Seasonality in app marketing: the calendar that moves your cost per install

Two accounts with identical structure can have very different costs in January and in July, for reasons that have nothing to do with the accounts. Demand moves with the calendar, and so do the prices everyone pays. Plan for it, and the calendar works for you.

The big moments

• New year. Self-improvement, wellness, habit, manifestation and fitness apps see their highest demand in the first weeks of January. So does everyone bidding for it. Costs rise with volume; the question is whether your trial-to-paid rate rises too.
• Back to school. Kids and education apps, and family routines generally, spike in late summer and early autumn. Bedtime routines reset; parents look for help.
• Holidays. New devices mean new app installs in the days after major gift-giving holidays. The audience is broad and distracted; creative has to be simple.
• Summer. Usage patterns shift, commuting apps dip, travel and family apps rise. Costs often fall; it is a good time to test.

Category-specific moments

Every app has a calendar of its own. For a bedtime story app, the clock change and the start of school matter. For a coffee loyalty app, the shop's own campaigns, local holidays and the first cold week of autumn matter. For a manifestation app, the new year and the start of each month. Write yours down.

Planning ahead

Seasonal creatives, custom product pages and localized screenshots need to be submitted and approved before the season starts, not during it. Budget decisions need to be made before the auction heats up. We plan the next season's work in the quiet month before it.

What to do in the troughs

Quiet months are when prices are low and traffic is calmer. Test new keywords, new creatives and store page variants cheaply, and fix anything the store page needs. Arrive at the peak with the lessons already learned, and spend the peak on what you know works.