mobile game advertising benchmarks: a cheat sheet for winning the holidays on facebook

Advertising Automation Software

Mobile Game Advertising Benchmarks: A Cheat Sheet For Winning The Holidays On Facebook


Q4 Isn’t Just For Retail AdvertisersQ4 may be dominated by holiday shopping ads, but that doesn’t mean that mobile game advertisers should shy away from Facebook.

The trends featured in this report show how mobile game advertisers can make smarter decisions and find valuable new users during this highly competitive holiday season.

This deck contains Facebook game advertising performance benchmarks and expert insights on:

• Install and in-app purchase trends• Ad spending shifts• Ad engagement benchmarks• Marketplace pricing


TREND #1: Game Installs And In-App Purchases Jump Before The New Year


TREND #1: Game Installs And In-App Purchases Jump Before The New Year

The weekly share of same-day installs and in-game purchases grows significantly between December 20 and January 2. This marked increase above the average for the entire holiday season confirms that the bulk of install and in-app purchasing activity is weighted heavily towards the last few weeks of the year.


TREND #2: Install & Purchase Rates Are Strongest During The First Half Of The Holiday Season



above average game install rates during the week of Thanksgiving 2015

above average in-game purchase rates two weeks prior to Thanksgiving 2015

33%

36%



Despite the increase in the share of game installs and in-app purchases occurring very late in the holiday season, click-to-install and click-to-purchase rates during that time actually remain below the November-December average. While the base of consumers likely to download games and make in-app purchases rises directly before and after Christmas, actually converting these potential users requires strategic campaign planning to ensure profitability and mitigate risk.

http://www.nanigans.com/resource/cross/usu/the-playbook-10-mitigating-online-advertising-risk


TREND #3: Ad Spend Spikes After Christmas Thanks To A Rush Of New Smartphone And Tablet Owners


TREND #3: Ad Spend Spikes After Christmas Thanks To A Rush Of New Smartphone And Tablet Owners

Last holiday season, gaming advertisers dropped their weekly budgets from late November through mid-December. Spending then ramped up in late December through the New Year. With so many people activating new smartphones and tablets toward the end of the holiday season, game advertisers have a wealth of opportunity to acquire new users.

above average game ad spend during the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day

3.4%


TREND #4: CTR Engagement Remains Highly Stable Throughout the Holiday Season


TREND #4: CTR Engagement Remains Highly Stable Throughout the Holiday Season

Among gaming advertisers, aggregate CTRs change very little throughout the holidays. With a maximum weekly variance of just 0.2% above the holiday season average, CTRs are highly consistent. Such a small variance underscores the importance of valuing downstream, revenue-generating actions – like in-game purchases – much higher than upper funnel clicks when evaluating campaign performance and strategy.


TREND #5: CPMs Vary Significantly Along With Holiday Marketplace Competition


TREND #5: CPMs Vary Significantly Along With Holiday Marketplace Competition

While early November prices are more than 50% below the total holiday average, CPMs shoot up leading into Black Friday weekend, likely due to intense competition across Facebook. Prices drop following the weekend, before rebounding once again for the remainder of the holiday season. Although prices remain higher in those latter weeks, it can be particularly worthwhile to advertise and take advantage of a wealth of new, potentially lucrative users.

http://www.nanigans.com/blog/cross/usu/4-facebook-bidding-myths


About This Report

Data in this report is based on an analysis of game advertisers using Nanigans software to advertise on Facebook from November 1, 2015 to January 2, 2016 – a full 9 weeks encompassing the 2015 holiday season.


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mobile game advertising benchmarks: a cheat sheet for winning the holidays on facebook

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