There is little time left until the New Year to update your app page in the App Store and Google Play! Today we will talk about ways to give a holiday to users and cherished installs to developers.

November and December are the most profitable months for commercial businesses: first, Black Friday, and then the boom in sales before the New Year. To reach as many customers as possible during seasonal promotions, brands need special marketing tools, but some still do not take advantage of this opportunity.

We hasten to dissuade those who think that there is no point in changing the graphics specifically for the holidays:

Festive design of the application will be relevant in January too - thanks to the old traditions of celebrating the New Year, the Old New Year and the long winter holidays, when most of the leisure time of residents is concentrated around gadgets.

New Year is one of the most important holidays for many countries, and ignoring it can show the brand's lack of interest in contact with its users. Including New Year's promotions and congratulations in the mobile marketing strategy can significantly strengthen the connection with customers and increase brand loyalty.

It's really beneficial for your business, seasonal updates are an integral part of mobile app marketing.

Reasons For Updating The App Page

As mentioned above, updating the app page before major holidays is almost a necessity for commercial businesses. Why is this important?

Graphics with New Year elements look more attractive in search results — among the options offered by the store, the user will pay attention to those applications that stand out from the competition — for example, with a Santa Claus hat on the icon or a mention of an advent calendar with discounts on the screenshots;

The icon on the smartphone home screen, having changed to a festive one after the update, encourages old users to go to the application, even if they have already forgotten about its existence;

Seasonal graphics increase user trust — the user will be sure that the application is constantly updated if he sees, for example, sweaters in winter and T-shirts in summer on the screenshots of a clothing store. New Year's design not only fuels brand loyalty and the festive spirit of the audience, but also indicates that the application is the same participant in this common event as its users;

Updating text metadata is auxiliary and secondary in nature, and also depends on the specifics of the application. Even if your brand is searched for in the store before the holiday, the query is unlikely to change from "cosmetics store" to "cosmetics store for the New Year". Store users search for an application not by an expanded query (this is relevant for web search engines), but by a concise thematic (for example, "cosmetics") or brand query.

Updating an app page doesn't mean adding hackneyed templates to graphics "just to have it". Updating metadata should be done with deep interest and involvement, and it is equally important to follow current advertising trends. More on this below.

Update The App Icon

An icon is the cover of your product, which is displayed not only in the store, but also on the home screen of the smartphone of users who have already installed the application. Therefore, it is important that it not only reflects your brand, but also appeals to the audience and stands out from the competition.

In the search results of the App Store, in addition to the icon, title and subtitle, the user sees screenshots or an event. In Google Play, things are different - in response to a request, the store displays only the names and icons of applications. Therefore, when promoting an Android application, you should pay special attention to this graphic element.

So, how do you update your icon before the New Year?

The easiest option is to add New Year's attributes to the existing icon that users are accustomed to: snowflakes, cones, a red hat, tangerines, etc.;

A more complicated option is to change the icon style: leave the logo or brand name and create an updated design around it from a background in festive shades and New Year symbols, which we already mentioned in the point above.

The main thing is not to overdo it with New Year's elements!

Add Holiday Information To Screenshots

The first three screenshots are displayed in the App Store search results along with the app icon and name. When working with graphics in this store, it is important to pay attention to at least these images - they have a good chance of attracting the user.

What is appropriate to display on "New Year" screenshots?

Seasonal products - from winter jackets to Christmas tree decorations, tangerines and moisturizers;
Information about pre-holiday discounts and promotional codes and loyalty programs;
An offer to purchase gift cards and subscriptions as a New Year's present for loved ones;
Winter characters and locations - if we are talking about games.

It is not necessary to update the entire set of screenshots. You can pay attention to the first three images or add seasonal attributes to one of them. Do not forget that the screenshots should not differ much from the application icon - try to make them harmonious with each other.

Create A New Year's Event

Events are a banner with information about an event within an app or game. They are displayed in search results, increasing the chances of attracting users' attention and getting into selections from store editors.

A New Year's event can include:

notifications about discounts and promotions;

information about a new range or collection;

invitation to try new features (in the app), locations and characters (in the game).

It is better not to stop the event immediately after the holidays - by increasing the duration of the event in the store, you can collect even more traffic for the application.

The holiday graphics will be live on your app page until at least January 14th, while people are still enjoying the holiday season. So start upgrading as soon as possible to make sure you're on time for 2025!
And remember, it’s best to A/B test any metadata changes before publishing.