Black Friday and Apps: The Ultimate Guide to User Acquisition This Sales Season

It’s November, and you know what that means: Black Friday! The event is not about camping outside supermarkets and haphazardly grabbing you can reach anymore. While some shoppers still chase physical deals, the real action has shifted to the screens – and app marketers are now in charge of the October madness. What started as a post-Thanksgiving retail tradition has evolved into a global digital phenomenon, with apps and subscriptions claiming a big slice of the holiday shopping pie. 

For developers and marketers, Black Friday is more than just a chance to boost downloads or revenue – it's an opportunity to stand out in an increasingly crowded marketplace. Whether you're running a fitness app, a productivity tool, or a game, the holiday shopping season mindset makes users more receptive to trying new apps and especially prone to jumping on special offers. The key is knowing how to cut through the noise and make your app's Black Friday campaign impossible to ignore. 

In this guide, we’ll explore effective tips for making eye-catching ads, creating compelling subscription deals, and timing your campaigns for the best results. Let’s go!

Not Just Black Friday: Localizing Offers

Before we go any further, correction: this article is mostly for the US and European markets. It’s important to remember, however, that ‘country-wide sales day’ might be different in different cultures. And while Black Friday dominates Western countries, savvy app marketers are tapping into a calendar full of global shopping events. 

For example, Singles' Day (11.11) in Asia has become the world's largest shopping festival, with apps like TikTok and AliExpress seeing record-breaking engagement. In 2023, Singles' Day generated over $156.8 billion in sales, making Black Friday numbers look modest in comparison.

Other key dates include Amazon Prime Day, which has evolved into a midsummer shopping phenomenon, prompting many apps to create "Christmas in July" campaigns in the US and most European countries. In Latin America, Hot Sale events (usually in May) drive significant app installation spikes, while El Buen Fin in Mexico (the weekend before Mexican Revolution Day) has become known as "Mexican Black Friday."

Looking East, India's festive season, anchored by Diwali, sees massive spikes in app activity, particularly for gaming and entertainment ones. The Chinese New Year shopping period is another golden opportunity, with users traditionally more willing to spend on self-improvement apps and digital gifts. 

Each of these events comes with its own cultural nuances and user expectations, offering unique opportunities for targeted app promotions.

Creating Black Friday Offers

Black Friday pricing isn’t just about lowering prices; it’s about creating deals that encourage people to buy right away and also help the business succeed in the long run. Let's explore the most effective pricing strategies that top-performing apps use during the shopping season.

Percentage Discounts The classic "50% off" remains powerful for a reason. Users can quickly calculate their savings, making the decision process smoother. For subscription apps, the sweet spot typically lies between 40-60% off annual plans. Higher discounts might drive more conversions, but they also tend to attract less committed users who are more likely to churn once regular pricing kicks in.

Fixed Amount Discounts "Save $50" can actually outperform percentage discounts, especially for higher-priced subscriptions. The psychology is fascinating: while "30% off" and "$50 off" might represent the same discount, seeing an actual dollar amount often feels more tangible to users. This approach works particularly well for professional or productivity apps where users are already thinking in terms of business value.

Extended Trial Periods Instead of dropping your price, consider extending your trial period. For example, bumping a 7-day trial to 30 days during Black Friday can be particularly effective for complex apps that need more time to demonstrate their value. This strategy often leads to higher-quality conversions since users have more time to integrate the app into their routines.

The Lifetime Deal Opportunity 

Lifetime deals deserve special attention because they're not just a pricing strategy – they're a business model decision. When done right, they can generate significant immediate revenue and create a loyal user base. However, they need careful planning:

First, calculate your customer lifetime value (cLTV) and ensure your lifetime price is at least 2.5-3x your annual subscription cost. This helps maintain profitability while still offering perceived value. Consider Notion's successful lifetime deal launch: they priced it at $150, roughly equal to two years of their annual plan, creating a sweet spot that drove massive adoption without sacrificing long-term revenue.

