Holiday season is one of the most powerful times of year to attract new subscribers, re-engage lapsed customers, and strengthen the relationship with your existing audience. Between Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas shopping and New Year Sales, consumers are on the hunt for deals. If you’re an Android developer with a subscription-based app, you can use Google Play’s offer tools to create a compelling holiday promotion that boosts conversions and lifetime value (LTV).
This guide walks you through every step of creating, launching, and analyzing a holiday subscription offer using the Google Play Console and RevenueCat.
Overview of Google Play subscriptions
Let’s first refresh our minds on how subscriptions work in Google Play Store.
In Google Play Store, every subscription can have multiple base plans, which in turn can have multiple offers. Base plans define the subscription billing period (monthly, yearly), renewal type (auto-renewing, prepaid), and the price. Offers define the discount available to users matching the eligibility criteria. Offers can only be configured for auto-renewing offers.
Each subscription in Google Play Store can create a combined total of 250 base plans and offers, with a maximum of 50 being active at the same time.
Two ways to run a sale on Google Play
Before diving deeper, it’s important to understand that Google Play provides two primary mechanisms for running discounted subscription promotions:
1. Offer phases
Use the standard offer system inside Google Play subscriptions. Each offer can include up to two phases (free trial, introductory pricing, discounted billing cycles). These are best for broad, paywall-visible sales where your goal is to drive conversions directly through the subscription product configuration.
2. Promo codes
Codes that unlock a free trial or access to a subscription. Promo codes are redeemed manually by the user. They’re best for targeted, limited-quantity, partner-driven, or community-driven campaigns where you want tight control over who can redeem the offer.
Planning your holiday offer
A strong campaign begins with clear goals and a defined audience. Before you touch Google Play Console, decide what success looks like for your app.
Defining your goals
Ask yourself what you’re trying to accomplish. Do you want to acquire new users? Reactivate past subscribers? Reward loyal customers? Each goal requires a different setup. For example, acquisition offers target users who have not subscribed before, while developer-determined offers can re-engage lapsed ones.
Holiday timing also matters. Some apps see their biggest lift during Black Friday weekend, while others benefit from the post-Christmas days when people are setting up new devices. Map out a timeline and plan your offers around it, whether that’s install-to-trial conversion, first renewal rate, or total recurring revenue.
Choosing between Offer Phases and Promo Codes based on your goal
- If your goal is maximum conversion from new users during a big holiday event (e.g., Black Friday), then use Offer phases. These appear directly on your paywall and require no code entry. They scale well for large-volume campaigns.
- If your goal is targeted reactivation, gifting, influencer partnerships, or limited-edition