With user acquisition being a major cost for most m-commerce apps, here are some helpful tips to get you into the end of the year, holiday season.

As the holiday season is approaching (it’s never too early to start preparing), tens of thousands of businesses begin to prepare for their busiest time of the year. If you run an eCommerce business or you are a developer of an eCommerce mobile app, chances are you’re already planning a creative campaign to attract more customers during the busy holiday season.

Although it is true that the upcoming holiday, Nov-Dec season provides a huge opportunity to increase sales, it is crucial to prepare in advance and establish a well-defined strategy to approach their audience in a timely and effective manner. While successful campaigns have turned some mobile apps into million-dollar businesses, misread market analysis or poorly constructed strategies can lead to a waste of money and a missed opportunity for app owners and retailers.

The following tips will help you build a solid Q4 mCommerce strategy so your business can maximize its sales potential this season.

Keep the Key Dates in Mind (2022 update)

While Christmas and New Year are especially famous for their preceding shopping sprees, there are a few other days in which online sales reach record numbers. Although some of these dates are busy mostly in the United States, they represent a great opportunity for app owners and other online business owners:

• October 31st — Halloween Day marks the beginning of the holiday season and is one of the busiest days for online purchases all around the world.
• November 11th — Single’s Day or Double 11 – is a shopping holiday popular among young Chinese people that celebrate their pride in being single. What started as a local holiday quickly expanded to singles worldwide celebrating big promotions on Chinese e-commerce sites mostly.
• November 25th — The “Black Friday” following Thanksgiving in the United States is the busiest shopping day in the country since 2005.
• November 28th – Cyber Monday – Perhaps the most important date for app developers, as this “Cyber Monday” is considered the busiest day of the year for online sales.
• December 18 – Super Saturday, as the name suggests this is the Saturday before Christmas and that’s when people tend to do their last-minute shopping. AKA “Panic Saturday”

Give Away Freebies and Discount Codes

It should come as no surprise that during the busiest period of the year for both online and traditional business competition gets fierce. Freebies and giveaways are great strategies to attract new customers and reinforce brand loyalty among existing ones. All advertisers are out there trying to fight for those engaging users. Kids get a higher allowance as gifts during this time- and that’s when they want to spend it- on new games- or upgrading existing ones.

Use technology in your favor and make sure to publish any special deals or discounts extensively across all social media platforms. While special deals are always effective, publishing them in advance can help you stay ahead of the competition even before the end of the year approaches.

Time to Get Creative

If you are planning to attract new customers, you need to put creativity at work and produce innovative marketing campaigns. Although it is true that Q4 is a great time for mobile apps, you must consider that your competition will also try to take advantage of it.

Go beyond the regular marketing tactics and don’t be afraid of innovation. Gaining attention is key in these times, so following the common patterns is hardly a good idea. Plan ahead and brainstorm all ideas regardless of how crazy they might seem.

We know that coming up with ground-breaking marketing campaigns is much easier said than done. If the nature of your app is suitable for it, don’t be afraid of adding a little holiday-themed fun to your apps and sites: snowflakes, Santa hats, and Christmas trees are a great way to start.

Prepare for Traffic Peaks

Just like any other eCommerce business, app developers must prepare to see a significantly higher number of downloads and user activity during peak holiday seasons. Weeks spent in the development of effective campaigns can become useless if you are not technologically prepared to deal with a sudden increase in the number of new users.

Keep in mind that the mobile app is only a part of a larger business which commonly includes support websites and sometimes even phone helplines. Make sure to have everything ready for these secondary components to escalate as your app’s downloads keep growing.

Update Your App For The Latest devices and Operating Systems

Just as application developers, large mobile phone manufacturers commonly release their new products before Q4. Your job is to gather as much information as possible on the product specifications of these devices and optimize your app to run smoothly in them.

If you are planning to optimize your app before the holidays, make sure to do so at the right time, as virtual stores such as Google Play or the Apple App Store have special holiday categories where you can be featured.

Spend Your Budget Wisely

If you are considering paying for an advertising campaign on a social media platform or a traditional media outlet, it is important to have a clear image of your target market and be a realist about the goals you want to achieve. While a Facebook campaign might work well for some specific applications, the investment might not be worth it for others.

Take into consideration that many of your competitors will also engage in paid advertising campaigns, and try to think about alternative ways to reach your potential customers. Go wide as possible, your target audience isn’t just in one place, they have multiple apps being used daily, use several social media outlets (are you in the TikTok game?) and don’t forget to measure everything that you do. The only way to go up is to learn from the things that work best.

Have a happy m-commerce holiday 🙂