Why mobile game developers need to lean into Q5 marketing … right now

27.11.2023 - 15:33 / venturebeat.com

This article is part of a Gaming Insights series paid for by Meta.

Revenue soars over the holiday season — but the marketing opportunities don’t end when the holidays do. After the gifts are unwrapped and the Chinese takeout is demolished, consumers are back out there looking for post-holiday sales and discounts, returning those disappointing gifts, and buying themselves something nice with all the gift cards and cash in their pockets. In fact, a full 41% of holiday shoppers say their shopping continues past the season¹.

It’s the period some marketers call the fifth quarter (Q5), and it offers critical, cost-effective opportunities for app and game developers. Meta’s performance trend data on the post-holiday period shows that in January, CPM rates were on average -15% below their October 1st levels, average CPAs were down -4%, while average CVR was down -8%². Media costs are lower while demand is high, letting app developers end the current year strong and start the new year big.

Meta partnered with AppsFlyer, the global leader in marketing measurement, attribution and data analytics, to better understand the potential for gaming advertisers across the casual, casino, midcore and hypercasual genres. There were three essential takeaways:

1. Developers can capitalize on this opportunity with the window opening before Christmas and running until January. If we look at the app install ad spend trends by genre, hypercasual games stand out. 

In the U.S. and U.K. markets, hypercasual advertisers started scaling their investments around mid-November/early-December and doubled-down a week before Christmas. 

2. In the U.S. and U.K., marketing and revenue spikes around the Christmas and New Year periods, while in APAC, and Japan specifically, marketers are focusing efforts around local holidays such as Shogatsu (New Year).

3. Notably, app sessions experienced a significant uptick during the Q5 period, led by a substantial surge on Christmas Day as users find new phones under the tree. There’s often plenty of downtime for gamers during this period, which also means greater install volumes, new app usage, and plenty of dwell time.

To maximise the Q5 opportunity, preparation is key — which means developing a strategic, data-informed approach to monetization and user acquisition. That means running tests on creative, reels and more before the holidays, as well as implementing the 5 key approaches below.

1. Minimize campaign changes and broaden your targeting

When a campaign starts running, each ad set goes through an initial “learning phase.” Avoid significant changes in this phase to accelerate learning and maximize post-holiday investments.

From there, consolidate your campaigns and target the broadest possible audiences