Conversion rates for B2B online leads are highest at the beginning of the year, in part because companies are renewing budgets and new funds are available, according to a recent analysis by Software Advice.
On the other hand, conversion activity drops significantly during the prime vacation summer months. Conversion rates also tend to drop below average in December as companies prepare for the new year and hold off on spending.
The analysis was based on information collected from more than six million visitors to the Software Advice website since 2008. The data is specific to a single business with a particular audience (B2B software buyers), but the learnings may be applicable to other B2B sales teams, especially those that respond to leads generated on the Web.
Below key findings from the report.
Activity by Day of the Week
- Software Advice found B2B buyer activity on their website is highest Tuesday through Thursday.
- Web traffic peaks on Tuesdays, but conversion rates are highest on Wednesdays.
Activity by Time of Day
- The analysis categorized time of day into three buckets: before work hours (12:00 AM to 7:59 AM CST), during work hours (8:00 AM to 5:59 PM CST), and after work hours (6:00 PM to 11:59 PM CST).
- There are 53% more unique visitors during work hours compared with Software Advice's average number of unique visitors.
- Traffic is highest in the first half of the day, with the peak time occurring just before and during lunch.
Holidays
- B2B buyer traffic drops more than 50% below average on New Year's Day (-57%), Memorial Day (-57%), Independence Day (-58%), Labor Day (-54%), Thanksgiving (-71%), the day after Thanksgiving (-55%), Christmas Eve (-64%), and Christmas (-69%).
- However, some holidays show only minor dips in traffic, including Martin Luther King Jr. Day (-8%) and Columbus Day (-6%).
About the research: The report was based on Software Advice website traffic and conversion data collected between January 1, 2008 and August 31, 2013. Data was limited to unique visitors from the United States, and to traffic to commercial landing pages.
