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A seasonality primer

Have you been affected by seasonal trends? Unsure of what it is or how to address it? We go into the basics of seasonality.


What is seasonality?

Seasonality is the impact on advertiser spend and ad revenue by major consumer events and the seasonal trends in the ad industry. Therefore it’s important to understand seasonality in order to effectively benchmark, forecast, and predict revenue.

What are some common trends?

JANUARY TO MARCH
Firstly, you may experience your lowest CPMs in January as both consumer spend and traffic decrease. You may see a spike in February for Super Bowl as advertisers increase their spend for this recurring event. 

APRIL TO JUNE
It’s normal to see an increase in CPMs in the weeks leading up to and starting a new quarter. Moving into June, you may experience your highest CPMs of the quarter as ad spend tends to be higher at the end of month and quarter.

JULY TO SEPTEMBER
However, you’ll see advertisers tend to spend less in the summer months (July and August) due to a lack of major events and reduced consumer spending. CPMs increase steadily through Q3. 

OCTOBER TO DECEMBER
A significant jump in Q4 occurs around Black Friday and Christmas. For each of these major consumer events, publishers will see a corresponding increase in CPMs. 

How to address seasonality?

  • Ensure your website and ad stack is optimized.
  • Monitor site performance and compare data to network-wide trends to better understand and implement on-site changes.
  • Consult your Ad Ops team or partner to develop an effective ad strategy.

Interested in taking a deeper dive? Read our blog post on Seasonality, CPMs and you.


Want to learn more about seasonality? Contact team@sortable.com to find how it affects your site. In addition, if you aren’t a Sortable customer but want to learn more about Sortable’s solutions, request a demo today.