Inside July's roundtable: Making email marketing drive Q4 revenue
- Jul 23
- 3 min read
Updated: Jul 28
This month's roundtable was proof that good companies are knee-deep into planning for a successful Q4. We talked about what we’re seeing in our industries and what we’d like to achieve in the last chunk of the year.
ICYMI, here are 3 of the topics that we discussed, and can be applicable and relevant to you too:
1. Your Q4 and Q1 planning are, most likely, deeply connected to one another
Everyone in the room was already thinking about Q4, but not in the same way. One business owner sees their Q4/Q1 crossover as an opportunity to onboard new clients who didn't hit their January goals. Another sees a Q4 uptick feeding straight into the Q1 pipeline. And a third business owner shared that Q4 is usually so consuming with holiday work, and with their limited capacity, they can easily miss a big opportunity in a different part of their business in Q1.
There's no universal Q4-into-Q1 playbook here. But most times, there's a connection between the two, and it's important to map out what that connection looks like for your business, instead of treating January 1st as a hard reset.
My two cents: email is a good and simple way to build that bridge. If someone already said “yes” to something in Q4, following up with them in Q1 is a no-brainer. The relationship is still warm, so you might as well use it.
Stuck with your Q4 email planning? Not sure how you can seize your Q4 opportunities for your Q1 planning, using email marketing?
Let’s have a conversation and see if I can help you and your business. Book a disco call with me here.
2. Your competitors discount in Q4. So what?
One person in the room pointed out that most of her competitors discount their services heavily in Q4 - often out of panic to fill their pipeline before year-end, with (seemingly) unrealistic promises about turnaround timelines. The CEO in the room doesn't discount in Q4 at all, but at the end of Q1, and that works for their business and audience.
My two cents: "everyone else is doing it" is not a strategy, in Q4 or otherwise. Before you follow the market into discount mode, you have to do your research and see what works for your audience. Otherwise, you’re just racing to match the noise and end up creating more of it (with no real business or impact case).
3. No, July and August are not too early to start talking about your Q4 plans
For many years, marketers have been working behind the scenes on Q4 during the summer. This roundtable was a reminder that summer might also be a good time to start planting seeds with your audience, not just your own team.
We had two fascinating examples of two very different businesses (corporate gifting and a food vendor) that are already doing exactly that - one sending Christmas gifts this month to build the pipeline for their Q4, and another that is already promoting Christmas packages.
My two cents: consumer-me thinks that talking about Christmas or year-end in July is getting bonkers. But marketer-me knows better. Q4 inbox noise gets worse every year, and the competition for attention grows with it. Being visible early, even before your offer is fully built out, might be the right call - though not for everyone. As always, it depends (on your business, sales cycle, products/services, and your audience and their motivations, etc.).
Speaking of things that already need to be on your radar, and practicing what I preach (early!): September's roundtable is already on the calendar, and it's a good one.
Segmentation: the real personalization
The days of sending the same message to everyone on your list, regardless of who they are or where they are in your world, are long behind us.
We're getting into what segmentation looks like in late 2026, and how good-doing companies are using segmentation to create more revenue and impact.
Free, as always, but there are only 10 8 seats available, and only going out to my subscribers.
We’re meeting on the third Thursday of September at 4 pm WEST / 11 am EST.
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