Mastering Seasonality Marketing for Mobile: Examples + Checklist

Subharun Mukherjee 18+ years of experience leading product strategy, Go-To-Market (GTM), new market entry, value-based sales, analyst relations, and customer experience programs. Expertise in Financial Services, eCommerce, on-demand services, and the SaaS industry.

Published on January 30, 2020
Reading time 4 min read
Views 14.08k

Mastering Seasonality Marketing for Mobile: Examples + Checklist

We’re well into the throes of January, which for some people means, “back to business as usual.”
For top-performing mobile apps, there’s no such thing.
A change in season means users think and behave differently. Just like it’s important to predict behaviors and trends during the holiday season, it’s just as critical to track momentum into every season.
Whether your business is seasonal or not, you should discover ways to adapt your marketing efforts to match the trends and mood of each season.
Check out how these brands took advantage of seasonal holidays and events in their marketing campaigns:

1. Headspace: New Year Sale

Seasonality marketing can range from a viral video to a simple email campaign. In this example, Headspace capitalized on the new year trend by offering 40% off their app for the first year. Understanding that the beginning of the new year is a time for new habits and resolutions, they created a sense of urgency with an exclusive offer to push on-the-fence users into subscribing.

Takeaway: Think of what mood or sentiment a certain time of year brings and use that as a platform to push exclusive, limited-time offers.

2. Ford Mustang: Valentine’s Day Speed Dating

For Valentine’s Day 2015, Ford Mustang hired a gorgeous professional stunt driver to meet unsuspecting guys for a blind date… and take them for a ride. Their reactions were priceless, garnering over 13.5 million views on YouTube.
While the subject matter helped drive (see what I did there) curiosity, it was the timeliness of the launch that made it go viral.

Takeaway: Make them laugh. Some holidays can be a stressful and busy time for your audience. Finding ways to tastefully spoof a specific season may not drive instant downloads and conversions, but it will boost brand awareness and virality.

3. Airbnb: “Alternative Accommodations” Olympic Sponsorship

In 2016, Airbnb became the first official “alternative accommodations” sponsor of the Olympic Games in Rio. What does that mean? When Rio won the Olympic bid in 2009, it could only promise half of the 40,000 beds required for the games¹ — so the sponsorship was definitely a win for the city, the attendees, and Airbnb.
Airbnb received a special landing page within the Olympic Games’ ticketing platform where attendees could plan accommodations in Rio, plus they got a link to their site on the official Olympic website, giving them plenty of opportunities to convert visitors planning to travel to the games.

Along with prime real estate on the Olympics official page, Airbnb launched its #StayWithMe campaign, which encouraged Airbnb hosts to post photos and videos on social media to showcase their countries.

Takeaway: Find ways to benefit more than just your brand. When your users know doing business with you will not only bring them value but bring others value… that’s a very attractive offer.

Comprehensive Seasonality Holiday Checklist

Now that we’ve hopefully sparked some ideas with the examples above, it’s time to start planning. Luckily, we’ve done the leg work for you.
Here’s a complete checklist of major and minor holidays, events, and themes across the globe so you can begin mastering seasonality marketing today: