Ramadan is a cultural milestone in Indonesia and broader Southeast Asia, and by far the country’s most influential marketing season. In 2026, it is unequivocal that it has become a fully omnichannel, digitally-led growth moment, where consumer intent, media consumption, and spending patterns evolve throughout the entire month.
With heightened digital engagement, predictable increases in family and community spending driven by THR (Tunjangan Hari Raya), and longer consideration windows within the long holiday period, Ramadan presents a powerful opportunity, and a growing challenge, for marketing teams.
Brands that understand the evolving dynamics of Ramadan consistently outperform those that treat it as a short-term sales event. Unlike retail-driven moments such as Christmas or year-end sales, Ramadan reshapes daily routines with meaningful interactions, media habits, and purchasing motivations over several weeks. From quotidian browsing peaks to late-night scroll-shopping, family-led decision-making to generosity-driven gifting, the way Indonesians discover, engage, and convert looks fundamentally different during this special period of the calendar year.
This year, with the holiday begining on February 18, 2026, success during Ramadan is no longer about simply being present online, it’s about being relevant, coordinated, and culturally aligned across every digital touchpoint, and ensuring your approach is as omniscreen as your most coveted and engaged user.
Why Ramadan Requires a Different Marketing Approach
During Ramadan, Indonesian consumers spend significantly more time across mobile apps, social platforms, streaming environments, and digital commerce channels. Evening engagement rises sharply, with attention shifting toward entertainment, inspiration, and shopping during pre-iftar and post-iftar hours.
But this surge in attention comes with intensified competition. As more brands activate campaigns across Meta, Google, LLMs, marketplaces, and programmatic channels, CPMs and CPCs rise, inventory tightens, and creative fatigue sets in faster.
This forces marketers to think about strategies that consider lifetime value (LTV), acquisition with retention, scale inclusive of personalization, speed that rings true to the cultural nuance of the moment. Ultimately, Ramadan rewards brands that plan for these pressures and considerations early. Let’s look at what marketers need to have in mind when launching campaigns, hinging on both brand trust, and short-term/longterm outcomes.
Understanding the Ramadan Consumer Mindset in 2026
One of the most overlooked aspects of Ramadan marketing is how consumer intent evolves week by week.
Early Ramadan: Discovery & Inspiration
The first phase is driven by exploration. Consumers browse for:
- Fashion and concepts for modesty
- Food and recipe inspiration
- Home upgrades and lifestyle purchases
- Travel and staycation planning
Discovery happens largely through social platforms, short-form video, influencers and user generated content (UGC), with low-friction inspiration outperforming hard-sell messaging.
Mid-Ramadan: Consideration & Gifting
As THR begins to land in consumers’ bank accounts, purchasing behavior accelerates. Trust, reviews, and retargeting play a critical role during this phase with the following:
- Gifting for family and community
- Higher-consideration items such as electronics or appliances
- Bulk purchases for Eid preparation
Final Stretch to Eid: Urgency & Conversion
Brands that have stayed present across the earlier phases of the month-long holiday are best positioned to convert efficiently. In the final days leading up to Eid:
- Purchase urgency peaks
- Delivery timelines matter tremendously
- Promotions and availability become key decision factors
Beyond Mobile Apps: The Expanded Ramadan Digital Ecosystem
In 2026, Ramadan marketing in Indonesia extends far beyond in-app mobile advertising.
Connected TV (CTV): Family-Level Storytelling at Scale
CTV has emerged as a powerful Ramadan channel, especially during shared viewing moments in the evening. These watch environments allow brands to deliver:
- Longer-form, emotionally resonant storytelling
- Family-oriented narratives aligned with Ramadan values
- High-impact reach with improved targeting and metrics versus traditional TV
CTV is increasingly used alongside mobile and social channels to reinforce recall and drive cross-device journeys.
Social Networks: Discovery, Commerce, and Culture
Platforms like TikTok and Meta (Instagram, Facebook) now sit at the center of Ramadan discovery:
Short-form video drives inspiration and curiosity, live commerce blends entertainment with urgency and transactions, and a flurry of influencers and creators add cultural credibility. Consumers now move fluidly between social discovery, brand web shops, and live selling events.
A seamless experience across these touchpoints is critical. Ramadan traffic spikes reward brands with fast-loading sites, simple checkout flows, and consistent messaging across channels — while being nimble to quickly test which messaging obtains traction. These social platforms exist beyond being awareness channels; they are full-funnel environments where discovery, consideration, and conversion happen in one place.
Intellibid, RevX’s AI-powered optimization engine for social networks, helps brands narrow in on precision segmentation and bidding, for further conversions and increased ROAS.
User-Generated Content (UGC): A New “Ad Format” for Trust at Scale
UGC has become one of the most powerful drivers of engagement during Ramadan. It consistently outperforms polished brand creatives. Brands that amplify authentic user stories build trust while maintaining relevance; content that lands during the period:
- Real family moments
- Community gatherings
- Home-cooked meals
- Acts of generosity
The Role of Omnichannel Strategy During Ramadan
No single channel can carry Ramadan on its own.
Social media fuels discovery. Influencers build trust. CTV delivers emotional storytelling at scale. Programmatic retargeting ensures high-intent users are not lost across fragmented journeys.
When these channels work together, brands see: higher recall, stronger engagement, and better conversion efficiency
Omnichannel coordination becomes essential during Ramadan, when consumers move between content, commerce, and conversation multiple times a day, with the high potential to include others in their communication.
Creativity That Respects Culture and Timelines, Drives Performance
Ramadan is not a time for loud or generic promotions. Consideration for Respectful tone and pacing Vernacular or locally nuanced messaging Storytelling rooted in family, faith, and altruism
And given the 30-day windown, Ramadan’s pace demands a blend of agility and consistency. To avoid creative fatigue, personalization and real-time optimization become essential. Brands that balance cultural sensitivity with data-led performance consistently stand out.
Perhaps the biggest mistake marketers still make with Ramadan is starting too late. By the time it begins, many brands are reacting instead of leading, competing for similar inventory, with less strategy and consultation to react timely and rebound quickly, lowering CPIs and CACs.
Brands that lock-in 4–6 weeks ahead, aligning audiences, creatives, and channels, consistently capture high-intent moments more efficiently and at lower cost, premium inventory tightens quickly Competition peaks earlier than expected.
Early planning with solid AdTech service and measurement partners enables:
- Smarter audience segmentation with data-backed levers
- Better creative testing; utilizing incrementality and AI for efficiency and nuanced trials
- Stronger omnichannel coordination
- Reduced performance volatility
Ready for the full Ramadan Playbook?
This article is just the beginning of the journey to mastering the holiday period. Our Ramadan Marketing Playbook 2026 goes deeper into:
- Ramadan consumer personas and behavioral shifts
- Key marketing challenges — and how to navigate them
- Omnichannel strategies that drive full-funnel performance
- Creative and messaging best practices
- A detailed Ramadan calendar mapped to consumer intent
If you’re planning for Ramadan 2026 and want a clear, actionable framework to guide your strategy, download this Ramadan season guide and start planning with confidence. Or talk to a RevXpert about in-app, Intellibid (social networks) and CTV strategies for the festive period, get in touch with our Team of programmatic experts here.
Lauren Heineck
