page.title=Expand Into New Markets
page.metaDescription=Tap fast-growing markets in Japan, Korea, India, Brazil, and many other countries around the world.
page.image=/distribute/images/expand-into-new-markets.jpg
page.tags="users, growth, global"
@jd:body
<div id="qv-wrapper">
<div id="qv">
<h2>
Contents
</h2>
<ol>
<li>
<a href="#localize-your-product">Localize Your Product</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="#testing-and-support">Testing and Support</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="#localize-your-google-play-listing">Localize Your Store
Listing</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="#marketing">Marketing</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="#related-resources">Related Resources</a>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
<p>
Android and Google Play give you a worldwide audience for your apps, with an
addressable user base that's growing very rapidly in countries such as Japan,
Korea, India, and Brazil. You can sell your app in more than 130 countries.
</p>
<p>
To <strong>maximize your app's distribution potential and earn high
ratings</strong> from users around the world, we encourage you to localize
your app. Once you’ve built a solid foundation in your home market, take
advantage of Android’s powerful growth around the world and expand your app
to new markets.
</p>
<div class="sidebox-wrapper" style="float:right;">
<div class="sidebox">
<p>
<strong>Tip:</strong> Localization is more than translation. Plan product
features, launch, and marketing for key markets.
</p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="caution" style="font-size:15.5px;">
</p>
<p>
Localization involves a variety of tasks throughout your app development
cycle, and advance planning is essential. But <strong>localization is more
than just translating your UI</strong>. To be successful, you also need to
localize your Google Play listing and ensure your marketing is suitable for
the demographic you’re addressing.
</p>
<p>
To reduce development and maintenance effort, use a single APK for all
regions. A single APK also allows you to more easily track metrics by
country. Google Play takes care of providing the appropriate localized
version of your app based on user location.
</p>
<div class="headerLine">
<h2 id="localize-your-product">
Localize Your Product
</h2>
</div>
<div class="sidebox-wrapper" style="float:right;">
<div class="sidebox">
<p>
<strong>Tip:</strong> Use a professional translation service located in
your target country to ensure high quality and good user ratings.
</p>
</div>
</div>
<p>
The first step is to identify your target markets and associated languages,
then focus your product localization on those countries. Some of the tasks
include translating your UI strings and localizing dates and times, layouts,
text direction, and finally your Google Play store listing. To learn more
about how to localize your app, visit our <a href=
"{@docRoot}distribute/tools/localization-checklist.html">Localization
Checklist</a>.
</p>
<!-- <p>[Need graphic highlighting that it’s all about getting high ratings]</p> -->
<p>
Work with a professional translator, preferably located in the country you’re
localizing your apps for, to ensure high quality results. Machine
translations may affect your apps’ ratings, as they’re less reliable than
high-quality professional translations. For example, a professional service
will know to consider the vocabulary expansion, left-to-right and
right-to-left support, and other factors in each language. Learn more about
UI considerations and other factors in the <a href=
"{@docRoot}distribute/tools/localization-checklist.html#design">Design for
Localization</a> section of the Localization Checklist.
</p>
<h3>
Purchase professional translations through Google Play
</h3>
<p>
The <a href="https://support.google.com/l10n/answer/6359997">App Translation
Service</a> can help you quickly purchase translations of your app. In the
<a href="https://support.google.com/l10n/answer/6341304">Developer
Console</a> and <a href=
"https://support.google.com/l10n/answer/6341928">Android Studio</a>, you can
browse a list of third-party vendors who are prequalified by Google to offer
high-quality translations at competitive prices. Beyond the app UI strings,
you can request translations for Play Store text, in-app purchase products,
and universal app campaign ads, all in one go.
</p>
<img src="{@docRoot}images/gp-listing-3.jpg" style="padding:8px 0">
<img src="{@docRoot}images/gp-expand-2.jpg" style="padding:8px 0">
<div class="headerLine">
<h2 id="testing-and-support">
Testing and Support
</h2>
</div>
<p>
Before you launch, be sure to use our <a href=
"{@docRoot}distribute/googleplay/developer-console.html#alpha-beta">beta
testing</a> and <a href=
"{@docRoot}distribute/googleplay/developer-console.html#staged-rollouts">staged
rollouts</a> to identify and address issues before users can rate your app.
