Are the school summer holidays affecting PPF leads?

Over the last three years, we’ve noticed a recurring pattern.

Every August, we start getting enquiries from detailers and PPF installers who’ve noticed a drop-off in leads and bookings. At the same time, existing clients start asking us the same question:

“Has something changed with our Google Ads?”

Historically, we’ve been able to point towards seasonality as a likely factor. But this year, we wanted to go further and actually look at the data.

And there’s a noticeable pattern.

In 2026, schools across England and Wales broadly broke up w/c 20 July. When we compare Google Ads performance before and after that point, we can see a significant change in PPF lead-generation performance.

 

Why we’ve gone all-in on PPF for this analysis

Our original intention was to look at the wider detailing market, including both ceramic coating and Paint Protection Film.

But there’s a problem with doing that.

The cleanest comparable dataset we have is specifically PPF advertising.

Rather than using PPF data to make assumptions about ceramic coating customers, we’ve deliberately narrowed this analysis to PPF only.

That gives us a much stronger comparison.

We’re looking at advertisers promoting the same core service, with similar high-intent Google searches, similar conversion goals and a relatively high-value purchasing decision.

So everything that follows relates specifically to: paint protection film lead gen through Google Ads

It may well be that ceramic coating businesses experience similar seasonality – and our experience suggests the wider detailing industry does feel an August slowdown – but that’s not what this dataset proves.

 

Real-world PPF advertising data

We analysed a group of our highest-spending, established PPF Google Ads accounts across multiple locations in the UK.

These aren’t newly launched campaigns where performance is still settling down.

They’re established advertisers with significant historical data behind them, allowing us to look at what happens when a major seasonal event – the start of the school summer holidays – occurs across the market.

And here’s what we found.

 

PPF conversions fell by 29%

Comparing performance before schools broke up with the first few weeks of the summer holidays, average weekly PPF conversions fell by 29%.

In simple terms:

Nearly 30% fewer PPF leads were being generated.

The important point is that we’re not looking at one advertiser having a bad couple of weeks.

We’re looking across multiple established PPF advertisers in different UK locations and combining that performance.

That gives us much more confidence that there’s a wider seasonal influence affecting PPF demand and customer behaviour.

 

PPF cost per conversion increased by 21%

Next, we looked at how much advertisers were paying to generate each PPF lead.

Following school breakup:

Cost per conversion increased by 21%.

So we’re seeing two things happen simultaneously:

Fewer PPF leads are being generated.

Each PPF lead is becoming more expensive to acquire.

Again, when the same broad movement appears across multiple advertisers and locations, it becomes harder to explain it simply as an isolated campaign issue.

Instead, it gives us evidence of a wider market or seasonal effect on PPF lead generation.

 

PPF conversion rate fell by 45%

This is probably the most interesting metric of all.

Following school breakup:

Average PPF conversion rate fell by 45%.

Why does conversion rate matter so much?

Because it helps us understand what happens after somebody interacts with an advert.

Someone can still search Google for PPF.

They can still click an advert.

They can still visit an installer’s website, look at packages, compare installers and research the cost of protecting their car.

But our data shows that during this period, those visitors are significantly less likely to take the next step and submit an enquiry.

That suggests we’re potentially seeing a change in buying intent and customer behaviour, rather than simply Google Ads suddenly performing badly.

And that’s an important distinction.

 

So, are the school holidays responsible?

We can’t say that the school holidays have definitively caused this decline.

There are always other variables involved in Google Ads performance, lead generation and consumer demand.

But what we can say is:

There is a clear correlation between the school summer holiday period and weaker PPF lead-generation performance within the accounts we’ve analysed.

We’re seeing movement at multiple levels of the funnel:

PPF conversions ↓ 29%

PPF conversion rate ↓ 45%

PPF cost per conversion ↑ 21%

When multiple established advertisers across different locations experience similar pressure around the same period, that’s something worth paying attention to.

 

What do we think is happening?

The most likely explanation is a temporary change in consumer behaviour and buying intent.

During the school summer holidays, people are:

• Going away on holiday.
• Looking after children and spending more time with family.
• Outside their normal routines.
• Spending disposable income on holidays, days out and other priorities.
• Potentially researching PPF without being ready to enquire or book immediately.

That final point is particularly interesting.

PPF is generally a considered, relatively high-value purchase.

Someone might have every intention of protecting their new car, but if they’re flying to Spain next week, have the kids at home or have just spent thousands on a summer holiday, arranging a PPF installation might simply move down the priority list.

That doesn’t necessarily mean the underlying demand has disappeared.

The purchase may simply have been delayed.

