Competitive challenges in Q4 are well known and much spoken about – often with some trepidation about being priced out by big brands that escalate spends during this time. 

Yet the flip side of this dynamic are the opportunities in Q1. January, and the post-holiday season phase often presents significant opportunities for mobile marketers because of the unique dynamics inherent in it. Here are the 3 key opportunities that mobile marketers can capitalize on.

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

👥Q4 can often be brutally competitive.

📱Q4 results in a surge in smartphone activations.

📉Q1 CPMs are far lower because the big advertisers pull back after Q4.

🔑What categories can especially benefit in Q1 because users start new habits in the New Year.

FULL TRANSCRIPT BELOW:

Competitive challenges in Q4 are well known and much spoken about – often with some trepidation about being priced out by big brands that escalate spends during this time. 

Yet the flip side of this dynamic are the opportunities in Q1. January, and the post-holiday season phase often presents significant opportunities for mobile marketers because of the unique dynamics inherent in it. Here are the 3 key opportunities that mobile marketers can capitalize on.

1. New devices activated during Q4: 
   

   Christmas often is the day with the highest number of smartphone activations – and it is indeed very valuable for a mobile marketer to have their app be among the first few apps on a user’s new device(indeed we continue to see this in spite of a slowdown in smartphone sales in the West). 
   
   

   While you can either brave the increased Q4 CPMs to get paid installs – or to ride the wave of December organic surges, you can also absolutely continue to ride this wave in early Q1 when the devices arent particularly broken in – and users still have some appetite for loading up on new apps on their shiny new devices in January. This has resulted in strong performance metrics for most apps that we’ve seen over the years. 
   
   
   

2. Lower CPMs & competitive pressures:
   Much of the competitive challenge during Christmas and the holiday season comes from either big brands increasing their spends – or from big game launches. Both those forces abate right after Christmas, offering an opportunity for capital efficient advertisers to double down on the surge in new device activations.
   
   
   
3. New beginnings:
   Most important, Q1 is a time of new beginnings in the lives of most users – and that is not just in terms of new devices.

   It’s new year resolution season – and it’s also a time when new users hit a reset in their lives, or to build new habits to kick off their new year. This presents opportunities for apps to grab mindshare, and be an integral part of the new habits and beginnings for new users.
   

   This is prevalent in a number of categories that see increased activation & usage in Q1:
   
   -> Health and fitness
   -> Mindfulness & wellness
   -> Dating & relationships
   -> Finance

Each of these categories benefits from a surge of new users who want to have new beginnings in Q1 -> from wanting to lose weight, to wanting to build mindful habits, to wanting a handle on their finances after their holiday season spending, to finding new relationships by Valentine’s day.

As mobile marketers head into Q1, all 3 of these present opportunities for them to double down on a rising tide – and get a great start to their new year.

A REQUEST BEFORE YOU GO

I have a very important favor to ask, which as those of you who know me know I don’t do often. If you get any pleasure or inspiration from this episode, could you PLEASE leave a review on your favorite podcasting platform – be it iTunes, Overcast, Spotify or wherever you get your podcast fix. This podcast is very much a labor of love – and each episode takes many many hours to put together. When you write a review, it will not only be a great deal of encouragement to us, but it will also support getting the word out about the Mobile User Acquisition Show.

Constructive criticism and suggestions for improvement are welcome, whether on podcasting platforms – or by email to shamanth at rocketshiphq.com. We read all reviews & I want to make this podcast better.

Thank you – and I look forward to seeing you with the next episode!