Preparing for Ramadan 2026: Why Your Campaign Starts in November 2025
With Ramadan 2026 expected to begin around February 17th or 18th, 2026, the traditional “spring” marketing window has shifted. To avoid burning through your budget in a high-competition auction, you cannot treat February as your starting line. You must treat it as your finish line.
Here is the strategic breakdown for 2026 to ensure your pixel is seasoned and your data is populated before the aggressive push.
The 2026 Preparation Timeline
Because Ramadan falls in mid-February, your foundation must be built during the final months of 2025.
| Phase | Timeline | Primary Goal |
| Foundation | Nov 2025 – Dec 2025 | Pixel health, technical SEO, and building seed audiences from Year-End sales. |
| Warming Period | Jan 1 – Feb 10, 2026 | Populating data, “Algorithm Seasoning,” and building high-intent baskets. |
| Peak Push | Feb 16 – Mar 20, 2026 | Aggressive budget spend, retargeting, and flash sales for Eid preparation. |
The Warming Period: Why 6 Weeks?
For the 2026 cycle, your warming period should run from early January to mid-February. This is the most critical phase for “teaching” the algorithm.
- Algorithm “Learning Phase”: Platforms like Meta and Google require roughly 50 conversion events per week to exit the learning phase. If you start this process on February 16th, you will be paying “peak prices” while the algorithm is still “guessing.”
- Data Population: By running traffic and “Add to Cart” campaigns in January, you identify who is interested in your Ramadan collections early.
- Cost Efficiency: CPAs (Cost Per Acquisition) are generally lower in January (post-holiday slump) than in the lead-up to Ramadan. Use this “cheap” data to build your Custom Audiences.
How to Reduce Budget Burn
Aggressively pushing budget during Ramadan without a warming period is the fastest way to “burn” money. Here is how to prevent it:
- Basket Building (Pre-Ramadan): Run campaigns in late January that encourage users to “Wishlist” or “Add to Cart” for a future discount. When the sale starts Feb 16th, your ads will target people who already have your items in their cart.
- Seed with Video: Use short-form video content (Reels/TikTok) in early February. The algorithm can then create “Lookalike Audiences” based on people who watched 50%+ of your video.
- The “70/30” Rule: During the peak Ramadan weeks, move 70% of your budget to Retargeting (people who interacted during the warming period) and only 30% to Prospecting (new people). Retargeting converts at a significantly higher rate, lowering your overall blended CPA.
Pro-Tip for 2026: Since Ramadan starts in February, it overlaps with the “post-New Year” fitness and home-refresh trends. Align your early warming content with these themes (e.g., “Preparing your home for spiritual reflection”) to capture early search intent.