Marketing Planning for the Fourth Quarter

Caid Christiansen• September, 09 2015

With Labor Day in the rear-view mirror, the fourth quarter is rapidly approaching.

For many businesses, this is make-or-break time for year-end numbers. However, you’ve also got to weigh how your marketing spend will launch you into the first quarter of 2016.

Taking a day or two to reflect on the following will help position you for short-term (and long-term) success.

Year-end goals: September is probably your last chance to add to your end-of year marketing efforts while still impacting 2015. If there’s a forecast shortfall in revenue, there’s still time to invest in additional direct marketing to impact year-end, especially for direct-to consumer marketing. Business to business may be a little trickier, depending on the sales cycle, but there, you still have the chance to hit year-end targets.

Value of cutting costs: If you’re lucky enough to be on pace, or even ahead of goals, it might be in the best interest of the company to return some marketing funds in order to bolster the company’s bottom line. You might look like a hero if you can return some marketing dollars to the corporate coffers, especially if the company is coming in high on expenses. However, you need to be sure that your budget won’t be cut next year and that you’ve got enough money to take you into Q1 of 2016.

Momentum into next year: If you’re doing well, hopefully you’ve learned something from your data and analytics that will help you get in front of your 2016 growth goals. While it’s always tempting to take un-invested marketing dollars straight to the bottom line, you might impair your 2016 progress by cutting back at year-end. Make sure you give yourself enough lead-time (and leads) to propel yourself into the following year with a full head of steam.

It’s difficult to balance your overall efforts to achieve the optimal mix between expenditures and revenues. But, September is an especially important time to take a moment and understand if you’re delivering the best returns for the current year, while also positioning yourself for success into the coming year.