Feedback can be gathered using a <a href=
"https://support.google.com/groups/answer/46601">Google Group</a> or <a href=
"https://support.google.com/plus/topic/2888488">Google+ Community</a>. Watch
user sentiment and respond if necessary as you add countries.
</p>
<p>
After you launch, <strong>offer support hours in the local time zone in the
local language</strong>. When possible, having a local presence can
dramatically increase your daily active users and revenue. For example,
<a href="">this developer</a> was able to <strong>increase their revenue over
500% after creating a local presence</strong> in Asia and taking great care
of their users.
</p>
<div class="headerLine">
<h2 id="localize-your-google-play-listing">
Localize Your Google Play Store Listing
</h2>
</div>
<div class="sidebox-wrapper" style="float:right;">
<div class="sidebox">
<p>
<strong>Tip:</strong> You can select regions, set regional pricing, and
localize your listing while maintaining only one APK.
</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="figure">
<img src="{@docRoot}images/gp-buyer-currency.png" class="border-img">
</div>
<p>
Within your Google Play listing, you’ll need to set the regions in which your
apps will be available, set pricing for each, and customize your Google Play
listing to ensure it speaks to local audiences. You can change your country
and carrier targeting at any time just by saving changes in the Google Play
Developer Console.
</p>
<h3>
Region selection
</h3>
<p>
In the Developer Console, you can set the regions you make your app available
to, pricing in local currencies, and all Google Play listing marketing. You
can specify which countries and territories you want to distribute to, and
even which carriers (for some countries).
</p>
<h3>
Pricing
</h3>
<p>
When you start to address new markets you have several options for setting
the prices of your products: apps, in-app products, and subscriptions. You
can set a default price for each product and allow Google Play to adjust this
each month for changes in exchange rates, or manually set prices.
</p>
<p>
There are several reasons why it might be beneficial to set prices manually,
such as:
</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p>
Cost of living differences. To better target developing markets you may
consider offering your apps at a lower price to make them more affordable
in relation to local incomes.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Price perception. Users in some countries respond well to prices set to
x.99, while others prefer x.00 pricing.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Numerology. You may wish to avoid using certain numbers that are
considered unlucky, such as 13 or 4.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Competition. Your app may have local competition in some markets that you
need to account for.
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
Local trends and interests. Your apps may be able to bear a higher price
in some markets. For example, the interest in various sports varies
greatly from country to country.
</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>
You may also want to run short-term promotions and discounts in specific
countries.
</p>
<p>
The <a href=
"{@docRoot}distribute/googleplay/developer-console.html#selling-pricing-your-products">
Pricing & Distribution</a> section in the <a href=
"https://play.google.com/apps/publish/">Developer Console</a> is where you
set and manage regional distribution and local prices.
</p>
<h3>
Copy and creative
</h3>
<p>
To market to users around the world, <strong>localize your store listing,
including app details and description, promotional graphics, screenshots, and
more.</strong> Graphical assets and copy can be uploaded for each country you
are targeting.
</p>
<div>
<img src="{@docRoot}images/gp-expand-4.jpg" class="border-img">
</div>
<div>
<img src="{@docRoot}images/gp-expand-5.jpg" class="border-img">
</div>
<p>
Learn more about how to localize your <a href=
"{@docRoot}distribute/tools/launch-checklist.html#prepare-graphics">store
listing</a>.
</p>
<div class="headerLine">
<h2 id="marketing">
Marketing
</h2>
</div>
<div class="figure">
<img src="{@docRoot}images/gp-badge-jp.png">
</div>
<p>
Just like your Google Play listing, all other marketing should be localized
to speak to the local audience. This includes images, colors, icons, and
audio. To maximize effectiveness, <strong>run promotions, contests, and
announcements at local time</strong>. You can build a localized <a href=
"{@docRoot}distribute/tools/promote/badges.html">Google Play badge</a> and
<a href="{@docRoot}distribute/tools/promote/device-art.html">device art</a>
for each language you support.
</p>
<div class="headerLine"><h2 id="related-resources">Related Resources</h2></div>
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