Structure your lifetime deal to include current features while being clear about future premium features that might come at an extra cost. This protects your future revenue while still delivering value to early adopters. Some apps create special "Founding Member" lifetime tiers, adding exclusivity to the offer.

Be strategic about timing and availability. Creating scarcity (like "first 1000 users" or "48 hours only") adds urgency while protecting you from overselling. Consider running lifetime deals only during major shopping events like Black Friday to maintain their special status.

Frame your Black Friday offers against regular pricing to highlight the savings. Display the original price crossed out next to the sale price, and consider showing the percentage saved. Go further by breaking down the savings into relatable terms: "Less than a cup of coffee per month" or "Save $X per year" can make the deal more compelling.

Remember that your pricing strategy should align with your long-term goals. While Black Friday is about driving conversions, those conversions need to translate into sustainable business growth. Consider offering tiered discounts – heavier discounts on annual plans versus monthly subscriptions – to encourage longer commitments.

A final tip: always have your post-promotion strategy ready. How will you handle users who miss the deal? What's your plan for next year's Black Friday? Smart apps keep a small "safety net" discount ready (like 20% off) for users who reach out after the main promotion ends, helping to maintain goodwill while protecting the exclusivity of your Black Friday offers.

Black Friday campaigns shouldn't stop at acquisition; retention is where the real value lies. Apps that focus on creating seamless onboarding experiences and delivering immediate value post-install are the ones that turn seasonal shoppers into loyal users.

Jovana Stankovic, Head of Marketing at REPLUG

Getting Customers to See Your Offer

If an app is developed in the woods, is there anyone to download it? Black Friday is meant to be the final conversion push for existing users or those who’ve been eyeing your app for a while but have yet to try it. However, the more potential customers hear about your offer during this season, the better: the last week of November brings the avid shopper out of most of us, and more people are willing to try (and pay for!) an app they might see for the first time.

That’s why it makes sense to allocate a part of the BF marketing budget towards getting new users. To break through the mold of similar offers on the web and in the apps, consider more higher quality sources, like influencers. They will be able to present the app, its features, and the offer to a new audience, all in one contact.

Ilia Lotarev, Head of Strategy at Zorka.Agency

Creating Eye-Catching Visuals

The key to standing out during Black Friday is creating visuals that scream "deal" while maintaining your app's brand identity. Your creative strategy needs to work across multiple touchpoints while staying true to your brand's core identity. Let's break down the essential elements that drive conversions.

First, let's talk about your app store presence. Your first screenshot should be your power player, showcasing your Black Friday deal front and center. While the instinct might be to cram every offer detail into this prime real estate, resist it. Instead, focus on one compelling offer with a clear value proposition. Whether it's "Save 50%" or "Get 6 months free," make sure it's instantly graspable. The proven color trinity of black (for Black Friday), red (for urgency), and yellow (for contrast) will make your offers pop.

Push notifications deserve special attention during the shopping season. The science here is clear: emojis like ⚡, 🔥, and ⏰ are easily recognizable as important and significantly boost open rates. But timing is everything – your perfectly crafted notification needs to arrive when users are most receptive. Data shows peak engagement typically occurs between 10 AM and 2 PM during sale periods. Personalization adds another layer of effectiveness: "John, your Black Friday deal expires in 3 hours" performs better than generic announcements.

On social media, one size definitely doesn't fit all. Your creative assets need to be platform-specific: square formats for Instagram feeds, vertical for Stories, and each with its own optimization. Motion is your secret weapon here – animated price drops or countdown timers consistently outperform static images. Start teasing your deals early with "Coming Soon" creatives to build anticipation, and use your app's best features as engaging backgrounds for deal messaging.

For maximum impact use dynamic creative optimization. Here's where many app marketers miss out: instead of running a single creative set, prepare multiple variations of your ads. This means different backgrounds, calls-to-action, and offer displays. Let performance data guide which creatives get more airtime. Most importantly, segment your audience – new users might respond differently to your Black Friday messaging compared to lapsed users who already know your app.

The golden rule throughout all of this? Your app should still be instantly recognizable even in full sale mode. Black Friday is a chance to boost conversions, not confuse your audience about who you are.