And the substantial fall in conversion rate supports that possibility.

 

The important takeaway

This doesn’t mean Google Ads has suddenly stopped working for PPF.

And it certainly doesn’t mean the answer is to panic and switch campaigns off because you’ve had a difficult couple of weeks.

It means we need to account for seasonality when evaluating PPF advertising performance.

If multiple established PPF advertisers experience fewer enquiries, lower conversion rates and higher acquisition costs at approximately the same time, that gives us valuable context when assessing an individual campaign.

Instead of immediately assuming something is broken, we can look at the wider market, continue optimising campaigns and position advertisers to capture demand as normal buying behaviour returns.

Most importantly, seasonality shouldn’t become an excuse for poor performance.

Understanding why the market may be more difficult should help us make better marketing decisions — not accept fewer bookings.

 

How can you combat this and win more PPF leads and bookings during the summer holidays?

If potential PPF customers are still researching but are less likely to enquire or book during the summer holidays, the answer isn’t simply to throw more money at Google Ads.

In fact, if conversion rates are lower, blindly increasing spend could simply mean paying more to acquire the same customer.

Instead, the focus needs to shift towards giving prospective PPF customers a stronger reason to act now, reducing the barriers to booking, maximising the leads you do generate and staying in front of people who aren’t quite ready to make a decision.

The businesses that respond best to seasonality aren’t necessarily those that spend the most.

They’re the ones that adapt their offer, follow-up and marketing strategy to the way customers are behaving right now.

 

 

Navigating the Summer Slump: A Practical Guide for UK Automotive Service Businesses

 

Are you seeing less leads? Customers harder to reach? Or new bookings slowing down?

Every Summer, schools break up, families gear up for holidays, and car enthusiasts turn to events and driving tours – and many UK automotive service businesses notice a slow down.

If you’re reading this in the summer months – chances are, what you’re seeing is actually a very normal and predictable seasonal dip, called the Summer Slump.

I’ve seen the same cycle repeating itself, year after year, over the past 9 years.

 

Why Does the Summer Slump Happen?

During June, July, and August, people typically prioritise travel, leisure, and holidays, often delaying non-essential automotive services such as car detailing, other luxury services and some routine maintenances such as service and MOTs.

This naturally leads to fewer people in the market for automotive services and lower lead volumes.

 

Turning the summer sales dip into a strategic advantage

Instead of jumping to panic stations – there’s a better way!

As the old saying goes “Fail to plan and plan to fail”.

Step one – get to know the seasonal trends that influence your business performance

Step two – revisit your business and marketing plan

Step three – strategically plan to increase your marketing, sales and promotional activity ahead of seasonal dips to keep on winning

 

Real-Life Insights: The Data Tells the Story

Analysis of real world data tells a really clear story of seasonality. In the interest of keeping it simple for this blog I’ve focused on “car detailing” in the “UK” market, but we can complete similar research on a per-request basis for clients in different niche’s as part of our ongoing retainers or as a one-off consultancy project.

Google Trends

Starting with Google Trends I looked at the past 5 years, and amalgamated the data to show a really clean and simple seasonality in searches for car detailing in the UK.

The chart below covers:

• Thick blue line clearly displays the monthly interest trend.
• Annotated points highlight key seasonal shifts:
  • Peak Interest in Spring – May being the biggest month for people searching for car detailing
  • Start of the Summer Slump in June which continues through to August
  • The decline slows down through Autumn
  • Lowest point during November and December through Winter

 

Form submissions

Secondly I took a sample of form submissions from lead gen forms for a car detailing client, using a sample of 2,447 leads from the past 3 years. Using form submission date to identify seasonal trends.

Here I was really questioning whether there was a crossover in what I could see in the Google Trend analysis with leads generated for one client.

This chart covers:

• Thick blue line clearly emphasizes the trend.
• Annotated markers highlight:
  • Peak Activity in Spring – May was the best month of the year
  • Start of the Summer Slump from June – lead volume was lower than the previous 4 months
  • July slightly increased but August had one of the biggest drop offs
  • September to November were consistently low
  • December was the lowest month on record

 

Marketing, Sales and Promotional ideas to counter the summer slump

 

Tune your sales processes

Focus on 3 key areas of your sales process

1. First touchpoint with your customer – speed wins sales – don’t delay that first call with your new potential client
2. Your follow-up game will make or break your sales process – not everyone is ready to do the deal straight away, there’ll be shopping around, price checking, and research on your brand. Following up with your potential customers multiple times, shows that you care about their business and helps to build trust that you will follow through on your promises
3. Rework your past leads i.e. the customers you’ve quoted and not heard from for week(s) – get back in touch, find out what there objections were or the reasons they didn’t go ahead, if you’ve got people that didn’t go ahead because of price, when you’re slow, give them a personalised offer or discount to get them over the line

Ramp up your video content

Meta Ads has very quickly become the No.1 channel for lead gen in automotive over the past year

Increase your social media activity

Not just posting (or posting more), think about engaging with people and businesses who could become future clients and partners.

