Google Analytics is a useful tool, but I find that it’s most useful when you use it on a weekly basis, at least. It’s even better to use it daily. When you’re able to track the weekly traffic to your site and your clients’ sites, you start to see some trends. That’s the point, trends are what you’re looking for, but not all of them are as useful as you may think. One thing I’ve noticed is that year after year, there are certain events where the majority of sites see a dip in site traffic.
These dates affect most, if not all, industries, adding outliers to your data and possibly skewing your response to it. It’s important to note and remember these outliers, because outliers, by definition, are abnormal points of data. They skew the results and don’t show the person analyzing the data what the actual trends are.
This isn’t to say that I recommend you ignore these regular dips in site traffic, but that you make note of them and put less stock in what the data says for those dates. If you treat some outlying dips as seriously as consistent drops over time, you may see yourself reacting to a fluke, wasting marketing dollars in the process.
What Events See a Regular Dip in Site Traffic?
It may or may not be surprising, but there are several holiday events that see site traffic dip across the U.S. holidays like:
- Christmas
- Thanksgiving
- New Year’s Day
- Memorial Day
- 4th of July
- Labor Day
- Election Day
Some of these events can last before the initial holiday, and some don’t. They’re holidays where people consistently do things like travel and vote, activities that are staples to the country’s culture. That being said, they don’t have equal dips in site traffic.
For example, Thanksgiving Day should only see a dip on the holiday itself, rather than the whole weekend like Christmas. Black Friday helps boost site traffic, but Christmas Day is a time where everyone is spending time with their families, away from the screen. This can cause a week-long lull in site traffic as people are enjoying their gifts and already have what they need for a period of time, leaving no need for your goods or services in the days following the holiday.
In these instances, you wouldn’t want to pour more than the minimal amount of marketing dollars into your brand, where traffic is consistently low. Save it, and then capitalize on the moments where site traffic surges back.
What Can You Do About These Dips?
Events like holidays and elections draw attention away from you and your company, and honestly, there’s not always anything you can do about it. No company is going to compete with Christmas or Thanksgiving Day when people are traveling to be with family, not interacting with your brand. There are exceptions, because some brands find customers during the holidays, but those aren’t the majority.
An example of a holiday that negatively affects nearly all brands is U.S. Election Day. This is an event that affects the lives of everyone across the world, and it can carry on for days. No brand can compete with that.
So, in response, a brand shouldn’t attempt to. You’re going to see your site traffic take a dip, maybe even nosedive for a day, possibly a weekend, during the week of Election Day. But, if you maintain your marketing appropriately around the event, you’ll assure that the loss of site traffic was temporary.
The Days Before and After the Dip
This isn’t all doom and gloom though, because while you’ll see a massive dip the day of, you may see surges before and after that you can capitalize on. If you’re a restaurant selling food, or a personal injury law firm, you want to advertise yourself each day leading up to and after the holiday.
If you’re advertising to people who need food to prepare, you have an audience to capitalize on for Christmas and Thanksgiving. If you’re a personal injury lawyer, you want people to think of your firm after they get hurt drinking or partying on Memorial Day or Labor Day weekend.
Look at your weekly data year-over-year, and see what dips always come. Instead of trying to power through them and lose out on revenue for little mind share, market strategically.
Talk to ENX2 Marketing to Track Dips and Rises for You
Tracking year-over-year stats may seem simple when you’re looking at the report, but it’s a tedious process that only works because someone has to put in the effort every week. You don’t always have time, or the manpower, for that.
ENX2 Marketing does. We have the experience and the know-how on how to use data analytic tools at our disposal. We can read and interpret data and make sure you’re not spending marketing dollars that you don’t need to. After years of experience, ENX2 Marketing knows how important it is to work around the dips in site traffic rather than fall into them.
Contact ENX2 Marketing soon, and we can get to work preparing for the upcoming holiday, and every event that follows.