Peak Season vs Off-Peak: How Should You Split Your Budget?
Splitting your marketing budget evenly across 12 months sounds fair, but it wastes spend in quiet months and leaves money on the table when demand is highest. A seasonal index sets the monthly average at 100 and shows how far each period swings above or below that baseline. Apply that same swing to your budget allocation and you can concentrate spend when customers are already primed to buy. Knowing just your peak season's sales share and length is enough to rough out a reasonable monthly budget for both peak and off-peak periods.
How It's Calculated
| Item | Formula |
|---|---|
| Seasonal index | (Period sales share รท months) รท (100รท12) ร 100 |
| Monthly budget by period | Total budget ร period sales share รท months |
A full allocation plan should also weigh channel lead times, inventory timing, and campaign ramp-up periods, so treat this as a directional starting point rather than a final budget.
Frequently Asked Questions
100 represents the monthly average โ your annual sales spread evenly across 12 months. A month with an index above 100 sells more than average, and one below 100 sells less. An index of 130 means that month sells 30% above average.
If your sales are heavily seasonal, concentrating budget when demand is highest is usually the most efficient approach. That said, keeping a baseline budget in off-peak months helps maintain brand visibility for the long term.
One to two years of monthly sales data gives the most accurate result, but if that's not available, a rough estimate of your peak season length and sales share is enough to get directionally useful budget guidance.
โป Actual budget allocation varies by industry and channel โ this is a reference estimate.