Year-Over-Year Analysis (Year-on-year trends)

• YoY trends compare sales performance, customer acquisition, customer behaviour, other KPIs over the same period across multiple years
• it’s a strategic metric
• it’s a benchmarking tool for assessing how current marketing efforts stack up against past strategies
• consistent YoY improvement = effective marketing strategies and product-market fit
• stagnation or decline = misaligned marketing campaigns or shifting customer preferences
• decline in market share or customer engagement = indicate that competitors are gaining ground
• Negative year-on-year trends = early indicator of market shifts: evolving consumer preferences or increasing competition
• it helps proactively adjust product offerings, pricing strategies or marketing initiatives before these challenges become more significant
• it assesses growth patterns,
• it detects seasonality during specific times of the year (e.g. holidays, promotional periods), to identify when demand typically spikes or drops to plan campaigns and allocate resources more effectively, to capitalise on high-demand periods, to mitigating the impact of seasonal lows
• it analyses long-term performance
• YoY trends provide insights into market shifts, customer engagement fluctuations and the effectiveness of marketing strategies over time
• identify whether there is a sustainable growth or stagnation
• detailed YoY data = decisions about where to invest or cut back
• if a marketing campaign consistently drives YoY growth in certain regions or customer segments, businesses can allocate more resources to those areas to amplify results
• declining engagement or sales in particular channels = signal to reallocate budget or revise strategy.
• conversion rates or daily sales spikes = short-term metrics of immediate results
• YoY trends + ROMI determine whether the marketing spend is delivering long-term value.
• track which campaigns consistently drive year-on-year growth
• revise the competitive positioning or introduce new product features that better meet customer needs.
• YoY sales data across different products identify which offerings are consistently performing well and which may need innovation or discontinuation
• consistent YoY growth warrants further development or expansion into new markets.
• products with declining trends = need updates to remain relevant

Calculation of YOY growth

if a company made $500,000 in sales last year and $600,000 this year: ($600,000 – $500,000/$500,000) x 100 = 20% YoY growth