Ideas For Q4 Marketing Campaigns

It’s mid-October, which means you need to start considering what kind of Q4 marketing campaigns you will run. 

Today we are sharing our own take on the topic. This will include some general information on why Q4 is so important, as well as our main ideas for successfully running Q4 marketing campaigns. 

Why Q4 Is So Important

Last month we published our ultimate guide to year-end giving. In it we chatted about some of the reasons that the end of the year is so important. While we will dive deeper into the subject later in the month, here are some of the reasons at a glance:

People are especially active during the end of the year. This is true for both nonprofit donations and customers of businesses:

Nonprofits: Most nonprofits receive the majority of their donations during the last few months of the year. If you aren’t especially active with Q4 marketing campaigns, you are losing out on a ton of potential donations.

Businesses: The holiday season drives a ton of purchases. This is especially true of Black Friday (more information further in the post.)

The fact is, no matter what kind of organization you are part of, the last quarter of the year is likely the most important one. Fail to prepare and you are likely setting yourself up for failure. On the contrary, prepare properly (and implement the tips in today’s post) and you stand to reap the rewards.

6 Ideas For Q4 Marketing Campaigns

Focus on your donors’ emotions

This is a tip you should be following the entire year. After all, campaigns that appeal to peoples’ emotions are almost always the ones that will perform best. That said, emotions are especially important during Q4 marketing campaigns. 

That’s because people are typically more generous during the end of the year. They are primed to donate more. Make your campaigns emotional, and you stand to gain even more from them.

Check out this article by HubSpot for some of the most important (and powerful) emotions you should target.

Frame their donation as an investment

Donating money to a cause is different from people buying products. That’s why it can be tricky to frame a donation as an investment.

However, it can most certainly be done. The difference is a slight one that makes all the difference: instead of framing it as investment in one’s self, a nonprofit should frame their fundraiser as an investment in people or a cause that the donors care about. This can have implications in everything from social media posts to the emails you send to your list.

Implement urgency appropriately

While making offers urgent is one of the most effective strategies for businesses, it can also be quite effective for nonprofits. Give people a certain date to act by and you increase the chances that they actually do something. Leave it open-ended? People become less inclined to action. We see this in many areas of life.

Ask yourself this question: “Why should people donate now?” It can be difficult to pinpoint an answer, but here are just two possibilities:

1. The people your organization supports need immediate help. Are they running out of food? Perhaps they are facing a heightened risk of losing their home? Whatever it is, urgency will get your audience to act now.
2. Attaching donations to limited time prizes. Struggling for ideas on possible prizes? Check out our next point…

Highlight any benefits they stand to receive

We have mentioned in numerous posts that many donations are tax deferred. This means that qualifying donations can be taken off of the taxes that somebody has to pay at the end of the year. This is a great piece of information to include (if applicable).

You can also highlight the gifts that people can receive depending on the total amount that they donate. Check out this article for some great ideas on gifts you can give away that people love and don’t cost too much.

Match your marketing campaign to the holidays

People love themed campaigns. It’s easy to relate to and a great chance for a creative approach to marketing. This applies to both businesses and nonprofits.

Of course, it can be difficult coming up with “holiday themed” campaigns. This is especially true if your organization’s cause is a more serious one. That said, you don’t have to do anything too fancy here. Even changing the colors or graphics of blog posts or emails (orange during Halloween, red and green during Christmas) can have an effect. 

Devote most of your attention to the things that matter

While it can be tempting to want to spread your time and resources evenly throughout quarter 4, it’s important to focus on what will get you the most results. Here are the two things that matter:

1) Black Friday for businesses

The Friday after Thanksgiving is a huge day for moany businesses. In fact, some business types make a majority of their profit on this single day! Take advantage of the increased shopping by running discounts that your customers are looking for. For more advice, check out these seven tips for Black Friday.

2) The last weeks of December for nonprofits

Are you a nonprofit looking for more donations? In this case, your time and resources should be focused on year-end giving, specifically in December. This is when a huge portion of donations come through, and you are missing out as an organization is you don’t prepare far in advance.

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Are you an enterprise, nonprofit or small business looking for help on your website? Give us a shout! We provide a free consultation. Email us at info@lughstudio.com or call us at (718) 855-1919!