The festive period is around the corner, and you might think the UA frenzy is about the come to an end soon!. Think again! Savvy mobile game marketers know that the period between Christmas and mid-January, often dubbed Q5, is actually a goldmine for user acquisition (UA). It's a time when users are glued to their shiny new devices, eager to explore new games, and best of all, big-brand advertising budgets have largely dried up.
Why Q5 Matters!
While Q4 is traditionally seen as the peak season for advertising, Q5 presents a unique landscape with several key advantages:
Lower CPIs: With major brands pulling back their ad spend after the holiday season, competition in the ad marketplace decreases, leading to significantly lower costs per install (CPIs).
Higher Engagement: Users are glued to their devices, exploring new apps and games they received as gifts or simply enjoying downtime.
Increased Inventory: The pullback from major advertisers means more ad space is available for mobile game marketers to reach their target audience.
Peak Device Activations: Q5 coincides with a surge in new device activations, particularly on Christmas Day, as users unwrap their shiny new phones and tablets. This translates into a pool of fresh users eager to discover new apps and games.
In essence, Q5 offers the perfect blend of reduced competition and a highly engaged audience, making it a prime time for cost-effective user acquisition. This means lower CPIs, higher engagement, and increased ad inventory – the perfect recipe for a UA bonanza!
But don't mistake this for an easy ride. Success in Q5 requires strategy, timing, and some patience. So, how can you ride this unique wave and make Q5 2024 your most successful UA period yet?
12 Actionable Tips to Maximise Your Q5 UA Success
1. Start Your Campaigns Before Christmas
Don't wait for the holiday dust to settle. Launch and scale your campaigns in early December, allowing them time to optimise and exit the "learning phase" before Q5 hits full swing. Let Your Algorithms Learn. Give your campaign algorithms enough time (at least 2-3 attribution windows) to gather data and accurately understand your target audience. This will help them deliver high-quality users who are more likely to engage and stick around.10
2. Onboarding Bliss: Make a Stellar First Impression
Your onboarding process should be a delightful experience that captivates new users from the get-go. This means providing clear instructions, enticing visuals, and just the right amount of hand-holding to get them hooked. Design a smooth flow that gets your players into the action as quickly as possible.
3. Spread the Festive Cheer: Offer Generous Rewards
Q5 falls right after the season of giving, so keep that spirit alive in your game! Offer festive rewards, exclusive content, or limited-time bonuses to incentivise users and keep them engaged.These enticing offers can be the difference between a user playing "just one more level" and abandoning your game altogether.
4. Keep the Excitement Alive: Embrace Live Ops
Q5 is about more than just acquiring new users; it's about keeping them engaged and entertained. Live Ops, featuring exciting events, special offers, and limited-edition content, are your secret weapon to maintain that buzz and drive user spending. Don't wait for the new year to roll these out; the iron is hot in Q5, plan for it now and strike then!
5. Think Outside the Walled Gardens: Diversify Your Channels
Don't put all your eggs in one basket! Expand your reach by diversifying your ad networks and going beyond the usual suspects like Facebook and Google. Explore platforms like Unity Ads, Moloco, and of course AppLovin, which are known for their immersive ad formats, and leveraging AI-driven optimization for better user retention. These alternative channels can unlock new audiences and further reduce your CPIs.
6. Battle Fatigue with Freshness: Embrace Creative Innovation
Users are prone to ad fatigue after the holiday season. Combat this by refreshing your creative strategy with seasonal themes, trend-aligned concepts, and inspiration from successful competitor campaigns.
7. Data is Your Compass: Test, Analyse, and Optimise
Users are bombarded with ads throughout the holiday season, leading to creative fatigue. To cut through the noise in Q5, you need to embrace creative innovation and refresh your ad strategy. It’s not necessary that what worked up until Q4 will continue working in Q5. Experiment with seasonal themes, align your creative concepts with current trends on platforms like TikTok, and draw inspiration from successful competitor campaigns.
8. Seize the Moment: Take Advantage of Lower CPIs
Q5's reduced competition means lower CPIs. Capitalise on this opportunity to acquire high-quality users at a fraction of the cost compared to other periods. But, lower CPIs also mean you have a unique opportunity to test new UA strategies and creatives, at a reasonable cost.
9. Target Engaged Users: They're Ready to Play
Focus on users who are actively seeking out new entertainment and spending more time on their devices.Experiment with different targeting options, ad formats, and creative elements to identify what resonates best with your target audience. This might be a good time to run resurrection campaigns as well by creating FOMO with your creative strategy and game events.
10. Ride the Wave of Device Activations: Target New Users
While some may consider this to be a dark pattern in UA, you can optimise your campaigns to target users who have just activated new devices, capitalising on their eagerness to discover fresh apps and games.
11. Think Global, Act Regional: Consider Geographic Variations
Remember that peak periods can vary by region. Adapt your strategies to account for these variations and tailor your campaigns accordingly.18
12. Level Up Your Bidding Strategy: Implement In-App Bidding
Lastly, you can maximise your revenue by implementing in-app bidding, which creates real-time competition among multiple buyers for each impression, driving up ad revenue.
Conclusion: Turning the Q5 Lull into a UA Win!
Q5 may be the "hidden quarter", but it offers a unique opportunity for mobile game marketers to acquire high-quality users at a lower cost, experiment with new strategies, and set the stage for a successful year ahead. By implementing these 12 actionable tips, you can navigate this period effectively and transform the post-holiday lull into a resounding user acquisition victory.
