Q4, aka the most profitable time of the year, is approaching fast and furious. Making sure you stay ahead of the game is going to help your company boost profits and end the year on a high note.
It’s essential to have a solid marketing plan for Q4 since the end of the year is your last big push to reach revenue goals and gain momentum for the new year. By taking time to prepare intentionally for Q4, you’ll know exactly what you need to do to close that gap between where you are and where you want to end up by December 31st. Today, we’re looking at savvy strategies that will help you crush your digital marketing goals and be locked and loaded for Q4, including:
- Getting your website traffic ready
- Taking advantage of the holidays
- Cleaning up and segmenting email lists
- Revisiting the past to inform the future
- Plan, plan and plan again
READY, SET, WEBSITE TRAFFIC
There’s nothing more infuriating than when a website takes forever to load. A laggy website isn’t just annoying, it can hurt your chances at getting potential customers and good SEO rankings. That’s why it’s critical to run regular speed tests to make sure that everything is quite ~literally~ up to speed.
If all goes well, your website traffic will increase in Q4, so make sure your site is working properly. Test the different pathways customers might take on your site and other features you have to ensure they have the best possible experience. You don’t want to slave away on your marketing work, only for it to go to waste because of a technical error.
TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE HOLIDAYS
The holidays can be the most stressful time of year for some people, but they can be extremely beneficial for your business. Use this time to stock up on content. You already know which holidays are coming up, so for your q4 marketing plan, you have a framework of when and what to post, making content calendars easy as pie.
The holidays are also a chance to connect with your target demographic and really humanize your brand. You have the rare opportunity to break out of your normal content and post non-promotional, holiday cheer.
To ensure you don’t get any scrooges, think about the timing. People usually travel to visit their loved ones during the holidays and might be out of the office more. You don’t want to be sending emails minutes before the ball drops on New Year’s Eve.
SEGMENT AND CLEAN UP EMAIL LISTS
You’ll want to tidy up your email list for Q4, and one way to do that is to run a re-engagement campaign in Q3 to make sure everyone who’s still interested in your agency is ready to rock n’ roll when the time comes.
Another way to optimize your list is by segmenting it so you can send better-targeted emails to your audience.
You can segment your list based on:
- Engagement levels: high, medium, low, unengaged
- Loyalty program membership: yes / no
- Subscriber location
- Demographics
REVISIT THE PAST
Sometimes it is good to dig up the past. Q4 isn’t the time to start experimenting with new ideas and campaigns, but to reflect on the past year and ask yourself a few questions:
- What creative worked well?
- Which campaigns should be revisited?
- Which audiences engaged well?
- Which promotions drove the most revenue?
Whatever worked well, do it again. And whatever didn’t, scrap it.
PLAN, PLAN AND PLAN AGAIN
Did we mention you should plan? Organization is a basic skill, but it will come back tenfold if you capitalize off of it. Digital marketing moves fast, but Q4 moves even faster. So making sure you have your marketing efforts all squared away will save you any extra stress and avoid burnout with a Q4 marketing plan.
Ultimately, the best thing you can do to bag a killer quarter is create everything beforehand. This includes all content, emails, paid media campaigns, etc. This is also a great opportunity to utilize automation. Don’t know how to do that? Soulheart has your back.
WHY SOULHEART?
Soulheart offers comprehensive digital marketing services that include but aren’t limited to: HubSpot solutions, Website overhauls, Ad & SEO services and inbound marketing services.
Soulheart wants to help keep you steady for Q4, but also wants your business to succeed far beyond the next quarter.
If you want to learn more Q4 tips and tricks while diving deeper into the digital marketing services Soulheart offers, let us show you the way!