiness.” And happiness often involves spending; according to a 2014 survey conducted by NetEase and 163.com, a third of Chinese people will use their money to go to a party, and 27% will buy clothing or go shopping.

And we’re not talking small amounts. As we mentioned before, there is an enormous Chinese population in the world. Couple that with the rise of the middle class in China, and you have a perfect storm: billions of people who are excited (and willing) to spend–and many who have the money to actually do so.

Case Study: How Tencent Leveraged Chinese New Year to Beat Alibaba

Unsurprisingly, a number of Chinese tech giants realized the huge market potential–and did their best to capitalize on it. But Tencent was the one who did it best. Here’s how:

The Idea: WeChat Red Envelope

On January 17, 2014–right before the beginning of Chinese New Year–Tencent launched an app called “WeChat Red Envelope” (WeChat Hongbao). The app allowed WeChat users to give red envelopes to their friends, relatives, and connections, and to receive them in return.

WeChat Red Envelope

Note that this feature was, in itself, a big step for Tencent: it was their first foray into mobile commerce and payment functionality for WeChat. Before they created the app, they weren’t even a player in this market. Alibaba’s Alipay was dominating the scene.

The Twist: Make it a Game

However, WeChat Red Envelope was not just a way to send and receive gifts. It was also a game. A sender could send envelopes containing various amounts to a circle of friends, with a “first come, first serve” setting. Then, the whole group would get to compete for the red envelope with the highest value. The app started getting some buzz.

Then, in 2015, WeChat partnered with the Spring Festival Gala (a major TV program, airing on the eve of CNY) and introduced another exciting game feature to the mix: the WeChat Red Envelope Shake. During the gala, viewers were invited to shake their smartphones for a chance to win red envelopes. And we’re not talking small change. A total of 1.2 billion red envelopes, worth over half a billion RMB (US $83 million) were sent out during the promotion.

User Interfaces of WeChat Red Envelope Shake

The game hijacked the show. Instead of watching, viewers everywhere began shaking. Some people shook multiple smartphones to increase their chances of winning. Others put all their smartphones and tablets into a sieve, so they could shake them simultaneously. The number of shakes during the gala promotion climbed to 11 billion, with a peak of 810 million per minute.

The Payoff: Instant User Base

Needless to say, the promotion worked. Alipay may have built a strong user base over time and emerged as a market leader, but now Tencent had guaranteed that everyone would know about its mobile payment abilities. Tencent’s seasonal campaign effectively convinced millions of WeChat users to try out their version and, in doing so, built in a month the same size user base as Alibaba had built over years.

Get Your App Ready for CNY

Decorate for the holiday.

We’ve told you the symbols….now use them! Consider incorporating red as a theme color, and don’t forget about those monkeys. (The latter is particularly good if you already have a monkey character in your app or mobile game.)

Not sure where to start? Shutterstock has some good images, that you can use for inspiration–or just use.

Send your users blessings, using push notifications.

But how will your users know that you’ve decorated for the new year? A timely push notification can draw users to your app. Impress them by using a common holiday blessing; to make sure that you’re wording it correctly, ask your local team (or Chinese localizers) to write one for you.

Don’t forget the red envelope.

Learn from Tencent. Capitalize on the red envelope custom.

True, you might not start a nationwide craze. But, by allowing users to send gifts to their friends during CNY, you can monetize your app. Make the option particularly tempting by offering a seasonal discount.

Localize your app into Chinese.

Wait, what? Your app is still only in English? Then forget about getting in on Chinese New Year.
Many Chinese speakers are not comfortable using English, which means localization is crucial for success. We recommend Simplified Chinese, as that will allow the greatest portion of the population to understand your app. And language might not be the only issue; China also has an unusual system of distribution channels, including the almost total absence of Google Play. Read this blog post to learn more.

Not familiar with localization in general? Don’t worry, we have you covered there as well. Start with this guide, and browse our blog for more tips.

Over to You

How are you celebrating Chinese New Year? We’re particularly curious about how you’re using your mobile app or game to do so–but, if you have a personal CNY story to share, we’d love to hear that too. Let us know in the comments below!

