Don’t Wait for The Busy Season: Why You Should Start Ads 60–90 Days Early

Every business has its own busy season–be it seasonal, holiday-centric , or related to some other cycle, like school schedules or taxes. Once you know the time of year that typically brings in the most business for you, it’s vital to capitalize on that opportunity. For some businesses, their busy season makes up a substantial portion of their annual revenue–this isn’t something to ignore. Of course when you’re in the thick of things, it’s hard to keep your days straight let alone to try and develop, schedule, and manage an ad campaign. It’s also not the most effective or impactful time for running ads.

At Alt Media Studios we have advertising and digital marketing down to a science, and we’re here to share some key tips about timing. Here’s why your ads need to start well before the busy season is upon you.

Practical Reasons To Start Ads Early

There are some practical and logistical reasons why 60-90 days before your busy season is a best bet. For one, algorithms on the various social media platforms where you’ll advertise need time to learn your audience and how they interact with your ads. This ensures that when you’re running ads during busy seasons, the pipeline is already primed to deliver your ads to the right people at the right times.

Another central reason why early ad placement is vital is cost. When competition gets fierce among competitors during everyone’s busy season, costs per ad can increase. If you spread out your efforts over a longer period of time, you can snag early shoppers when ads are more affordable and generate a more consistent revenue. You’ll also be in front of more eyes so brand awareness is already there when things start to really pick up. Knowing what you’re paying on costs-per-click (CPC) on Instagram , for example, is central to ensuring that your ad investment is worthwhile and key to planning your campaign.

All in all, starting ads 60-90 days prior to the busy season is a great way to generate more reliable business over an extended period of time, along with priming potential customers for upcoming sales and specials. This can help to fill your schedule more consistently and to create a more organized, less stressful workload during the busiest time of year.

The final business-sense reason to get ads going early is to take advantage of the extra time and get some cold, hard, data insights on your ads. This invaluable information will then allow you to determine which efforts promise the biggest ROI and to double down on these ads during your busy season.

Why Starting Ads Early Makes Sense For Your Audience

The reasons for starting ads early often center on practical factors, but there’s also the unpredictability of your audience at play, and you need to account for that variable. Here are some reasons why starting your ads 60-90 days before the busy season could be just the thing that you need to draw in the most potential customers.

1. People Plan Earlier Than You Think

You might think that your products or services aren’t even on customers’ radars until they see your ad, but that’s often not the case. Most folks don’t wake up one day and decide to buy what you’re offering. This is especially true if they’re planning to make a large purchase. 

Instead of quick decisions, most consumers are researching weeks (or even months) ahead of time. They are:

• comparing options
• checking pricing among competitors
• reading reviews and testimonials
• asking friends for recommendations

Everything they see and are exposed to during this critical window can impact their final decision. By starting your advertising campaign early, you show up before they commit their dollars elsewhere. Being seen first is a critical competitive advantage.

2. You Capture Demand Before Competitors Do

Once the season kicks into high gear, all those companies that waited to advertise are hitting the ads especially hard–seasonal markets get loud fast. It’s so easy to be overlooked and drowned out because once busy season hits, it seems like absolutely everyone is running ads. How to be seen and heard among that crowd? Simple–start early.

Starting your ads early means you can operate in a space with:

• less competition
• more attention
• first-mover advantage

For folks who are already looking to buy what you’re offering, early ads can help you to score meaningful leads before the rest of the crowd shows up. This is a clear advantage, not to be missed out on!

3. You Need Time to Warm People Up

We’ve already mentioned that many customers are out there researching and planning far prior to making a purchase. In fact we’d argue that most customers don’t convert instantly, especially for high-ticket or generally planned purchases, like a new roof, a renovation, or another sizable investment. And even if they do come across your ad and they like what they see, they’ll often put a pin in it and take time to evaluate who you are and what you’re offering.

