Q4 Marketing Checklist: How to Wrap Up and Make Plans for Next Year

Sep 16

The end of the year will be here before you know it. We’re creeping into Q4, and the time to plan is now!

To help you wrap up the year and make plans for next year, we’re sharing our tried and true Q4 marketing checklist. Tip: Don’t wait until the end of the year. Use this Q4 marketing checklist to start planning for today and get all stakeholders in the same boat.

This Q4 marketing checklist will help you review your activities, identify ways to improve, give your brand a final boost before the end of the year, and help you get your marketing assets in order to start strong next year.

Q4 Marketing Checklist

1. Conduct an annual analytics review.

Before you make plans for next year, reflect on what you did (or didn’t do) this year. Go through your analytics to review and analyze your performance for the year.

Pull information from platforms with sales and marketing data such as your: point-of-sale (POS) system, customer relationship management (CRM) system, email marketing platform, website analytics, advertising campaign data, social media tools, organic search rankings, and whatever else you use for your consistent marketing and sales evaluation.

Review and ask questions like:

What were our key performance indicators (KPIs) and goals, and are they still the right ones?
Did we reach our goals?
How did this year compare to past years?
What are the noticeable trends? Monthly or seasonal changes to the analytics?
What worked? What didn’t?

Use data to rate and analyze your success for the year, and later, use it to shape your marketing plans for next year.

2. Identify and leverage your best customers and referrals.

Another way to reflect on this year to plan for next year is by curating a list of your best customers and referrals.

Your top customers and referrals are likely to bring in the most revenue for your business. Identify those entities, and look for ways to better leverage your top 20% of customers and referrals. Consider how you can get more out of those customers and referrals before the end of the year and into next year.

Don’t test anything new in Q4 unless you are a seasonal business and holiday shopping and new campaigns are relevant. For most of our B2B clients, focus on selling to those who already know and buy from you. Reach out to those who “didn’t have the budget” this year, and create effective end-of-the-year messaging by tapping into their pain points from the great persona documentation you have.
Run customer and employee appreciation campaigns that celebrate and remind both parties how important they are to your organization. Reward them for their loyalty.
Start thinking about how you can continue to drive sales and results from your most productive staff and loyal customers next year.

3. Clean up your data.

The most useful data is up-to-date and accurate. Take time at the end of the year to review your databases and ensure each has the most relevant and useful information.

Fix any formatting or data structure errors.
Remove or archive inactive customers or leads.
Fill in missing data.
Remove inaccurate or bad email addresses and phone numbers.
Delete duplicate information.
Remove dummy or test data.
Remove or archive old or unused campaigns or datasets.

An Important Note About Website Data: Google’s Universal Analytics stopped working on July 1, 2023. It was replaced with GA4. If your website isn’t set up with GA4 analytics tracking, use SpotOn’s GA4 guide to get more information.

4. Schedule time with stakeholders.

Schedules are usually lighter at the end of the year, so make time to sit down with employees, department heads, partners, customers, and marketing partners. Set a time to talk and better understand those interacting with your business and share your learnings this year along with your intentions and plans for growth next year.

If you can’t meet in person, consider how you can set up virtual meetings. If you can’t meet one-on-one, consider how you can set up group meetings. Webinars are a great way to get a virtual group together to share and collect information.

Use the time to learn about the challenges, pain points, and plans that each party has. Also, gain feedback about your brand by asking open-ended questions that allow stakeholders to share their opinions and thoughts.

5. Start planning for next year.

Once you complete a review of the year, you will have information to help you create plans for next year.

Use what you learned, and ask questions to help you develop marketing plans and strategies for next year. And, don’t operate in a vacuum. Bring in other department heads and members of your team to review your year and gather answers to help shape your plans.

What do we want to stop doing, start doing, and keep doing?
What did we do in this year that we would like to improve on? What can we do to create better results?
Are we reaching the right customers? Do we need to revisit our buyer personas?
How can we leverage our top customers and referrals? What can we do to drive more results from our highest-performing team members and best customers?
Are we launching any new initiatives or products? When? What will we need to start marketing those new offerings?
Are we planning more events? When? What will we need to launch marketing initiatives for those events?
Do we have everything you need to succeed? Do we have all essential marketing assets? Do we have the right team and partners to help us get there?
Do we have the right marketing budget? Do we need to invest more if we want to grow to reach company directed sales numbers?
Where do we see our business this time next year? What do we need to get there?

Drive a Stronger Q4 and Next Year

Q4 starts now, and next year will be here before you know it.

End the year strong, and set the stage to have a more productive and successful next year. Use the same Q4 marketing checklist we use to wrap up loose ends, drive final marketing initiatives for the year with our clients, and create a plan to lead to more success in Q4 and beyond.

If you want to see better results now and in the future, SpotOn is here to help.
Talk to our team about how we can help you develop custom marketing strategies to help you get more out of your marketing. Contact us today for your free consultation and to learn more about how our team can help your business grow.

strategyanalytics

Robyn Spoto