From the entire team of OneSky, we wish you 恭喜发财 (Good Luck and Prosperity).

Is your app ready for the holidays?

Ah, Christmas. That magical time of year: when trees twinkle with lights, houses smell like baking cookies…..and apps are downloaded like crazy.

It’s well known that Christmas Day brings the highest rate of app downloads. Last year was no exception; Flurry Analytics shows that there were 150% more downloads on December 25 than on any other day of the month, on average.  So, if you’re hoping to boost your app downloads and improve monetization (and who isn’t?), it’s important to figure out how you can hook your wagon onto Santa’s sleigh.

But how are you going to do that? In this blog post, we’ll tell you the top five ways to get you–and your app–into the holiday spirit. (And to get those holiday returns as well!)

1. New users want the latest and greatest.

Look under any Christmas tree, and there’s a good chance you’re going to see a smartphone. A report from Strategy Analytics found that 380 million smartphones were sold during the Christmas quarter last year. It’s  important to note that a good percentage of those were Apples products: in that record fourth quarter, about 75.5 million of the sales were iPhones, including a lot of iPhone 6 models. And, when you look only at the week leading up to Christmas, the numbers get even higher: Flurry Analytics reported that 51.3% of the smartphones activated in that period were manufactured by Apple.

And what’s the first thing you do when you get a new device? Use it, obviously. And you’re not going to call your family–they’re right there, celebrating with you. You’re going to start looking for cool new apps in the App Store.

That’s where you come in. If you can capture the attention of this key market, your downloads are going to skyrocket. There are a few ways you can rise to the top. You can use the latest and greatest in technology, incorporating some of the hot new iOS 9 features, such as 3D Touch. Or, you can focus on trying to get your app featured, just in time for the holiday boom.

2. Theme your content and in-app purchases to the holiday.

Remember: it’s Christmas Day! Everyone is feeling festive, and your app should be no exception. Update your content and in-app purchases so that they are relevant to the holiday season. You can be creative about it; the important thing is to motivate people to engage with your app, because the content just seems so timely.

3. Then theme your whole app.

The halls shouldn’t be the only thing you’ve decked–your app will benefit from a little holiday sprucing up as well. Consider adding a temporary Christmas theme to your app’s interface. If that doesn’t feel right, at least throw in a few snowflakes or candy canes. Even a simple holiday theme can get you some extra attention.

4. Decorate your push notifications and in-app messages.

And don’t forget to share the love with people who have already downloaded your app! In-app messages easily connect you to your current users, and push notifications are great for reminding past users about your app. Make use of both of these channels to update them on how you’re getting into the holiday spirit: tell them about your new holiday content, advertise related promotions, or, at the very least, wish them a happy holidays.

Remember, though, that the best messages are the personal ones. Use your customers’ actions to target your messages, and give them useful information. That’s going to get them to engage–and to have the best possible experience.

5. Pay attention to emerging markets.

Billions of people celebrate Christmas, so we can pretty much guarantee that not all of them are in your domestic market. And that’s also true for who will be using the App Store around the end of December. Chartboost found that game sessions surged in areas all over the world, but numbers were particularly high in Latin America, Eastern Europe, and Ireland. So it might be worth paying a little extra attention to these regions when you’re developing your holiday campaign.

And remember that, for some countries, snowflakes and chestnuts on an open fire don’t make sense! Below the Equator, many people will be enjoying a hot, sunny Christmas. Marketing your app as a “great way to get away from all that snow” will work in Canada…..but it’s going to be pretty silly in Brazil. To make sure that you’re taking into account different audiences, ask your translators for advice on content created for the regions they’re familiar with. It’s a great way to gauge local customs and to get a sense of what will (and won’t) work for the Christmas season.

Bonus: Don’t forget about winter break!

Like some of these ideas? Then get started. Now.