Pre-Black Friday Preparation

Your Black Friday preparation starts well before the leaves begin to fall. Three months out, you should be deep in strategy and creative development. By the two-month mark, technical preparations and list building need to be underway. One month before the big day is when your A/B tests should go live, with a final push for teasers starting two weeks out.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that by the time you’re reading this article, it’s already too late. You can still make it work: see what step can be done in parallel or postponed to the next year for the time being:

• By October 1, you should finalize promotional strategy, start creative production and plan technical requirements
• By November 1, you can launch and analyze A/B tests, complete technical preparations, and start warming up email lists or teasing your social media followers.
• By November 15, you can fully begin teaser/Black Friday campaign, finalize all creatives, and complete final technical checks

Your A/B testing strategy should be surgical and focused. Rather than testing everything possible, concentrate on elements that directly impact conversion rates and the monetization curve. Start with your offer structure – pit percentage discounts against fixed amounts to see what works better. Test different messaging approaches, contrasting scarcity-based copy ("Only 24 hours left!") against value propositions ("Get a year of premium for the price of 3 months"). Each test should run for at least 5 days to gather statistically significant data.

Keep your technical checklist focused:

• Load test your servers to handle 5x normal traffic
• Test payment processing system with all discount scenarios
• Set up monitoring alerts for critical metrics
• Create emergency rollback procedures
• Test promo code systems thoroughly
• Prepare backup notification systems
• Set up real-time monitoring dashboards

The promo isn't just about growing numbers: it's about getting the customers who will stay with you after the offer is over, and next year will renew even without a discount. Create a pre-sale waitlist that offers special early access, adding an element of exclusivity to your campaign and sizing up potential revenue boost. Segment your existing users based on their engagement levels and purchase history. This allows you to craft personalized offers that resonate with each group – from power users to those who need a gentle nudge back.

Most importantly, use this prep time to clean up your existing customer cohorts and analytics. Remove inactive accounts, reassess the benchmarks, and ensure your push notification permissions are in good standing. A smaller, engaged customer list will outperform a larger, unengaged one every time.

Remember: A successful Black Friday campaign is 80% preparation, 20% execution. Focus on getting these fundamentals right, and your actual sale period will run much smoother.

Implementation Tips

Black Friday Masterplan from AdChampagne

App Store Optimization for Black Friday 

The event is important enough to require a temporary shift in your ASO strategy. Update your app store page at least 1-2 weeks before Black Friday. Modify your app descriptions to include "Black Friday" if store guidelines permit, and adjust your keywords to capture seasonal search traffic. Update your screenshots to highlight deals, but avoid mentioning specific discounts in your app title or subtitle – these should go in your promotional text or description, which are easier to revert post-sale.

Think of your Black Friday campaign as a coordinated assault. Start with your existing user base: use in-app banners, email newsletters, and push notifications in harmony. Each platform should reinforce your message while playing to its strengths, while not overwhelming the user base. For example, use Instagram Stories for countdown timers, emails for detailed offer breakdowns, and push notifications for urgent reminders. Create a promo calendar that spaces out your messages to maintain visibility without causing fatigue.

Retargeting Campaigns 

Black Friday is prime time for re-engaging users who've shown interest but haven't converted, or stopped being paying subscribers more than 180 days ago. Set up separate retargeting segments for:

• Users who abandoned your subscription page
• Free users who've hit premium features
• Previously paid users who've churned
• App store page visitors who didn't install

Customize your messaging for each segment. For instance, show churned users new features they haven't tried, while reminding subscription page abandoners of specific features they explored.

Customer Support Preparation 

This is often overlooked but crucial: Black Friday can overwhelm your support systems. Prepare by:

• Creating a comprehensive FAQ specifically for Black Friday offers
• Setting up automated responses for common questions
• Temporarily expanding your support team if possible
• Preparing response templates for different scenarios
• Having a clear escalation path for technical issues

Most importantly, empower your support team to make quick decisions about extending offers or making exceptions – speed matters during flash sales. Keep your engineering team on standby during peak hours – the cost of downtime during Black Friday is substantially higher than normal. If you followed our advice in the previous section about the technical checklist, you should be good to go.

