You’ve optimised your ad copy. Nailed your audience targeting. Strategised your budget. So why are your campaigns still underperforming?
Here’s a wild idea: it might not be your strategy.
It might be seasonality.
That sneaky, often-overlooked culprit that can tank your results and it’s not because you’re doing something wrong, but because you’re doing it at the wrong time.
Let’s unpack how seasonality could be quietly messing with your ROI and what you can do about it.
First things first: what is seasonality?
Seasonality is the natural rise and fall in customer demand, interest or activity across different times of the year. Think festive holiday peaks like Black Friday, summer lulls, new-year surges you get the idea. But seasonality isn’t one-size-fits-all.
A solar panel company might thrive in spring and summer. A B2B software brand might go quiet in August and roar back to life in September. A wedding venue? Flat out in February planning season, and booked up come June.
Different industries. Different seasons. Different marketing rhythms.
The hidden ways seasonality wrecks your ROI
Even the best campaign will underdeliver if it goes live when your audience is not interested. Here’s how seasonality might be dragging down your results without you even realising:
1. Poor timing = poor conversions
Launching a lead gen campaign during your industry’s quietest period? You’re paying for clicks from people who aren’t ready to buy. That’s money down the drain.
Fix it: Map out your industry’s buying cycle. Run conversion-focused campaigns during peak periods, and use off-season time for warming up leads, not closing them.
2. Search volumes shift and so should your strategy
You might be ranking well for key terms, but if no one’s searching for them this month, your traffic (and leads) will dip.
Fix it: Use tools like Google Trends or historical performance data to spot seasonal spikes and slumps in search. Adjust your SEO and content publishing schedule to match.
3. Ad costs climb with the seasons
Peak season = more competitors bidding = higher CPCs. But if you’re not converting, you’re just spending more for the same (or less) return.
Fix it: Shift your budget dynamically. Bid high during hot periods, and pivot to awareness, remarketing, or email capture campaigns during quieter times.
4. Email open rates tank during the wrong months
Ever tried sending a killer email campaign in late July? People are on holiday. You might as well be shouting into the void.
Fix it: Track seasonal engagement patterns in your email marketing. Send when people are back at their desks and in the mindset to act.
Not sure what your seasonality looks like?
That’s where most brands trip up. You might think you know your peak times, but guesswork isn’t strategy.
Look at:
- Historic sales or enquiry data
- Website traffic trends
- Paid campaign results month-by-month
- Email engagement patterns
- Search demand for your core keywords
Better still, overlay all of them. That’s your seasonality fingerprint. And once you have it, you can build a smarter, leaner, ROI-loving marketing plan.
The smart way to work with seasonality (not against it)
Let your digital strategy flex with the calendar:
- During peak season? Focus on lead gen, conversion, and upsell.
- In off months? Go for brand building, audience education, and list growth.
- Right before peak? Warm up your audience. Nurture those leads. Prime them to buy.
It’s not just about doing more marketing, it’s about doing the right marketing at the right time.
If your marketing feels hit and miss, seasonality might be the hidden variable you’ve been missing. It doesn’t mean your strategy’s broken, it just means your timing is off.
Fix that, and you won’t just protect your ROI, you’ll finally get the returns your campaigns should be delivering.
Need help diagnosing your seasonal blind spots?
Let’s chat. We’ll help you match your marketing to the moments that matter most.
