The overseas version of Pinduoduo’s TEMU has set off an unprecedented craze in the US market. It conquered American users at an astonishing speed and became the most downloaded free app, even surpassing the e-commerce giant Amazon. On April 21, Pinduoduo’s cross-border e-commerce platform TEMU landed on the UK site for the first time. Just two days later, TEMU was launched on the German, Dutch, Italian, French and Spanish sites at the same time. Although it has been on the App Store for less than half a year, TEMU has been the most downloaded free app on the App Store and Google Play. The speed of TEMU’s overseas expansion is remarkable, which has aroused people’s curiosity: What is the secret of TEMU’s overseas expansion? Why is TEMU so popular?

1. TEMU’s marketing strategy.

TEMU’s marketing strategy is one of the keys to its success. Although good quality and low price are important, it is equally important to arouse consumers’ interest, and TEMU has done a great job in this regard.

1. Give it a good name.

The word TEMU was created by Pinduoduo. It did not exist in English, so it aroused the curiosity of foreigners. This word actually represents the concept of TEMU: Team Up, Price Down (Buy together, cheaper). This name not only fits with Pinduoduo’s concept, but also implies low prices, and the orange brand color makes it more attractive.

2. Social media communication.

TEMU’s spread on overseas social media is like a virus, and posts are spread on social applications such as Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok. Customers share referral codes to attract more users to join the platform, similar to Amazon’s affiliate program. TEMU rewards customers, and every two people who use the referral link to download the app and create a new account can get a $20 cash reward. This communication method is low-cost, but the communication effect is very significant.

3. Multi-platform marketing.

TEMU chose to establish accounts on overseas social media platforms with the largest traffic, including Facebook, TikTok and YouTube. On these platforms, TEMU adopts different marketing strategies to explore topic points, increase interactivity, and improve brand communication value. For example, the “Credit Giveaway” campaign was launched on Facebook, which is similar to the “Repost Lottery” on Weibo in China. On TikTok, TEMU cooperated with KOL to launch interactive activities such as try-on haul, which attracted a large number of users.

4. Large-scale investment.

TEMU became the number one in the Google App Store rankings less than a month after its launch in the US market, which is inseparable from the huge market investment. It is understood that TEMU’s marketing expenses in the US market in the first month of its launch reached 1 billion yuan, and this year’s marketing budget is as high as 7 billion yuan, equivalent to 1 billion US dollars. This high investment is common in overseas markets, and TikTok has also invested 1 billion US dollars in advertising costs in the US market.

Second, TEMU is about to enter the Middle East market.

Pinduoduo TEMU’s expansion plan has never stopped. After achieving initial success, TEMU is turning its attention to more emerging overseas e-commerce markets. According to the latest news, TEMU plans to open a Middle East site in August this year, although the specific launch date has not yet been determined.

In the past month, TEMU has launched sites in Japan and South Korea, and will open up sites in the Middle East in August. The expansion speed of TEMU is really amazing. TEMU has opened nearly 30 overseas sites around the world. Unlike focusing on mature developed countries, TEMU’s territory is gradually expanding to emerging countries. This entry into the Middle East market will definitely bring new impacts to the Middle East and the entire Asian e-commerce market.

TEMU’s expansion path is worth paying attention to. It starts from mature developed countries and then gradually penetrates into emerging markets. First take the high purchasing power market, and then enter the emerging market. This strategy is difficult in the early stage, but once the core mature market is captured, the subsequent expansion will be smoother.

In short, Pinduoduo TEMU’s success in overseas markets is not only due to its unique marketing strategy, but also its rapid expansion model. This model provides a successful template for China’s big brands to go overseas. Although some people question and criticize it, TEMU’s success cannot be ignored. It has become a dark horse in the field of overseas e-commerce.