Set up proper tracking and dashboards well before the event. Essential metrics to monitor in real-time include conversion rates by traffic source, revenue per user, offer page drop-off rates, and payment success rates.

Besides traditional channels and ASO, did you know that OEM ads give your app an edge during Black Friday? Such ads reach users directly at the device setup stage – when they're exploring new tools. OEM ads boost visibility while ensuring clean, fraud-resistant traffic. It's the perfect strategy to get immediate installs and set your app up for success beyond the holiday rush.

Jovana Stankovic, Head of Marketing at REPLUG

Post-Black Friday Opportunities

Just like in the brick-and-mortar stores, the after-sale clean up is a mess: but the show must go on. And online, the second wave is just two days away: Cyber Monday. 

This opportunity offers a natural extension for your promotions, but you need to strike the right balance. Consider running a modified version of your Black Friday offer – perhaps with a different angle. For example, if you offered a straight discount on Black Friday, switch to a value-add bundle for Cyber Monday. This creates a fresh urgency without devaluing your previous offer. Some apps successfully run a "last chance" campaign, bringing back their best-performing Black Friday deal for just 24 hours.

The weeks following Black Friday are key for converting your trial users and keeping your paying ones. These users grabbed your deal – now show them why they should stay. Create an onboarding sequence that highlights your most engaging features early in the trial period. Consider implementing a "success timeline" – showing users what they should achieve by day 7, day 14, and day 30 of their trial. The key is to demonstrate value before they start thinking about cancellation.

Send targeted communications based on feature usage. If a user hasn't explored a key feature by day 3, send them a quick tutorial. For users showing high engagement, consider offering an early-conversion discount – "Love what you see? Convert to annual now and keep your Black Friday rate."

Of course, the real work on customer retention begins after the sale ends. Your Black Friday cohort might be price-sensitive, so you need a solid retention plan:

• Create a special onboarding track for Black Friday users
• Set up engagement milestones and celebrate when users hit them
• Implement a "surprise and delight" program for the first 90 days
• Plan check-in points at 30, 60, and 90 days post-purchase

Pay special attention to users approaching the end of their discounted period. Prepare retention offers for your most engaged users – it's often worth extending their promotional rate if they're active users bringing value to your community.

Your Black Friday data is gold for future campaigns. Focus on these key metrics:

Use this data to shape next year's strategy. Look for patterns in your most successful users – which features did they adopt first? What channels did they come from? What offers did they respond to? This intelligence is invaluable for future campaigns.

Remember, Black Friday isn't just a one-time revenue boost – it's an opportunity to build a larger, more engaged user base. The most successful apps use this period to create long-term relationships, not just short-term gains. Start planning your retention strategy before your acquisition campaign, and you'll see the benefits long after the holiday season ends.

Before You Go

Here’s what we want you to remember: 

1. Black Friday’s gone digital, so your app’s now a key player in the holiday shopping frenzy.
2. Get creative with your offers—think beyond discounts to things like extended trials and lifetime deals that keep users coming back.
3. Play to pricing psychology; sometimes a “Save $50” hits harder than a “30% off.”
4. Make your visuals pop with Black Friday colors (black, red, yellow) to grab attention in a busy season.
5. Start planning at least three months out to get your Black Friday campaign running smoothly.
6. Test everything—offers, visuals, messages—to find what really converts for Black Friday.
7. Tweak your app store listings with seasonal keywords to boost holiday traffic.
8. Retarget those lapsed or on-the-fence users to give them a reason to dive back in.
9. Make sure your support team’s ready—Black Friday can be hectic, and users will need quick help.
10. Focus on keeping those new users post-sale with onboarding, milestones, and follow-up engagement.

This way, your Black Friday boost can lead to lasting growth!

If you have any questions about Black Friday deals or any other topic in app marketing, feel free to write to us at marketing@apptica.com — we've got your back!