Email and SMS campaigns

One of the most well known, and recognised ways to engagement with existing/past clients – known for it’s effectiveness.

Pick up the phone and call you top 10/20/50 customers 

Think about those customers who’ve brought multiple vehicles and recommended multiple friends, call them. Focus on building the relationship, and find out if they’ve got any new cars or if there are opportunities to upsell or cross sell your other services.

Use promotional offers and discounting to drive demand

The phrase “Summer Sale” exists for a reason – because many industries and verticals experience the summer slump – not just automotive service businesses.

Competitions and giveaways

Over the years we’ve used competitions and giveaways to create quick demand for Pyramid Car Care, for products and for services.

I was reminded on how effective it can be recently when our client Machine Polishing Central Scotland ran a giveaway for a car detailing service, and used it to get over 1,000 people enter the competition through a lead gen form. After the competition was drawn, we followed up with offers and marketing emails, and have seen multiple thousands of pounds worth of bookings on the back of it – on a relatively low cost giveaway.

Networking with local dealerships and other automotive business

Successfuly growing your trade business should be a long term effort, not just a short term dip, but if you’ve got this far without it – it could be time to starting building relationship with local dealerships, and other local automotive services businesses i.e. if you offer car detailing, then targeting vehicle restoration, PPF, Tinting, and similar companies. Even speaking with competitors and identifying customers where you don’t overlap can be a great way to build business through referrals and commission schemes.

Exhibit and visit local car events

This is such an unlooked way of catching up with your existing clients, and getting introductions to potential new clients.

 

 

 

Last updated: 2024/07/17

What is Seasonality?

Seasonality refers to the predictable changes that occur in your business year after year.

For automotive businesses, this can have a profound impact on marketing effectiveness, customer engagement, leads, bookings and ultimately, your bottom line.

Automotive services often see increased demand in spring and summer months as customers prepare for road trips or seek to restore their vehicles after winter.

Dealerships might experience higher foot traffic and sales during March and September, thanks to promotions and new model releases.

Understanding these patterns, can you help you understand your business better and allows us to tailor marketing strategies that align with customer behaviors. By leveraging seasonal trends, we can optimize lead generation, increase bookings, and drive sales more effectively.

During peak periods targeted campaigns can capitalise on heightened interest, while off-peak periods require more creative approaches to maintain steady business flow.

Top 3 periods of seasonality for car detailing businesses and what you can do to avoid your business freezing over

Winter (December – February)– arguably the most difficult period in the year is between December – February for car detailers, battling snow and ice, whilst trying to wash and maintain cars is no small feat. Through winter 2023 at Pyramid Car Care we literally had snow foam freezing on the surface of cars, making it nearly impossible to wash cars on the coldest days.

What you can do during the winter period?

• Winter detailing packages
• Winter maintenance content
• Promotional offers such as winter sale

Summer Holiday Season (June – August) – We all look forward to summer: holidays abroad and holidays at home, pub gardens, and soaking up the sun, the 6 weeks holidays and so on. It’s the same for your customers too which means less people will be searching for your services and actively booking them too.

What you can do during the summer holiday season?

• This is a good time of year to diversify your marketing and test new strategies and approaches
• Attend local car events – this is a great way to get outside, and build relationships with potential customers
• Create your own local events such as a summer open day and invite existing customers and prospects for a BBQ, car show or demonstrations at your premises or nearby event space if you don’t have a suitable location
• Focus on existing customers and building relationships – reach out to people by phone or email

Back To School (September) – After the summer holidays, I would love to say it’s plain sailing but every year, there’s a slow down around the back to school period, and it makes sense, it’s a big stressful change in routine, and the majority of us parents will be thinking about just getting through the first couple of weeks.

What you can do during the back to school disruption?

• It’s short lived – and we usually se things settle down within 2-3 weeks
• Focus on relationship building with existing customers
• Create fun content about going “back to school” and / or the impact this has on our cars
• Target parents with promotional offers with relatable messaging such as “Back to school is hard for us all, but let us take the pressure off cleaning your car. Freshen up your car with valeting services at ….”

The key thing to remember is that every business is different, and every business will be affected differently by seasonality – this information is not intended as a one-size-fits-all guide.