Seasonal events are some of the highest-intent moments in the app economy. We have Black Friday just around the corner, then Christmas, followed by New Year's. During these periods, users are already primed to spend:
They might be looking for a deal on something they've wanted all year (Black Friday).
Or, they're simply primed to buy gifts for others, or themselves (Christmas).
Finally, they could be trying to form new habits and change (New Year).
In this post, I'll walk you through how to set up targeted paywall campaigns in Superwall that capture that seasonal energy. Using them, you can present new customers a specific offer for any of these events.
At the end, I've included paywalls from friend of Superwall and growth expert Vahe Baghdasaryan. You can view all of the original paywalls referenced from his post on X right here. Use them for Black Friday paywalls, or remix one for a specific event:
A note on products
Let me start with a recommendation on how to get your products ready to go for seasonal events. Depending on your platform, you have a few options:
App storefronts: You need products created, ready to go and approved.
Web checkout: Faster (no storefront review period), and a bit more flexibility. Create the products in Stripe, and that's it.
As I mentioned in a previous Black Friday post, we recommend using a product that offers a discounted price for the initial subscription duration. Then, it would renew at the standard rate. For example:
Standard annual plan: $29.99
Black Friday annual plan: $19.99/1st year, renews at $29.99
What you offer, and at what price, is going to depend on your app's goals. We like this setup because it can pull in new or lapsed users, but it still keeps your overall revenue healthy.
Okay, on to the campaign filters!
Black Friday
For Black Friday, creating a campaign with a filter for, say, the week of Black Friday would work well to offer a deal to new installs:
With the setup in the image, we're targeting:
Unsubscribed users.
Within the week of Black Friday.
And, we're only showing it once.
The one time limit ratchets up the importance of the sale, it's a true one time offer. Of course, this is just an example idea. There are so many ways to target users for Black Friday (and, well, any of these seasonal events). You might:
Upsell existing subscribers a higher tier. That would be easily achieved with our entitlements filters:
Or, combine that logic and only show it on Black Friday itself:
Keep in mind that as we continue, I'll solely be showing the image for our example campaign ideas.
Christmas
In this season, users are ready to buy already. Whether or not you run a promotional sale, or remind people of what you already offer — this season tends to lean more towards "I want to buy" as opposed to "I'm looking for a specific deal", making it the perfect time to try out a new paywall.
For this one, I might try out a campaign that leads up to Christmas. Unlike Black Friday, people here usually want to buy before the season date occurs. As with any of these examples, we recommend creating a new campaign specifically for this event:
As for the filter, here's one that would work for the first two weeks of Christmas:
New Years
Finally — New Years. This one can be tackled a few different ways:
You could target the "lead up", like we did with Christmas.
Or, you can target users right at the turn of the year.
In either scenario, people are likely to try out new products that help them achieve something aspirational in a specific area of their life. It could be physical improvement (workout apps), habit-building (habit trackers), spiritual (religious apps), or things like cooking healthier meals (recipe apps). The idea remains the same, simply decide which date range you want to go for and create the filter. Here's one that would work for the first few days of the new year:
Also, a quick tip. If you need help creating these filters, remember you can use our AI Assistance button. Simply describe what users you need to match against, and it'll create the filters for you:
Bonus: Use Stripe payment sheets
If you are targeting users in the United States, then you might consider using web checkout in-app. That means you can use our new Stripe payment sheet, which has the best conversion rates among web checkout options:
Stripe payment sheet.
For more on that, check out this quick start guide. If you're new to setting up web checkout, then this is a great place to start.
Black Friday paywalls
And as promised, here are links to the paywalls Vahe uses for Black Friday. Use them directly for your Black Friday campaigns, or remix them to fit whatever seasonal campaign you're working on.
Remember, these paywalls should be unique! Don't use your existing paywall with the new offer, as users may have already seen it several times. That means they could skip right over a deal they might be genuinely interested in.
Wrapping up
Seasonal moments come and go fast, but the revenue opportunity they create is substantial. The founders who win here aren't doing anything magical, they're just prepared and move quickly. And, nothing helps you move quickly, and gives you the insights to measure what actually works, better than Superwall. A few targeted campaigns, some thoughtful paywall designs, and a willingness to experiment with timing can make a significant impact on your revenue.
If you haven't set up your seasonal campaigns yet, now's the time. And if you're not already using Superwall, you can sign up for a free account and start testing today!
