OEM Advertising: A Holistic Marketing Strategy
Reading Time: 7 minutesThe COVID-19 outbreak was a turning point in the decade and had a huge impact on consumer behavior. Easy access to internet-connected smartphones and a jump in the time spent on such devices worked as a driver for the speedy acceptance and deployment of OEM advertising methods by advertisers. Now that OEM app advertising is gaining popularity, advertisers may target untapped markets across the whole customer journey by strategically placing their ads at critical customer touchpoints. It’s likely that customers will connect and engage with these ads on OEM platforms. If such customers respond to an ad campaign’s call to action, the brands will see a boost in their ROI.
Advertisers in industries like travel, e-commerce, gaming, among many others, have used this cutting-edge advertising solution to reach their marketing KPIs such as app installs, site visits, leads, downloads, sales, and more.
Meaning of OEM Advertising
Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) advertising, often known as mobile advertising in common parlance, is the comprehensive solution for using ad spending to increase incremental ROI. In the realm of smartphones, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) include brands like Oppo, Vivo, Samsung, and Xiaomi that have created app stores to collect audience data and real-time analytics.
Using the OEM advertising strategy, advertisers may acquire high-quality users, secure premium ad spots, create leads, and provide product recommendations in a secure and hoax-free environment. Businesses that advertise their products on OEM-based app stores which are built into mobile devices with certain features and specs have a competitive edge because they can reach a larger, untapped target audience.
Advertisers in the twenty-first century are constantly on the quest for novel and alternative advertising platforms to reach their target audience. By using this advertising strategy, companies are expanding their marketing mix beyond social media channels and looking for ways to reach a larger, unbroached group of customers with a high interaction rate that has been around for a long time.
With one of the most innovative performance-driven video advertising solutions providers, like VDO.AI, companies can run highly effective advertising campaigns on OEMs using cutting-edge video ad formats and media placements.
The Evolution of OEM Advertising
Since their inception, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) have made significant progress. Their business approaches have taken advantage of their global reach and recognition. With 2.7 billion worldwide smartphone users in 2019 and 14.02 billion in 2020, COVID-19 also accelerated OEM marketing. It is also predicted that by 2025, there will be 18.22 billion smartphone users worldwide and the app spending is forecasted to reach $270 billion.
OEM advertising gained traction in 2010 as a result of corporate policies following the unavailability of Google services and Play Stores in China. This left a hole in the smartphone market, and since China has the most people who use the internet and smartphones (almost 911.92 million as of May 2021), many businesses jumped on the chance.
Similarly, Huawei introduced its OAID (Open Ad Identifier) in order to stay aligned with privacy-related concerns and after restrictions were imposed on its operation in the US. In 2021, consumer spending on mobile apps reached $170 billion, up from 143 billion in 2020. As a result, Huawei witnessed an almost 20% year-on-year increase, with 218 billion app downloads in 2020.
With the rise in smartphone sales in developing regions, OEM advertising is gaining speed. As a result, the consumption of their app stores will expand, and thus, their customer base will grow swiftly.
What Benefits Does OEM Advertising Bring to Brands?
- Mobile OEMs make it possible for mobile advertising to reach new audiences and grow quickly.
- High user acquisition at a cheaper cost per install (CPI) is provided by OEMs or smartphone manufacturers. With this strategy, it will be easier to reach user acquisition goals and boost ROAS.
- OEMs have a dedicated consumer base that may help brands develop a connection based on trust and confidence.
- Due to the fact that the OEM will be in complete control of all aspects of its advertising, there is no risk of fraud.
- In order to get the most out of their marketing budget, OEMs examine data such as impressions, clicks, and installs.
OEM Advertising: Why is it catching Advertiser’s attention?
The rise of OEM advertising has led to a major shift in the digital marketing landscape with quality ad spending, inspiring brands to switch into better branding and performance opportunities. Here’s how advertisers are taking notice of and liking mobile advertising.
Planned audience targeting
It is possible for brands to acquire more customers by providing them with real-time user insights and history, as well as information on consumer behavior, time spent by users, device costs, and more. In return, this has made it much easier for marketers to draw attention to ad campaigns and target people with the most effective inventory at any given time.