Why? Well, every year, the App Store takes a winter break. That means that new apps and app updates will not be accepted December 22-29. Any releases (including updates) have to be submitted, approved, and scheduled in advance. Other iTunes Connect functionality remains available, but this break means you need to get moving: if you do want to add holiday content to your app, you need to submit those updates early to guarantee it will be released in time.

And then, take a break yourself. You deserve it.

Tell us your thoughts.

As this list makes clear, there are a lot of ways you can infuse your app with some Christmas spirit. Have you had particular success with a holiday theme on your app? What will you be downloading this holiday season, and why? Give us the scoop in the comments. (Or, at least, wish us a Merry Christmas!)

Like most great ideas, localization is actually quite simple—but with a lot of tricky details. When you take on a new localization project, there are a few questions you’re going to have to answer. And it’s best to answer them before you get started.

After all, localization isn’t one-size-fits-all. For some projects, it might make sense to localize everything; for others, it might make sense to localize only part, or to do it gradually. You’re going to have to figure out the right scope for your product, and your company. Take the time to scope your project well, and you’ll be guaranteed to end up with the best outcome in the most efficient amount of time.

So, how do you do it? In this blog post, we’ll take you through the four big questions you should ask yourself when you’re determining the scope of your project—and we’ll throw in some bonus tips as well!

1. How much content do I need to localize?

Maybe you want to go into a few markets at full power, and you decide to localize everything you have. Or maybe you want to test a few markets first, before you commit fully. In the latter case, it’s better to scale up your project, step by step.  Here’s the order that we’d recommend:

1. Test the market potential. Just localize your app store listing, and see if there is any traction.
2. If you find potential in particular markets, go for minimum viable localization—localize the app content and necessary user manuals.
3. Strong local reception? Great. Commit to complete localization, including your landing pages, marketing materials, and social media content.

2. What types of content do I need to localize?

Your app contains a lot of different elements: text, pictures, special features, and so on. There are some elements that have to be localized, to make the project worthwhile. But, there are other elements that could go either way—it’d be great if you localize them, but maybe it’s not necessary. When scoping your localization project, you’ll need to determine the depth of your localization.

You may decide that you only want to translate the content. However, you could go deeper and also localize your multimedia material: switch to culturally-appropriate graphics, fix voiceovers, have a different cartoon drawn, etc. At the deepest level of localization, you would develop new, unique features, or look for smart integration opportunities (e.g. integrating with WeChat, to better reach a Chinese market).

Just remember: each level of localization requires a different set of talents, from translators and copywriters for new content, to designers for new graphics, to developers for new codes.

3. How long will the translation take?

We’ve found that a professional translator can translate up to 2,000 words per day. So, if you divide your total word count by 2,000, you’ll have a sense of the minimum number of days necessary to complete your translation project. That number of days will increase from there depending on the number of QA measures taken, the desired translation quality, and the difficulty of the source content.

Tip: Reserve time for translator’s inquiries

People often think of translation as a solo project: one person, two languages, and lots of hours. But to get the highest-quality translation, you’re going to need to be involved too. Translators often need clarification on certain parts of the source text. Are you using “kill” as a noun or a verb? Is this text directed at a male user or a female user?

To smooth out the process, be ready for these questions. Assign a team member to feed your translator information and handle any problems. And be sure to factor in the time necessary to create a translation glossary, a style guide and other important source materials.

4. How much will the project cost?

There are two main costs in a localization project: translation and engineering. The translation cost will be the bulk of the budget, and it’s usually determined on a per-word basis.  (For example, we usually recommend 10-20 cents per word.) If you use extra QA measures, your cost can end up being a bit higher.

You should also factor in an engineering cost. Enabling your app for localization takes some work: you’ll need to extract the app’s content from the code and store this content in separate resource files, in a process we call “internationalization.”

Tip: Internationalize early, and save in the long run

When you’re launching your app, it’s tempting to skip internationalization, so you can ship codes faster. But that’s a big mistake.  The content of your app will only accumulate over time—meaning the later you start internationalization, the more backlog you’ll have to work through when you realize you should have done it all along.

We recommend internationalizing your app as early as possible—and definitely before localization. Trust us.

