Brass Finch Home
Google Play Store Promo Events
How to Use Them Strategically
A practical framework for marketers and developers
Promo Events were introduced in 2022 as a way to highlight time-bound content, offers, and product updates directly within the Google Play Store. They appear on your store listing by default, search, and when featured, can also surface in high-visibility placements like the Games and Apps Home tabs.
Despite that, many brands still underuse them. Often because they haven't built a strategy around who to target, when to launch, or how to align messaging to the right audience segment.
According to recent industry data, 43% of games leveraged Promo Events more than five times in the past year, compared to just 21% of non-gaming apps. That means nearly 80% of apps are either not using them at all, or using them too infrequently to drive meaningful results.
This guide outlines when Promo Events make sense, how to execute them well, and how they differ from Apple's IAEs. These recommendations are based on what I've tested hands-on with B2C apps.
Written by Nicole Weiss
Marketing Strategist | Organic Growth Expert | Founder, Brass Finch
Founder, Brass Finch
[email protected] | LinkedIn
Nicole has led growth, retention and ASO strategy for global brands including Audible, SiriusXM, Macy's, Clinique, Victoria's Secret and more. She's partnered directly with Apple and Google on feature launches, and now advises clients through her consultancy, Brass Finch.
Understanding Promo Events
Promo Events are time-bound campaigns that appear across your store presence in Google Play. They let you promote offers, content, or feature updates without needing an app update or engineering support, and they're built to drive outcomes like reactivation, retention, and purchase.
They appear across key Play Store surfaces:
Your default store listing (always visible)
Games and Apps Home (if featured)
Search results (when relevant to user queries)
Each placement creates an opportunity to reach users in the store—right when they're considering re-downloading, re-subscribing, or making a purchase.
The Power of Precision Targeting
What makes Promo Events especially valuable is their precision. You can target by:
1
User state (churned, lapsed, or both)
2
Buyer state (non-buyers, one-time, repeat, or lapsed)
3
Custom audiences based on your own internal data
That level of control transforms Promo Events into a behavior-based messaging channel, one that complements your push, email, and in-app efforts by activating users from the store itself.

Real-World Applications
In campaigns I've worked on, Promo Events have supported cancel-save strategies, limited-time upgrade offers, and high-performing reactivation pushes, all without relying on dev cycles or generic messaging.
Measuring Impact
Promo Events aren’t just a visibility tool, they’re built to drive action. They’re most effective when aligned to a clear conversion or retention goal. Here are common objectives Promo Events can help you achieve:
Holiday Offers
Drive seasonal sales with special discounts or bundles tailored for festive periods.
Flash Sales
Create urgency and boost conversions with limited-time deals and exclusive offers.
Reactivation Campaigns
Lure back inactive users with compelling reasons and personalized incentives to return.
Cancel-Saves
Offer incentives to users considering leaving, converting them into retained customers with timely interventions.
Upsells to High-Intent Buyers
Encourage loyal customers to upgrade or purchase premium features and exclusive content.
Because Promo Events appear directly in the store—often at the moment a user is considering re-downloading, re-subscribing, or converting—they allow you to surface exactly the right message to the right audience.
You can target Promo Events by:
  • User state (churned, lapsed, or both): Tailor messages to win back users who have stopped engaging or are at risk of leaving.
  • Buyer state (non-buyers, one-time, repeat, or lapsed): Customize promotions to encourage first-time purchases, foster loyalty, or reactivate past customers.
  • Custom segments based on your own data: Leverage your unique user insights to create highly personalized and effective offers.
According to Google, more than half of the 6,000 high-quality Promo Events submitted between November 2023 and January 2024 saw statistically significant uplift—
with a median uplift of 106% in the outcome being optimized.
Promo Events turn your Play Store listing into a performance channel—one that’s underused, but highly effective when executed with the right strategy.
When to Use Promo Events
Use Promo Events to support moments when user action matters:
Strategic Use Cases
Urgent offers
→ Flash sales, subscriber discounts, seasonal deals
Example: Audible's 3-month free trial offer during Prime Day
New feature drops or upgrades
→ Launching a new mode, service tier, or integration
Example: AllTrails' new trial conditions feature to filter trails by surface type, stroller access, or dog-friendliness
Time-bound content or engagement hooks
→ Events aligned to user milestones or seasonal behavior
Example: Strava's 10k challenge in partnership with Runna, live throughout August
Preview upcoming campaigns
→ Build awareness and anticipation for a future event
Example: Roblox's back-to-school event, shown ahead of its August 15 launch to drive early interest
Unlock Untapped Potential: The Overlooked Power of Offer-Driven Promo Events
Despite their undeniable performance advantage, offer-based Promo Events remain a drastically underutilized tool for driving conversion and retention. This represents a massive missed opportunity for developers.
Consider this striking insight from Apptweak’s 2025 category analysis:
9%
Non-gaming apps
leverage Promo Events
8%
Games on Google Play
leverage Promo Events
Yet, these very campaigns consistently deliver the highest performance, transforming interest into action and fostering lasting user loyalty.
Why is this critical performance gap so prevalent?
The Offer Challenge
Not every team is equipped with compelling offers; feature launches and general challenges often serve as easier, but less impactful, defaults.
Precision Targeting
The full potential of offer-based events is unleashed only when paired with sophisticated audience segmentation, think cancel-saves, lapsed buyers, or highly specific reactivation groups.
The bottom line is clear:
If you possess a compelling offer, don't just use it—unleash its full power with Promo Events. The Play Store isn't just for broad announcements; it's a dynamic performance channel waiting for you to transform engagement into measurable results.

