Scheduled Price Tier Changes Automate Your App Promotions

Scheduled Price Tier Changes has been around for awhile, but if you have never heard of it, then this post is for you. We will explain what it is and how to use it to promote your app.

As mentioned in the screenshot above, it is a setting in iTunes Connect that allows you to set specific dates as to when the price of your app changes. It is available if you have a submitted app with a Paid Applications contract in effect.

How To Set It Up

Setup is straightforward, just go into iTunes Connect and set your price tier, when you want that price to take effect and when you want it to end. Price changes go into effect a the beginning of the day indicated.

In the screenshot above, there are a couple of terms that may need explaining. Existing means that your current price is currently in effect, so there is no need to set a start date. None means that there is no end date, so that is the permanent price, unless you add another change. Finally, it is not shown, but there can also be a Now status. This means that the price change will go into affect today.

Why Scheduled Price Tier Changes Is Useful

One way that you can use scheduled price changes is to test the pricing of your app to see what might be the best permanent price. You could set the price of the app to Tier 1 for a couple of months, then raise the price to Tier 2 and leave that pricing for a couple of months to see which price gets more downloads.

If this is how you are using price changes, then it is probably better to start at a lower price first, then raise it. This will eliminate any added positive effect that a price drop would have on downloads and give you a more accurate indication of which price is better.

Scheduling price changes can also be used to synchronize your pricing with your external app promotions. You can coordinate your price change with a paid ads campaign, email promotion, or offline event. Setting up the price change in advance gives you one less thing to worry about.

Another way that you can use scheduled price changes is to experiment with a price drop. Maybe you read our post on using price drops to boost your downloads and want to give it a try. Schedule a price drop and see what happens. The best part is that you do not have to worry about changing the price back to the original price, so you are free to do other things and go back to your reports later to see how well the price drop worked.

Conclusion

So that is an introduction to scheduled price changes. It is very simple to setup and incorporate into your marketing plan. In case you missed it at the beginning of this post, you can also schedule price changes for your In-App Purchases.

Are there creative ways that you have used scheduled price tier changes to promote your app? Impress us in the comments below.