Let’s talk about in-app events. They come with a lot of potential to increase brand awareness for your app.
Brand awareness measures how familiar users are with your brand or app, and the ultimate goal is for your brand to be the first thing that comes to their mind within a category. It sits at the top of the marketing funnel, meaning you have to maximise this measurement in order to push towards converting as many users as possible.
The good news is that brand awareness can be bought for cold, hard cash – PPC campaigns, social media advertising and influencer marketing are all good ways to move the needle. But these can all be expensive, particularly if you sit within a competitive vertical.
So, the fact that in-app events can be used to increase your brand awareness and contribute to increased Browse Conversions without necessarily coming with a hefty price tag, that’s got to be something worth investigating.
What are in app events?
Let’s start with the basics. In-app events (IAE’s) are simply time-dependent events that are directly linked to your app and highlighted on your iOS store listing and in the App Store search results. But contrary to what their title might imply, they don’t have to be live, real-time event-like events. Take a fitness app as an example: a live workout special event can be an in-app event, but so too is a monthly plank challenge or even the launch of a new heart rate monitoring app feature.
Specifically, Apple suggests the following categories work as in-app events (each of these comes with its own badge, used to categorise the events for users):
- Challenge: Activities encouraging the user to achieve a goal before the event ends (popular among language learning apps)
- Competition: Activities in which users compete against one another for the highest ranking or to win rewards (often used by gaming apps)
- Live Event: Activities that occur in real-time that all users can experience simultaneously (widely used by fitness apps)
- Major Update: Introducing significant new features, content, or experiences (going beyond minor enhancements like UI adjustments or bug fixes)
- New Season: Introducing new content, storylines, or media libraries to build on established content (typical for media or eCommerce apps)
- Premiere: Introducing new content or media for the first time (popular among entertainment apps)
- Special Event: Limited-time events that are not captured by another event badge, possibly spanning multiple activities or experiences. These events should provide users with new content, features, or goods
You can promote a maximum of five events on the App Store at any time and can start in-app Store promotion 14 days before the event starts, running for a maximum of 30 days. This can be especially useful for pre-launching new features and content within your app and can be utilised alongside Custom Product Pages (CPP) to maximise conversion for users coming to your listing through specific search terms. By combining CPPs and IAE’s for new features, you can increase the ROI of your wider marketing campaigns by providing users with a direct pathway to the content they’re searching for.
In-app event examples on the App Store
Why should you do in app events?
There are four main reasons for using in-app events:
- To provide extra engaging content for your users
- To boost user engagement, retention and monetisation
- To increase the visibility of your brand over your competitors
- To maximise app’s chances for getting featured
Creating engaging content is crucial to maintaining app engagement over the long term. It not only gives a reason for users to continue using your app, but it can also re-engage those users who haven’t used your app for a long period of time. How? You can use notifications to inform your users about any in-app events you set up whether that’s a new, exciting app feature or a challenge they can take part in. In-app events are also great collateral for promotion using your other marketing methods, like email campaigns, social media posts or even paid advertising.
Developing in-app events that align with seasonal events can also boost user engagement, retention, and monetisation. Seasonal events create excitement, giving players a reason to return and interact with fresh, time-limited content. They also enhance marketing opportunities, as users are more likely to share festive updates and participate in themed challenges. Additionally, well-timed events can drive in-app purchases by offering exclusive rewards, skins, or bonuses that tap into the seasonal spirit. Ultimately, integrating seasonal events keeps your app fresh and encourages long-term user retention.
And then there’s the advantage the feature gives you over your competitors. It gains you significantly more real estate in the App Store, and since users have a limited capacity to scroll down – normally viewing only the top five positions – it’s important you take up as much space as possible to push your competitors beyond the fold. If you use Apple Search Ads so you appear first in search results, followed by your organic listing which would appear straight under (as you’d normally appear on top for your brand keywords), followed by your in-app events, you’ve taken up the multiple positions, seriously increasing your download odds.
The Wowcher app is optimising for Apple Search Ads and in-app events
There’s also a secret fourth reason to get on board with in-app events: wooing Apple’s editorial staff. Apple is keen to promote new and innovative developments in the store, and there are several positions in the App Store dedicated to highlighting these events, including on the Today, Games, and Apps tabs. Getting your in-app event featured in one of these spots can drive significant traffic to your app listing, boosting your discoverability in the store.
Toca Life World’s In-App Event is featured in the Today tab of the App Store
How do users find in app events in the App Store?
In-app events appear in the App Store as event cards that include images or a video, the event name, and a short description. These cards are displayed first to users who have already downloaded your app, and on your product page for both existing and potential users. They are also a big feature of editorialised sections and personalised recommendations. Finally, events can also be searched for, which is why your metadata is so important – more on this shortly.
How can app owners create in app events for their store listings?
In-app events are easy to set up within-app. Simply choose an event name (not viewable to the public), add your event metadata, choose a badge from the event types above and select any relevant regionality.
Your metadata should be specific to your event, rather than more generally about your app. The event name (30 characters) and short description (50 characters) are both indexed, so it’s important to include keywords you want to target. Your longer description (120 characters) isn’t indexed. Make sure to align this with your wider keyword strategy.
When it comes to your creative strategy, your in-app event card should be both eye-catching and clear as to what you’re offering. You can use either an image or a video – if it’s the latter, be aware that it will play on a loop so the transition from end to start should be smooth.
You can see in the example below that the graphic clearly shows a range of templates, while the event title contains the keywords that users are likely to be searching for. The short description is also used to maximum effect, letting users know that these new templates are easy to use and plentiful.
Webtoons’s in-app event is highly optimised and utilises a great creative image card
Measuring the success of your in app events
In-app events are easy to set up within-app. Simply choose an event name (not viewable to the public), add your event metadata, choose a badge from the event types above and select any relevant regionality.
Your metadata should be specific to your event, rather than more generally about your app. The event name (30 characters) and short description (50 characters) are both indexed, so it’s important to include keywords you want to target. Your longer description (120 characters) isn’t indexed. Make sure to align this with your wider keyword strategy.
When it comes to your creative strategy, your in-app event card should be both eye-catching and clear as to what you’re offering. You can use either an image or a video – if it’s the latter, be aware that it will play on a loop so the transition from end to start should be smooth.
You can see in the example below that the graphic clearly shows a range of templates, while the event title contains the keywords that users are likely to be searching for. The short description is also used to maximum effect, letting users know that these new templates are easy to use and plentiful.
App Store Connect will give you key insights into the performance of your in-app events
Metrics include impressions, where users saw your event, new downloads and redownloads, and retention as a result of your event. The measurement of your success will depend on the reason you created your event. If you want to attract new users, you’ll be looking out for things like new downloads and impressions, whereas if you want to re-engage old users, you’ll be more interested in numbers like re-downloads and re-engagement.
Use App Store Connect to analyse Event Interactions
You should also monitor any uptick in organic traffic for your app overall. While people may not have interacted with your app necessarily, an in-app event can have a positive halo effect on organic traffic and overall brand awareness. Find out more here about which ASO metrics to track for your wider strategy.
So what now for In-App Events?
In-app events were first announced by Apple on June ‘21s WWDC and launched properly in October 2021, but they’ve yet to be adopted by all app developers.
Whether it’s re-engaging existing users or securing as much App Store real estate as possible, in-app events provide an extremely cost-effective way of reaching your end goal – increasing the number of users, who use your app more.
We hope you enjoyed this post and we provided you with useful tips on in-app events that you can start implementing into your strategy today. However, if you have any further questions on this or any other app marketing topic, use this link to book a call with our app growth team. We offer a free app growth consultation with no strings attached!
