New app downloads with seasonal apps
Big app publishers do it, you should adopt it as well. Get new downloads with seasonal apps. There are two strategies you should try.
Apps for exactly one event
Strategy number one consists of apps that are completely tailored to a holiday or a period. For example an app only for Halloween or only for Christmas or for summertime.
Advantages are clear keywords and clear communication. The interest increases automatically every year.
The disadvantages are, the interest disappears the further back the special days are. Over the year, it is very likely to lose many (active) users. Nevertheless, there are of course ideas that only fit for Christmas, for example.
Apps with a changing design
We find the second strategy used for many large and also smaller apps all around the stores.
Create special, customized themes for the respective event. For example, create Christmas icons, apply special Christmas colors, and design various elements with Christmas motifs.
This is of course a lot of work, but the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. You create new interest in the app, take advantage of the mood of existing and new users. And there are of course endless possibilities. Holidays, seasons, and much more.
Disadvantages are mainly in the effort. You have to create and maintain all the assets. New App-Builds require approval by Apple or Google every time.
Automate, use clever tools
Be smart and use tools to create and manage the required assets. The App Store Manager allows you to manage the metadata. That means you can prepare the metadata for each special and of course reuse it. Descriptions, titles, keywords are prepared with a few clicks and automatically set at the right time.
Our own experience
We ourselves have tried both strategies. With Christmas is coming (iOS, Android) we have published a pure Christmas game. We do not actively advertise this game, but we are happy about the automatic reactivation of interest every year. The user numbers go up all by themselves at Christmas time with many new app downloads on each store.
We have tested seasonal apps several times with our skill game Fallin (iOS, Android). Both the Halloween and the Valentine’s Day version had very good results. In some cases, there was an increase of well over 100% for each event.
Apps require updates to remain attractive and interesting for new and existing users. Create appropriate themes for Christmas, Easter, or spring. Changes the icons, in-App displays, and store descriptions accordingly. It’s worth the effort and you can look forward to significant increases in user numbers. Receive many new app downloads in return.