The Process

Once you’ve determined your scope, your localization project—whatever you’ve chosen—will follow a basic order. Whether you’re localizing just the written content, or going for the full shebang, here are the steps you’ll need to take:

1. Internationalize your code.
2. Prepare QA materials, including translation glossary and style guide.
3. Arrange translation (and/or multimedia localization).
4. Review content, and oversee localization testing.
5. Implement localization and monitor the results.

What now?

So, you’re ready to localize, right? But wait—there’s still a lot more you need to figure out. How should you choose your markets? What’s all this fuss about a translation glossary and quality assessment materials? How can you be sure you have the right person doing your localization testing?

We have the answers. For a comprehensive guide to building an app localization project from scratch, download our eBook, “The Essential Guide to App Localization.” It takes you through every step of the process, from a detailed explanation of the internationalization process, to tips for choosing the best translation method, to advice on localization testing. Grab the eBook right here.

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This interview is part of our series “Bring It to the World,” which is crafted for developers of websites and apps that offer localized versions to users worldwide.

We’re catching up with some of OneSky’s best-known users in order to ask them about their localization experiences, and to discover some of their secrets for building a global presence. In this installment of the series, we chat with Itai Damti, CEO APAC at Leverate, a fintech provider specializing in complete brokerage solutions.

Q&A with Itai Damti, CEO APAC at Leverate.

Congratulation on Leverate acknowledged as “Best Forex Software Developer of 2014” in China. How do you feel about the prospect of fintech in China?

Thanks a lot! Fintech is becoming a global monster industry and China is no exception. In fact, it’s quicker than almost any other nation to adopt and produce financial innovation. Things are moving at a staggering pace from retail investments to mobile payments to P2P lending. We see high demand for our technology as more investors in China are seeking cutting edge trading platforms, and more financial institutions choose to enter the game and cater for those needs.

Can you share to us what inspired you to start Leverate?

Leverate has a pretty special story. We started as a group of 4 hackers, at first without any intention to become a B2B company. We actually built a secret distributed platform that could identify pricing mistakes among FX brokers and take advantage of them to make financial gains (it’s called “scalping” but we put it on steroids really). In 2008 we raised seed funding based on that idea, created an in-house fund and started operating. It worked especially well in the stormy days of the 2008 financial crisis. At some point we realized that hackers like us were inflicting major losses on FX brokers, so we crossed the road to become a B2B “antivirus” company- we started delivering high quality data to help FX brokers protect themselves from scalpers. We went on to develop a long series of products that help brokers run their business more effectively, from risk management and FX liquidity access to trading platforms. In 2009 we decided to wrap all of our products in a SaaS package called LXSuite. This package covers every piece of technology that FX brokers need and it’s our main business today. Our B2B2C product line has more than 10 products that touch millions of professional users, both the broker and its retail traders.

How did you come up with the idea of localization? What is the best appropriate moment, do you think, to localize your product?

We started localizing in 2010. The first product we localized was Sirix Web, a trading platform that our clients (brokers) offer to their customer base (traders). Brokers who target 10-20 different markets found the web platform very effective and they started passing us lists of languages they want to cover. As for timing, I believe greatly in solving real world problems and not embarking on unnecessary adventures. As the PM, you should only localize when a client or someone in your company (e.g. marketing, sales) expresses a need for that. And start small. You can always cover more languages and products ad-hoc.

How did you find OneSky? Did you try any other localization solution before?

We found OneSky on the web while researching for solutions. Before OneSky, we ran on the extraordinary machine that is Microsoft Excel. It helped us get things done for 2-3 years but it lacked pretty much everything: API’s, collaboration, access control, quality control and (of course) translation services. We also tried Pootle (open source) for a while, but it required self-hosting and we found it pretty unstable.

What are the top three things/features you love about OneSky? Why?

Support for both in-house and paid translators- before choosing OneSky in early 2014, we were inviting key clients and employees to help us localize every version. This practice helped us to adhere to the financial lingo, cut costs and control the translation timeline. We liked OneSky because it’s first and foremost a world class translation management tool for us and our translators. It allowed us to continue working in the same way while slowly increasing our reliance on paid translations. Today we rely on paid translations almost completely.

