Billions of app downloads will happen this December. Follow these tips, and you can ensure that your app gets its fair share of them.
Prepare for the “App Store Freeze”
Last year, Apple employees were given Christmas week off, and rankings in the App Store “froze” from 12/22 to 12/29. That is, whoever was number 1 on 12/12/11 stayed that way for the next seven days. More importantly, they would have held the top spot even if they didn’t have a single download during that period.
This may not change your strategy very much. After all, developers generally want the highest rank they can get for as long as they can get it. However, if your strategy is dependent on spending a ton on Christmas Eve and reaching a peak on Christmas Day, it isn’t going to happen. Time your ad campaigns carefully.
Know the hot holiday products and build apps to cater to them
You don’t have to independently generate the next big thing when there are so many opportunities ancillary to the hot products that are already out there. For example, since Y-Volution scooters are a top seller, it might be a good idea to build a simple “How to Rip and Ride on a Y-Volution Scooter” app that functions as a guide, sends out weekly tips and tricks, and links to cool videos.
Be creative, and offer something that complements a popular product well, and you will make a massive efficiency gain because the hard work of building a market for your app has already been done for you.
Make a strong first impression
Very often, a person will delete an app after downloading it if they don’t like it right away (this past summer, 20% of iOS apps were deleted quickly after download). Therefore, your launch and the first seconds of use must hook the user. If you don’t grab them right away, your app may be headed to the trash and you won’t be getting a 5-star review.
Make sure that everything is clear and interesting right from the get-go. Don’t ask the user to learn a ton of stuff up front. For them, it’s like running into a brick wall.
Use a holiday theme
It’s cliché, but around the holidays, it works. Alter your art to have tinsel, mistletoe, and candy canes. Add in-game items that are winter-y. Create a button that lets the user send a letter to Santa. Do something that shows that your app is alive and dynamic. You don’t have to go overboard, but it’d good to be in sync with the season.
If you’ve really got some extra resources, develop simple and fun holiday-specific apps. (Just make sure that when you do your budgeting, you’re not expecting to have downloads on January 1st).
Develop related products
If you can, make a suite of apps that tie in to each other for the holidays and cross-promote. If you’ve got something for everyone, your apps can spread virally within each household, giving you extra mileage on your holiday development efforts.
Cater to the new users
Millions of mobile devices will be booted up for the first time on Christmas Day. With the massive surge of new users, there’s no better time to unleash apps that focus on the needs of new device owners. Your app can be obvious (e.g. an app that delivers tutorials) or creative. Just imagine yourself unboxing a shiny new mobile on Christmas morning, and figure out what you might want to see when you head to an app marketplace for the first time.
Don’t forget about seasonal SEO
Special search terms are going to be very popular, but only for a brief period. Target them and optimize, and you could be way ahead of the pack. SEO is something many would rather not deal with. Their loss is your gain.
Happy Holidays everyone!