Improved ROAS
The proliferation of ads is disrupted by OEM advertising, which allows marketers to improve tailored campaigns based on user behavior and reallocate the marketing mix while tapping into demographics that interact with the specified inventories. Using this method, companies may maximize their ad costs while still delivering high-quality reach and a successful campaign.
Brand safety
With OEM advertising, advertisers have access to a fraud-free environment where real-time active users are available to them. Thanks to the transparency and no middleman participation, advertisers will be able to completely manage the placement of their ads.
Possibilities for app recognition and promotion
The OEMs offer enticing deals to marketers that promote their apps, tailored to the user’s interests through their integrated app stores. As a way to acquire the trust of advertisers and become their preferred platform for promoting apps, OEM app stores employ this method. Advertisers can use these applications to meet a variety of needs, which includes short video apps, RMG apps, and social media apps geared towards a specific demographic.
Ad Placements in OEM Apps
A whole new universe of successful and opportune marketing has opened up with the invasion of OEM in digital marketing, giving brands a significant recall value. Additionally, OEM advertising can transform your advertising strategy into a brand-safe and fraud-free environment by merging distinctive branding and performance tactics. With this type of advertising, advertisers can take advantage of OEM opportunities and make well-informed decisions based on real-time active user acquisition.
OEM apps offer a wide range of advertising opportunities, which you can use to your advantage.
Pre-Load/Pre-Install
Using preloaded or pre-installed apps, marketers can gain an advantage over their rivals while using smartphones. When installing their devices, customers can expect to see the brand’s apps in prominent locations with full visibility thanks to OEM marketing tactics. This has the potential to five-fold your average daily app install volume. In the past few years, app marketing has changed into a strategy, based on performance. Instead of the number of users, the key performance indicator is now the number of qualified leads.
App Store Promotion
If you’re a big player in the OEM industry, you’ll have your own app store in addition to the Google Play Store. OEM marketers must now promote an updated version of their apps in order to track existing and new users, just like the Google Play Store does for Android devices.
- Recommended apps: Highly rated and regularly downloaded apps appear at the top of OEM app stores as native advertising. OEMs reserve most of their recommended app inventory for the best apps in categories like Digital Wallet, Scanner, Photo Editing, and Task Manager to help companies enhance app downloads and generate better leads. Advertisers with recommended apps will have an advantage over competitors in the same category.
- Icon promotion: Because an app’s symbol affects its identity and aligns with marketers’ app, corporations must advertise its icon in the app store. Icon marketing attracts more customers than OEMs and performs effectively in an organic atmosphere. If done right, the app can attract and entice many untapped consumers.
- Hot downloads: It’s one of the most important advantages for smartphone owners to have “Hot downloads” native adverts that feature the most popular apps. Users are encouraged to download “Hot Apps,” which are programmes that are easy to use and convert well. These programmes include social media apps, real-money games, short video apps, etc.
Browser-Based Promotion
Every OEM smartphone has a native browser, so users often take a look at it first. Advertisers may deliberately place their ads in the best areas of OEM browsers to attract the right audience and boost user interaction. When the companion content is effectively integrated, users are more inclined to download your OEM software. By promoting news and video apps in the browser, OEMs can get high-quality user acquisition results.
Summing Up
With the rise of internet-connected smartphones throughout the world, OEM advertising is becoming one of the most effective advertising tactics for brands that are aiming to emerge and grow. Brands have been pushed to take advantage of mobile-centric OEM advertising as the availability of 24/7 internet on smartphones has transformed customer behavior. During and after COVID-19, the incremental ROI achieved by OEM marketing will be the new, innovative way for brands to advertise.
Adoption of advertising over OEM partners has given app developers and advertisers more power, a higher ROAS, and access to previously untapped markets. Mobile advertising’s impact on the future of advertising will be substantial as it focuses on the user and privacy penetration. Due to the fact that every app attracts various users and has varied objectives, ad placements can vary from little to significantly more. Before putting money into OEM advertising, brands need to have a good plan for how to do it.
At VDO.AI, we enable advertisers to maximize their OEM advertising by determining the optimal locations for their applications and products. Our ingeniously conceived ad solutions enhance your performance campaigns by employing the best OEM inventory to achieve your KPIs, boost engagement levels, and maximize ROAS.
