App marketing is no easy task. However, the holiday season could be a marketing moment to capitalize on. App publishers and developers are always searching for new and innovative ways to net more users. The following app marketing tips for the holiday season can support your increased install endeavors.
According to Think With Google, the holiday season records more app downloads than any other time in the year. When people get new mobile devices as gifts, they tend to test drive a number of different apps to enjoy their new mobile experience.
Simply netting a truckload of users over the holiday season should be your main aim. However, keeping those users over time is also an important goal as well.
Matt Lawson, Google’s head of performance marketing, told Think With Google that, “Millions of people will download apps during the holidays, but half of them will eventually abandon an app because it wasn’t as useful as they thought it would be.”
Thinking holiday season and beyond is the best plan when it comes to app marketing during the holiday season. For instance, Apple Store saw a record breaking New Year’s Day last year with $240 million in sales.
How do you get your piece of holiday app profits? Let’s take a look at a few marketing tips to drive more downloads and increase user retention.
1. Boost Your App’s Discoverability
There are a variety of ways you can boost your app’s discoverability during the holiday season. It is essential to increase installs, and also retain your current users as well.
How do you keep your app center stage? By staying focused on App Search Optimization (ASO), and by making your ASO unique to the holidays. This includes leveraging holiday deals and special seasonal features to get users’ attention.
Your holiday season marketing should include the following:
- Change your app icon to be festive and aligned with the holidays.
- Update your app description with a new feature you are launching during the holidays.
- Showcase special seasonal deals on your app store profile, website, and social media channels.
- Have festive screenshots in your descriptions.
- Ensure all your holiday features, promotions, and updates are discoverable across all assets (blog posts, social media, influencer marketing).
2. Experiment with Your App Ads
Many app publishers and developers have ongoing ads to keep apps highly visible online. To net more users, and to keep existing ones in the holiday mood, you can tweak your ads to be more seasonal.
This will entail experimenting with your ad copy and the times at which your ads appear. Since app downloads increase exponentially before, during, and after the holiday season, you can maximize your ad efforts, and show off those new festive changes you made above.
The app ad experiments can include:
- Showcasing what is unique about your app during the holiday season.
- Using different ad copy and creatives for your seasonal app ads.
- Runing your ads at different times of the day, and different days than normal. This could include weekend ads.
- Keeping your ads running on the networks that have worked well in the past.
3. Keep User Engagement Part of the Plan
One marketing fail that is common during the holiday season is to only focus on netting new users. However, there is more competition in the app market during the holiday season. This makes engagement for your existing users vital.
By pairing your seasonal marketing efforts with app user engagement, you will be sure to keep your existing user base excited about your app. Be consistent and let your users know they are important to you.
To keep your users from abandoning your app, use the following seasonal engagement tips:
- Integrate in-app chat between users, as well as between users and developers to get valuable feedback and boost engagement.
- Retarget ads with your existing user base in mind.
- Serve up ads based on key analytics like sessions and interactions across all digital channels.
- Employ gamification to increase engagement and push users toward more sessions.
- Offer seasonal in-app rewarded videos for different levels of interaction.
4. Have a Seasonal In-App Monetization Strategy
The holiday season is full of deals and promotions to increase sales. This marketing strategy should also be part of your app marketing efforts. You want to give your new and existing users the most value during the holidays.
This makes having a seasonal in-app monetization strategy essential. You can also promote more paid features during the holiday season to increase app growth and sales too.
Referral campaigns are perfect holiday app marketing assets to leverage more users and extend your reach. Users can share your app with friends and family, receiving a paid feature for free, or at a reduced price.
You can also have a dynamic pricing scale in place for the holiday season. These can be targeted based on how users are interacting with your app, and their specific needs.
5. Make Your App Marketing Local
Localizing your app marketing is one of the best ways to build up your user base, and keep existing users engaged. A local message, especially during the holidays, will grab attention and help users feel more comfortable installing your app.
It is, however, important to make your app marketing campaign very localized. You want to narrow down your seasonal message as much as possible when pushing ads and new seasonal deals on social media, the app store, and on your website or blog.
Keep it local with the following tips:
- Do your homework to really pinpoint who your users are and where they’re from. App analytics and user demographics can be very useful here.
- Combine the holiday season with your localized message in a seamless, natural way.
- Have localized marketing creatives for both new users and existing ones.
- Ensure your app marketing message is upbeat, joyous, and full of holiday spirit.
It is essential to deliver the best user experience for new users during the holidays as well. With increased users comes great responsibility. You don’t want to have your app crashing or not working at optimal levels. Always put your best foot forward.
To keep your app growing and turning a profit, it is important to take advantage of every seasonal moment. The upcoming holiday season is one of the most valuable for app developers and publishers, so plan your marketing accordingly.
The holiday season is full of users ready to make bigger commitments, and they have sleek, new innovative devices they want to make the most of. This is your chance to grab their attention in a fun and engaging way and turn them into a lifetime user.
How will you make the most of your app marketing strategy this holiday season?
