With iOS 15 recently integrating in-app events, app developers are provided with a brand new marketing tool that they can use to promote their events, challenges and any other new content being released by their app. 

Incorporating in-app events is a great way to reach a wider user group, engage with existing users, and even re-inviting past users. 

In this article, we’ll explore what in-app events are, how they influence app store optimization or ASO, how you can set up events, in-app events examples that you can promote, and what type of data you can analyze from in-app events. 

What Are In-App Events? 

In-app events are events that take place in real life. They’re events that engage with users as they’re taking place, such as competitions, movie premieres, live streams, or any other live experience. 

You can use these events to reach new users, retain your current users, or re-engage with users who stopped using your app. 

In-app events can appear on your product page, search results, and various curated pieces on the App Store, including recommendations in  tabs labeled as Today, Games or Apps.  

You can run an event for as long as you think it’s necessary for your own app. You can run it for 5 days like SimCity BuildIt, all the way up to 27 days like Fishdom.

How Do In-App Events Influence ASO? 

Event cards (cards that display your in-app events) will be shown all throughout the App Store. 

In other words, in-app event ASO can increase your app’s visibility in the following ways: 

• Appearance in the Today, Games, and Apps Tabs: In-app events are shown in editorial collections that are released in the Today, Games, and Apps tabs, and this can bring about a massive boost in visibility. The new iOS 15 App Store widget can also highlight any upcoming events featured in the Today tab.  

• Higher Search Results: When a user searches for a specific event, like a new song release, the event card will be shown alongside the app that has created it.  You can further increase your apps’ visibility by optimizing specific keywords or creating new ones.

• More Options for Existing Users: When a user searches for your app, the event card will replace the screenshots that appear in the search results for users who have already downloaded your app. This means that you can increase engagement with existing users who may not have used your app in a while. In effect, you’re able to maintain your app’s visibility in search results for existing users and prevent competitors from gaining increased visibility. 

You can create event cards in App Store Connect and need to submit them to be reviewed. The maximum number of in-app events you can create in App Store Connect is 10, but only up to 5 events can be published in the App Store at a time. This is why you need to assess the exact kind of in-app events that you want to promote with event cards.

How Do You Set Up Events? 

When you create your in-app event, there are specific assets and metadata you need to produce to release the event via App Store Connect. 

Some of these assets and metadata are a part of ASO and can be used as a way to improve the visibility of your app even more. Increased visibility can be sourced from the following in-app event criteria:

• The name of your event (up to 30 characters)
• A summary of your event (up to 50 characters)
• Extra information about your event (up to 120 characters)

Optimized keywords will be shown in the name, short description, and metadata of your app. 

So the steps to publishing an in-app event on the App Store is quite simple. All you need to do is follow these three steps: 

1. Log in to your App Store Connect account 
2. Enter the metadata of your event, select regional availability (if relevant), and more 
3. Submit your event for review and wait for it to be approved

While the process is very simple, you don’t want to publish any random event. You need to carefully think about what type of events will attract your viewers, and this can be understood by understanding your user’s preferences. 

Once you’ve decided on your event, you need to make sure that your content is original. This is done by producing original content for your in-app event metadata that your users will love and want to engage with. 

What Type of In-App Events Can You Promote?

You can promote certain events that aren’t very typical, including: 

• Competitions: If you have a gaming app, you can create player tournaments and battles that your users can look forward to. 

• Live Streams: This is especially useful if you have a news app or any niche that allows users to access live videos. 

• Challenges: You can create a challenge where users have to complete a given number of lessons to receive a badge or unlock gems. This lets your users feel like they need to keep coming back to your app by looking forward to unlocking different milestones. 

• New Seasons: This can include new content such as a new game character, design or level. These can appear in the search results when a user looks for an app with those kinds of features, so there is lots of excitement built around the updates. 

• Special Events:  These are limited time events that can be used to promote your app in the App Store, which will appear on the product page and in the search results. 

• Big Updates: With these, you can gain much more visibility and re-engage users in a way you haven’t been able to before. 

• Premieres: This is especially useful if you have a streaming app. Premieres can be used to engage users and target new ones to your app. A new premiere or exclusive content can lead you to get more eyes on your app.

Analyzing Data From Your In-App Events

With Apple releasing analytics for in-app events in January 2022, it is very easy to keep track of useful data offered by your events. There are many key performance indicators (KPIs) that you can make use of through in-app event tracking, including:

• Downloads 
• Impressions
• Notifications 
• Opens 

On the standard App Store Connect dashboard, you’ll find some of the following KPIs: 

• Amount of impressions: This indicates how many times your app has shown up on the App Store, and if an in-app event will increase this number or not. 

• Amount of First-Time Downloads: This showcases if in-app events will target more users to download your app. 

• Product Page views: This shows you if an in-app event will cause more users to come across your app’s Product Page. 

• Conversion rate: This highlights your in-app event’s ability to attract general users on the App Store and convert them into users of your app.

Conclusion  

The emergence of in-app events is a very promising new feature of the App Store. You can use events to promote various aspects of your app, making it more visible to potential and existing users. 

All of these advantages are great sources of growth for ASO. This is why it is important that you familiarize yourself with in-app events, what they are and how you can use them to your app’s benefit. 

To get a head start, make sure that you and your team have started planning your in-app event cards and the goals you want them to help you achieve beforehand.

Need help with coming up with in-app events to launch? Get in touch with us.