How to Never Leave Peak Season: Consumer Vertical Seasonality Guide

If you had to guess the percentage by how much sales increase on Black Friday compared to an ordinary day, what number would you give? In the UK, certain product categories like apparel and accessories saw a sales increase of up to 378%in 2020. That is just one of the opportunities Q4 presents, followed by Cyber Monday, Christmas sales, EOY deals, and other revenue drivers that make ClickDealer’s supply-side partners direct their traffic to e-commerce campaigns in November.

The flexibility to address different target audiences afforded to performance marketers who work in traffic arbitrage and publishers with versatile inventory is a perk, and the way to take advantage of it is to take advantage of seasonality. Every consumer vertical has its peaks, but while some are obvious like holiday season e-commerce, others like the autumn health insurance spike in the US can require more insight. Here is a breakdown of monthly vertical performance trends as observed by a multi-vertical CPA network.

January

Top verticals: health, e-commerce, education

Q5 is not a buzzword. Surveys indicate that 92% of consumers intend to continue shopping after the holidays, and competition for traffic eases up as brands roll back their ad spend to standard levels. That is fertile ground for affiliate marketers to capitalize on the most common New Year’s resolutions by promoting sports goods and apparel, weight loss products, and fitness apps. Services that offer various courses also experience an upswing in January, as people set off to learn new languages and pick up new hobbies as part of their resolutions.

February

Top verticals: dating, travel, e-commerce

Unless the year’s Chinese New Year falls on February, most of the heavy lifting in terms of generating demand in February is done by Valentine’s Day. Tinder reports downloads increasing by 21% to 37% in various countries compared to the week before February 14th, with other dating services reporting similar numbers. The leading gift categories, to nobody’s surprise, (https://www.statista.com/statistics/217832/gifts-americans-are-planning-to-give-away-on-valentines-day-by-gender/) are candy, flowers, and jewelry, but what may be surprising is the spike in demand for airline tickets for romantic getaways. The travel vertical remains an underrated choice for performance marketers in February.

March

Top verticals: home improvement, travel

Several home improvement niches experience a major spike in March. Landscaping gets a surge in demand as March is the prime month for garden planning and homeowners start getting their lawns in order. Roofing and gutter installation/repair services get a lot of customers who discover leaks and drainage problems after winter storms and snow buildup. Finally, spring break deals get a lot of students buying up airline tickets and affiliate marketers earning commissions on travel offers.

April

Top verticals: home improvement, e-commerce

April sees a continuation of March home improvement trends with some e-commerce mixed in due to Easter, Earth Day, and auto owners preparing their vehicles for the warmer months. Roofing, landscaping, and gutter services continue to be in demand, with exterior painting joining the list as the weather stabilizes. For Easter shopping, it is best to promote mass retailers like Walmart, Aldi, and Target, because surveys show it is where most of the customers’ money goes every year.

May

Top verticals: education, solar, health

As the school year winds down, students and parents start looking into standardized testing preparation courses and summer learning programs. The former gets the largest conversion rate spike because the upcoming graduate tests add the increased pressure of urgency. Solar reaches its peak in the summer, but there is a considerable market of consumers looking to benefit from lower rates and faster installation times just before the rush begins. Weight loss offers start picking up steam in May as people start looking for quick solutions to get in shape before summer vacation.

June

Top verticals: e-commerce

June is the month of the outdoors. Outdoor travel gear, outdoor furniture, outdoor sports equipment, and summer fashion rule the product categories as the summer season officially arrives. The main factor for affiliates to consider in June is that specialized brands perform better than global chain retailers because customers who shop in the month’s leading categories tend to forego generic products offered by retail giants in favor of more established brand names. People take their hiking gear very seriously.

July

Top verticals: travel, solar

July is a peak travel month for the Northern Hemisphere and the month when ClickDealer affiliates generate the most revenue on travel offers. It also marks the peak in demand for residential solar panel installations in the US and Europe.

August

Top verticals: travel, e-commerce

August comes in a close second to July in terms of travel offer performance while still generating massive revenue for those who successfully scale their campaigns during the travel season. Back-to-school sales throughout the month provide a great opportunity for affiliates to run a quick profitable campaign promoting retail chains that offer deals on all types of school supplies. Contrary to the e-commerce strategy in June, here it’s best to promote offers from companies like Walmart and Costco, as there is no brand loyalty factor to consider.

September

Top verticals: insurance, education

September spikes the demand for insurance in most of the vertical’s niches, and here is why. First of all, September marks the climatological peak of the Atlantic hurricane season, making searches for property insurance jump all across the US. September is when parents send their kids off to school and college and become prime customers for student insurance. Finally, it is the month when most companies renew their employee insurance policies, prompting them to consider all the options available on the market.

October

Top verticals: home improvement

HVAC services get a surge in demand in October. Whether it’s because homeowners want to get their heating taken care of before the holiday season or the awareness generated by Fire Prevention Week pays its dividends, you can’t go wrong with launching an HVAC campaign in October.

November

Top verticals: e-commerce

E-commerce is the best vertical to run in November, and it would take a committed contrarian to say that there is a more profitable direction for most traffic types in the month when the world’s biggest shopping holidays take place. Capitalizing on Singles Day, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Thanksgiving Day in one month takes a lot of quick strategy adjustments and a considerable budget commitment, but affiliates who can manage that often report November as their most profitable month. Fun fact: did you know that 2023 Black Friday sales were up 7.5% over the previous year?

December

Top verticals: e-commerce, travel, downloads

While Black Friday sales revenues have overtaken winter holiday sales in 2017 and kept the lead since, it hasn’t impacted their YoY growth or status as one of the biggest shopping holidays of the year. Promoting offers from the downloads vertical would be a great addition to your strategy, as many software companies (primarily those that work on a subscription model) launch EOFY sales allowing users to get considerable discounts for the year ahead. Lastly, travel offers might not be every performance marketer’s first idea on what to promote in December, but there is a reason airlines run winter holiday deals every year.