At Kidoz, we don’t plan for a spike, we plan for seasons. The real opportunity runs on a simple operating arc: show up as holiday lists start forming in September, build momentum through Q4, and stay present into January’s Q5, when cost-efficient engagement and fresh balances extend performance. The result isn’t just a bigger December, it’s a stronger start to the new year as well, with evidence that peak-season cohorts can deliver higher long-term ROI
The arc that converts
- September–October (Discovery): In mobile gaming advertisement, early presence wins consideration while competition is lighter and advertising costs are relatively low
- Q4 (Decision): Longer play sessions and daily habits in mobile create multiple touchpoints for brand stories people actually remember. Recent benchmarks show session lengths trending up, good news for formats that earn time.
- Q5 (Late Dec → mid-Feb): A quieter auction and fresh store balances mean efficient reach and renewed engagement, an opportunity many plans underuse. Practitioners define this Q5 window as late December through mid-February, with lower costs and room to extend momentum.
Why games are the season’s attention engine
Mobile is where discovery and action sit on the same device. During the 2024 holiday period, smartphones drove the majority of U.S. online transactions (54.5%), peaking at 65% on Christmas Day, a reminder and reinforcement that commerce follows mobile attention. At the same time, industry app benchmarks in early 2025 point to longer gaming session lengths, even when sessions per user fluctuate, favorable conditions for respectful, value exchange ad-experiences. For stakeholders focused on durable returns, this is the combination that matters: opt-in attention where people spend time, connected to the device that actually converts.
January isn’t the cooldown, it's the carry
Post-holiday behavior consistently creates a second wind:
- Higher engagement moments cluster around New Year and into February (e.g., New Year’s Eve, Lunar New Year, Valentine’s Day), with in-app purchase activity and session lengths elevated across top titles.
- Teams see better long-term economics from peak-time cohorts. Recent reports that users acquired in peak periods are more likely to deliver higher ROI in the long term, supporting the case for keeping campaigns live into January rather than going dark.
- Marketers label this carry period Q5 (late Dec → mid-Feb) and highlight lower advertising costs that make continued presence attractive for extending performance.
How Kidoz runs the full season (without the usual trade-offs)
- Combine traditional video with rewarded and interactive placements. We favor campaigns including formats that earn time in-experience (rewarded) and build memory (playables/interactive), while using traditional video to scale qualified reach. Measure beyond clicks, opt for completion rate, time-in-experience, interaction depth, recall, and return sessions.
- Start early, learn fast. Launch light ‘learn packs’ in September/October to lock creative, placement timing, and pacing before peak weeks when advertising costs rise.
- Stay present through Q5. Hold a budget line for late December into January to harvest cost-efficient engagement and convert renewed attention. Marketers recognize Q5’s lower cost window; keep high-performing units live and cap frequency to protect session quality.
- Report on signals that map to outcomes. Session friendly formats + longer session lengths support the retention driven curve that stakeholders care about.
What this means for outcomes
A plan that treats September as the start, not the prelude, gains earlier shortlist inclusion. Keeping high-quality formats live through January captures a period of renewed usage at lower cost, and per recent analyses, can seed cohorts that contribute more over time. That’s how a seasonal plan turns into a performance arc.
Aashna Seth
