Holiday App Update - Position Your App for Success This Winter

December 8th, 2016

Holiday App Update - Position Your App for Success This Winter
Anh Nguyen

by Anh Nguyen

COO & Co-Founder at Gummicube, Inc

The holidays are a prime time for developers to update their creative assets on the App Store and Google Play. As we approach the end of the year and the impending App Store shutdown, be sure to take the time for a quick app update in this busy season – it can ultimately be worth a lot. App icons and screenshots have been an integral element of conversion optimization ever since the App Store first debuted. Having a crisp, appealing and evocative app icon can make all the difference when users browse through the App Store’s home and search pages. After all, there are millions of apps out there, so yours should stand out. Similarly, screenshots are crucial for converting users and communicating the core features of your app. As you update the features of your app, you can also update your screenshots to communicate those new features to your users quickly and efficiently. As the holidays approach, developers have multiple opportunities to update both the features and the presentation of an app in the App Store. Many app developers choose to implement new features or promotions over the holiday season. Shopping apps, for example, often run deals or promotions. Many games run specials on in-app purchases, or create unique events that have users coming back to the game. See Pokémon GO’s Halloween update, for instance. When your app runs a promotion for the holidays, it is a crucial moment for increasing conversion and bringing back lapsed uses who dropped off of your app. This, coupled with the excess of free time around the holidays, makes the winter period perfect for drawing users in. You will want to broadcast your promotions loudly – Use your screenshots to show off your promotion with an updated image featuring both a picture of the promotion and a quick text callout drawing users to it. Even if your app is not undergoing a holiday-specific update, it is still in your best interest to update your app’s icon for the holidays. This has several effects. First, it shows users that you are on top of updating your app. When users download an app, they want to know that it will continue to be supported into the future. Second, this opens you up to any promotions that Apple or Google may run over the holiday period. Oftentimes, apps that have relevant features are promoted around holidays. Dating apps, for example, get the spotlight around Valentine’s Day. Travel apps, shopping apps and games are just a few of the types of apps that are more likely to be promoted around the holidays, so update your icon to a holiday version to show Apple and Google that you’re doing all you can to get the holiday spotlight. After all, your users aren’t the only ones who want to see that your app is still being updated; Apple and Google tend to promote apps that get more frequent updates, too. With a simple update to your icon and screenshots, your app can find new life over the holiday season.

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