Pricing- for a small product line, pricing might not vary largely between the alternatives in the market, but our product line isn’t small. Leverate develops 12 different products in 3 lines of business. We support more than 20 languages and maintain a translation database of more than 600,000 words. We came with a big initial database, and we knew that new products, versions and languages will keep growing it. We liked that OneSky doesn’t charge on the size of the database but on the actual value that we get from it (users and translation services). The alternatives would have been much more expensive.

Glossaries- in highly professional business domains like finance, your language must be precise and consistent across all channels. Having glossaries is extremely useful for enforcing this consistency. In particular, I like that we can separate glossaries as we have several lines of products that don’t share language (by design).

What’s your app localization process?

When we start working on a new product or a new version, we pass the new translation units to OneSky via its API.
The product manager then talks to internal translators and/or orders the translation within OneSky. Contributions are often reviewed by clients and Leverate staff who speak the relevant language.
We pull the translations to test that screen elements adjust nicely to non-English languages (usually manually). Fixes are made as needed.
Right before the release we pull the translations from the OneSky API and include them in the build.

Can you share any figures to demonstrate Leverate’s growth after localization?

We have started localizing quite in 2010, quite early in the life of our product line, and our business today spans the entire globe thanks to that. We have offices in 5 offices across the world (including Hong Kong and Shanghai) and serve 150 brokers. Our platforms are distributed to their traders, who are spread across more than 80 countries, and generate a trading volume of over $100b / month. We have recently found that 60% of those traders prefer Sirix (our trading platform) over the alternatives, and localization has a big part in it.

What are the biggest challenges you had when localizing your app? How did you resolve them?

At some point every new version became a project that required lots of people coordination across all supported languages. We had to delay releases waiting for translators to finish their job, or release a partial translation which our users never liked. Now we have a solution: we give internal translators (clients, employees) a good notice before a new version is out, and invite them to contribute in their language. If they don’t have time to do it, we use OneSky to order the missing translations.

Besides localization, any growth tactics towards international expansion to share?

Absolutely. In 2014 I left my role as VP Products and moved to Hong Kong to lead our expansion in APAC, with focus on China. Managing this part of the world changed everything I thought I knew about localization. In the product management world, localization is synonymous with translating your product. But reality is very far from that. The product side will demand 2% of your localization efforts. The remaining 98% are localized sales processes, localized pricing, localized marketing channels, localized customer service, localized recruiting channels, localized business network and so on. Once you decided to set foot in a new market, my advice is to start localizing your entire business, not just your product, as early as possible. You don’t want to be yet another global company who failed because it didn’t understand a new market (e.g. eBay losing to Taobao in China). The amount of localization work is overwhelming, so make sure you choose your battles (or at least put them in order…).

Can you share your biggest insight learned from building a worldwide fintech platform?

In such a complex business domain, there’s nothing more critical than the quality of your team. Build a diverse team of big brains, from business to technical, and create a culture that doesn’t stand in their way. PayPal were fintech before Fintech was cool and they walked every bit of this walk- I admire them for that.

About Leverate

Leverate is a B2B fintech company providing end-to-end solution to FX brokers, with 160 employees in 5 offices and over 150 clients all over the world. Their team chose OneSky as a translation solution for our entire product line early in 2014.

Visit their company website at www.leverate.com.

About Itai Damti

Itai Damti Co-founded Leverate in 2008. He is currently heading the company’s activities in Asia Pacific as the CEO of Leverate Hong Kong, and spends his time between HK and Shanghai, taking the company’s strategy, growth and operations into Asia with full power. Before moving to HK, he started the company’s product management team and served as VP Products for 3 years. Originally a long time engineer, Itai has a strong passion for startups and growth stage companies. He actively mentors and invests in early stage startups, and loves to take part in techpreneurship circles from Tel Aviv to China.Follow him on Twitter or connect with him on LinkedIn.