Ready to transform your Promo Event strategy?
Stop leaving performance on the table. We specialize in crafting custom campaign playbooks and conducting launch audits that maximize your impact.
What Makes a Good Promo Event
To get results, your Promo Event needs to speak clearly, match the context of your users, and feel aligned to your brand. Here's what matters:
Clear, direct naming
Use language that feels action-driven and specific, avoid vague campaign names or overly branded headlines.
Offer-forward messaging
If you're highlighting a deal, lead with the value. Be clear about what's being offered, who it's for, and when it ends.
Audience alignment
Match the event to a specific audience segment, churned users, lapsed buyers, etc. The more tailored, the higher the response.
Cohesive visual and copy
The event will live inside your listing. Make sure it feels native to your app's experience and doesn't create cognitive friction.
Cross-channel pairing
Even though you can't deep link to Promo Events, you can pair them with other channels, like push, in-app, or email, so the store experience reinforces what you're already saying elsewhere.
Planning and Timelines
Promo Events don't require engineering work or an app update, but timing still matters, especially if you plan to request featuring or coordinate with other campaign elements.
Here's a suggested planning roadmap:
1
4+ Weeks Before Launch
  • Define campaign goal and audience segment
  • Determine event type (offer, time-limited, major update)
  • Align offer or messaging with in-app, push, or email efforts
2
2+ Weeks Before Launch
  • Submit your event to Google Play for review
  • If requesting featuring, submission must be at least 14 days prior to start
  • QA creative, copy, and metadata
3
Launch Week
  • Activate in-app support for targeted users
  • Monitor visibility: featured events may appear in Games Home or Search Results
  • Track performance across cohorts
4
Post-Launch
  • Evaluate performance by segment
  • Decide whether to extend, rotate, or iterate the event
  • Track how each segment (e.g. lapsed users, one-time buyers) responds
Important Featuring Notes
  • You can create unlimited Promo Events.
  • Quotas apply only when requesting featuring.
  • Events appear on your app's listing by default, but must meet quality standards to appear more broadly.
Quota by audience type:
Make sure your most important events are submitted early enough to qualify.
Final Thoughts
Only 21% of non-gaming apps and 43% of games launched more than five Promo Events in the past year. That means most developers are missing the opportunity to use this high-impact, low-lift format to drive meaningful results, from re-engagement to conversion to retention.
But for teams who take the time to plan, align to behavior-based segments, and treat the Play Store as a campaign surface, Promo Events unlock a valuable lever for performance.
21%
Non-gaming apps
Percentage that ran more than five Promo Events in the past year
43%
Gaming apps
Percentage that ran more than five Promo Events in the past year
~57%
All apps
Percentage that are underutilizing Promo Events today
Whether you're running a time-limited offer, surfacing a feature update, or re-engaging lapsed buyers, Promo Events are worth including in your growth and lifecycle plans.
Used well, they help your app show up where monetization happens—and reach the users most likely to convert.

This guide is based on first-hand experience leading app growth and ASO strategy for global brands. I've worked directly with Google as a launch partner on their platform tools and have tested many of these practices across live campaigns and real-world launches.
Let’s make your next Promo Event your best-performing campaign.
References