Holiday Mobile Marketing Strategies for Apps
The holidays are a huge opportunity for mobile app marketers due to increased device sales and usage. Historical data shows marketing costs and user volumes peak during this time. To succeed, marketers should focus on goals of maximizing volume or value. Effective strategies include using holiday themes, retargeting lapsed users on new devices, updating apps, and being aware of the App Store approval freeze. A case study shows a successful app that gained 5.5 million users in its first month through a holiday launch partnership. Overall, the holidays continue to be a major driver of the mobile industry.
2. 800CLIENTS 2900APPS
40 of 502013 TOP GROSSING APPS
Data driven mobile
marketing platform
About Fiksu
3.2 BillionDOWNLOADS GENERATED
Boston
Northampton
San Francisco
London
Helsinki
Singapore
Tokyo
Seoul
4. Why the Holidays Matter
§ Who do you know who’s getting
a phone or tablet?
§ Device proliferation = app
proliferation
§ App Store visibility matters
for brands
5. Huge Opportunity
iPad Air iPad Mini iPhone 5c Kindle Fire HD Samsung
Galaxy S4
iPad Mini
(2nd gen)
iPhone 5s iPhone 4s Samsung
Galaxy Tab 2
51%
26% 26%
23% 20%
17%
15%
10%
8%
Black Friday Weekend Device Growth
(% Change from Previous Weekend)
Source: Localytics Nov. 2013
iOS
Android
7. Holiday Timeline
Sept/Oct November December January
New Apple & Samsung
devices released
New Years
2014
ChristmasHanukkah
Begins
Black Friday
Dec 25Dec 16Nov 28 Jan 1Sept - Oct
8. Historical Data Backs Up Holiday Impact
Cost per Loyal User Index
$1.63
$1.79
$1.06
$1.38
October November December
$1.47
$1.43
$1.81
2011
2012
$1.67
2013
$1.75
CPLU – all time high
Steady increase
Steady costs
Summer 2014 – CPLU at an all time high
11. 2012 vs. 2013 Holiday Results
2013
2012
2013
2012
2013
2012
2013
2012
2014
2013
2014
2013
2014
2013
2014
2013
November December January February
Volume CPLU
Good News: Volume was up across the board in 2013
Bad News: Costs were up across the board in 2013
12. How to Win the Holidays
§ Goals first
§ Volume vs. value
§ Holiday creative and content
§ Retarget as users change devices
§ Nurture your users for long-term loyalty
13. So Which Is It: Volume or Value?
Peak growth (volume):
maximize downloads
= =
Which is right for you?
Value: maximize ROI
14. Volume v. Value
Valume:
• Blend of the two strategies
• Rank is a component – but not a goal
• Find specific times for rank pushes within a
longer-term value approach
Volume:
• Business goal: X million users
• Network effects
• Visibility important
= =
Value:
• Focused on ROI
• Need every user to be profitable
• Small/mid-sized companies
15. § Use holiday themes in creative, content, landing pages
§ Customize virtual goods too
§ Be consistent throughout the experience
§ Even if you aren’t commerce oriented
§ Consider holiday apps/versions for extension
§ App stores tend to feature holiday-themed apps
§ Chance for “Top 10 holiday app” posts or articles
Add Some Holiday Spirit
16. § Upgrade time can be cleaning house
time or a re-discovery time
§ Re-engage before the upgrade
§ Retarget lapsed users on their new
device
§ 33% increase in app installs in first month
Retarget During Device Upgrades
17. iOS 8 Changes Impacting App Marketing
§ App discoverability changes
- App Store top charts cut from 300 to 150
- New “Explore” tab in App Store to find apps
- Spotlight search will now search App Store
§ Other updates
- Widgets, actionable notifications, increased
continuity between devices
18. We Recommend Updating Your App…
§ Apps that update during the holidays see:
- More sessions/user
- 4x users/app
- Shorter session length
§ One in three apps updates during the holiday
19. …But Don’t Forget: iTunes Connect Shutdown
§ iTunes Connect shutdown
- Around 12/20 – 12/27?
- No approvals, pricing changes
§ In the past, some updates have
taken up to 3 weeks
§ Recommendation: get changes in
by Nov. 30th
20. The App Store Freeze
§ 2009: About a week
§ 2010: 4 days
§ 2011: 48 hours
§ 2012: ~8 hours
§ 2013: The Year Without an App
Store Freeze
§ 2014: Expect the same
21. CASE STUDY:
QuizUp
5.5M users in
1st month
CPIs around $1
Viral effects:
7 organic users
for every paid
user
Partnered with
Fiksu for Nov
2013 launch to
capitalize on
increased
holiday traffic
22. What’s Going to Happen This Year?
§ Device sales figures will continue to astound
- 2013: 1.2B ~ 50% shipped in Q4
- 2014: 1.5B
§ Marketing costs are at all-time highs
§ Marketers will continue to get smarter about spend