The ultimate Q4 strategy for ending 2023 on a high! 

If you’re a long-time listener of the How I Do Content Podcast, you KNOW I love a plan! In fact, if you’ve listened to any of the episodes that have the words “3 things”, or “3 tips”, or “3 strategies” in the title – it’s a safe bet that one of those things involves a plan or a strategy.

But all jokes aside – the reason I’ve been able to build a 6-figure business, make sales from every offer I’ve launched, attract Beyoncé-level clients on repeat, and maintain this high level of consistency is that I ALWAYS have a plan…

• A long-term plan
• A short-term plan
• A launch plan 
• A marketing plan 
• A Black Friday plan

Me + Planning is kinda like Me + Ned – a package deal and better together.

Last week I shared how I’m planning my Black Friday launch this year, and, in this episode of the How I Do Content Podcast, I share how I’m planning my Q4 to end 2023 on a high note.

What even is Q4?

Q4 is the fourth quarter of the calendar year i.e. October 1 – December 31.

Most business plans work around a 3-month timeframe to coincide with financial reporting and deadlines (e.g. BAS statements). 

This final quarter is the perfect time to reflect on last year, set new goals and start planning for the upcoming year.

Now you might be thinking – “Tahryn, it’s well into October and Q4; aren’t you a bit late to the party?”

Hell no! It’s never too late to do a bit of planning and the process I’m about to share with you is the exact planning process I go through every quarter – it keeps me on track and clear on what I need to focus on in my business to hit my goals. 

This is my ultimate Q4 strategy to round out the year right and set you up for success in 2024!

You know I also love a good repeatable process – so this info will support you both now and in the future! 

It’s not too late for your Q4 marketing plan

If you haven’t even thought about the end of the year – don’t panic! It’s not too late to plan your final quarter.

And look, I know this year has been interesting, to say the least, and it might be super tempting with the holiday season fast approaching to slip into wind-down mode, start thinking about your holidays, and wait until next year to plan and take action.

BUT 2023 is not done yet! 

Q4 is one of the BEST times to make sales and set yourself up for a great start to the new year. I’m already booking in clients well into 2024 and it’s my goal to lock in as much income as possible before I close my laptop in mid-December. 

And this planning process doesn’t have to take a long time to do! Block out an hour of your time this week to map out your quarterly goals – you’ll thank me for it!

The Ultimate Guide to a Q4 Strategy

Step 1 – Review the previous quarter

Don’t skip this step!

The best decisions are made by looking at Q3 data first.

What to review from your previous quarter

• Finances – both income and expenses
• Marketing – audience growth, performance of different channels, most engaged content 
• Sales – conversion rate, leads, main objections 
• Offers – best sellers, cost of delivery, potential upsells 

Use the data to look at them objectively – what worked well and what didn’t?

Sometimes it’s easy to go straight to “nothing is working” but when you sit down and look everything over you might be surprised with what you find! There’s always an opportunity to learn, tweak and evolve.

Ask your community for feedback

The end of a quarter and the start of another is a great time to do a check in with your community. It’s a good idea to do a bit of market research and get some insight into how your target audience is feeling, what they’re planning and what they want from you. 

Based on my Q3 review, I made the decision to run The Money-Making Marketing Kickstarter for another round at the start of 2024. It wasn’t what I’d intended, but, based on conversations I had with other small businesses during my launch (and how much I’m enjoying running the program), I decided why not!?

If you missed out on this round and want to start 2024 with a spark of marketing magic – sign up for the waitlist for first access and exclusive waitlist-only bonuses.

Step 2 – Set your Q4 Goal 

When the 31st of December comes around – what do you want to have happen in your life and business?

I encourage you to pick SMART goals because it makes your planning process and strategy easier to implement when you have clear goals to work towards. 

A revenue target is the easiest and most measurable way of evaluating goals; but it doesn’t have to be the only goal.

Examples of Q4 business goals that aren’t revenue-related

• Calling in more support in your business (Virtual Assistant, Bookkeeper, Business Coach)
• Hiring help in your home (Cleaner, Chef, Nanny)
• Working less hours 
• Booking 5 podcast interviews
• Creating and launching a new lead magnet
• Launching a podcast 

My goal for Q4 is to make an additional $50k cash in my business so I can save more money to buy a house for Ned & I, and a potential sister for Ned. 

Step 3 – Decide the offer(s) to sell

If you have set yourself a revenue goal – what are you selling to boost your cash flow?

Go ahead and identify the offers you plan to sell in Q4 and the start of 2024.

Don’t forget to take into consideration your plans for holiday campaigns such as:

• Black Friday & Cyber Monday
• Boxing Day
• End of Year 

In my business I’m currently filling the last few spots in my 1:1 series, then in November my focus will be my Black Friday offers and I’ll finish up the year focused on Kickstarter enrolments for next year.

The reason I’m able to switch it up quite quickly and sell different offers one after the other (and sometimes at the same time) is because I’ve mastered the art of selling one offer really well first and my messaging and marketing is always a top priority in my business.

Step 4 – Map out your marketing 

Tip: begin with your messaging

When I’m mapping out my marketing I always start with my messaging. How I’m positioning my offers and communicating to my community why this offer, why me and why now. This will guide my marketing efforts.

Your messaging really matters especially at this time of year when loads of businesses are also selling the shit out of their offers. 

4 strategic planning prompts to nail your Q4 brand messaging

1. What’s the current reality of your ideal clients or customers? What are they navigating, feeling or experiencing, especially at this time of the year?

2. What do they desire instead? If they could wave a magic wand what would their life or business look like?

3. How does your offer help them get from where they are now to where they want to be?

4. Why are YOU the wizard to guide them to where they want to be?

Core content first

From there I think about my #1 marketing channel – my podcast and subsequent blog post. I plan episodes around my chosen messaging and the offers I’m selling. 

Q4 planning means considering key dates like:

• When the podcast ends for this year
• When it starts again next year
• What my team is planning over the holiday period

Repurpose to other platforms

Next is looking at what other supporting marketing I need to create around the podcast. For my business – that’s email marketing and social media (Instagram) content. 

My Instagram content remains pretty consistent in terms of frequency throughout the year. I’m pretty good at maintaining 3-4 posts per week and daily stories. In terms of emails – I send more emails during launch periods.  

Step 5 – Coach Check-in

I usually get feedback from my coach throughout this whole process but I use our monthly 1:1 call to really flesh out the finer details of everything above. We look over my strategy, offers, messaging, marketing and launches. 

It’s so helpful to have a second set of eyes and a second biz brain to highlight any gaps or opportunities.

Look at the bigger picture before focusing on the next quarter

The first thing we do is an overall check-in with how the business is tracking, what’s happening in my community and how I’m feeling before zooming in to look at launch dates, pricing and content topics. 

This helps me hit my short-term goals AND continue to grow my business each and every year. 

Despite a few wobbly moments this year, I’m on track to have my best year yet – and I believe this is because I always look at the big picture and then zoom back in to make sure what I’m doing right now supports that long-term vision.

It also helps that I’ve been working with my coach for well over 4 years, so she gets me and my business and is always thinking of ways in which I can grow and scale my business. And I feel exactly the same way about my clients and their businesses. 

Step 6 – Take Action

This is sometimes the hardest step, amirite? 

But now you’ve got a clear plan – so use that to help guide you! 

It also helps if you have a business coach or some biz besties who can hold you accountable and cheer you on. And hey – come on over to Instagram and share your Q4 goals with me, and I’ll cheer you on too!

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