Revealed: 103,000 Companies Show the Truth About Summer Slumps in 2021

As vacations beckon and business slows, summer has long been a stressful season for many companies. Leaders brace for dips in web traffic, leads and sales that threaten to put a damper on annual performance. Throw in a once-in-a-century pandemic that scrambled all historical forecasts, and the summers of 2020 and 2021 shaped up to be especially nerve-wracking.

Would pent-up travel demand cause even sharper slowdowns than usual? With remote and hybrid work becoming mainstream, would "summer Fridays" turn into summer every day? As the world began to reopen, business planners faced more uncertainty than ever before.

To find out how these dynamics actually played out, we dug into aggregated summer 2021 traffic and conversion data from over 103,000 HubSpot customers. Then we compared performance to pre-pandemic benchmarks to identify notable shifts.

Summer 2021 Business Trends: By the Numbers

Web Traffic Wilted

It‘s a familiar summer refrain for marketers – as the weather heats up, web visits cool down. With consumers and B2B buyers alike in vacation mode, traffic to business websites typically sees a June swoon before rebounding in the fall. But the popularity of "revenge travel" and enduring work-from-home habits after a locked-down 2020 threatened to make matters worse.

HubSpot‘s global data reveals that these fears were well-founded. The average business website experienced a 9.2% decrease in traffic from April to June 2021 – significantly steeper than the 5.3% dip seen in 2019.

Aggregated web traffic data from 103k HubSpot customers, indexed to April levels. Source: HubSpot.

A few key takeaways:

• Summer slowdowns started earlier. Web visits began declining in May, rather than holding steady as they did pre-pandemic.
• The June low was lower. Traffic dropped more dramatically in early summer before starting to recover in July and August.
• September surges were softer. While fall still showed an upturn, back-to-school bumps were smaller than historical averages.

Of course, seasonal swings varied across industries. Those hit hardest by summer slumps were Construction (-18.2% from April to June), Manufacturing (-14.6%), and Financial Services (-12.4%). Meanwhile, businesses in Leisure & Hospitality (+22.5%) and Transportation & Logistics (+7.3%) benefited from the boom in post-lockdown travel.

Conversion Conundrum

With fewer overall visitors to company websites, one might expect to see a corresponding drop in contacts and customers acquired. But digging into lead generation and sales metrics reveals a more nuanced picture.

On one hand, the average number of form submissions and live chat interactions did decrease from April to June 2021 – by 12% and 8% respectively. Combined with the traffic trends, this indicates a summer slowdown in top-of-funnel demand.

However, purchases and deal pipeline activity told a different story. Ecommerce transactions held relatively steady, dipping just 2% in June before climbing again in July. And for B2B companies, deals created actually increased 11% from April to June.

Aggregated conversion data from 103k HubSpot customers, indexed to April levels. Source: HubSpot.

What explains this apparent discrepancy? A few hypotheses:

• Stronger buyer intent. With less noise from casual browsers, the prospects engaging with brands were more likely to be in-market and purchase-ready.
• Pent-up demand. After putting off purchases in 2020, businesses and consumers were ready to spend on high-priority needs coming out of lockdown.
• Longer deal cycles. For B2B companies, deal activity lagging top-of-funnel slowdowns by 1-2 months is not uncommon. Many June deals were likely with prospects who started their journey pre-summer.

The key takeaway is that summer slowdowns don‘t manifest uniformly across the funnel or customer lifecycle. Businesses need to track leading and lagging indicators to get the full picture.

Summer Strategies: How Top Brands Beat the Heat

So what‘s a business leader to do when facing the annual summer swoon? Based on the data and insights from seasoned executives, here are five strategies to not just endure but capitalize on seasonal lulls:

1. Embrace countercyclical campaigns.

With fewer competitor promotions jockeying for attention, summer can be an opportunity to get creative and zig where others zag. Craft campaigns and content tailored to top-of-mind topics and activities during the summer months.

"We‘ve seen a lot of success with ‘Christmas in July‘ themed promotions," shares Melanie Hartl, Senior Marketing Manager at ecommerce retailer Solo Stove. "It plays on the irony of the season and gives customers a fun excuse to buy our portable fire pits for summer gatherings."

2. Lean into always-on channels.

Rather than cutting back on advertising, consider reallocating budget to channels that reach your audience where they‘re spending time over the summer. Paid social, podcasts and CTV are popular choices.

"A campaign that performs great the rest of the year might be a total dud in the summer if the context doesn‘t fit the seasonal mindset," advises Emmy Jonassen, VP of Acquisition at HubSpot. "The key is aligning your message and medium with how customers are feeling and consuming media at that moment."

3. Launch a summer rewards program.

Give customers a reason to shop with limited-time incentives for purchasing or engaging with your brand. Loyalty points, exclusive experiences, flashfree gifts or other perks can help drive urgency.

"We started offering bonus airline miles for summer bookings, and it‘s been a hit," says Talia Raybeck, Director of Marketing at Vacasa, a vacation rental platform. "It rewards guests for taking trips during our peak season while encouraging them to book direct instead of through OTAs."

4. Focus on seasonal partnerships.

Team up with businesses that have complementary summer offerings to cross-promote or create co-branded packages. Resorts with tour operators, sports brands with summer camps, moving companies with realtors – the possibilities are endless.

"We work with a solar company that runs promotions for pool owners to convert to solar in the summer," explains Will Barron, CEO of Inbound Marketing School. "It‘s a win-win – they get pre-qualified leads from us, while we can offer customers a valuable service during pool season."

5. Double down on your hottest leads.

When inbound volume slows, outbound can pick up the slack. Have sales reps review pipelines and re-engage promising opportunities that have gone quiet. Prospects who aren‘t on vacation may have more time for meaningful conversations.

"Q4 is our busiest time, so any deals we can pull forward in Q3 relieve a lot of pressure," notes Jill Belasco, VP of Sales at Poppin, an office furniture retailer. "We create a dream list of prospects and accounts to target over the summer so we‘re not scrambling come fall."

Eyes on the Road Ahead

If 2021 trends continue, business leaders should plan for significant summer slowdowns to be the new normal for the foreseeable future. The question becomes how to most effectively navigate them to protect profits and performance.

Projecting out to summer 2024, businesses will likely be contending with:

• Higher highs and lower lows. As "revenge travel" gives way to more normalized vacation patterns, expect sharper peaks early in summer followed by stabilization. Having a strong spring will be critical.
• Selective unplugging. Customers will be quicker to go off-grid as screen fatigue sets in, but still expect 24/7 access to critical services. Brands will need to be discerning about communication channels and frequency.
• Shortened planning windows. With disruptions like COVID flare-ups, extreme weather and geopolitical events becoming more frequent, consumers will be more cautious about booking too far out. Flexible cancellation policies and last-minute promotions will be essential.
• Growing demand for experiences. After being cooped up for so long, customers will prioritize memorable activities and environments over material purchases. Product-based businesses should look to add experiential elements to their offerings.

The companies that thrive will be those who can nimbly adapt their strategies and tactics to changing seasonal rhythms. By staying attuned to evolving customer needs and behaviors, brands can turn summer slumps into a springboard for long-term success.