App marketing trends can affect the performance of your apps, but they also offer an array of opportunities to push for further engagement and drive installs. Depending on the nature of your app, seasonality could affect when you decide to launch, the tone and message of your CRM strategy, the release of new features and more. There are key moments where app marketers should focus their advertising and engagement strategies so their acquisition efforts can see boosts all the way through the year.
So, what do you need to do to ensure you’re making use of seasonality to drive the growth of your apps?
Take it back to the user
When considering seasonality, it is imperative that you have gathered credible insights on your users so that you can target them effectively.
Who are they?
Your app demographic data is key in understanding your user base and will be greatly beneficial in identifying data-driven strategies and campaigns. There are plenty of tools available in the market that aid app owners in gathering demographic data. With this information, app owners can decide what seasonality trends will be relevant to their audience.
What are their behavioural patterns?
Make some informed hypotheses on predicted behaviours and interaction with the app, and take the measures to backup your hypotheses with data. For example, we can assume that for a travel app, summer holidays and term breaks strongly influence the dates of family getaways, but what about other types of users? By digging deeper into your analytics, you could find that young professionals are more likely to go away outside of these busy periods, preferring weekend breaks (see more on travel apps from our blog).
Set up your custom events to unravel what you would like to know about your users, and have a clear view of your typical user profiles. It is then that you can start to segment your audience and be far more personalised through your communication, especially with your recommendations. You can also take the opportunity to reward your users. Bloom & Wild, the flower delivery app, rewarded their customers who completed a survey by offering a code to save 10% off their next bouquet just in time for Mother’s Day. Such a timely, personal and useful email is hugely effective in building brand loyalty and encouraging purchase.
Know the app seasonality trends
Take into consideration multiple sources like marketplace intelligence reports, recurring events throughout the year and even imminent weather changes to make informed decisions on how to utilise trends to acquire and engage users.
Gather app data intelligence:
Keeping an eye on competitors and wider trends to use as benchmarks is useful, and there are plenty of platforms that offer market trends and app insights. Many of these platforms also publish annual free reports, such as Adjust, who this year published a Mobile Benchmarks 2018 report with data from apps across verticals around the globe. Use information such as this to feed into your marketing plan and ensure you get the edge over your competitors.
Be reactive:
Whilst app owners need to be prepared for up and coming seasonal events such as Christmas or Valentine’s Day, they also need to be reactive to volatile seasonal trends and let this feed into their CRM strategies. For example, weather is especially relevant for ride-sharing or events-based apps.
A good example comes from Dojo, the city discovery app. With a particularly gruelling winter in the UK this year, they took the opportunity to reach out to their users the moment the weather started looking up, as users would be more likely to use the app and explore the city in less abrasive conditions.
Allocate your media spend:
By allocating your media spend to different channels at different points in the year, you can ensure you appeal to the relevant demographic at the most effective moment. This can increase your ROI and not only minimise the effects of seasonality on your business, but be an opportunity to acquire more users.
By monitoring the effects of seasonality on apps, marketers can use trends to ensure that they are keeping users engaged throughout the year.
This will aid in improving retention rates, increasing opportunities for monetisation and informing and maximising the impact of your acquisition campaigns. Make sure you are doing all you can to stay on trend!
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