This is why ads typically work best in stages. When your ad campaigns are spread out and consistent over a longer window of time, you can appeal to these vital components of the process:

1. Awareness –knowing who you are, what you’re offering, and how it differs from competitors
2. Consideration –allowing time for research, learning, and comparison
3. Decision –narrowing down options and landing on your business as the right supplier of their desired product or service

Instead of a sprint or a shouting match, starting ads 60–90 days out allows you to have a conversation and a leisurely stroll with prospective customers. It reduces the urgency level that can often be a turn off to customers who want to be certain before making a big decision. Investing time gives you room to nurture a relationship instead of rushing your customer’s decisions.

4. Your Best Customers Book Early

While this may not be true in every single case, more often than not you’ll find that the most organized, highest-intent buyers–you know, the ones you’re out there trying to attract–are early planners. This means that if you wait until the season starts to run ads, these cream-of-the-crop customers will probably have already made a decision and are not even looking anymore.

The best customers that any business could want to find, those that shop before the season kicks off, are often:

• higher-budget clients
• repeat customers
• less price-sensitive shoppers

If you’re trying to attract the premium crowd, not just those in it for the sales and discount codes, then you need to start early. If you wait until the season starts, you could miss out on attracting the best customers out there.

5. It Gives You Time to Test and Optimize

So important, we’re going to say this again–starting your ad campaigns early means that you can test it out. The extra time gives Google, Meta and any other digital marketing platforms time to optimize and learn your campaign, along with who your ideal customers are. Once they’ve narrowed down and pinpointed your audience, then you can trust that your ads are doing the most. So by the time peak season arrives, your campaigns are already dialed in and you’re getting in front of the right people at the right time.

Busy Season Is for Conversions — Not Experiments

When your busy season hits, you should be raking in the leads and handling client orders. Peak season should be harvest time. This is not the moment to ask questions like:

• “Are these ads working?”
• “Is the targeting right?”
• “Should we change the offer?”

If you start ad campaigns early, you won’t be left guessing during the most critical time of the year. Instead, you’ll be armed with data and trusting the work you’ve done. When you do ads right, your busy season is less stressful and becomes more about execution than guesswork.

How to Turn Your Off-Season into a Lead-Gen Machine 

If busy season is when you should be harvesting your bounty, here’s what you can do during the off-season to ensure a bumper-crop:

• Start ads early (60–90 days out) to capture customers before competitors flood the market
• Offer a lead magnet (checklist, guide, early-bird deal) to collect emails now
• Run retargeting campaigns so anyone who visits your site stays in your funnel until peak season
• Re-engage past leads/customers with a simple “Booking opens soon — want priority?” message
• Build an email nurture sequence that warms prospects automatically while business is slower
• Use off-season content to educate because trust = future sales and content = higher Google & AI search ranking

The truth is, you don’t just want any leads, you want the very best leads possible. For businesses that start 60–90 days ahead, this isn’t just an unrealistic dream, it’s an achievable goal.

Seasonal Marketing Timeline

Here’s a quick-hit timeline for exactly when to launch ads for spring, summer, fall and winter busy seasons.

If your busy season is in spring…

• Peak demand: March – May
• Best time to launch ads: January – February

If your busy season is in summer…

• Peak demand: June – August
• Best time to launch ads: April – May

If your busy season is in fall…

• Peak demand: September – November
• Best time to launch ads: July – August

If your busy season is in winter…

• Peak demand: December – February
• Best time to launch ads: October – November

Your Trusted and Experienced Digital Marketing Agency in Cleveland

When you’re planning for this year’s digital marketing campaigns, you want to make sure that you’re strategizing and planning in every way possible, as early as you can. From understanding how to get noticed on social media platforms, to knowing how much the ads actually cost and which types of ads are best suited to your business, Alt Media Studios is here to help. We will work with you to craft tailored ad campaigns across digital platforms that make the most of your resources and position you in front of your audience at critical times throughout the year. Don’t wait ‘till your busy season is breathing down your neck–get started early and be first to reap the rewards. Contact us today to learn more and get started building your next successful ad campaign!