Retailers will soon, hopefully, be in the black. There’s a lot of optimism, including the NRF (National Retail Federation) prediction that 2022 would be the highest holiday retail sales on record. They are projecting between $834.4 and $859 billion. Additionally, holidays see high downloads for apps. We’re sharing some holiday retail app campaign best practices to ensure you get your piece of the revenue pie.
Launch Keyword Burst Campaigns with Holiday-Specific Keywords
If you’re looking to gain more users for holiday shopping, your keyword campaigns should reflect this. To boost the volume of installs, consider a keyword burst campaign. Burst campaigns are short, concentrated ad periods that result in a large number of installs.
Keep in mind that not all these users will stay on your app, but it’s a good first step for those looking for holiday gifting.
Some keywords to consider: “holiday shopping app,” “gift-giving,” and other related phrases specific to your app.
Create New Custom Product Pages to Align with Campaigns
The iOS App Store now offers the opportunity to create custom product pages (CPPs) for your app. Thus, you can ensure that your holiday keyword campaigns or any others take users to a specific landing page. That page can be holiday-themed with visuals and descriptions. Optimize it by following the approach of why a user should download your app for holiday shopping.
Retain Users After the Download with CPE Campaigns
Engagement is key to getting your users to get active on the app. The best way to do this is with CPE (cost per engagement campaigns). There are lots of options with this type of reward advertising. The type of CPE campaign you launch will depend on how long the user has had the app.
In most cases, you’ll want to deploy one within the first few hours, so they don’t download and abandon. CPEs reward your users for the engagement. Much of the time, these are available through offerwalls. These user-initiated ad units offer a reward in exchange for an action. That action is something you believe will extend their usage.
For a holiday retail app, here are some suggestions:
- Create an account: If users go through the trouble of registering, that may lead to ordering. The reward could be a discount.
- Add a payment: With a payment on record, checkout is fast and frictionless. The value they get may be free shipping.
- Join a loyalty club: Shoppers like rewards. In exchange for subscribing, you can offer them bonus points.
- Make a purchase: Converting a sale is the top of the line for events. It’s the most challenging, but that’s a logical next step if people download your retail app. If they do, the reward could be a free gift or discount for the next purchase.
Learn More About Offerwalls!
CPE Campaigns Don’t Have to Be E-Commerce Only
Your retail mobile app is an e-commerce store, but your campaigns to generate conversions don’t have to focus on this solely. Buy online pick-up in-store (BOPIS) and curbside pick-up are now massive channels for retailers. Orders in the app could offer both these as options versus just shipping.
Your app will need to have an easy user interface for consumers. You’ll need a backend that keeps inventory accurate. To take advantage of shoppers who want this flexibility, you can:
- Include language on your app store listing page so users know it’s an option.
- Create a CPE campaign that provides a reward for making a BOPIS or curbside pick-up purchase.
- Promote it within the app and with push notifications.
Highlight Package Tracking
This year, a big concern for holiday shoppers is that there will be supply chain delays that could disrupt delivery schedules. Regardless, if that applies to your retail app, ensure that tracking is transparent. Advise that tracking works better in the app, so they see the value of downloading and keeping it. Use that language on your app store pages and in ads.
When they download the app, make packaging tracking part of short tutorial that you reward your customer after they watch.
Why is this important? They’ll be clear on the projected schedules, which could decrease customer service calls and complaints.
Show the Holiday Spirit in Your App Campaigns Across Channels
You have lots of opportunities to be creative during the holidays. You’re executing campaigns through a variety of channels and networks. Take the time to develop a theme. Maybe it’s funny, serious, or somewhere in between. Whatever you choose, it should align with your brand and your target customers.
For example, suppose you’re a fitness and leisure retail brand. In that case, your message could be about not letting your guard down during holiday festivities. The point is that your audience is fitness enthusiasts. They aren’t going to walk away from that during the holidays.
It would be disingenuous to start a campaign targeting those that don’t work out but might start. It’s not to say you can attract those people, but it’s not really your bread and butter.
The Holiday Season Is Different for Everyone
One last note about holiday retail app campaigns is that you want to be as inclusive as possible, no matter your tactic. That’s especially true for global apps. The end of November through the first of January encompasses holidays across cultural and demographics, including Thanksgiving (U.S.), Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Boxing Day, and New Year’s.
Depending on your app’s reach and ideal users, you may decide to be specific or generic. However, it might be useful if you’re an app specializing in something specific to add to your keywords (i.e., Hanukkah supplies or Christmas tree ornaments).
The Gift of New Users Can Last All Year
While it takes a lot of energy and strategy to obtain users during the holidays, you can follow these best practices for positive outcomes. After the holidays, don’t stop engaging your users! They still shop outside the last quarter of the year. Keep planning for how to retain them, so their lifetime value increases.
AdAction can help you with holiday campaigns and beyond. We work with large and specialty retailers to drive users to their apps and help them keep them. Contact us today to learn how.
